Congratulations, if you are reading this, you are on foal watch with me. I am a soon to be proud aunt of a bouncing little horse baby. Alright, we aren’t on true foal watch, like we’re sleeping on a cot in the barn, it’s more like foal alert. Full alert, foal alert.The mare is due March 10th.
I haven’t talked a lot about this baby until now. I didn’t want to jinx anything. You see, the semen came from Germany, it was very expensive and there was only one dose. If anything went wrong, I was out a baby and a dose of semen with no chances of recovering my loses. I’m not usually a gambler so this is terrifying. But now that we’re closer to the due date, I can talk about it. Most of the shadows of doubt have passed. So let me introduce you to the family.
This Utrecht.
Any minute now, an alien is going to burst forth from her stomach. She would have had a fine career as a dressage horse had she not been injured as a baby, in a way that makes her unrideable. This baby, will be her third. She had an unfortunate tryst with an ungelded youth last year, that led to an accidental pregnancy but both of her previous babies are quite good-looking and very nice movers. She herself has an impeccable pedigree, good conformation and is a very nice mover. If she didn’t have all that, we wouldn’t have bred her.
This is Sir Donnerhall.
The video has no sound. I don’t know why but sometimes, the music in these videos is so awful it’s a gift to not have to listen to it, so count your blessings. Sir Donnerhall is in Germany and thanks to the miracle of modern science, he and Utrecht never had to meet. My business partner Allida and I saw a video of him on YouTube, liked what we saw and ordered a dose of his DNA. Isn’t science fun, kids?
If you’re going to look at this with a critical eye, you will see that daddy has some flaws. It’s true. However, the point of good breeding is to start with quality stock and try to improve it. S.D. throws babies that are nicer than he is (in my humble opinion) and I think Utrecht’s traits will balance nicely with his. She should had some bone structure and a more stable looking hind end. Sometimes his babies look like two different horses on the front end and hind end. Hopefully, mom will help pull that together.
If you don’t want to look at it with a critical eye, you will say those are both damn fine horses. You would be absolutely correct. Regardless of what small flaws we find in either horse, the bottom line is S.D. has risen to the ranks of the highest achieving sires, his babies are all over the internet winnings at keurings and halter shows. They are winning point in rideability and that is what we really want.
But back to the baby. He or she is due soon and I can’t wait. He holds a world of possibility in him but even if he didn’t, I still just want to squeeze him. He probably doesn’t want that but he’ll get used to it.
T-minus 17 days till baby…tick…tock…
Eating My Words 