Monday, July 6, 2015

Foaling Season is Complete!

The equine gods have been good to us this year (knock on wood).  We have eight healthy babies on the ground, and the biggest issue we had with foaling was a retained placenta.  Of course, rebreeding is going quite as smoothly, but I'll get to that later in the post. Overall, this may be our best foal crop to date.

Before I get going, if you haven't friended me on Facebook, please do.  I post pictures and videos of the babies and the farm frequently.  My journal posts are longer and more detailed, but the visuals end up on Facebook.

This year's foals:

Knockout SSF (Eye Catcher x Gazania x Bon Bravour)

Champ was born in early April, so, compared to the rest of the babies, he looks more like a yearling.  He's a dressage horse through and through.  He's supple, adjustable, and powerful.  Type-wise, I'm not convinced the jury is going to like him as much as I do, but we haven't offered him for sale because his pedigree is so interesting. If he can develop into the kind of dressage horse I expect, then he deserves a shot at keeping his testicles.  We'll see.

Kiarites SSF (Fairytale x D'Orites SSF x Donatelli)

Dior is producing super well for us.  This filly is a miniature, black version of her mother.  Jenn Tousignant is lucky to have had a filly option on this cross.  We would have been perfectly happy to keep this filly for our program.  As it is, Dior has been bred back to Fairytale, but it's a little early to check for the pregnancy.

Kanadian SSF (UB-40 x BoWendy x Sir Sinclair)

Sammy, Jr., is this year's cheekiest foal.  He is absolutely the spitting image of his full brother, Godot SSF--same star, same type, same movement.  He is much more independent at this age than his brother ever was, however.  Mr. Kanadian is more than happy to stand in the aisle supervising the movement of horses instead of following his mother.  He also thinks it's his job to chew off the halters of his friends.  He's a real character.  He's the perfect personality for his person, Eiren Crawford.

Karmites SSF (UB-40 x Werites SSF x Freestyle)

I'm in love with this filly.  She reminds me so much of her grandmother, Orchis.  Not only does she look like her, she's hot, typey, and loaded with powerful movement.  Again, this is a filly I'd prefer to be keeping for our program, but Jackie Cartesio has dibbs on her.  She's going to make a hell of a dressage horse.

Keno SSF (Governor x ZaVita SSF x Contango)

I loved the Totilas son, Governor, the moment I saw him, and we're certainly not disappointed that we took a chance on him during his first breeding year.  Keno is a GORGEOUS baby.  He's absolutely regal looking.  On top of that, he has the loveliest personality and movement.  We're waiting to hear if the person who had first option on this breeding has decided to take him or not.  As special as he is, I can't believe she won't, but you never know how circumstances can dictate people's decisions.  If he's available, I'll let you know.

Kalliope SSF (Heir to the Throne x Sweetwaters Little Sea Me x NFC Egyptian Kings Impulse)

Imagine my surprise when I found an adorable little pinto filly with our Mini mare, a full three weeks before she was due.  Did I know that Minis have a shorter gestation than regular horses?  That would be no.  At any rate, this filly is about the cutest thing you've ever seen.  I call her Spawn of Hell.  She is a holy terror!  She is completely unconcerned about her mother, she loves racing around so fast you can barely see her legs move, and she regularly jumps in and out of her paddock and teases Jules, the old Morgan mare who is her mother's neighbor.  Needless to say, Carol is in love with this little girl.

Kublai Khan SSF (UB-40 x Mistral x Vincent)

Once again, UB-40 blows us away.  When this colt was about a week old, Carol turned to me and said,

"This is your stallion.  We're not selling him."

I can't remember another time that she has verbalized either sentiment, stallion prospect or not selling a baby.  We love this boy.  Actually, depending on how things play out, this is a colt we'd be willing to send to Holland to go through the selection process.  It probably makes sense to keep him here until he's a two-year-old and can pass the radiographic requirements, but we'll see.  Kublia is a fancy boy.

Katmandu SSF (Governor x Nemels x Samber)

And...drum roll, please...our last foal of the year is a freaking fancy pinto Totilas grandson!  As I said on Facebook, I don't think there's a better bred pinto colt on the planet.  Even without being pinto, it would be hard to beat his pedigree.  On top of that, he's our leggiest foal of the year and the most flamboyant mover.  He's a big boy and not that old, so he's still unfolding and straightening out, but every time I look at him, I think that we might have just hit the equine lottery.  Who knows?  To quote John Sanzo for the umpteenth time, "Horses are born, and then spend the rest of their lives trying to kill themselves."  We'll just keep crossing our fingers and toes, knocking on wood, and hoping that he continues to develop as nicely as he has in the first ten days.


So, breeding back.  I'm a little bitter.  For one thing, we have three mares being bred that aren't on the farm, so I have significantly more vet bills than I'm used to during breeding season.  On top of that, on the four cycles that these three mares have been followed, we have only one pregnancy.  For the second thing, we've had three frozen breedings not work to date--that's over $3,000 down the reproductive drain.  I did those breedings, so I can't blame anyone but me, the semen, and the mares; nonetheless, it pisses me off.  Two doses of Bordeaux frozen, perfect timing both times, 6-hour post insemination flushes, young mare on her 30-day and subsequent heat.  Nothing.  I'm pretty sure we had an Apache embryo in Orchis, but she came back into heat, so she didn't think she was pregnant. Here's an update on the breeding status of our mares--if you're interested in any of the 2016 crosses, get your option in early:

Eliscia SSF (UB-40 x Pass the Glass) in foal to Governor for Scot's competition entry

Honorites SSF (Totilas x Jazz) in foal to Florianus II for Carol's competition entry

Hyacintia (Charmeur x Santano) in foal to Chagall D and R

Felicites SSF (Rousseau x Jazz) bred to Florianus II, not in foal, not back in heat

Gazania (Bon Bravour x Santano) bred to Florianus II, not checked yet,  for Michaela's competiton entry

LaVita (Elcaro x Belisar) bred to Florianus II, not checked yet

D'Orites SSF (Donatelli x Jazz) rebred to Fairytale, not checked yet

BoWendy (Sir Sinclair x Jazz) bred to Fairytale, not checked yet

Orchis (Jazz x Roemer) experimental breeding, not checked yet

ZaVita SSF (Contango x Elcaro) will be bred to Apache for Keagan's competition entry

Carpe Diem SSF (Farrington x Pass the Glass xx) will be bred to Connaisseur

Mistral (Vincent x El Corona) will be bred back to UB-40

Nemels (Samber x Lector) will be bred back to Governor

Summary:  three pregnant, five to check, one uncertain, and four still to start breeding.