I don't know how it happened, my daughter went from three months old to seven months old, acquired a few clients, Christmas came, paperwork was filed, hosted a wedding, started vet school, went from four horses to seven and had three vet bills in one week. These are just the cliff notes too. My direction in the breeding program is downsized, all for the better I am sure. I have three foals by my Bay due starting in March. Finally something to do, sort of. The Gray mare will be leaving as soon as she is weaned pending her pre purchase exam tomorrow. The Chestnut will be going to a very dear and very tolerant previous employer's warmblood stallion. He approved the cross so I am not one to argue because I want a BIG show horse and his stallion will give it to me. Then the Bay will be going to a pony stallion. I am still undecided on which stallion to go to. Both are local because there are so many amazing pony stallions in this wonderful state and they have a great pony breeding program, albeit not as good as Virginia's but comparable none the less.
A great desire of mine is to breed my size silver hunters. There are only a few breeds that actually carry this gene and Thoroughbred is not one. Quarter Horse is one but for the actual type I want, the silvers of that breed do not match it. Welsh fits the bill, however, the color is extremely rare. I had the notion to find a large Shetland or Welsh mare to show for my daughter then breed to my Bay Boy for larges and eventually regular working hunters with the right crossings. But then came the opportunity to breed to the Cremello you see to the left. He just recently tested positive for the silver gene and is a section A welsh. He will give me the color I want, a chance for silver buckskin hunter pony and it weighs very heavy on my thought process. Then there is the full welsh son of a particular pony stallion I adore. It helps he is winning every line class he is entered and he is just a regular bay without a stick of white on
him. But looking at him and imagining him full size makes me want to have him in my barn. Plus his owner and I know a lot of the same people and can talk for absolute hours. I think our first phone conversation was two hours actually. She loves my Bay and thinks it will be an extremely smart match. Both are the same price so it all works out accordingly. Then there is the pony stallion I have desired to breed to ever since working with his offspring in Maryland. He throws chrome and pretty consistently will lend his dilute color. His foals win on the line and over fences. Needless to say he is a sure thing and he is the oldest of all so the decision on which to pick needs to be made soon.So I will have three Bay Boy babies this year and next years breeding plans are purely personal. Everyone is being affected by this economy and I didn't listen in the slightest about breeding three mares to my Bay Boy. He will be seventeen this coming year and I need to put what I need on the ground or else it will be too late. After his recent health issues I think retirement is closer on the horizon than originally planned.
