In the spring of 1998 I decided to breed my two mares, Bunny and Mayo. Because I had been told that Bunny had crossed really well with some Welsh Ponies, in the past, before I got her, I did some digging and discovered that what I had been told, was correct, so I started looking for a nice Welsh Pony stallion to breed Bunny to. I came across Farnley Belshazzar, a very nice little grey stallion, who had won in hand competitions and was siring some of the top hunter ponies in the country. I decided he was the one for Bunny, so I made arrangements to breed her via artificial insemenation, which would mean she would not need to leave the farm.
At the time, I was living with an elderly relative on his cattle farm, in Virginia, and helping him, when he'd allow me to. He was a proud man and refused help, mos tof the time, so I just did what I could.
I knew Mayo had some really nice jumping bloodlines, so for her, I choose a son of Secretariat, who's female line was filled with steeplechasers and known jumping lines. Secretariat sons were getting a really good reputation as the sires of show horses. I looked at several, but Class Secret was who I choose for Mayo. Being Thoroughbreds, Mayo and Class Secret would have to be bred via live cover, so I made arrangements for Mayo to travel to the farm where Class Secret was standing at stud.
Bunny was bred on Easter weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, via artificial insemenation, and I crossed my fingers, hoping she would be in foal.
The vet I used did not have an ultrasound machine, so I waited for her to come back and just palpate, or feel for a pregnancy. When she did, she thought she felt a pregnancy, but being young, she didn't want to say for sure and so recommended another vet, who had an ultrasound machine, to come out and double check for us.
I made the appointment and he came out. The lady he brought with him insisted she be the one to hold Bunny and against my better judgement I agreed, because I wanted to know if Bunny was pregnant or not. They sedated Bunny and then started to try to ultrasound her, but Bunny, not liking most men, took a major disliking to this male vet, and with his assistant holding her, instead of me, they were unsuccessful in the ultrasound. He said from what he could tell, she was not pregnant. Despite an incomplete ultrasound, their insistance that I not hold my own horse, etc, I still had to pay full price for everything. I was not happy with that treatment of me or my horse.
I owned a 36 inch Miniature stallion named Samson, at the time, that I had rescued from an auction. I used him as my teaser and would bring him over to visit Bunny, almost every day. She had shown that she was in heat, when we bred her, but after that, she refused to pay him any attention and he wasn't that interested in her, either, so I just listened to them and believed that despite what vets were telling me, Bunny was actually pregnant.
Mayo took several cycles to get pregnant and once she was safely in foal, I had her come home, rejoining her friend, Bunny, and a few other ponies I'd rescued over the few months she had been gone.
As the months of summer went along, both mares bellies got bigger and bigger and I knew they were both pregnant. Eventually I was able to feel movement from both unborn babies. I was so happy, I felt their bellies almost daily, just loving to feel the movement inside.
During the fall of 1998, I got tired of the elderly relative not really letting me do much, so I moved in with a friend of mine and got a job at another farm, working with Thoroughbreds, as the barn manager, during a Strangles outbreak, as they needed the extra help. After the worst of the outbreak, my job ended and I had to look for more work, which was hard to come by.
I moved Bunny and Mayo to a closer stable, so I could go and watch them. I couldn't afford much, since I was on a very limited income, and at first, this boarding stable seemed really nice.
Bunny and Mayo had stalls next to each other, in a two stall barn, that had been built for foaling mares. The stalls weren't quite as big as foaling stalls should be, but they were bigger than your average stall, so I knew they'd be okay.
As Bunny's due date approached, my friend and I went to check on her, daily, and watched for signs of changes. We'd go every evening, after she got off work and we'd pull the car around, so we could sit in the front seat and watch Bunny, taking note of her behavior.
I bought a book on foaling, since I'd never foaled out a mare before and read it thoroughly, some parts more than once. We got excited at every little change and kept hoping and hoping.
Before we knew it, Bunny's due date had come and gone, and that is when I realized, to my displeasure, that the farm was running low on grain and hay, on a regular basis and that my mares were starting to look a little ribby, despite being pregnant.
I did not know what to do, being it was my first breeding and foaling experience, but I knew that it was not safe to move Bunny, who was now past her due date, but Mayo wasn't due for another 6 weeks or more, so I made arrangements to have her moved to a farm in Maryland, where after she gave birth, she could be bred to another stallion. I only did this, after I had a job secured in another state, so I also knew I'd be moving soon, anyways.
Once Mayo was safely moved, I could truly focus on Bunny and the safety of her and her unborn foal, praying that things would be okay, despite the worsening conditions at the boarding stable.
Finally, three weeks after her due date, at at 361 days pregnant, Bunny ws showing obvious signs that labor was really close, so my friend and I stayed later than usual and watched and waited. It was a drizzly cold night and that was of course, when Bunny decided to present me with a gorgeous black colt.
The delivery went smoothly. He was a bit on the small side, but he was by a pony stallion, after all, and out of a mare who only stood 14.3 hands, so I wasn't that surprised at his size. Bunny retained her placenta, so I had to call the vet to come out.
My friend left me at the barn and I called my Dad to see if he could come out to help me, later that morning and to help get me back to the apartment.
After the placenta was successfully delivered, the vet and I looked at Bunny's condition and were appauled, she was so thin. Obviously the farm owner was not feeding her properly. Luckily, it had not affected the colt, she said, as his vital signs were super strong.
I immediately made arrangements for Bunny and her colt, Pete, to be transported to the farm I would be working at in Texas. The vet said he could travel at about 2 weeks. So, when he was two weeks old, Petey travelled with his mother, Samson, and another Miniature Horse that my friend had rescued from an auction, to the ranch in Texas.
When they arrived there in Texas,t he lady I was to work for called and said that he was an amazing mover and not to worry, we'd get the weight back on Bunny. She also mentioned that at only 2 weeks old, Petey was jumping hay bale sin the paddock she had put them in. She couldn't believe the natural jumping ability and just the wanting to jump at such an early age.
I eventually sold Petey when he was a yearling to a lady in Pennsylvania. She kept him for awhile, showed him in some on the line classes, which he did well at. She would contact me on occasion and told me that no fence on her farm would hold him. She admitted that her fencing wasn't the highest, but it was at least 3 1/2 feet tall and he'd jump it to go be with other horses, especially if she wanted to try and keep him by himself.
She eventually had to sell all of her horses and ponies and Petey was sold to a farm in North Carolina.
They loved him and took their time with him. I was told the husband would put Petey on a long line and run around the ring with him and they'd jump little jumps, etc. Petey was eventually started under saddle when he was 3 years old and eventually changed homes, again, selling to a family in New Jersey.
There he blossommed and won big ribbons at HITS on the Hudson as "Tell A Tale". He won a ton of ribbons all over New Jersey and into New York.
I have since lost track of him, as the people's email address no longer works and the last I heard, they were selling him, because their daughter had outgrown him. I sure hope that I can track him back down and I welcome anyone who might have any information on him to contact me.
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