Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Breeding. Show all posts

May 11, 2016

Meet Woven Web '16!

It's a filly!

Echo was 340 days on May 4th but vet uses 343 days so we were hoping she would go on schedule and not run late like mares seem to be doing this year. She didn't disappoint and foaled a healthy baby filly on May 6th (242 days).


Day before foaling
Water broke at 1:44 am, born at 2:26 am. She was very lazy about pushing at first and did a lot of getting up and down. Had trouble pushing past the shoulders but with lots of pulling, she was able to birth her without any other assistance. Filly tried standing almost immediately and was fully standing by 2:50am and nursing by 4:00am. Echo of course held onto the placenta, delaying us going back to bed. It passed later in the morning and they both had a vet check that afternoon.
Yep... Echo's baby with those ears.
Legs! Standing for first time.
Super thankful she foaled on time and I got to spend 5 days with them after she was born and that Echo produced a so far nice filly for my friends. Fingers crossed for a successful rebreeding this year!




I'll post more photos once I have them on my computer and/or more get sent!

April 28, 2015

Visiting Miss Echo (and Lexington)!

So I've been back from Lexington for two weeks - really late posting this! Lots of boring grown up stuff and working outside delaying me soooo... here it goes.


Echo!
Safe to say someone remembers me. She heard me talking upon arriving to the farm (where I also stayed with my friends) and perked the ears up and talked to me when I approached her stall. 

She's still a spaz. Since she's not on all the herbs and stuff she needed to be a sporthorse she's a lot more 'echo-y'. A new mare had arrived to farm a few days prior to me getting there and was put in stall and paddock next to Echo. They became fast friends before ever together in a field. Me trying to bring MareFace in for a bath without her friend also coming in? Disastrous.  We finally got her bathed, though it was more of a team effort than any bath ever warrants. 
Can't leave her friend...
She was bred last week so fingers crossed she checks in foal!

The trip was just what I needed. A reminder Lexington is where I belong and what I need to work towards (again). I have a sort of plan now of what I want to do, and what I need to do to get there. Just going to take some time but I need to be patient and just work at it all. 

June 12, 2013

Up Close & Personal


Saturday = Arrival and me having to call into work because the shipper took forever to get here.

Sunday = Work.

After I got back to the farm after work I had a burst of energy so I pulled Mr. Dakota out of his stall, saddled up and took a really lazy ride around the arena. It was more of a reminder introduction to the surroundings and we just walked around. I didn't bother trotting because his hooves are in bad shape and we're waiting for the farrier to come out.

Monday & Tuesday = Day's off work.

Monday the vet was out checking the barn owners saddlebred mare who is prepping to be re-bred after she slipped after her recent 60 day check / ultrasound. Vet that was out was Dr. Friend from Rood and Riddle, I've used him in the past for Dakota and he's from Michigan so we've always gotten along really well and I use to ride with him on calls. The farm's normal vet, Dr. Metcalf is due anytime with her second foal so I figured I'd tackle Dr. Friend to look at Echo since Metcalf is so close to 'foaling'.

I wanted him to look at Echo to make sure there was no lingering uterine infection that she was battling back in November. Also after thinking about it some myself, and talking to Colleen after they arrived, Echo's under the tail breeding confirmation is not the greatest. Both of us agreed that she may be a great candidate for a partial Caslisk stitching. It's something that can be left in for a really long time with no harm and if I breed her they're easily taken out / replaced / can be restitched. The Michigan barn owner made mention that she thought she saw her strain more so I figured I may as well have her looked at.

Dr. Friend agreed that her under the tail confirmation wasn't great. Since I don't plan on breeding her soon and that she is young she would do well with about a 1 inch stitch at the top of her lady parts. 

Prior to stitching however, he wanted to flush her and do a culture to make sure there was no current infection. So I held her still while they went to work on her. 

After they left I bathed both horses and did the dreaded sheath cleaning on Dakota. Really really up close and personal day with both horses. Joys of both mare and gelding ownership.
Stoned looking after her bath.
THEN Colleen and I took off and after looking at two apartment complexes we went to the complex I lived in before I moved back to Michigan. The first two were awful. I was so happy to be back into the previous complex and signed a lease agreement for a 1 bedroom townhouse in their community. They have many many many laundry areas, two pools, tennis courts, basketball courts, a really good resturant, etc. Problem being... the apartment won't be ready for me to move in until July 6th... pushing back my moving yet another week and another week until I get to see my kitties *wails on the inside*

Yesterday I lounged around, not wanting to do much. I did clean my leather halters but then I got done with the ponies early and lounged some more. 

Dr. Friend returned in the afternoon and gave me good news that the culture so far is clean. He left a flush in her today that's a mix of Chinese herbs that's suppose to be really effective. He also had the vet students do all her work today which will save me easily $100 at minimum. Love him. He also ultra-sounded her ovaries and uterus to make sure there was no masses or growths that are causing something underlying - all clear!

Today I work 3 - 9 tonight so I won't be there when Dr. Friend returns for the third day. However, unless the culture pops something up, the plan is to let out any remaining fluid from yesterday, flush her again (removing fluid this time) then stitch her up to hopefully prevent any further problems! Fingers crossed!

March 1, 2013

Prospective Dates: The Thoroughbreds - Simba Twist

(Sato x Erotic Twist)

Simba Twist is a 2008 thoroughbred stallion currently standing in southern Ontario Canada at Blazing Colours Farm. He is 16.1+ hands and is a registered Buckskin Sabino. Also dual registered with the Jockey Club and APHA. He is currently in training and should be competing soon. His first season as a stallion was in 2012 so I'm anxiously awaiting to see his foals in 2013.

Pictures as a 2 year old in 2010 from the owners website.


His sire, Sato is a 16 Hand Palomino Sabino stallion that is dual registered with the Jockey Club and APHA. He has been a successful stallion for his owners and was made a Breyer Horse Model in 2010 and attended BreyerFest. Sato is semi retired but still breeds on select mares.





His dam, Erotic Twist is from the family of famed show jumper, Gem Twist. From the Blazing Colours Farm site: "What a fantastic sporthorse pedigree this mare has. Her dams sire (New Twist) was an open jumper and his sire (Bonne Nuit) represented the USET internationally. Bonne Nuit sired many great jumpers one being Hazelwood who was on 6 winning USET & Nations cup teams. New Twist sired Good Twist who was and is one of the greatest open jumpers ever."



Simba Twist has two full siblings:
Mocha Twist 2007 Gelding

Picasso Twist 2010 Colt

It's pretty obvious that this selection is partially based on color but there's more to it than color. First of all, there is the dam, Erotic Twist. No sporthorse person would ever pass up the chance to breed related to Gem Twist. It's clear the ability of this line has been passed through generations. All three of Erotic Twist's foals at Blazing Colours Farm are athletic and talented. The entire pedigree screams jumper! As far as Simba Twist himself, I believe he is a well proportioned individual and would suit Echo just fine.

February 22, 2013

New Stallion Series Starting Next Week

It's spring - well sorta, it's officially just around the corner. Anyways, every new year I get the breeding bug. I love the excitement of the new foals arriving, colt or filly, seeing how a new mare / stallion combination turn out and seeing what mare owners decide to breed their mares back to for the following springs foal.

While I'm a ways away, at least a year, from breeding Echo, I can't stop myself from searching possible future stallions for her to be bred to. I have no intention of breeding her every year or turning her into a foal machine, but every few years I'd like the option of breeding her. After all I find it to be one of the biggest joys in being a mare owner.

So starting next Friday, March 1st, I plan on posting one of my possible stallion selections every Friday for at least a few months. There are a lot of gorgeous stallions out there after all!

There will be three 'categories' of stallions. Thoroughbreds (Racing & Sporthorse), Knabstrupper and Warmbloods.