I have to admit New Year’s Day gets me more excited than Christmas, and it has nothing to do with ringing in the New Year. I stayed up 'til 3am EST to watch these babies appear. Because of my late-night vigil, the names are uninspired. Please post suggestions. =)
This filly was a mistake. I clicked breed before I realized she has Rogue on both her sire and dam sides–Laird as the paternal grandsire and Highland Pride as the maternal grandsire, making Rogue the great-grandsire on both sides. Whoops! I’m hoping he’s far back enough for him to be awesome instead of just fragile. At 8.1hh she’s just a little peanut compared to the others (especially considering HC tends to throw large foals). Here’s hoping she doesn’t sprout a 3rd head (did I mention she came out with two?). I kid. Dam has been bred to Long Live the King for a jumper.
First foal of dam and I love that the maternal grandsire is Lonesome Glory. He’s one of my guilty pleasures. I’m so psyched there is a direct Cigar son to carry on the line, so we jumped on the chance to breed to him. Premiere has been bred to Long Live the King.
Only colt of the night. Notanotherhighland’s first foal will race this year, so that should be interesting. I’m not-so-secretly psyched that the Hill got the King’s first foal in his first crop, since we haven’t had the pleasure for HC or DC. WHOO! Notanotherhighland will be bred to someone. Haven’t decided yet.
First foal of dam. Sire’s first crop will run this year, so I’m psyched to see how they’ll turn out. She’s bred to run on the turf/jumps, and I’m hoping her dam’s name won’t jinx her too much (and yes, I did name the Nag).
3x3 to Rogue shouldn’t cause too many issues, I’m planning on one or two 2x3 crosses which will either go really good or really bad I think. Love this time of the year! So much to do!
Two more today. I noticed Long Live the King has four foals on the ground already. Does a stallion have anything to do with babies coming early or is this just a fluke?
[color=red]Kept Woman (ICh. Long Live the King x NCh. Sultry Woman)
8.3hh Dark Gray Filly
First foal of her dam, who was the 2012 Steeplechase Mare of the Year. Really excited to see what comes out of this match. Plus, fillies are awesome. =)
[color=red]Longevity (ICh. Long Live the King x Ch. Lonely River)
First foal of dam, who won a couple of stakes, but was fairly consistent as a 2yo and 3yo. King matured as a 3yo and ran successfully for 3 season. I’m hoping he can give some longevity to her career. Nonetheless, it’s kinda weird seeing mares I bred and raced giving foal. I have been around way too long.
If the mares were bred early, and/or they had premie babies, they’ll foal early. Each gestation time is determined at breeding, irrelevant of the sire.
Name is up in the air, as it reflects more my sentiments than an actual name. So, suggestions are totally welcomed.
Thank Goodness (FFCh. High Chances x GCh. Go For Glory (G) )
9.2hh Bay Filly
We lost a cute little chestnut filly last year from this cross, and so we re-bred Go For Glory to HC in the hopes that we’d get a live birth. Not only do we get a live birth, we also get a filly–YAY! She’s 1/2 to MSW Demand the Best and SP Toastofthetown, so we are really excited to see this filly run.
Two more today. Getting a whole bunch of fillies this year, while awesome, makes it so much harder to cull them.
[color=red]Dilsey (ICh. Dark Continent x Ch. Molly is a Mule)
8.2hh Dark Gray Filly
First foal of dam. Dilsey is the name of a character in Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and is a figure of endurance and sanity in the novel. Molly has been bred to HC.
[color=red]Nairobi (ICh. Dark Continent x NCh. Sacred Hill)
8.2hh Chestnut Filly
Third foal of dam. I noticed that I had an unintentional city theme going on–Forbidden City, City Upon a Hill–and figured I should just keep with that trend.
[color=red]Lunar Eclipse (WCh. Strike It Rich x Ch. Saturnalia)
10.1hh Grey Filly
We’re trying for another NCh. Striking Beauty (who was by Strike the Gold out of Fleeting Beauty, Saturnalia’s dam). So, this filly’s kinda like half to Striking Beauty, since both sire and dam are there, albeit as grandsire/dam. Saturnalia was from our very first crop of homebreds, so it’s always nice to see her foal. Her first foal, by Nightfight, is a yearling this year. Saturnalia has been shipped to Sillwater for a date with Ring of Fire.
[color=blue]Foiled (Silver Charm x Fool’s Gold)
8.1hh Dapple Grey Colt
This bugger is the first foal of his dam, who is 1/2 to ICh. Witness and will be up for auction at the end of the month (the dam, not the colt). He’s from Silver Charm’s second crop, so here’s hoping he turns out to be another Rahy or Saddler’s Wells. =)
One more. Seems like the ladies are holding out on us. Well, no matter.
Helios (GCh. Worth My While (G) x Phoenix (G) )
9.2hh Bay Colt
Originally we were going to name him after one of the Mars rovers, but both Spirit and Opportunity were taken. With so much gold in his pedigree (okay, I know that’s subject to change…but still), we couldn’t resist a reference to the sun god. This little boy is 1/2 to NCh. Ray of Light, Ch. Color of Fire, Ch. Seattle Phoenix, Ch. Strip Poker and 3/4 to GCh. Honey Baby. I think the pedigree thing is miscalculating as it says he’s also 3/4s to horses by Worth My While out of a created mare. But that’s a notation for the bug report. Phoenix has been bred to High Chances. Phoenix is getting up there (a '99 model), so it’d be nice if she dropped a filly before she retires
(The pedigree thing is counting all created mares as being full siblings, basically. Not for inbreeding purposes, obviously, but just for partial-sib status.)
Well, the boys seem to want to try catching up. Two “unborn” today. Is this like the “undead”? I’ve always wanted vampire ponies. (No, I know what unborn means the script hasn’t completely executed.)
Top Banana (ICh. Dark Continent x Ch. Hannah Banana)
8.3hh Black Colt
First foal out of Hannah Banana, who is out of my starter horse (back when we got 1) Symbolic. Haven’t figured out who she will go to. Maybe Invasor. Because he might be pretty.
Repudiate (ICh. Long Live the King x Ch. Out of Tune)
9.1hh Dark Bay Colt
This foal is the entire reason I wanted to get LLK studified. Out of Tune, who is 1/2 to King David (by Bold Ruler), lost her first foal (by Bold Ruler). Then Bold Ruler retired and the only Bold Ruler stud around was her 1/2 brother. So, clearly another Bold Ruler son had to be studified for that cross to happen.
Love this time of the year! So much to do!
I love it!
Good luck culling them, that’s always my toughest bit.