I can't believe I have not posted on my blog in over a month. With December's festivities, meaning Christmas activities, things got pretty hectic and busy around here. I've finally gotten the tree down, Christmas decorations put away, etc. So, that part of the busy schedule is done, but my girls, horses, and dogs continue to keep me on my toes.
We had a wonderful Christmas visiting with family nearby, staying at home Christmas Day, and then visiting family in northern Virginia the week after Christmas.
During our visit to northern Virginia we got to visit our racehorse, Marq Your Bible aka "Marcus". He was still on his short break from training and looked awesome. He has grown a lot and looks so mature, from that colt that used to run around our fields.
As of January 8th, he is back in training. He is jogging and will start galloping shortly. We are still hoping for a first start in late March, but we will not push him too fast, as a long career is what we really want, so we won't risk soundness by rushing too fast. This is why we've waited this long, as he will be 3 years old in April.
Some Thoroughbreds are ready to race at 2 years old and if he had been ready, we would have, but it just wasn't in his best interest to do so. His dam has several offspring that raced at 2 years old and did well, so it was worth sending him into training. Listening to him told us to wait. His full sister, for instance, raced 10 times at 2 with a win and several second places, including in a stakes race at Colonial Downs.
We are very excited that Marcus is back in training and everything is looking perfect, so far.
The first week of the New year brought a bit of stress to us, as one of our mares came up lame and we noticed other problems in several others. After a close inspection, I discovered issues with three of our six mares hooves. I called my vet and he called another farrier for me and recommended us to each other. The farrier wasn't taking on new clients, at this time, but I live near him and my vet so highly recommended me as a good horse person that the farrier agreed to come take a look at the two worst cases.
The new farrier confirmed my suspicions, that the other farrier had made some mistakes and the two worst cases were in major need of help. He worked on both of them and is coming back in a few days to recheck those two and check all my horses, to make sure we aren't missing something else with any of the others. I do know there is a minor issue with one other, but it is very minor compared to the issues with the other two.
I was talking to my new farrier and we were talking about the difference between being a farrier in the US versus most other countries, mainly European ones. In Europe, he told me that you have to go to school for 3 years to be a farrier, then you have to apprentice under a licensed farrier for a few more years, before you can become a licensed farrier, yourself. He is for licensing of farriers in the US, where anyone can pick up farrier tools and say they know how to do it. There is no way to know how much training your farrier truly has had, you pretty much have to take him at his word.
In Europe, if a farrier injures a horse they can be fined, and in some cases even sent to jail. it is taken very seriously.
No, I'm not saying my old farrier needs to go to jail or anything of the sort, he meant well. I am talking in whole, because I have had so many farrier issues over the years that it is just not fair to the horses or owners to have to deal with untrained people saying they are trained, deal with people who just show up whenever they feel like it, never mind that you might have plans or other things to do, or farriers who just stop showing up. I have been here for almost 10 years and I have been through nine farriers, this new one is my 10th. I have had some work for me for 2 and 3 years, before the problems started with them not showing up, and a few others got irresponsible or were mean to my horses or were not good with young horses, and so on, so that is why they didn't last long, but the main issue has been the no show problem. It seems widespread, not just in my area, but this area, especially has been the worst I've been in.
Farriers in this area get anywhere from $25 to $35 to trim a horse's feet and it is more if there needs to be shoes put on or there are other issues. So, for my barn of 6, they can bring in $150 to $210 every 8 weeks for 2 hours, at most, worth of work. I know that some of the no show farriers that I have had issues with have also done the same to barns that had so many horses that the farrier was supposed to show up there every week!
I don't understand why these people are not more responsible and have a better work ethic. I heard one would blow off clients to go hunting or fishing and not call clients to tell them he wasn't coming. I mean, ok, if you want to fish, I have a pond right here on my farm you can fish in after you are done and I even told him he could do that.
My new farrier said that, unfortunately, licensing probably won't happen in the US, because most of the farriers out there wouldn't be able to pass the licensing exams and they are part of a lobby that is quite strong, but he said he is part of a group that is for it and keeps trying.
One of the horses that was messed up by the old farrier is doing well, the other is still lame, but is improving. Their hooves were trimmed off balanced which caused different issues for each of them, because of their own pre-existing conditions with their hooves and legs.
I am encouraged by their improvements in the last two weeks, so I am hopeful that no permanent damage has been done, but only time will tell, as these things take awhile to correct.
I will end for now and get off my soapbox about licensing of farriers in the US and I will try to write more frequently on my blog, now that things are hopefully calming down for a bit.
Have a great 2012!
Showing posts with label Marq Your Bible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marq Your Bible. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thankful Day After Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving we headed up to visit my in-laws in northern Virginia. Along with visiting family we had plans to visit our 2 year old gelding, Marq Your Bible aka "Marcus", who we own in partnership with my mother-in-law and 5 others. He is taking a short break, as he has grown so much that we decided it was in his best interest to give him a breather so he'd be all ready for a 3 year old campaign, with our first big goal of a first start in March and then head him to Colonial Downs this June and July, for the VA-bred races, hoping he will be stakes quality.
Our trainer, Diana McClure, is a wonderful woman and not only loves the horses she works with, but also loves children and helping them develop their love of horses. So, whenever we can make it out to her farm, she offers my two daughters a ride on her pony horse, Brownie, who is quite famous in his own right, for being the lead pony for Big Brown before his Preakness win, among other things.
So, on the day after Thanksgiving, we went to Diana's farm and both my girls got to ride Brownie and Diana also graciously gave pony rides to my two nephews, one of which had never been on a horse.
All the children really enjoyed their rides and my oldest even got to ride twice, because she loves Brownie so much that she talks about him all the time and even brought him some carrots this time. Diana is showing her how to get into a jockey position, which she also did in July, at our last visit, and a picture of that has gotten a lot of attention on Facebook and on Diana's website.
After our visit with Brownie, we headed over to a friend of Diana's farm to see Marcus. Diana thought her friend's farm would be a better place for a short break, than her own, because of a nice hill in the pasture and he could be left turned out a lot more, with a few buddies.
When Marcus came up to the fence and realized who was here to visit he was crazing our attention. I climbed the fence and groomed him a little bit. He is not what most people would think of when they think of a horse who has been in race training. He's so sweet, I groomed him while he was totally loose in his pasture, no halter, no lead rope, nothing, he just stood there relishing the attention that I bestowed upon him.
A few times, after I was done grooming, he wandered off, but always came right back for more attention. The picture above is of Marcus coming over to me and giving me a good sniff and kiss. He did this all on his own, I did not encourage him to put his nose to my face. I know he remembers me. I was there helping him come into this world, a difficult birth and he is lucky to be alive and healthy after such a hard time coming into this world. I guess he and I will always have a special connection because of that tricky situation.
After he sniffed me over really good he wandered off, but came right back and I was standing by the fence talking to Diana and he came up and put his head over my right shoulder and just stood there with his gorgeous head on my shoulder listening to me talk and letting me rub on him some more. He is so sweet and such a special boy, I can't wait for him to start racing.
After our visit we went back to my in-laws for a late lunch, tried to get our youngest daughter to take a nap, but she was just too excited, so later in the afternoon we headed out for a walk, as our oldest wanted to go see the stream, she had seen on a walk, the day before, with some other family members. It was my husband, my two daughters, and I alone, this time. I had my Seeing Eye Dog Dextra harnessed up and I was following behind my husband as we went down the very steep hill behind my in-law's house. Our oldest daughter led the way and my husband helped our youngest. After a little while, we realized it was getting dark very quickly, so we turned around to head back to the house, but our oldest daughter was getting a bit upset that she wasn't going to get to see the stream again. My husband got me to the bottom of the steep hill, where the path led through the thick woods up to my in-law's house and I took my youngest daughters hand and started back to the house as my husband took our oldest a shortcut to the stream. I couldn't see hardly anything through the thick woods, I just said, "Dextra, forward! Let's go back to the house." And Dextra slowly made her way up the steep incline guiding me and my 2 year old daughter around the thick underbrush, bush branches, etc staying on what felt like the correct path, the several hundered feet up to the clearing where the house stands. When she got us safely to the front sidewalk I dropped the harness and gave her a huge hug, petted her vigorously, and just told her how proud of her I was and what a super star Seeing Eye Dog she is!
These dogs are not trained to go hiking like that, but many guide dog users do go hiking, we just have to do it slowly and use the training they have to expand on it to train them about trails. So, she isn't in the first to do this, but it was her first time doing it and she was amazing!
Dextra and I have only been together since April and she is only 2 1/2 years old, but she is proving to be so awesome and I can not praise her enough or thank The Seeing Eye enough for partnering her with me. I look forward to a lot more adventures with this truly amazing young yellow Labrador from The Seeing Eye.
And, yes, my 2 year old was also adding her praises to Dextra, too. It was so dark by the time I made it back to the house that all I could see was the outline of the house against the fading light. I went inside and had my father-in-law turn on the flood lights, so that my husband and oldest daughter could find their way back to the house, which they did about 20 minutes later.
So, the day after Thanksgiving gave me a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful for my sweet family, my awesome Seeing Eye dog, my horses, and my wodnerful trainer, Diana McClure.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Marq Your Bible to race, in part, for The Seeing Eye, Inc
It is amazing how God works and the inspirations that come from His faithfulness.
Already, there are three partners in our racehorse that are graduates of The Seeing Eye, myself, included. On Sunday, I received an unexpected call from yet another Seeing Eye graduate who wishes to join the partnership.
She has informed me that any of her earnings, past what will go directly back into the partnership, will be donated to The Seeing Eye, in her name. This has inspired me to do the same with part of my majority interest in him.
I currently own 42% of Marq Your Bible aka "Marcus" and I now wish to also donate at least 2% of my earnings, past what goes back directly to the partnership, to The Seeing Eye. I have been inspired by this new member and also by the faithfulness God has shown me and I am feeling led to do this.
So, now, Marcus will not only be owned by 4 graduates of The Seeing Eye and 2 other women, who are not blind, but he will be racing for the wonderful organization that we all love, that has provided 4 of us with amazing dog guides, The Seeing Eye Inc of Morristown, NJ.
Marcus will be taking a short break to do some more growing. He has nothing wrong, but has been growing so much lately, that we just feel it is in his best interest to let him grow. He will start his vacation next week and be brought back into training Jan. 1st, with a hopeful first race to be around the middle of March.
Become a fan of this wonderful horse that is now going to be racing for such an extraordinarily great cause
You can find his fan page on Facebook and also the farm fan page, Perfect Peace Farm, where you will receive updated news on what he is up to and see pictures of this totally gorgeous boy.
Marcus' fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marq-Your-Bible/193529944025899?ref=ts
Perfect Peace Farm fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Perfect-Peace-Farm-LLC/173890696024170
Go Marcus, Go!
-----
A little background on me and my connection to The Seeing Eye.
I am currently working with my 4th Seeing Eye Dog, Dextra, a 2 year old female yellow Labrador Retriever, who I received in April 2011.
I received my first Seeing Eye Dog, Ginger, a female German Shepherd, in July 1994. I have been blessed by this organization and the 4 great dogs I have been given. I received my 2nd guide, Zach, in May 1995, a male black Labrador Retriever, and my 3rd, Nalley, a male Golden Retriever, in April 2002. Nalley is still with me, at the age of 11, enjoying retirement.
These dogs have guided me at college, through graduation, on various horse farms and other jobs, down the aisle at a friend's wedding, been my ring bearer at my own wedding, guided me on the train trip we took for our Honeymoon to Saratoga Springs for the horse races, at several other race tracks, including to Churchill Downs for the Breeder's Cup in 2006, been with me when I sing solos at church, when I'm in choir, and countless other things, where they help me maintain independence. I am forever grateful to The Seeing Eye for their dedication to breeding top quality dogs, training the best guides for those seeking a dog guide, and the support they give students while in class and graduates after we return home with our dogs. It is a wonderful organization that I am pleased to be a part of and hope and pray that I can give back to, in part, with some of the earnings of this racehorse. I will be combining my love of dogs and horses all in one, it doesn't get much better than that!
Already, there are three partners in our racehorse that are graduates of The Seeing Eye, myself, included. On Sunday, I received an unexpected call from yet another Seeing Eye graduate who wishes to join the partnership.
She has informed me that any of her earnings, past what will go directly back into the partnership, will be donated to The Seeing Eye, in her name. This has inspired me to do the same with part of my majority interest in him.
I currently own 42% of Marq Your Bible aka "Marcus" and I now wish to also donate at least 2% of my earnings, past what goes back directly to the partnership, to The Seeing Eye. I have been inspired by this new member and also by the faithfulness God has shown me and I am feeling led to do this.
So, now, Marcus will not only be owned by 4 graduates of The Seeing Eye and 2 other women, who are not blind, but he will be racing for the wonderful organization that we all love, that has provided 4 of us with amazing dog guides, The Seeing Eye Inc of Morristown, NJ.
Marcus will be taking a short break to do some more growing. He has nothing wrong, but has been growing so much lately, that we just feel it is in his best interest to let him grow. He will start his vacation next week and be brought back into training Jan. 1st, with a hopeful first race to be around the middle of March.
Become a fan of this wonderful horse that is now going to be racing for such an extraordinarily great cause
You can find his fan page on Facebook and also the farm fan page, Perfect Peace Farm, where you will receive updated news on what he is up to and see pictures of this totally gorgeous boy.
Marcus' fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Marq-Your-Bible/193529944025899?ref=ts
Perfect Peace Farm fan page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Perfect-Peace-Farm-LLC/173890696024170
Go Marcus, Go!
-----
A little background on me and my connection to The Seeing Eye.
I am currently working with my 4th Seeing Eye Dog, Dextra, a 2 year old female yellow Labrador Retriever, who I received in April 2011.
I received my first Seeing Eye Dog, Ginger, a female German Shepherd, in July 1994. I have been blessed by this organization and the 4 great dogs I have been given. I received my 2nd guide, Zach, in May 1995, a male black Labrador Retriever, and my 3rd, Nalley, a male Golden Retriever, in April 2002. Nalley is still with me, at the age of 11, enjoying retirement.
These dogs have guided me at college, through graduation, on various horse farms and other jobs, down the aisle at a friend's wedding, been my ring bearer at my own wedding, guided me on the train trip we took for our Honeymoon to Saratoga Springs for the horse races, at several other race tracks, including to Churchill Downs for the Breeder's Cup in 2006, been with me when I sing solos at church, when I'm in choir, and countless other things, where they help me maintain independence. I am forever grateful to The Seeing Eye for their dedication to breeding top quality dogs, training the best guides for those seeking a dog guide, and the support they give students while in class and graduates after we return home with our dogs. It is a wonderful organization that I am pleased to be a part of and hope and pray that I can give back to, in part, with some of the earnings of this racehorse. I will be combining my love of dogs and horses all in one, it doesn't get much better than that!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Hurricane Irene at Perfect Peace Farm and a few Other Things
As Hurricane Irene approached and the air pressure started to drop on Thursday, it sent our oldest mare, Messenger of Light, aka "Leia", into a gas colic. She has been sensitive to drops in air pressure, int he past, suffering a gas colic about once a year, for the past 4 years or so. We gave her some Banamine and she was quickly much better and never had anymore signs of a problem. We kept a close watch on her for the next few days, but it appears that this episode had been mild, thank goodness, so no vet was needed.
We brought the horses into the barn on Friday evening, as the rain was supposed to start between 3 to 5 AM on Saturday. We filled up all 3 huge water troughs, knowing we'd lose power, we wanted to make sure we had plenty of water for the horses. After Hurricane Isabel, we were without power for a full week, actually about 6 hours or so past a full week. So, I wanted to be ready for the worst.
We had our tub filled with water, I had cleaned out milk jugs and juice containers, and filled them with water, and I had a few big pots of water for the dogs and cat.
We woke up on Saturday morning to strong winds and heavy rain, but still had power. I started lunch shortly after we finished breakfast, as I wanted to make sure we had something nice to eat before we lost power. I also had my husband run some of my frozen foods over to a friend's house, as she had space in her chest freezer for them and had a generator, so i wouldn't lose all my food.
My planning paid off and we lost power right after lunch, at about 1 PM.
We put our youngest daughter, almost 2 years old, down for her nap, hoping she'd sleep throught he storm and she did somewhat. Her nap was a bit shorter than usual, but you couldn't blame her.
We had an old transister radio, so were able to listen to the news reports as to how bad things were, where the storm was going, etc.
Since we'd lost power I was not going to be able to watch any of the big horse races of this past weekend, but a friend of mine was willing to talk to me ont he phone and relay to me what was happening with the races. I got to hear about the King's Bishop and Travers as they were happening. She promised to call me the on Sunday so I could hear the big races from Del Mar.
Then it was time to feed everyone, so my husband went to check on the horses and feed them their dinner as I prepared our dinner in the house.
We got the girls ready for bed a bit earlier than their usual 8:30 bedtime and got them into bed as it got dark.
We had batteries to run the CD player for our youngest daughter, so she'd have her music to fall asleep to, but our oldest, almost 6 years old, was just a bit too scared by the wind and storm, so I laid some blankets on the floor next to my side of the bed and told her she could sleep there.
My two dogs, Nalley, an 11 year old Golden Retriever, my retired Seeing Eye Dog, and Dextra, a 2 year old yellow Labrador Retriever, my current Seeing Eye Dog, laid on the floor on either side of our oldest daughter.
Several times through the night, our youngest daughter woke up crying, so I had to go check on her. I did try to bring her into bed with us, but she just will not sleep in our bed, prefering to play or talk. When my husband started snoring she blurted out, at almost full volume, "Daddy, what are you doing?" I tried to hush her and told her that Daddy was snoring, but she just wouldn't quiet down, so I took her back to her room, put the music back on and rocked her in the glider for a little while. She did go back to sleep and I was able to get a bit more sleep.
We were then rudely woken up at 6 AM by our oldest daughter, who jumped up and called out, "There is no more storm!" She was so excited that it was over.
My husband knew I hadn't slept well, due to our youngest, so he took our oldest and let me sleep in a bit more, as our youngest was also still sleeping.
They got dressed and went to feed the horses, let them out of the barn, and survey the damage to our property.
We were pretty lucky, no trees down, but some minor gutter damage and the roof over our patio got ripped off the house and flipped over the back yard fence, almost landing in our pond. The legs are bent, the roof is bent, so I think it can't be put back up, it will have to be replaced, at some point. Our mailbox also got damaged, so over all we were very lucky.
Sunday was hot, but there was a wind for mos tof the day. In the evening we all went out to feed the horses and spend some time with them.
As they ate, Leia started to cough, and I instantly knew she was starting to choke, something else that she does about once a year, like the gas colic. We were working with the other group of horses, but I kept an ear out for Leia and paid attention to how often she was coughing.
Our oldest daughter really wanted to get on the backs of Myra and Belle, our two ponies, well, Myra is a Half Welsh, Belle is just pony sized, but is an Anglo-Arabian, they are half sisters. So, I led Myra, while holding our youngest daughter, and my husband held onto our oldest, as she sat on Myra, first. Myra and Belle have not truly been broke to ride, but have been willing to let us put kids on their backs, so far, but this time, Myra decided she really didn't want our oldest up there, so let out a buck, but since my husband had ahold of our daughter, he was able to get her off and she was not hurt. She was crying, but I think it was more from being scared. She quickly stopped crying and I caught Belle and she eagerly got on Belle's back. Belle was very good and didn't do anything, so that was great to help rebuild her confidence.
I noticed Leia was still coughing, so I said it was time for me to check on Leia more closely. I handed our youngest daughter to my husband, so I could go into the pasture with Leia and Glory, to see how Leia was doing. She had some snot coming out of her nose, due to her coughing fromt he choke. I ran my hands down her neck to see if I could feel anything, but I just felt that all the muscles were super tight. I then put my hands on either side of her neck and slowly and gently moved them from her throat latch area down towards her chest, trying to follow where her esophagus is. I did this only twice, not really knowing if it would help or not, but something just told me to do it, so going with my instincts and gut feeling, I did what just seemed to come naturally to me. As I did this, I could feel Leia's neck muscles start to relax. I led her around a few minutes, then turned her lose, when I realized she hadn't coughed even once since I had run my hands down her neck. We stayed out there another 10 minutes or so and there was no more coughing. So, the choking incident was also mild, just like her gas colic.
I have never done that technique on a choking horse before and I just had a strong urge to do it. The only thing I can tell you is that God was telling me what to do to help her, and because I listened she was healed and again, no vet was needed.
Let's just say my husband is so happy that in the two incidents with Leia, in the last week, that I'd saved us, easily, over $600 in emergency vet costs.
All I know is God has given me a gift to just know things about horses, what is wrong with them, how good they are going to be as race horses, if they are a nice spiritted horse or a mean horse, and so on. I just have this sense and I want to try to use it more, share my gift. I don't know how I will do this, but maybe some door will open for me to share this with others and not just use it on my own small herd or share experiences I've had with horses I've worked with int he past on this blog.
Sunday night was very hot and uncomfortable, as there was no wind and the humidity was up, but we managed to get a little sleep.
On Monday, a friend of mine offered to take my kids and I to her sister's house so we could all get cleaned up. It was a nice break.
While we were gone my husband went for more ice and some milk.
Thankfully, at 9:30 PM on Monday, the power came back on, but since we were already in bed, the only enjoyment we got from it was that we turned on the fans.
Home phone is still not working, internet is super slow, but at least we have power now. I've been trying to catch up on some new sin the world and some racing news and when I found out what Uncle Mo's owner said about finishing 2nd in the King's Bishop it has annoyed me greatly. He said it was the "lowest of lows". No, sir, sorry, finishing 2nd in a major Grade 1 stakes race is not a low of any kind. When your beautiful 3 year old filly, who has the heart of a champion, is improving with each race, looks like she is going to finish a clear cut second, suddenly fades and is eased, then requires the horse ambulance to come get her to take her back to her stall, that is the "lowest of lows". Being told she may not survive, because one of her sesamoids is totally shattered, that's a low. So, please do not say finishing 2nd in that race was "the lowest of lows.", you have no idea. I foaled that filly out, helped her come into this world, and it was a very difficult delivery, I halter trained her, loved her, played with her, etc, the heart ache of her injury was more than I can put into words. Luckily, and praise God, she beat all the odds and is standing out in my pasture right now, and will hopefully be bred next year. The jockey said it as a soft spot in the track that she found, it happens in racing, it's hard to deal with, loving horses the way I do, but it could have happened in the field, I've had horses get hurt in stalls, fields, etc, so I will keep racing, loving my horses, and taking care of them the best I can.
Her half brother is gearing up to make his first start this fall. So, watch out for Marq Your Bible!
So, Hurricane Irene is gone, leaving some with more damage than we got and I know some lives were lost. My thoughts and prayers are with those who's lives have been devistated by this storm. I pray lives can get back to some kind of normal as quickly as possible.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Visiting Marcus
On July 3, 2011 I got to go visit Marcus (Marq Your Bible), the racehorse that I own in partnership with family and friends. Marcus is a 2 year old gelding sired by Marquetry and is out of my mare, Red Devilette (by Oh Say) aka "Scarlette".
I helped bring Marcus into this world, as he was malpositioned during delivery, so I was the first human that he ever smelled, touched, and saw. He has always been very sweet and gentle, to handle. Despite being in race training, he appears to be keeping his wonderful disposition.
Shortly after we arrived at Diana McClure's farm near Berryville, VA, I was taken to see Marcus, who was in his stall. He immediately put his nose to my face, greeting me. He sniffed me all over and was loving the attention. My 5 year old daughter, also gave him kisses, hugs, and pets, just like she did when he was growing up on our farm.
I went into Marcus's stall and ran my hands all over him, feeling how much his muscle tone had improved since he was moved to Diana's farm in the middle of May. He has grown over an inch, in height, his muscle tone has improved greatly, his bone has appeared to gotten stronger looking, and he's gotten wider in his chest. He is just looking better and better.
I offered to groom him for Diana, so I could spend a few more minutes with him and she graciously let me. I truly enjoyed getting to brush him and spend that time with him.
Diana then saddled him up and we walked out to the training track, where we could watch him train and my husband, Gordon, could get some pictures.
He usually goes out with a chestnut filly, but this time he went out with a grey gelding, because the filly was a bit under the weather that morning, luckily, she is doing totally fine, now.
Marcus and the grey gelding were brought out onto the training track, were ridden into the starting gate and he had to stand there quietly for a few minutes, before they walked out and headed down the chute, picking up a trot. After about 1/4 mile or so, they picked up a gallop and they went twice around the 5/8th's mile training track.
He stayed with the grey gelding, who is a very experienced retired racehorse, and when the grey picked up the pace, Marcus took him on.
When Diana came back, she said th ey were very impressed with how he behaved with the grey, keeping up with him, as the pace increased and he showed his conditioning by hardly breathing hard at all, despite the heat and humidity.
Diana rode him back to the barn, untacked him, and then Marcus got a nice bath.
We took more pictures of him and then he was taken back to his stall.
Diana has a fairly famous lead pony named Brownie, who led Big Brown to the gate for the Preakness. Brownie is fairly well known in the Mid-Atlantic. He's a big Quarter Horse, I think about 16 hands or so.
Diana tacked him up and my 5 year old daughter got to get on him, for a nice ride around the barnyard. Diana then had her husband stop Brownie and they showed my daughter how to get into a jockey position. She has great form!
We then put my 22 month old daughter up on Brownie, infront of her sister, and taught my older daughter how to hold onto her baby sister properly. Diana's husband continued to lead Brownie and Diana walked right beside them, as they went for a lap around the barnyard. I then tried to get my youngest daughter off, but she folded her arms, refusing to get off and said, "No!" So, they went for another lap around the barnyard and Brownie was led back to his stall, where we got my daughters off, with a lot less protest.
Both girls thanked Brownie for letting them ride him. My oldest even said how much she was going to miss Brownie, she really loves horses.
It was a great visit to Diana's farm and I can't thank her enough, for taking time from her busing schedule to give two little girls a major thrill.
Marcus got his knees x-rayed on Tuesday and his knees still need a bit more time, so he will just continue to do long gallops, probably increase the distance he gallops, but no speed will be added until the vet says so. We'll x-ray again in early August and we hope his knees will be closed, so he can start speed work. We think he'll have enough conditioning, by then, that it will only take a few weeks or so to get himr eady for a sprint race.
His full sister, Perfect Pet, was a sprinter, with a lot of speed, an some other siblings have had speed, while others can carry their speed over a distance, so we'll try at sprints and see how he does, but be willing to move him to distance races, if he shows he can do that, as well, or would prefer that.
We are so excited about Marcus and his potential! We are still willing to sell a few shares in him, if anyone is interested. Or you can just become a fan of him on Facebook, by searching by his registered name "Marq Your Bible". I have put up lots of pictures from our visit, so please check them out on his fan page.
I helped bring Marcus into this world, as he was malpositioned during delivery, so I was the first human that he ever smelled, touched, and saw. He has always been very sweet and gentle, to handle. Despite being in race training, he appears to be keeping his wonderful disposition.
Shortly after we arrived at Diana McClure's farm near Berryville, VA, I was taken to see Marcus, who was in his stall. He immediately put his nose to my face, greeting me. He sniffed me all over and was loving the attention. My 5 year old daughter, also gave him kisses, hugs, and pets, just like she did when he was growing up on our farm.
I went into Marcus's stall and ran my hands all over him, feeling how much his muscle tone had improved since he was moved to Diana's farm in the middle of May. He has grown over an inch, in height, his muscle tone has improved greatly, his bone has appeared to gotten stronger looking, and he's gotten wider in his chest. He is just looking better and better.
I offered to groom him for Diana, so I could spend a few more minutes with him and she graciously let me. I truly enjoyed getting to brush him and spend that time with him.
Diana then saddled him up and we walked out to the training track, where we could watch him train and my husband, Gordon, could get some pictures.
He usually goes out with a chestnut filly, but this time he went out with a grey gelding, because the filly was a bit under the weather that morning, luckily, she is doing totally fine, now.
Marcus and the grey gelding were brought out onto the training track, were ridden into the starting gate and he had to stand there quietly for a few minutes, before they walked out and headed down the chute, picking up a trot. After about 1/4 mile or so, they picked up a gallop and they went twice around the 5/8th's mile training track.
He stayed with the grey gelding, who is a very experienced retired racehorse, and when the grey picked up the pace, Marcus took him on.
When Diana came back, she said th ey were very impressed with how he behaved with the grey, keeping up with him, as the pace increased and he showed his conditioning by hardly breathing hard at all, despite the heat and humidity.
Diana rode him back to the barn, untacked him, and then Marcus got a nice bath.
We took more pictures of him and then he was taken back to his stall.
Diana has a fairly famous lead pony named Brownie, who led Big Brown to the gate for the Preakness. Brownie is fairly well known in the Mid-Atlantic. He's a big Quarter Horse, I think about 16 hands or so.
Diana tacked him up and my 5 year old daughter got to get on him, for a nice ride around the barnyard. Diana then had her husband stop Brownie and they showed my daughter how to get into a jockey position. She has great form!
We then put my 22 month old daughter up on Brownie, infront of her sister, and taught my older daughter how to hold onto her baby sister properly. Diana's husband continued to lead Brownie and Diana walked right beside them, as they went for a lap around the barnyard. I then tried to get my youngest daughter off, but she folded her arms, refusing to get off and said, "No!" So, they went for another lap around the barnyard and Brownie was led back to his stall, where we got my daughters off, with a lot less protest.
Both girls thanked Brownie for letting them ride him. My oldest even said how much she was going to miss Brownie, she really loves horses.
It was a great visit to Diana's farm and I can't thank her enough, for taking time from her busing schedule to give two little girls a major thrill.
Marcus got his knees x-rayed on Tuesday and his knees still need a bit more time, so he will just continue to do long gallops, probably increase the distance he gallops, but no speed will be added until the vet says so. We'll x-ray again in early August and we hope his knees will be closed, so he can start speed work. We think he'll have enough conditioning, by then, that it will only take a few weeks or so to get himr eady for a sprint race.
His full sister, Perfect Pet, was a sprinter, with a lot of speed, an some other siblings have had speed, while others can carry their speed over a distance, so we'll try at sprints and see how he does, but be willing to move him to distance races, if he shows he can do that, as well, or would prefer that.
We are so excited about Marcus and his potential! We are still willing to sell a few shares in him, if anyone is interested. Or you can just become a fan of him on Facebook, by searching by his registered name "Marq Your Bible". I have put up lots of pictures from our visit, so please check them out on his fan page.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Red Devilette Comes to Perfect Peace Farm
After I left Longwood Farm in March of 1993, I tried to keep track of the yearlings and other horses that I worked with. I have newspaper clippings of entries and results, from some of their races, I have magazines with articles about them, when they won their big races, and a few other odds and ends of info from their racing careers. Since the majority were geldings, after their racing careers were over, I lost track of them, only knowing where one is, to this day, and knowing that another died fairly young, but that is it. Fillies are a bit easier to keep track of, especially if they are lucky enough to be used as broodmares, Red Devilette was one of those lucky ones, as she won a few races and came from a nice productive female family, so people believed she deserved a chance as a broodmare.
I was able to keep track of her as she produced a few foals in Kentucky and as the internet got better and better at finding out info, it was easier to track her foals, as well.
Her first three foals were all winners. Nothing special, but they did all win races. Her first foal, in fact won races over a long period of time and raced almost 100 times. I think he actually won a race at 10 years of age.
In early 2004, I did an internet search, as I did every few months, to see if there was any new info, and was saddened to find that she had gone through a recent sale in Kentucky and had not brought much, and I had missed the opportunity to buy her. Later that summer, I decided I'd try to track down the person who had bought her and just make contact with the person to tell them about my experience with Red Devilette and just to see how she was doing, owning her was a longshot and I really wasn't even thinking about it too much.
Well, I stumbled across the person's website and there was a picture of Red Devilette and even with my limited vision, to me, in the picture, she was conveying that she was afraid. The picture had been taken at the auction in Kentucky and I'm sure she was quite worried about what situation she might be going into.
Luckily, when I contacted the lady, who lived in Colorado, she was really nice and said that Red Devilette was actually up for sale. We talked about her a bit and I told her I would see if I could afford to buy her or not. My husband and I talked and we decided to see if she would actually fit our breeding program and if she did, I'd first see if there was anything like her, for the same price or less, closer to us.
I looked all around and for some reason, I couldn't find anything like her for less, as the market was still fairly strong at this time. So, the lady who had her offered to come down a little bit on the price, so it would make it easier for us to buy her and pay for shipping from Colorado to Virginia.
I think I was still in shock that I was actually buying Red Devilette and was going to be reunited with her after almost 12 years.
Right before Thanksgiving of 2004, Red Devilette arrived at our small Perfect Peace Farm in southeastern Virginia, to take up residence at her new perminant home.
Because I had never been allowed to give her a nickname, when she was a yearling, because the men didn't want me to, I started the search for one. I wanted one that fit her personality and maybe one that fit her registered name, too. My mother-in-law suggested Scarlett and I added an "e" on the end, in reference to the last part of her registered name, so her barn name was now Scarlette. It fit her perfectly, she is a lot like the Scarlett O'Hara character from "Gone With The Wind", very much doing what she wants, high class, proud, intellegent, and so on.
I swear that Scarlette remembered me, when she heard my voice, because she settled in at our farm quickly, and with very little issue. She came to us carrying her 6th foal, as she was bred to Oliver's Twist, back in Colorado.
In early March she produced a lovely filly that we called Windy. Windy was sold as a weanling to a lady in New Jersey, but unfortunately was not able to race due to her owner's circumstances and was resold as an event prospect. She was given the registered name of Scarlett Shetanna, by her owner from NJ, who was a huge fan of "The Black Stallion" books, as am I, it fit.
As we got to know Scarlette better, I realized she was even smarter than I had remembered. Scarlette seems to be one of those rare horses that understands a whole lot of english and if you ask her nicely to do something, in most cases she will do it, but like Scarlett O'Hara, you do not tell her what to do, unless you want a fight or unless you are prepared to wait and wait and wait.
For instance, if I need to get Scarlette in the barn, because a storm is coming, I go out to the field to bring in the horses, Scarlette being my alpha mare, she usually is the last one into the barn paddock and then the last one to be caught. After I get everyone else in and it is now Scarlette's turn, I open up the outer stall door to her stall and stand back, I turn towards her and say, "Scarlette, it is going to storm, you should come into the barn." Or something close to that, it can be, "Scarlette, the farrier is coming and you need your feet done." As long as I give her a good reason to come into the barn, on her own, she usually walks right up to her stall door and goes in on her own, with me never having to catch her. If she is in the front field and I can't get the gates open so that she can do this, and I absolutely must catch her, I will go out into the field and say, "Scarlette, will you let me catch you so I can take you to your stall? There's going to be a storm." And she will usually circle me a few times, look at me, stop about 10 to 20 feet away and then stand looking at me and that is her way of telling me she is ready to be caught. I can then approach her and put the halter on her, with no trouble. But if you do not ask for permission to catch her or do not tell her why she needs to go into the barn, you can spend a half an hour out there chasing her around the fields, trying to catch her, but as soon as you start talking to her and give her a good reason or ask for her permission, she will immediately change and do what you ask, as long as you did so nicely, as she responds to tone a lot, too.
Even when entering her stall, I ask for permission to put the halter on her. I do not know what was done to her in the past and by whom. I do not know if she was abused or if just not treated the way she needed to be. I do not know if it is just people being afraid of her slightly nervous disposition or what, but when you enter the stall she usually has her butt turned towards you. In most cases you don't want the horse to do this, because it means that they might be thinking about kicking you, it is a dominance thing and yes, she is my alpha mare and by such, she demands respect. But I can honestly tell you that in the 7 years she has been on this farm, she has never kicked at me or my husband. So, I allow her to have her butt to me, I understand her need to do this, it is almost like she is protecting herself, she isn't doing it to be mean. I just talk to her, and reach out with my hand, finding her rump, I gently touch her, as I talk to her about catching her and putting the halter on her, telling her all that I'm going to do and what is going to be done. I slowly walk up her left side and as I get to her shoulder, most of the time she turns her pretty dished head towards me and lets me easily halter her and I can easily take her out of her stall for the farrier or vet to work with her.
I seriously believe she is not a mean horse and this behavior is more of a defense to her than her trying to be dominant over me, as she never pushes me, knocks into me or acts aggressive in any way towards me. We have a wonderful understanding relationship and I know she is happy here.
For my first choice of a stallion to breed Scarlette to, I chose Marquetry. He was a very successful racehorse and sire of some very nice runners, he also sired soundness, which I desired to breed for. Scarlette was bred to him in April of 2005 and in March of 2006, she presented us with a second filly, who we nicknamed Hope. Hope was a beautiful filly, dark bay with a heart shaped star on her forehead and one white sock. Like Windy, we sold Hope as a weanling, but this time, we were lucky and Hope ended up in a racing home.
Hope's owners gave her the registered name of Perfect Pet, using the word "perfect" from our farm name, I believe, and "pet" probably because she was a nice filly with a good disposition.
Hope did not disappoint us. The first time we got to see her race, in person, she was racing in the Jamestown Stakes for 2 year old fillies at Colonial Downs, on the dirt. Even though it was a stakes race, all of the fillies had not won a race, yet, as it was still early in their careers, so we had a lot of "hope" for Perfect Pet, who was the most experienced in the field, and had already placed a few times. Perfect Pet led most of the way and was only passed at the top of the stretch by one horse, a filly sired by a stallion who stood for more than 10 times what I had paid for the Marquetry stud fee. Perfect Pet lost by about 6 lengths, but was another 5 lengths or so ahead of the third place finisher, and in doing so, she put black type on her dam's page.
This is very important in the career of a broodmare, because it makes all of the foals born afterwards worth more, out of the mare. It proves that the mare can produce a decent race horse and that if she did it once, she could do it again.
Perfect Pet went on to race 20 times, with 1 win, 8 seconds, and 2 thirds, with earnings of $57,156, to be Scarlette's best foal to date.
Perfect Pet's owners decided near the end of her 3 year old year that she just didn't have the heart to race anymore and just wasn't happy doing it and they did the right thing and found her a great home. She now lives in northern Virginia and is happy as a pleasure horse. I was thrilled when her new owner contacted me and we have developed a friendship and I get updates, pictures, etc from Hope's owner on a regular basis. I hope to one day get to visit her at her new home. Her new owner has no plans to sell her, but knows that I am always willing to have Hope back, if there were ever a need for that, as she did so much for my little breeding operation, I could never repay what she and her mother have done for me, giving my first black type runner and my first winner as a breeder, something I'll never forget.
Scarlette's next date was with Silver Ghost, an older stallion, but he had a pretty good record of siring some decent runners, so I decided to give him a try, so I bred her to him in April 2006.
In mid March of 2007, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this next foal from Scarlette. I stayed home from choir practice one night, even though we were rehearsing for the upcoming Easter Cantata, because something told me that Scarlette was going to have her foal that night and I just couldn't leave her alone. It turned out to be a very good decision.
I put a camera up in my foaling stall, we run a cable from the camera to our house, where it attaches to a TV, where I can see and hear what is going on in the foaling stall. Since I can't see very well, having sound capabilities on this camera/TV system is very important. My husband had to be at church, as he was working sound for the choir, that night, and I was home alone with my 1 1/2 year old daughter. Around 8 PM I started noticing that Scarlette was pacing the stall and just not herself, so I knew we were getting close, so I called the church to see if someone could tell Gordon and maybe even relieve him, so he could come home, but I heard nothing.
I put my daughter to bed about 8:30, hooked up her baby monitor and made sure the batteries were in it, so I could take it to the barn with me, and here her, when I had to leave the house. Luckily it is only about 250 feet or so from barn to house, so it works well.
Right at about 8:45 Scarlette's water broke, I grabbed my bag of stuff, which included the phone, baby monitor, towels, and other assorted items that I use for foaling out my mares. I turned on the flood lights, so that I could use the one at the end of the barn, as my guide, to get me to the barn in the dark, and I made my way as quickly as I could to the foaling stall.
When I went into the stall, Scarlette just didn't seem right, so I went over to her hind end, knelt down and decided to check on the foal's position. As I reached inside of Scarlette, I was immediately horrified to find that the foal's feet were facing the wrong way, the foal was upside down! This is really bad, as horses can not deliver a foal that is upside down, safely, it can kill both the mare and the foal. I quickly exited the stall and called the vet, who was 45 minutes away. I then called the church to see if Gordon could leave, but again, nothing, I don't think anyone knew how serious the situation was, that I was now dealing with, by myself.
I put Scarlette's halter on her and led her outside infront of the barn and began to walk her in small circles, under the flood light, where I could see just a little bit. She kept wanting to lay down, but I just kept talking to her, encouraging her, that she needed to hold on and wait for the vet, to help her get the foal out. I had delt with some minor malpositioned foals, before, but never one this severely turned in the wrong direction.
Finally, about 9:15, my husband arrived and was able to help me start to take turns walking Scarlette and he could hold her, while I checked the foal's position and tried to see if I could turn it any, but it was stuck and I just couldn't seem to get it to turn at all.
After another 20 minutes of endless waiting, the vet finally arrived on the scene and immediately started to work on turning the foal. It was a very tense situation, as Scarlette was close to tearing up into her rectum, which could have left her open to massive infections, which we may not have been able to save her from, but somehow, he was able to slowly get the foal to turn. At another point, as he was working on turning the foal, he said, "I think we have lost the foal. It isn't moving anymore." So, I started preparing myself for the possibility of Scarlette delivering a dead foal and we said for him to do what he could to save Scarlette.
About 5 or 10 minutes after 10 PM, almost an hour and a half after her water broke, Scarlette finally delivered the foal. It laid there motionless for a minute and suddenly it moved and we all got really excited, as we all thought it was dead. The vet immediately went to work checking it over and kept saying over and over again, "Geez, that is one big filly!"
She was indeed a huge filly, almost the size of a lot of one month old foals, tall, big boned, lots of muscle, just massive, and out of this petite 15.3 hand Scarlette, it was amazing that both were still alive. We were so thrilled that the filly was alive and we decided to give all the credit to God and said her name had to be Glory, Glory to God that she was alive, and we also almost immediately came up with her registered name, Prepare The Way, one of the songs from the Cantata we were working on at church, it just fit her so well, such a wonderful beautiful big filly.
Glory got up and as I helped her find where her mama's milk was, this cowboy of a vet, big guy, whispered to my husband, "Look at that. That mare trusts her so completely. She is totally comfortable with Lisa working with her newborn filly." He was just amazed at how calm Scarlette was about letting me work with her and the filly. Amazed that Scarlette knew I was helping and that I was doing nothing to hurt the filly.
I have been told by more than one person that I am more of a "mare person", that mares just trust me, and after experiences like the above, I know that I am a "mare person", however, I have had a lot of good experiences with colts and geldings, too, but I just love being there for my mares when they need me, helping them give birth to their new babies, helping them find where the milk is, teaching them to lead, and teaching them everything else they need to know to be good horse citizens. It is one of those gifts God has definitely given me.
I will tell Glory's story more, in her own posting, so I move on with Scarlette's.
Scarlette needed a year off after giving birth to Glory, so that her body could recover. Her left stifle is now arthritic because of that foaling complication, but luckily it doesn't bother her too much.
So, after a year off, I decided that Hope had done so well, that I needed to repeat the breeding to Marquetry, so Scarlette was bred back to him in 2008. I don't know if it was because of the issues with foaling Glory or her age, but she took a little longer to get in foal this time, not conceiving until late May.
So, on April 30, 2009, I was watching and waiting for Scarlette's next foal to be born and suddenly realized I was seeing some signs of a repeat of Glory's birth. Scarlette was just not herself, again and I was feeling really uneasy about the whole situation. Around 9 PM Scarlette's water broke
and I rushed to the barn, as fast as I could, but this time, I was not alone, as my husband was home, but I was also 5 months pregnant with my second child and in the middle of a very difficult pregnancy.
I got to the stall and went in and immediatley went to check the foal's position and I looked up at my husband and said, "Here we go again!"
He said, "Your kidding, it's upside down, too?"
"Yep, call the vet!" I replied and I ran out and got her halter and got her up and had him start to walk Scarlette as I called the vet and began to talk to him. This time, it was the head vet, that was on call, and he was an hour and a half away, way too long for Scarlette to wait for him, for her to deliver this foal. He informed me that I'd have to try and turn the foal, to help their chances. He knew that I was pregnant and not doing well, so he encouraged me to just do the best I could, take breaks when I needed to and just have my husband keep walking her, inbetween my attempts.
So, I got off the phone with him and reached into Scarlette, as far as I could, to assess the whole situation. The foal's forehead was wedged hard up against her pelvis. I could only feel one eye and not the other and no ears. I was not sure what to grip to try and move it, but I tried anything I could grab and sometimes it meant putting a finger into its eye socket and I was terrified I was going to blind the foal, but I figured better that than loosing it or Scarlette.
The vet kept calling me every 10 to 15 minutes, to check on me and my progress, and for awhile, I was not making any, it seemed, but finally, somehow, the foal started to turn slightly. I told the vet this and he said that if I could get the foal more sideways, that she could deliver it that way, just not upside down.
The front feet of the foal had been at 12 o'clock, if you think of it as a clock, but slowly I got them more towards 3 o'clock and at that point, we let Scarlette lay down and I had my husband come back to Scarlette's rump to help me start to pull on the foal, to see if we could get it out. It was after 10 PM, by now and she was getting tired, as was I.
We pulled gently with Scarlette's contractions and as we started to pull, the foal slowly turned more and more into a more normal foaling position, until finally it was a normal presentation and the foal slid out the rest of the way. I pulled the sack off of it's head, and we discovered a matching star to it's full sister, Hope, and 4 white socks, the most white of any of Scarlette's foals that she had produced for us. I probed to find out if it was another filly and discovered that we had her first colt for us, as well.
He was just as big as Glory had been and I started to dry him off, taking breaks, sitting next to him, while my husband took pictures to show people what I had done and how exhausted I looked. The vet arrived about 15 minutes after I got the colt out and was amazed at how big he was. He commented about how my foals are always so big and healthy looking and wondered what I was feeding them or what was in my water, as I rarely ever have a weak foal born here, only three, that I can think of.
This beautiful boy deserved another special name, a strong name, so he was dubbed Marcus. After much thought and debate on what to register him as, we settled on Marq Your Bible, a name my husband came up with, using a "q" instead of a "k" in Marq, in honor of his sire Marquetry.
Marcus is now in race training and we still own a large percentage of him, but have sold some shares and may sell some more shares, and he will race under a partnership, like we did with Glory.
Scarlette has not had anymore foals since Marcus. She needed the year off, after Marcus, just like after Glory, and now the economy has just not been very good, so we decided to not breed her. But, I'm hoping that Marcus will do well enough this year, that we can send both his mother and Glory out to be bred next year. I hope that Scarlette can produce at least one more foal for me, but if she doesn't, she has no worries, she'll live the rest of her life with me, as she is a very special horse and owns a big part of my heart. I can't help but love that proud mare, she's something special, for sure!
I was able to keep track of her as she produced a few foals in Kentucky and as the internet got better and better at finding out info, it was easier to track her foals, as well.
Her first three foals were all winners. Nothing special, but they did all win races. Her first foal, in fact won races over a long period of time and raced almost 100 times. I think he actually won a race at 10 years of age.
In early 2004, I did an internet search, as I did every few months, to see if there was any new info, and was saddened to find that she had gone through a recent sale in Kentucky and had not brought much, and I had missed the opportunity to buy her. Later that summer, I decided I'd try to track down the person who had bought her and just make contact with the person to tell them about my experience with Red Devilette and just to see how she was doing, owning her was a longshot and I really wasn't even thinking about it too much.
Well, I stumbled across the person's website and there was a picture of Red Devilette and even with my limited vision, to me, in the picture, she was conveying that she was afraid. The picture had been taken at the auction in Kentucky and I'm sure she was quite worried about what situation she might be going into.
Luckily, when I contacted the lady, who lived in Colorado, she was really nice and said that Red Devilette was actually up for sale. We talked about her a bit and I told her I would see if I could afford to buy her or not. My husband and I talked and we decided to see if she would actually fit our breeding program and if she did, I'd first see if there was anything like her, for the same price or less, closer to us.
I looked all around and for some reason, I couldn't find anything like her for less, as the market was still fairly strong at this time. So, the lady who had her offered to come down a little bit on the price, so it would make it easier for us to buy her and pay for shipping from Colorado to Virginia.
I think I was still in shock that I was actually buying Red Devilette and was going to be reunited with her after almost 12 years.
Right before Thanksgiving of 2004, Red Devilette arrived at our small Perfect Peace Farm in southeastern Virginia, to take up residence at her new perminant home.
Because I had never been allowed to give her a nickname, when she was a yearling, because the men didn't want me to, I started the search for one. I wanted one that fit her personality and maybe one that fit her registered name, too. My mother-in-law suggested Scarlett and I added an "e" on the end, in reference to the last part of her registered name, so her barn name was now Scarlette. It fit her perfectly, she is a lot like the Scarlett O'Hara character from "Gone With The Wind", very much doing what she wants, high class, proud, intellegent, and so on.
I swear that Scarlette remembered me, when she heard my voice, because she settled in at our farm quickly, and with very little issue. She came to us carrying her 6th foal, as she was bred to Oliver's Twist, back in Colorado.
In early March she produced a lovely filly that we called Windy. Windy was sold as a weanling to a lady in New Jersey, but unfortunately was not able to race due to her owner's circumstances and was resold as an event prospect. She was given the registered name of Scarlett Shetanna, by her owner from NJ, who was a huge fan of "The Black Stallion" books, as am I, it fit.
As we got to know Scarlette better, I realized she was even smarter than I had remembered. Scarlette seems to be one of those rare horses that understands a whole lot of english and if you ask her nicely to do something, in most cases she will do it, but like Scarlett O'Hara, you do not tell her what to do, unless you want a fight or unless you are prepared to wait and wait and wait.
For instance, if I need to get Scarlette in the barn, because a storm is coming, I go out to the field to bring in the horses, Scarlette being my alpha mare, she usually is the last one into the barn paddock and then the last one to be caught. After I get everyone else in and it is now Scarlette's turn, I open up the outer stall door to her stall and stand back, I turn towards her and say, "Scarlette, it is going to storm, you should come into the barn." Or something close to that, it can be, "Scarlette, the farrier is coming and you need your feet done." As long as I give her a good reason to come into the barn, on her own, she usually walks right up to her stall door and goes in on her own, with me never having to catch her. If she is in the front field and I can't get the gates open so that she can do this, and I absolutely must catch her, I will go out into the field and say, "Scarlette, will you let me catch you so I can take you to your stall? There's going to be a storm." And she will usually circle me a few times, look at me, stop about 10 to 20 feet away and then stand looking at me and that is her way of telling me she is ready to be caught. I can then approach her and put the halter on her, with no trouble. But if you do not ask for permission to catch her or do not tell her why she needs to go into the barn, you can spend a half an hour out there chasing her around the fields, trying to catch her, but as soon as you start talking to her and give her a good reason or ask for her permission, she will immediately change and do what you ask, as long as you did so nicely, as she responds to tone a lot, too.
Even when entering her stall, I ask for permission to put the halter on her. I do not know what was done to her in the past and by whom. I do not know if she was abused or if just not treated the way she needed to be. I do not know if it is just people being afraid of her slightly nervous disposition or what, but when you enter the stall she usually has her butt turned towards you. In most cases you don't want the horse to do this, because it means that they might be thinking about kicking you, it is a dominance thing and yes, she is my alpha mare and by such, she demands respect. But I can honestly tell you that in the 7 years she has been on this farm, she has never kicked at me or my husband. So, I allow her to have her butt to me, I understand her need to do this, it is almost like she is protecting herself, she isn't doing it to be mean. I just talk to her, and reach out with my hand, finding her rump, I gently touch her, as I talk to her about catching her and putting the halter on her, telling her all that I'm going to do and what is going to be done. I slowly walk up her left side and as I get to her shoulder, most of the time she turns her pretty dished head towards me and lets me easily halter her and I can easily take her out of her stall for the farrier or vet to work with her.
I seriously believe she is not a mean horse and this behavior is more of a defense to her than her trying to be dominant over me, as she never pushes me, knocks into me or acts aggressive in any way towards me. We have a wonderful understanding relationship and I know she is happy here.
For my first choice of a stallion to breed Scarlette to, I chose Marquetry. He was a very successful racehorse and sire of some very nice runners, he also sired soundness, which I desired to breed for. Scarlette was bred to him in April of 2005 and in March of 2006, she presented us with a second filly, who we nicknamed Hope. Hope was a beautiful filly, dark bay with a heart shaped star on her forehead and one white sock. Like Windy, we sold Hope as a weanling, but this time, we were lucky and Hope ended up in a racing home.
Hope's owners gave her the registered name of Perfect Pet, using the word "perfect" from our farm name, I believe, and "pet" probably because she was a nice filly with a good disposition.
Hope did not disappoint us. The first time we got to see her race, in person, she was racing in the Jamestown Stakes for 2 year old fillies at Colonial Downs, on the dirt. Even though it was a stakes race, all of the fillies had not won a race, yet, as it was still early in their careers, so we had a lot of "hope" for Perfect Pet, who was the most experienced in the field, and had already placed a few times. Perfect Pet led most of the way and was only passed at the top of the stretch by one horse, a filly sired by a stallion who stood for more than 10 times what I had paid for the Marquetry stud fee. Perfect Pet lost by about 6 lengths, but was another 5 lengths or so ahead of the third place finisher, and in doing so, she put black type on her dam's page.
This is very important in the career of a broodmare, because it makes all of the foals born afterwards worth more, out of the mare. It proves that the mare can produce a decent race horse and that if she did it once, she could do it again.
Perfect Pet went on to race 20 times, with 1 win, 8 seconds, and 2 thirds, with earnings of $57,156, to be Scarlette's best foal to date.
Perfect Pet's owners decided near the end of her 3 year old year that she just didn't have the heart to race anymore and just wasn't happy doing it and they did the right thing and found her a great home. She now lives in northern Virginia and is happy as a pleasure horse. I was thrilled when her new owner contacted me and we have developed a friendship and I get updates, pictures, etc from Hope's owner on a regular basis. I hope to one day get to visit her at her new home. Her new owner has no plans to sell her, but knows that I am always willing to have Hope back, if there were ever a need for that, as she did so much for my little breeding operation, I could never repay what she and her mother have done for me, giving my first black type runner and my first winner as a breeder, something I'll never forget.
Scarlette's next date was with Silver Ghost, an older stallion, but he had a pretty good record of siring some decent runners, so I decided to give him a try, so I bred her to him in April 2006.
In mid March of 2007, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of this next foal from Scarlette. I stayed home from choir practice one night, even though we were rehearsing for the upcoming Easter Cantata, because something told me that Scarlette was going to have her foal that night and I just couldn't leave her alone. It turned out to be a very good decision.
I put a camera up in my foaling stall, we run a cable from the camera to our house, where it attaches to a TV, where I can see and hear what is going on in the foaling stall. Since I can't see very well, having sound capabilities on this camera/TV system is very important. My husband had to be at church, as he was working sound for the choir, that night, and I was home alone with my 1 1/2 year old daughter. Around 8 PM I started noticing that Scarlette was pacing the stall and just not herself, so I knew we were getting close, so I called the church to see if someone could tell Gordon and maybe even relieve him, so he could come home, but I heard nothing.
I put my daughter to bed about 8:30, hooked up her baby monitor and made sure the batteries were in it, so I could take it to the barn with me, and here her, when I had to leave the house. Luckily it is only about 250 feet or so from barn to house, so it works well.
Right at about 8:45 Scarlette's water broke, I grabbed my bag of stuff, which included the phone, baby monitor, towels, and other assorted items that I use for foaling out my mares. I turned on the flood lights, so that I could use the one at the end of the barn, as my guide, to get me to the barn in the dark, and I made my way as quickly as I could to the foaling stall.
When I went into the stall, Scarlette just didn't seem right, so I went over to her hind end, knelt down and decided to check on the foal's position. As I reached inside of Scarlette, I was immediately horrified to find that the foal's feet were facing the wrong way, the foal was upside down! This is really bad, as horses can not deliver a foal that is upside down, safely, it can kill both the mare and the foal. I quickly exited the stall and called the vet, who was 45 minutes away. I then called the church to see if Gordon could leave, but again, nothing, I don't think anyone knew how serious the situation was, that I was now dealing with, by myself.
I put Scarlette's halter on her and led her outside infront of the barn and began to walk her in small circles, under the flood light, where I could see just a little bit. She kept wanting to lay down, but I just kept talking to her, encouraging her, that she needed to hold on and wait for the vet, to help her get the foal out. I had delt with some minor malpositioned foals, before, but never one this severely turned in the wrong direction.
Finally, about 9:15, my husband arrived and was able to help me start to take turns walking Scarlette and he could hold her, while I checked the foal's position and tried to see if I could turn it any, but it was stuck and I just couldn't seem to get it to turn at all.
After another 20 minutes of endless waiting, the vet finally arrived on the scene and immediately started to work on turning the foal. It was a very tense situation, as Scarlette was close to tearing up into her rectum, which could have left her open to massive infections, which we may not have been able to save her from, but somehow, he was able to slowly get the foal to turn. At another point, as he was working on turning the foal, he said, "I think we have lost the foal. It isn't moving anymore." So, I started preparing myself for the possibility of Scarlette delivering a dead foal and we said for him to do what he could to save Scarlette.
About 5 or 10 minutes after 10 PM, almost an hour and a half after her water broke, Scarlette finally delivered the foal. It laid there motionless for a minute and suddenly it moved and we all got really excited, as we all thought it was dead. The vet immediately went to work checking it over and kept saying over and over again, "Geez, that is one big filly!"
She was indeed a huge filly, almost the size of a lot of one month old foals, tall, big boned, lots of muscle, just massive, and out of this petite 15.3 hand Scarlette, it was amazing that both were still alive. We were so thrilled that the filly was alive and we decided to give all the credit to God and said her name had to be Glory, Glory to God that she was alive, and we also almost immediately came up with her registered name, Prepare The Way, one of the songs from the Cantata we were working on at church, it just fit her so well, such a wonderful beautiful big filly.
Glory got up and as I helped her find where her mama's milk was, this cowboy of a vet, big guy, whispered to my husband, "Look at that. That mare trusts her so completely. She is totally comfortable with Lisa working with her newborn filly." He was just amazed at how calm Scarlette was about letting me work with her and the filly. Amazed that Scarlette knew I was helping and that I was doing nothing to hurt the filly.
I have been told by more than one person that I am more of a "mare person", that mares just trust me, and after experiences like the above, I know that I am a "mare person", however, I have had a lot of good experiences with colts and geldings, too, but I just love being there for my mares when they need me, helping them give birth to their new babies, helping them find where the milk is, teaching them to lead, and teaching them everything else they need to know to be good horse citizens. It is one of those gifts God has definitely given me.
I will tell Glory's story more, in her own posting, so I move on with Scarlette's.
Scarlette needed a year off after giving birth to Glory, so that her body could recover. Her left stifle is now arthritic because of that foaling complication, but luckily it doesn't bother her too much.
So, after a year off, I decided that Hope had done so well, that I needed to repeat the breeding to Marquetry, so Scarlette was bred back to him in 2008. I don't know if it was because of the issues with foaling Glory or her age, but she took a little longer to get in foal this time, not conceiving until late May.
So, on April 30, 2009, I was watching and waiting for Scarlette's next foal to be born and suddenly realized I was seeing some signs of a repeat of Glory's birth. Scarlette was just not herself, again and I was feeling really uneasy about the whole situation. Around 9 PM Scarlette's water broke
and I rushed to the barn, as fast as I could, but this time, I was not alone, as my husband was home, but I was also 5 months pregnant with my second child and in the middle of a very difficult pregnancy.
I got to the stall and went in and immediatley went to check the foal's position and I looked up at my husband and said, "Here we go again!"
He said, "Your kidding, it's upside down, too?"
"Yep, call the vet!" I replied and I ran out and got her halter and got her up and had him start to walk Scarlette as I called the vet and began to talk to him. This time, it was the head vet, that was on call, and he was an hour and a half away, way too long for Scarlette to wait for him, for her to deliver this foal. He informed me that I'd have to try and turn the foal, to help their chances. He knew that I was pregnant and not doing well, so he encouraged me to just do the best I could, take breaks when I needed to and just have my husband keep walking her, inbetween my attempts.
So, I got off the phone with him and reached into Scarlette, as far as I could, to assess the whole situation. The foal's forehead was wedged hard up against her pelvis. I could only feel one eye and not the other and no ears. I was not sure what to grip to try and move it, but I tried anything I could grab and sometimes it meant putting a finger into its eye socket and I was terrified I was going to blind the foal, but I figured better that than loosing it or Scarlette.
The vet kept calling me every 10 to 15 minutes, to check on me and my progress, and for awhile, I was not making any, it seemed, but finally, somehow, the foal started to turn slightly. I told the vet this and he said that if I could get the foal more sideways, that she could deliver it that way, just not upside down.
The front feet of the foal had been at 12 o'clock, if you think of it as a clock, but slowly I got them more towards 3 o'clock and at that point, we let Scarlette lay down and I had my husband come back to Scarlette's rump to help me start to pull on the foal, to see if we could get it out. It was after 10 PM, by now and she was getting tired, as was I.
We pulled gently with Scarlette's contractions and as we started to pull, the foal slowly turned more and more into a more normal foaling position, until finally it was a normal presentation and the foal slid out the rest of the way. I pulled the sack off of it's head, and we discovered a matching star to it's full sister, Hope, and 4 white socks, the most white of any of Scarlette's foals that she had produced for us. I probed to find out if it was another filly and discovered that we had her first colt for us, as well.
He was just as big as Glory had been and I started to dry him off, taking breaks, sitting next to him, while my husband took pictures to show people what I had done and how exhausted I looked. The vet arrived about 15 minutes after I got the colt out and was amazed at how big he was. He commented about how my foals are always so big and healthy looking and wondered what I was feeding them or what was in my water, as I rarely ever have a weak foal born here, only three, that I can think of.
This beautiful boy deserved another special name, a strong name, so he was dubbed Marcus. After much thought and debate on what to register him as, we settled on Marq Your Bible, a name my husband came up with, using a "q" instead of a "k" in Marq, in honor of his sire Marquetry.
Marcus is now in race training and we still own a large percentage of him, but have sold some shares and may sell some more shares, and he will race under a partnership, like we did with Glory.
Scarlette has not had anymore foals since Marcus. She needed the year off, after Marcus, just like after Glory, and now the economy has just not been very good, so we decided to not breed her. But, I'm hoping that Marcus will do well enough this year, that we can send both his mother and Glory out to be bred next year. I hope that Scarlette can produce at least one more foal for me, but if she doesn't, she has no worries, she'll live the rest of her life with me, as she is a very special horse and owns a big part of my heart. I can't help but love that proud mare, she's something special, for sure!
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