Foal Watch 2010 Update

It hasn't been very long since I last wrote, but some funny things have happened during Foal Watch 2010 that I wanted to share. First thing is that I finally decided to double check Tokaj's due date. In truth, I had not paid a ton of attention to her due date because when I had her bred I believed that I would not be foaling her out myself and figured I would move her to her vet's barn to foal since he has a great set-up. I thought that I would be very busy with other things that ended up not materializing this year and since I find myself freed up... I decided that this experience is not one that I want to miss. In the last few days, Tokaj seems to be showing physical signs associated with imminent foaling and it seemed too early for them. So I double checked and found that she is actually due a week earlier than I thought, and according to her vet (the super patient and generous Dr. Jim Long) she could foal up to two weeks early and be normal for a maiden mare! That means she could foal any time and I need to be very vigilant next week! Yikes.

Tokaj has been removed from her hillside paddock due to her size and weight and how hard it has been for her to move about comfortably. Now she is spending her nights in her double sized stall, with matted floor, and comfy soft straw bed. She has her own fan for warm nights and two open dutch doors to catch a breeze and for scenery. In the daytime she walks 30 feet out to her own 60 foot round pen where she stands, lays, and rolls in soft comfy beach sand. Speaking of rolling, as of a few days ago I saw her almost get stuck on her back trying to roll from one side to the other with her big giant belly flopping all around. She made it from one side to the other though.

Yesterday, during my son's afternoon nap, I heard a commotion outside. My other horse Savannah, was whinnying for Tokaj. I knew immediately that if Tokaj was in her round pen that Savannah would have no reason to holler for her because she would be able to see her, so I peek out the window and there stands the open gate to the round pen. Tokaj is the Houdini of horses and can open latches and untie herself if she is not good and secured. She finally figured out the mechanism to the round pen gate and let herself out. She went into her barn and proceeded to burglarize the feed bin nearest to the door... luckily for me, that bin was almost empty and she did not get much more than a regular sized feeding if even that. She ripped the lid completely off it's hinges, threw the empty bin into the aisleway, and dumped over a wheelbarrow of poop that I had been too lazy to empty before it was full. After wreaking as much havoc as she could, she waddled out onto the sideyard lawn to eat more, and then Savannah the tattle-tale became frantic and alerted me to Tokaj's doings.

I went out to retrieve Tokaj from the sideyard. In her old form, Her Impishness would have run away from me and went directly to the lush green pastures of our neighbor and I would have had to take a second to outthink her in order to secure custody. This time, she looked at me with that old impish sparkle, and then found herself trapped in her 11 month pregnant body. She waddled about 10 steps, went to cross the driveway, stepped on the now painful gravel, and gave up. I had to laugh at her. So, I went up to her, patted her neck in sympathy... I've been there too.... and she followed me to her barn and her soft floored stall to rest from her exploits. She definitely knows when the jig is up.

I know more comedy will ensue when Houdini Jr. arrives. More later.

Here She Is.... My Hungarian Princess!

Well, I finally decided to change my blog photo to show off my Hungarian mare Tokaj. In the photo she is about six weeks away from having her foal. Her due date is around September 26, 2010. This is my first go at breeding and I am hoping for all the good luck I can get.

Her Highness has a double stall, bedded with straw. I have found a wireless surveillance camera sold by a company that outfits the Secret Service and Homeland Security so that I can watch her every waddling move and butt scratch. I can monitor her all night in my sleep deprived stupor if the anxiety gets bad enough. Don't know how my husband is going to stand the glow of the large TV screen depicting equine boredom at it's finest towering over our bed..... but I am certain that it is a necessity and the guest bedroom is mighty comfy if he becomes desperate enough.

We are approximately four weeks out, and I am just now getting fencing contractors out to create the perfect foal safe paddock for Tokaj and her foal when he/she arrives. The temporary fencing that I put up that was supposed to buy a few weeks time until I could go out and install a proper fence for my horses.... has now been up for three years. The horses did so well in it that other projects took priority, but there is no messing around with foals and anything less than super safe fencing. I am lucky to have contractors do quite a bit of it, but the poly wire is all mine to install. Yuck. When I left Idaho some years ago, I promised myself that was the last fencing I would ever have to personally install, and yet here I am preparing to do it again. I love doing projects myself, as long as there is no deadline or pressure. This is big pressure. My (hopefully) dream foal is on the way!

I also need to spend some time researching more about attending a foaling mare, and what to do to keep the foal healthy. Oh don't get me wrong, I've done a lot of research and asking questions, but I haven't settled on what I want to do. My sources suggest slightly different things it seems. In all though, I am hoping all my fretting is not necessary. Tokaj's line of horses bred and foaled themselves in only slightly less than feral circumstances and they are all alive and well. Hopefully she inherited their hardiness and will drop the bundle and get on with it like it was a breeze. :)

If you are wondering what I am hoping for.... well I could tell you that I am just hoping for healthy... which is relatively true, but to be perfectly honest, I would love to have a colt just slightly more than I would like a filly. I have had wonderful mares in my past, but also some pretty silly ones. In fact, I have had a lot of mares. I am just wanting to balance out the picture and ride a gelding again. I was dreaming of a gray colt, but recently found out that even though gray is a very dominant color, that Wistar (the dad) throws nearly all bays, and has never thrown a gray, even on gray mares. So, if I get a colt or a filly it is likely to be bay. Genetically speaking, I could get a gray, bay, or black. All of the above sit quite well with me anyway.

Well, that's it for now. We are on heavy Hungarian watch. I will let you know as the date gets closer and I get more anxious......

P~

The Long Lost Blog Post

Hi. Sorry about the year long absence. Last April I was contacted by a law enforcement agency that my email had been compromised by someone wishing to do me and my family harm. I have not posted anything on the internet since. The online world can be very dangerous in that it can really help shield cowardly people who wish to spend their time harassing others anonymously. The person has been caught, and I am hoping that was the end of it. I have restricted myself from normal freedoms for long enough.

The Update

This year has been one of big changes and big plans. After the last posting in April of 2009, we had a giant rainstorm that took out 1/3 of my newly installed riding arena. My arena is small to begin with, so 33% of it being gone made training impossible. And honestly after all the work and investment, it took a bit of time to not feel defeated by the situation. That rainstorm happened in May of 2009 and we did not have much dry weather until a week or so in the Fall. My riding time really suffered.

In the Fall of 2009, I did go to a dressage show out of desperation for losing yet another entire show season. Tokaj got a few rides in our tiny demolished arena... went to the show to do Training 2 and Training 4 (move up? why not? :) The night before the show, there was a giant rainstorm that soaked the outdoor warm up ring.. and made the footing very slick and dangerous. No cantering in the warm up basically. It wasn't ideal, but everyone except the people who were regular boarders at the barn was affected the same. Tokaj ended up going into her classes and giving me the best dressage rides I have ever had on any horse in competition. She ended up scoring in the mid to upper 60% range and getting two second placings. I was very excited. We would have won our first class had I not had circles that were not the right size... and I put that down to practicing in my micro-arena.

After the show, I made a snap decision that I am happy I made, but can't believe how fast it happened. I decided to breed Tokaj. I had never been interested in breeding horses before. I have always wanted the experience of raising a foal, but there are so many nice horses out there and too many being bred without regard for the actual result. But, I had never had a mare as nice as Tokaj either. I truly feel it would be a shame to not have her pass on her wonderful ability and disposition. Aother aspect of my decision to breed her is that I was not sure I was finished creating my own family. I knew if we decided to try for another baby that it would put my riding off for a couple more years and Tokaj was already 10 years old. Not that she would be ancient or anything, but it is very hard to return the fitness and soundness of an older horse (or human for that matter) if they don't maintain the fitness level throughout aging. I couldn't help but wish that I had found Tokaj four years from now instead of wasting her prime when I was so busy!

So I decided to breed Tokaj in the early Spring of 2010, and I began researching stallions in the Fall of 2009. Tokaj is a Hungarian warmblood with an incredible history behind her bloodlines. In short, Tokaj's direct ancestors from the 1940's were taken from the Germans by U.S. Army General Patton during WWII and shipped to the U.S. to Ft. Riley, KS as the spoils of war, to improve the U.S. Cavalry mounts. Once the cavalry was decomissioned shortly after, the entire herd of Hungarians was purchased by a couple of cattle ranchers. One in Montana and one in Nebraska. Believe it or not, there is a herd of Hungarian warmbloods currently grazing the sandhills of Nebraska, owned by the son of one of the cattle ranchers who purchased them from the Army. Tokaj is directly from that herd. And she is the most incredible horse I have ever been around. If you wish to know more you can find out all about them and their wonderful history at: http://www.hungarianhorses.org/.

So as I began looking for a suitable stallion I wanted to look first within the Hungarian breed. I was not limiting myself to them, but hoped to find a suitable prospective sire. That led me to HS Wistar. Wistar also has a wonderful history dating back to WWII. Wistar's damline is a mare whose relations were shipped to the U.S. by a Hungarian countess who was fleeing the occupation of Hungary by the Germans in WWII. She brough a small herd of Hungarians to the U.S. about the same time that General Patton brought the others. She and the two cattle ranchers ended up meeting and helping to keep the Hungarians pure and without too much line breeding.

HS Wistar stood out due to his breeding and performance history. I believe Wistar is 14. He has been competing at grand prix dressage for a couple of years with his rider/trainer Jennifer Williams. Jennifer and Wistar have grown up practically together and last year were training with Steffan Peters. Wistar is a great horse. His most important features are that he is SOUND at 14 after a long career at high levels of dressage, lots of competing, and traveling. The other important feature is that he has a great disposition, work ethic, and mind. He is very athletic and throws athletic ability, temperament, and soundness to his foals. When looking for a stallion, I was hoping to match Tokaj's wonderful attributes, and I ended up going one step better. Breeding is always a gamble, but I would bet on this pairing any day.

So, I contacted Summervale Farm in Washingtong state to inquire about Wistar... and was told that he may not be available to breed early next Spring as he and Jennifer were going to train again in California with Steffan Peters, but... if I wanted to breed right then, in the Fall of '09, they would accomodate me. So snap decision made... I now have a pregnant Tokaj! She is due in September of 2010. It turned out to be a good thing that a had her bred last Fall, as Wistar and Jennifer have accepted a U.S. Dressage Foundation grant that will allow them to compete in Europe at grand prix. Wistar will be in Europe for much of this year.

The winter of '09 was brutal here. No riding took place as I don't have an indoor arena. I did fix my washed out outdoor for Spring riding. Now we have nice weather, and I am getting some riding done on Savannah. Savannah is a Paint, and she is 5 years old now and not at the training level of a 5 year old. I decided to ride her western. She has not matured to a point where her withers are level with her croup. I am not certain that she ever will level out. Dressage, and collection will be hard for her if she does not at least level out, so I am focusing on making her a nice riding horse for trails and family.

That's our update. I hope all of you are well too!