Hello Elmer

 


Baby two is here! This one is a red colt by This Fame is on Fire and out of Suerte Estrella. This little guy is not ours, but he will be for sale. Whether we own the foal or not, we like to watch them as they grow and move into careers. We have a little attachment to each foal that enters the world here. Even if they're only with us a short time before they go home, like this guy, we always name them. This one is Elmer. Each year, our foals' names start with the same letter. This is the “E” year. Last year was “D”, and the year before was “C”. You see the pattern. One thing we know about Elmer right now is that he is a spitfire. He's going to be a bit of a handful, if his energy level in the first few days indicates much. He's still sweet, but the boy has some energy.

The older mares are the best. Suerte Estrella, a pro at this, spit him out, got him up and dried off, and shoved him back to start nursing in record time. It's hard to beat these type of mares. Luckily, we have quite a few of those this year. We have a few maidens, as well, but this is the year of old pros. The maidens always seem wide eyed and a bit nervous about the whole situation. Who can blame them? They don't understand what happened to them or what to do with the little creature that now wants attention from them. At the same time, their hormones are telling them that they must take care of the creature and protect it at all costs. We never quite know how the maidens will accept both the foal, as well as us when we have to handle it. The pros don't seem to care when we are in there.

With number two on the ground, the foals should start coming fast. Every single mare this foaling season is due between now and mid-May. We don't have a heavy season this year, which is by design as we learn how to do embryo transfers, AI and develop a second facility. Sometimes, we need to be realistic about what we can achieve, a skill that we do not often practice.

On top of all of that, we just agreed to pursue some hoof rehab case studies. What's one or two or three more horses? Oh, well, this time of year is simply busy, regardless of how much we try to contain things. Foaling and breeding season is upon us. We have been covering mares, as well, which means pregnancy checks will be coming up in about two weeks.

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