November 1, 2009

What's Going On and Other Non-Blonde Things

Ok, so before anyone gets offended by the title of today's blog, "What's Going On?" is the title of a song by a group called The Non-Blondes from the Eighties Like many other things, it gets stuck in my head when I hear it on the radio. I suppose that hearing music in my head is more preferred than voices, wouldn't you agree?

And now to What's Going On at Fields Quarter Horses and such. The week has passed as we've returned from Congress and we settled into business as usual. Being at Congress among so much talented horseflesh, we are always anxious to get home and re-evaluate what we have coming up for next year. Upon further evaluation, I must say that I am extremely excited about the 2009 foals.

The boys who are still at the farm include Jude, Wolf, Maxim, and Sly. Jude is still the most endearing, people oriented foal we have ever raised. This little bay gelding greets the gator and its occupants each day and asks for his customary hug and kiss. I wonder if it will be the same when he is 1200 pounds and stands 15.3 hands tall? Wolfe is a black gelding who was delivered on the cameras to a large audience in late April. He was born upside down and was the most difficult upside down birth of last year for us. He and his dam Boo were none the worse for it and he displays great promise as a future Western Pleasure show horse when he frolicks around. Maxim is the resident "Big Boy" as he is out of a part Thoroughbred mare (Honey) who stood 17 hands tall. Maxim towers over his classmates and his honey colored mane and tail are impossible to miss. Sly is a talented red gelding who prefers to jog (or trot) from one step to the next.

The girls are Amber and Maria. Maria is the darling younger sis of Chase (Chevrolution) and she is content to be the follower of Amber. Maria happily allows herself to be ushered to whichever part of their paddock which Amber wants to be in. Amber is a stunning red roan filly. Her older sister Wendy was the subject of a previous story titled "Dawn Filly". These two girls embody the term feminine and yet are strongly built and athletic, too. Maria will be moving to Maryland between Thanksgiving and Christmas and Amber may find herself hanging out with the older mares for a spell.

Video link of Maria and Amber playinghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC8UrbZ0ycU

The mares are settling into the new Fall/Winter routine well. Because of the changing weather, they are acclimating to spending a little more time inside and the days getting a little shorter. The open mares (mares who are not pregnant) are now under artificial lighting for 16 hours each day. Each stall has bright lighting and the entire barn is kept on timers to ensure that they are correctly lighted. We "trick" mother nature slightly by simulating longer days and can therefore cause the mares to cycle earlier in the Spring. Our goal is to have every mare cycling by January. We do not breed them on the first cycle of the year as studies show that it is not as fertile as subsequent cycles. We will hopefully be breeding most of the open mares on their second cycles in February.

Amber's training horses are progressing in fine form and Chevromotion (Kramer) is often the star of these sessions. He returned to Kentucky from Michigan about 5 weeks ago and will continue his education here. Watching them work is one of the highlights of my day. It is not unusual to find a small crowd gathered to watch them as it uplifting to watch the athletic ability of this horse. The cats attempt to clap for their performances but their furry paws muffle the applause.

We are beginning to reconnect with mare owners and set our foaling schedule for 2010. The foalings will be broadcast on Marestare.com and we invite everyone to join us again. Our 2009 foaling season was fraught with drama, joy, danger, and intrigue. This is reality TV at its best!

Khris

1 comment: