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~
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