My Dream Horse

For a very long time I had dreamt of having a spectacular blood bay with a blaze and 4 high white socks.  I even drew pictures of such a horse when I was in middle school.   I always figured I'd have to find one to buy, at some point in my life.

Since Bunny was not rideable, and I had learned that since I had rescued her, several of her foals had started winning big at A rated shows as hunter ponies, so I decided I would breed her, again.   I had sold Petey, her colt, that she had in 1999, as a yearling, so it had been a few years since her last foal, it was time to breed her again.

I had sold Mayo the month before and paid off all my bills and I had some money leftover, plus I was in a steady relationship with Gordon.  Though he hadn't asked me to marry him, yet, I think we both knew it was heading in that direction.   So, I discussed breeding Bunny with him and we agreed that it was the right thing to do and he would help me a little bit, in accomplishing it.

I started looking at stallions, ponies, Arabians, and small Thoroughbreds.  I did a lot of praying, thinking, and research.  I decided that it was time to try to breed to get a horse for me to ride, hoping for Bunny's superb movement and I would hope for a filly that I could always keep and that would also eventually be Bunny's replacement as a broodmare in my pony breeding program, that I dreamed of.

I had not started out wanting to breed ponies, but Bunny's first 3 pony foals all did well at the A circuit and in Virginia, which is very tough, so I kind of fell into it, but decided I liked it, too, and wanted to continue Bunny's legacy.   The free horse that no one had wanted had proven that she was worth more than just about anyone else had thought.

So, I decided, for this breeding, I'd look at Arabians and small Thoroughbreds, so I could get something big enough for me to ride, since I'm 5'7" and I'd look really funny on a pony.

I just couldn't seem to find a Thoroughbred that fit my needs.  Bunny being only 14.3 hands, I did not want to risk breeding her to a large stallion.  So, my focus then turned more towards Arabians.   If it was to eventually be a broodmare, if I got a filly, for me to cross on ponies to get hunters, I needed a specific type of Arabian.   It could not have too much knee action and it needed to have similar movement to Bunny, who was and Anglo-Arabian, sired by a Thoroughbred and produced out of an Arabian mare.

From my previous research, I knew that Bunny's Arabian side was over 90% Crabbet, about 95% CMK, and the other part was Davenport, as her tail female line went to a mare that Davenport brought to the US straight from the desert.

I narrowed my search further to high percentage CMK stallions and in doing so, I stumbled on a stallion standing not 5 miles from where Bunny was boarded.

His name was Rho-Quest a Champion son of the legendary Arabian stallion Khemosabi.  Granted, there are a lot of sons of his at stud, but I saw something I really liked int he pictures of Rho-Quest, so I made contact with owner.

I made arrangements to go see him in person and one Saturday morning Gordon and I went over to take a look at him.

He was very nice, a gorgeous sleek 15.1 hands, beautiful bay with 3 socks and a star that looked almost like a questionmark on his forehead.   His owner put him int he round pen so I could see him move.   I liked his trot, but when he picked up the canter, I was sold!  That was the stallion for Bunny.   It wasn't an identical canter to hers, but it was the closest I had found. 

No, with my vision being bad I can not see how a horse is moving like a sighted person can.   I can see a little bit, but what I can tell is with my ears and I can tell a lot more with my ears than most sighted people can comprehend.   I can tell how long a stride is, how sound a horse is, how heavy or light they hit the ground, and I believe I can get a good idea of how much knee action or lack thereof, by how they sound.

I can also use my hands to tell me a lot about a horse's condition, conformation, etc as an added assistance to my limited eyesight.   I can tell a lot in conformation and condition with my eyes, but I will admit I can miss some flaws, as they are harder to judge visually for me, but my hands can pick up the slack there, quite a bit.

So, I signed the breeding contract for Bunny to be bred to Rho-Quest and they came and picked her up a few days later.   I believe it was early June of 2001.

Bunny was kept there for a few heat cycles, but never conceived.  I had asked the vet about giving Bunny a shot to help her ovulate, but he didn't think it was necessary.   I told him that she had been given one when I bred her and got Petey, but he just argued with me about it not being necessary.   And the breeding season of 2001 ended with Bunny not pregnant.   The vet just said she was getting old and maybe was done.  But I knew different, she was 19, which is getting older, but my intuition told me the vet was wrong and had made me lose money and a breeding year.   But I trusted God and that he knew what was best and that there was a reason.

But the following year, I decided to get an early start, just in case it took a few tries to get Bunny in foal, but this time I absolutely insisted Bunny be given something to help her ovulate.   Since it was early March, he didn't argue with me this time, and Bunny was given a shot.

Well, she was bred and 18 days later she was confirmed pregnat!

I was so excited and started hoping for that filly that I so wanted, to continue on Bunny's bloodlines.

Gordon and I got married in July 2002 and in August the barn went up on our property, followed a few weeks later by the first round of fencing.   Baron was the first to arrive on the farm, actually two days before the fencing went up, so he lived in the brand new barn, by himself, but I opened up the foaling stall, so he'd have plenty of room and then I also put him in our backyard, for a few hours, to let him stretch his legs and graze a little bit.

Leia arrived the day after the fencing was completed and Bunny and Angel arrived a few days later.   I will write more about Leia and Angel in future posts, and the stories of how we got them.

Bunny settled right in here at Perfect Peace Farm, happy to be with her buddy, Angel.   She also made quick friends with Leia.

As winter approached and Bunny and Leia's pregnancies got further along, I separated them from Baron and Angel.

Bunny was due February 11th, a lot earlier than I had really wanted, but I would deal with any issues of it being cold, as they arose.   That January had been so cold that the water pump infront of the barn was constantly freezing and I was having to tote water from the house to the barn on a daily basis.

Bunny's udder started to develop in early January, so I started to worry about the foal coming early, but I also knew she had taken her time with Petey, carrying him 21 days past her due date.   But as her udder filled, I started watching her closely.

We bought a security camera and cables, placing the camera in the foaling stall, running the cables to the house, and hooking them up to a spare TV, so I could watch her from the house.   Bunny liked her privacy and I wanted her to have it.

February 11th came and went, with me diligently watching.   The lady across the street wanted to see a foal being born, so she was on standby and was getting daily updates from me.

On February 21st things were a bit different and I had a feeling she was even closer.   When Gordon helped me milk a drop of milk from her that evening, it was bright white, so I knew then we were in the homestretch.

At 10 PM, Gordon and I went out to the barn to do our nightly check of water buckets and I put my hands on Bunny to see if there was any change from the 6:30 check and sure enough I could feel a bit of sweat starting to develop on her coat, despite the temperature being in the 40's.

Gordon and I raced back to the house to gather up the supplies, grab the phone, etc and as we were doing this, I saw Bunny lay down and suddenly heard her water break.   I started calling for Gordon to hurry with what he was doing, as she was about to give birth.  I called the lady across the street as I raced back to the barn.

Bunny and I had a special connection and as I re-entered the barn and opened up her stall door, she got up and met me.  Now, I may not be able to see very well, but I can tell you I can sense things and what I sensed from Bunny was the message, "You came back!  Thank goodness!  I need you!"   

I gave her a reassuring pet and she circled the stall and laid back down.   Gordon made it out to the barn at this point, as I was kneeling behind Bunny to check for the foal's birthing position.   Everything was fine, as I reached my hand in, I felt one hoof, then another slightly staggered, and then a nose, just above the ankles, so everything was good.

As Bunny pushed with her contractions I kept talking to her and she started nickering to her foal who's head wasn't even out, yet.

Soon I saw the first white foot, then the other front, which was also white.  My heart started to pound in my chest even harder.   Bunny did seem to be having some trouble, so I grasped the foal above the ankles and gently helped pull when she was pushing.

The lady from across the street arrived as I was helping Bunny deliver the foal.   Once Bunny got the shoulders passed, she was able to get the rest of the foal out with no trouble.

I ripped the sack and exposed the little foal's nose and head to the air, as it took it's first breath.  It had a huge white blaze on it's face and we also now knew it was a bay.   The hind feet then came out and the foal had 4 very high white socks, to go with it's blaze.   My heart was leaping in my chest, it was the horse I had dreamed about for so long.   I quickly reached my hand under it's tail to find out it's gender.   My face lit up like a Christmas Tree, I'm told, and I could barely speak as I gasped, "It's a filly!  It's a girl!"

I immediately knew what to call this beautiful dream filly, "Welcome to the family, Belle!"

As Belle grew and learned how to use those beautiful long legs of hers, within a few days, I knew, Belle had received her mother's movement.  I had gotten everything I had hoped and prayed for and more, Belle was unbelievable, so perfect.   I was beyond happy with my dream horse.

Belle's formal name became Bella Serhafina, which means "beautiful heavenly angel", because that is what she was to me.  I put the "rh" instead of just the "r" in the Serhafina, in honor of her sire, Rho-Quest, and his sire, Khemosabi.  Belle bares a striking resemblence to her grandsire, Khemosabit, down to the same jagged sock on the same front leg.   What a blessing she is and a wonderful addition to Perfect Peace Farm.