Finally Foaled!!!! Pics added

[halo]

You are absolutely right. I agree with you 100%. I really put a lot more emphasis on the physical match than nicks. I also only now breed to proven horses. Its gotten too tough right now to do otherwise. The breeding game has really changed. But its probably for the better.

 

[4 Love of Baby Chickens]

Wow I can't wait to see the new foals!!! I LOVE baby horses!!

And Wiseman's Ferry is GORGEOUS!! Nice looking Thoroughbreds.

 

[scbatz33]

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I agree. I'm hoping this Show Tune foal is decent. I would have never bred to him. I head he had been injured, and that's why he was never raced, but I don't like the idea of using an unproven stallion like that. Even if he's by Unbridled Song. At least they have the PA bred thing going for them.

All three of the mares raced with varying success. Zen, the oldest, has a good produce record. Wiseman's Ferry did well for himself and he's one of the best producing sons of Hennessey. He's also well ranked in PA and has runners and winners currently. Action this Day also has runners and winners. And really, who doesn't like Kris S?

Depending on the Barbican thing, his first foals are this year. He's throwing some really nice babies from what I have seen. I really like his body type to my Buffy and they nick well too.

Up here, Toccet is making a real big splash. I hope the Castleton-Lyons folks open his book up a bit more. Both Buffy and Zen would go well to him. He has a real all around pedigree.

 

[scbatz33]

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He's even nicer in person.

That Halo's Image is a looker. And Stephen Got Even is doing well for himself too! He's a bit out of my price range as of yet.

 

[halo]

Halo's Image died yesterday, so this will be a very bittersweet foaling.

At the farm where I work, we've had horses in training by Wiseman's Ferry and Action This Day. The Wiseman's Ferrys did better than the Action This Days. Kris S. hasnt really been a very good sire of sires, but he may well do well in PA. Sometimes just a change of scenery will help a stallion, and its tough in KY if you arent one of the Top Tens or so.

PA is getting a lot of good horses because of that great breeders program they have. If it only werent so cold up there....

 

[scbatz33]

Trust me I know. It's cold and gloomy here again! I'm so sick of the weather. That's why we are heading south, back to KY. DH has talked about FL again, but I can't handle the bugs. We lived and worked on a farm in Williston and it was not my cup of tea. Everything flies and bites down there!!!

We've decided to only have a couple nice mares and be able to breed them to the better stallions than have a bunch of mares and have to go lower end. The PA program is good up here if you can control the race career of the horses you are breeding. I'm hoping someone will be willing to race these babies up here, but I won't hold my breath for it. Definately not money we are counting on. Plus the legislature keeps dipping their hands in teh pot, by the time my babies are racing age the whole thing maybe pointless.

That's why I'm just trying to breed the best babies I can for my money. I want horses that can make it past their 3rd year with out breaking down. I want to breed a horse with longevity because I see the industry making a change in that direction. I think the fans and the public are going to demand it. Too much of a spotlight is on these breakdowns of late. Precocious(sp?) young horses are not the future.

 

[Peep_Show]

Oh, you're so lucky! When I had the stud farm I thought the babies were the best part of the business!

I don't know if they still make it, but there used to be a product out called a "Predict-a-Foal" kit. I would get mine through Jeffers. Believe it or not, it really works at predicting foaling times within 24 hours. Several of my friends who also had stud farms started using it after seeing I was getting a good night's sleep not wondering "Is tonight the night?" It uses a small amount of the mare's milk and test strips.... due to milk hormones, a certain color gives you the range of when to expect. Just saying that if you have no idea when a due date might be, it is certainly worth the money to avoid wasting lots o' time waiting....


Keep us posted of the blessed event!

 

[scbatz33]

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Yup, they still make it. I've not personally used it but I have been told it's fairly accurate. I'm not too worried about night wathcing though. I've got a pretty good handle on "signs" and Zen is an "old hat" at this foaling thing. She'll probably teach me a thing or two!

 

[halo]

Funny you should mention bugs, I think I have far less bugs here than I did up north.

There are probably better states to breed and raise race horses than Florida. Im sure PA financially is. But horses are just a part of my life; I love my chickies and my gardening and being outside. So just having all this time to be outside to me is worth having less of a breeders program. If I had to live up north again, I wouldnt have horses. I just cant do it anymore. And living up north, those long cold brutal winters are just wasted time to me. Here I can go outside every single day in my flip flops...some days are a little chillier than others, especially this year, but for the most part is wonderful here. I can live a bit cheaper, too, since my utilities are cheaper in the winters.

So all in all, Ill keep me and my horses here. They can foal outside and stay outside. And I can play outside too, which me and the chickies and the puppies love to do.

Is Kentucky that much different than Pennsylvania?

 

[scbatz33]

In my short experience with PA, yes it's different. We didn't EVER have this much snow. It's warmer, sooner longer and more intensely in the summer in KY. It's not nearly this windy. We'd get some snow in Jan or sometimes ice but by March it was spring and you had no doubt.

Of course flip flops year round sounds pretty darn good right now!