I really need to learn how to keep up better with these things! Hmm... where to begin to sum up the past couple months, without writing a novel...
The Florida Winter Circuit with A Chance For Romance was a BIG success, especially for a show that I did not decide to go to until the last minute! We were so ill-prepared I thought it would be a miracle if we just picked up a couple points for Chance.. but I figured any points towards that ROM and the general experience would be beneficial, so off we went. Well, thanks to Linda Crothers who agreed to catch ride Chance for me in the Open HUS classes at the last minute... we brought home SEVEN open HUS points and VENICE WINTER CIRCUIT CHAMPION JR HUS! WAHOO!!!! This was beyond my wildest expectations and I couldn't help but bawl with joy. Chance sure made us proud, and it is the most rewarding feeling to know I had this horse at home, being ridden only by myself, an amateur.. and he was able to go and be a competitor at a large show. Immediately after the show we started Chance with jumping and pleasure driving. He was driving in just a few days and will be ready to show in no time! He will attend the Tom Powers Futurity in a few weeks to try to clinch those last three points for the ROM.. and then the hopes are to qualify him in HUS, hunter hack, and pleasure driving for this year. Everyone LOVES this horse and I have gotten enough compliments to fill my heart to burst... he is turning into everything I ever believed he could be. He is such a kind, gentle soul, for ANY horse, much less a stud... and he wins EVERYONE over with one bat of his pretty long eyelashes and perked up ears. He is a lifetime keeper for sure, and I have never been so excited for foaling season as these first Chance foals arriving this year!
Speaking of which.. the countdown begins! We are bringing in the first mare to foal live on camera in three weeks! Actually, we will probably bring in two at the same time as they are both due so close... so we are going to have to consort with the technology gods to hopefully allow us to successfully install TWO cameras this year! Eek, as if one wasn't hard enough!
First due is the surrogate mare "Sheza", a big chestnut TB mare who is carrying the A Chance For Romance x Skys Castle Magic embryo. Next due is "Jamie", a big bay TB type mare carrying the A Chance For Romance x Southern Sensations embryo (the baby I'm personally the most excited for this year - combining my two favorite, most beautiful, best minded horses of all time! ;). Both will be in and on cam at the same time (technology gods providing). Next couple to be on cam will be Skys Castle Magic "Shirley" herself carrying an Artful Move, and ML Zippos Venture "Lucy" in foal to Chance. Lucy gave us a HUGE and stunning colt by So Riveting last year so I just can't wait for THIS cross! Those are all of our March foalings. Next pair in April will be Southern Sensations "Sendy" carrying her Huntin For Chocolate baby, and Sleepy Little Asset "Lily" carrying her Chance baby. Then over a months break for the final baby of the year, our first delve into Appaloosa breeding! Lady Serengeti red dun ApHC in foal to Chance, due end of May. That concludes the foaling agenda... please keep us in your thoughts for safe and uneventful foalings this year. This time of year is always so incredibly exciting and magical, but can be stressful and nervewracking as well.
As far as breeding plans for this year... we don't have them set in stone as of yet. The goal is to have every huntseat type mare bred to Chance.. as well as Ally, my all-around mare, who I think will be a spectacular cross if I can get a combination of her and Chance with some height! I was hoping to pull an embryo on my buckskin Congress Top 4 filly Ima Dynamic Design and cross her with either Chance or a WP stud, but finances will dicate that, so we'll see how it goes. The priority for embryo transfer is Sendy, as she as getting up in years and doesn't have many foals on the ground, so I am trying to get as many out of her as possible. Ideally she will be bred to Zips Chocolate Chip, as she deserves to be bred to a "legend", on top of the fact that she is a very similar mover to our good Tator Chip, so I think the cross on his sire, ZCC, will be a good one. Then via embryo, I'd like to breed her back to The Ultimate Fancy for a full sibling to our Southern Rock Star, "Clash", who is just the most outstanding horse we've bred with a VERY bright future. If we can get something like him this time but with spots and yellow, that would be spectacular! ;-) The only mare that isn't spoken for yet is Jazz, my A Sudden Impulse daughter who was left open this year... but am certainly tossing around ideas! Hoping to get Ally and my new mare, a 16 hand buckskin own daughter of Dynamic In The Dark (woohoo!) in foal to Chance for some JANUARY babies this time! Enough of this waiting while everyone else has already started theirs, especially when I have no excuse waiting for warmer weather seeing as we are in Florida! :)
The last big news of the month is our brand new horse trailer! We traded in our 3H extended living quarters that was just WAY too big and scary for me to pull, especially considering we never utilized the LQ... for an 8' shorter, but with more horse slots, 4H non-LQ, brand spanking new 2010 Shadow all-aluminum gooseneck! I am so excited to bring home a trailer I should actually be able to drive. :) Can't wait to get a customized farm logo to put on all that empty white space... anyone have any good recommendations for someone that can create a creative but tasteful decal for me?
That's all for now... I will try to keep up with this more often.. of course it's going to be a rather slow few weeks until the exciting stuff begins! :)
~A
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