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We're Having a Baby! SHE FOALED!!!new pics 5-2-07

3K views 83 replies 28 participants last post by  Zamber 
#1 ·
We bought a bred mare at an auction this weekend. It's really sad, We've been going to this sale for years, and horses (well, the horses that are bred and trained like our new mare) sold for upwards of $10,000. Now that the horse market has tanked, sellers are lucky to get half that. As a matter of fact, we got this mare (and her unborn foal, the sire is a World Champion reining horse) for $1000.

She's a week overdue...she should foal any day now. This is so exciting!! I've never had a foal before. When I met her yesterday, she was so mellow, with her gorgeous white face and dark soulful eyes.....I just laid across her back and hugged her belly. I can't wait to see what she has.

I know this board is primarily for dogs and cats (housepets, if you will) but I thought it might be fun to mix it up a bit and let all of you wait for this gorgeous baby with me
I'll take pictures tomorrow so you can see what she looks like, and I'll try to update on her situation. Oh yes, and definitely baby pictures!!
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#2 ·


I endurance raced horses as a child. I can't wait to have horses again! When I went to boarding school each student had to perform a job. Mine was working at the horse barn. I'd get up before dawn every morning and ride my bike to the stables to muck stalls and feed the horses.

One morning I went into a mare's stall, and there was a foal in it! No one knew she was pg; how, I'm not sure. Perhaps a local stallion got lose. Anyway, I called the baby "nubbins", and he followed me around in the mornings while I worked. It was amazing!

Can't wait to see your baby! I have dreams of Welsh Ponies for my children. I'm not sure it'll be possible, but one can hope!
 
#5 ·
mostly it's the economy....horses are "luxury goods" and with the hay shortages and droughts in many parts of the country, coupled with the rising cost of farmland and property taxes (thanks, developers), people are either getting out of horses, or trying to reduce their herds, but there just aren't as many buyers as there used to be. Some are offloading their land because they just can't resist the astronomically high prices the developers are offering. We just lost our last family farm here to developers, we went there for a corn festival every summer, pumpkin patches, Christmas trees, good barbeque and live music, the whole nine yards, but the developers offered them $20,000,000 for 60 acres of land, so they sold out and moved to Oregon, after 60 years here. It will be divided into 1/4 acre parcels, turned into subdivisions, and the houses sold for $300,000 and up.

Also, people are overbreeding ordinary horses, which didn't affect the mid- to upper- level horse market, but now that they have banned slaughter for export in the US, there are millions of extra horses clogging the market that wouldn't have otherwise have been there.

sorry for the novel, it's an issue near and dear to my heart.
 
#6 ·
but, on the other hand, it's definitely a buyer's market!! I saw nice ponies, Quarter ponies and Welsh, kid broke and dog gentle, selling for $500-800, when in another time, or maybe a different market (they always seem to hold their value in California, especially if marketed right, like to Pony Clubbers) they were worth their weight in gold.

I had a Shetland when I was a kid, she was evil and regularly tried to kill me (j/k, LOL, but she was mean)...so I debate back and forth about the merits of getting them a pony vs. an older full size gelding that knows the ropes....My oldest rides our 18 year old Quarter Horse gelding often, they are so cute. Brushy is 16 hands high (basically his shoulder is as tall as I am) and weighs 1200 pounds. Nicolas looks like a baby up there, his knees barely bend around the saddle, LOL. He loves it though, and Brushy babysits him. Horses are so good for kids. I think every child, everywhere, should be exposed to them at a young age. If you have the space, I say go for it!!
 
#7 ·
LOL There was a shetland in my life that was my nemesis as a child. A mare. That thing was evil! I'd never get a shetland for my dc's. Welsh's have attitude, too, but IMO they're much sweeter; in fact I never had a bad experience with one... but by the time we get to a point where we can have horses, my dc's will probably need horses!


I had a Morgan (Devin Sterling) and an Appaloosa (Iam a Bandit Too). They were amazing horses, we got them when I was 13 and 10, respectively; they were 8 and 10, respectively, and they lived til I was 23. They had long, full lives.


My Dad rode the Appy; he passed away when I was 21 and Bandit kept looking for him to show up at the barn until the day he died. My dad rode him 10miles minimum every other day. I have to go cry now...
I haven't thought about my horses for quite a while. I sort of blocked out those years of my life, when I lost my dad and my horses. Oh gosh! I'm so sorry to hijack this thread!
 
#8 ·
Wow! Congrats on your new horse(s)! I'd love to see pics when she foals...baby horses are the best!

The market is bad. Sounds like you are out west? I'm in the mid-atlantic, I do show hunters, which has always been a big thing in VA area. It's hard to sell even the really nice ones now. The bottom just seems to have fallen out from underneath everything?? Of course, just like w/dogs there is the flood of poor-quality to mediocre horses that are being bred...but that's another story. As usual, too many animals and too many irresponsible people who shouldn't be breeding anything. Sad. My two ponies are just those kind of mediocre horses...I bought them because I saw something in them and just didn't want them going to an auction for meat.

Ponies...gotta love them! And hate them! I have an evil 13.2 POA cross mare.
I'm convinced that the only reason ponies haven't come to a forced extinction is because they are just so darn cute! I also have a paint cross mare that I'm hoping doesn't grow over 14.2 so that she can show as a large pony. We'll see...I have my doubts there. She's 3 and has a growth spurt every other week! I'm just pregnant now, but I'm hoping that (if my child wants to ride) that one or both of these ponies will turn out to be good buddies for him. If not...pony hunting we go! They're like potato chips. You can't have just one...and what's one more?
Yep, it's a sickness...

I also have a TB/Trakhener mare that I show, she's the most awesome thing ever (not that I'm biased at all...
). She is so much fun and I just love her. She always takes care of me! She is very sensitive, but we have a great relationship. I rode her 'till I was more than 7 months pregnant (I'm about 8 months now...I just stopped riding a few weeks ago). And I have an older Arabian mare that I've owned since I was 13. She is the sweetest girl! And then I keep my mother's two horses, her ancient (somewhere around 30??) Arabian gelding and his pasture pal, an appaloosa with a sketchy background that just hangs out w/the old guy.

It's cool to see a horse post in this forum!! Keep us updated on the foal! How very exciting for you!
 
#9 ·
WOW!! Congrats!! So envious! I grew up with Morgans and my dream is to have a few Paints (My absolute all time favorite) Would love to find a few to rescue. My dh is not a horse person, But I will have my way!
Oh, and I wanted to be a barrel racer when I was a teenager!


We have plenty of land, now just need the money!

I cannot wait to see the pics!!
 
#10 ·
Wow, what happened in the horse world which has caused the prices to go down so much. My second cousins have bred and raised horses, and are also "judges". They never had any children, but their horses and their farm were their family. I'll have to ask my mom to ask them how things are going next time she talks to them.

Congratulations on your beautiful horse! Would love to see pictures whenever you have them!
 
#14 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Potty Diva View Post
Oh I love her, and I miss AZ like crazy!

I worked at Chauncy's for about a year then with Sandy Antilla at her ranch. I miss those dang horses.
really? The Chauncey Ranch? Why'd you leave? I love it here. Funny, I didn't even notice how blue our sky was today, until I saw that first picture on my monitor. LOL.
 
#16 ·
Oh wow! She's gorgeous. Such a sweet face and I love paints with very little white. I had a paint who was all white except for a black medicine hat and washing her was a pain. So who is the sire? My friend had her mare bred to Hollywood Dun It and the baby was gorgeous. Reining horse studs are really pretty. I hope you'll share baby pics
 
#19 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by mesa View Post
really? The Chauncey Ranch? Why'd you leave? I love it here. Funny, I didn't even notice how blue our sky was today, until I saw that first picture on my monitor. LOL.

Chauncey's? They said I was to attached to the horses, particularly Batiste's babies- they are so fiesty! It was a volunteer position and I went with Sandy because I was given a trailer and a stall for my horse (an awesome half-Arab named Sonny), and pay


After two years I moved back to Oregon and became the barn manager for Chris Bickford. Yeah that's right I apple picked Bask Flame's manure- oh yeah!

I was at Scotsdale the year they retired Khemosabi. Very emotional.

Don't know much about paints though, although Sandy is really into pintos.
Ok I totally miss those days -and dang I lost so much weight!

Do you know a woman named Michele Oliver? I can't remember which barn she went to after I left, but I would so love to get ahold of her.
 
#20 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetfeet View Post
Oh wow! She's gorgeous. Such a sweet face and I love paints with very little white. I had a paint who was all white except for a black medicine hat and washing her was a pain. So who is the sire? My friend had her mare bred to Hollywood Dun It and the baby was gorgeous. Reining horse studs are really pretty. I hope you'll share baby pics


For whitening...it's called Wuick Silver- oy yeah! We had a NSH pinto who insisted on rolling in manure before a show. And oh how we loved the WUICK Silver
 
#21 ·
Hollywood Dun It? Ca CHING! Wow, I bet that baby was drop dead gorgeous. I have a Hollywood baby living in my heart, someday I'll meet him or her, LOL.

She was super grumpy today, I was trying to take pictures of her udder for my mom and she kept swishing me with her tail and turning around. Then, when I was going for a "pretty" expression, she would walk away and show me her butt. Mares.


Maybe, now that I've gotten her foal kit together, she'll get with the program. Or not. I've been showing her the calendar, but she just snorts, LOL.

I've only been in this area for a couple of years, and I rarely get out of my town, so I don't know a whole heck of a lot of horse people, aside from the occasional team roping or penning, and we go to the barrel races sometimes.

I've been in communication with a breeding manager at a big Arabian farm in Scottsdale, I'll ask her if she knows Michele for you
 
#22 ·
My mom has a picture of the sire, he's an old timer foundation quarter horse, I can't for the life of me remember his name


He's super pretty, although he's showing his age (19 this year). He's a grullo. She's been bred to him twice before, and had a red dun filly the first time, a palomino colt the second. The best horse I ever owned was a red dun mare named Primo, who was killed by a cousin I was boarding her with (It's a really long story, I'll post it if anyone wants to read it). I told my mom that if she has a red dun filly, she's MINE.
 
#24 ·
Quote:
My mom has a picture of the sire, he's an old timer foundation quarter horse, I can't for the life of me remember his name
My favorite mare, Lucy aka War Leo Rose was foundation QH stock. Her grand sire was Leo and her sire was War Leo. I loved that horse so much that I gave my son the middle name of Leo. She died at 30 back in 2002. I had so many awesome years with her. I adore foundation QHs.
 
#25 ·
no baby today


But is her bag getting huge or what???? I wish I took pictures, from the rear she looks like a stallion!! Poor girl's sooooo grumpy, even more so than yesterday.

I showed her the calendar again, and asked her what she was waiting for. She said she was waiting for us to leave her the heck alone and give her some privacy, LOL. Mares.
 
#26 ·
Do you have a paddock you can put her in?
We found that mares are more willing to foal outi n the open and at night than in a stall. So when we had a mare that was overdue we put them out over night and sure enough by early morning we would have a baby. After babe starts walking well I would lead them back into the barn. Then I could check the placenta and such.
 
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