When people find out that I have horses and compete with them, they always ask me if I do the "thing where you run around the barrels". People's guesses varies wildly, I think, depending on where you live in our great country. I would venture a guess that in other areas of the country they assume you do the "jumping thing" or maybe the "racing thing". Virtually no one ever guesses that we show in the pleasure events, fewer people know what that even means and boy you should see their faces when I say "we show pleasure". HA! I am sure it raises way more questions than it answers. The fact of the matter is, we chase our dreams in the show pen every year but I have other dreams when it comes to horses.
Years ago when we started showing our ponies my ex and I raised a few POA babies; seven total over several years. I was completely new to the horse breeding business. My sole experiences with horse breeding were the one foal born on our place as a child, watching my friend raise babies and good old movies (because we all know how realistic those are). For many reasons I try not to judge people who are just starting out, but one of the main ones is because I was just starting out once too. I don't judge people new to showing ponies, owning ponies and I don't judge people new to breeding ponies. I made plenty of mistakes. Lots and lots of them actually. But I wanted to learn so I asked questions, read websites/books/articles and kept my eyes wide open to use the power of observation. I won't judge you if you are willing to learn and be better. (I might judge you if you refuse to listen to guidance from people who know more and stomp your little close minded foot.)
When we first started breeding there was limited knowledge of genetic testing (for color or for disease). I didn't have breeding goals. I just wanted to make baby horses because I liked baby horses. I didn't make the best choices for breeding ponies. I chose stallions for our mares for all the wrong reasons. I chose stallions based off of cost (looking for the cheapest) and color (wanted a pretty color when it was all said and done). *insert face palm*. I was lucky enough to own nice mares so our foals were not craptastic. But they weren't exactly bettering the breed or even show quality. They were colored, they had good dispositions and they went absolutely nowhere. I hope and pray that they are all in homes still today where they are well loved. The last I knew, they are good family ponies. But I also think that not one has seen the inside of a POA show pen, maybe a few 4H shows here or there, but that is truly it.
When divorce forced a 9 year breeding hiatus, I took that time to learn. Even though I was pretty sure I wouldn't be breeding again any time soon - if ever - I still wanted to learn more. It was back to hitting the books, social media, and websites for me. Science was making huge breakthroughs in genetic testing. We had learned so much in just under a decade. Now we could choose breedings to make sure our babies had color and were free from genetic disease. I knew a ton more about conformation and how it played into the fitness of a pony for a particular purpose. I researched bloodlines and what those bloodlines produced as far as success and disposition. I had a new goal and a new dream. It actually has a few parts to it.
First I want to breed a Congress champion, preferably in performance, but any class would make me delighted. AND I want to have our Berry Sweet name be connected to ponies that succeed in the show pen. I'm a little late to the game to have dreams of making it on the leading breeder's lists, especially with only breeding a couple each year, but I dream that someday people will know the Berry Sweet name and say, "oh those were nice ponies."
Some would say that we already have a Congress champion attached to our Berry Sweet name. It is true that we do in Pepper, Berry Sweet Endeavor, but I can't take credit for her. Alicia Rooney (Slapnika) had Fi at the time of conception and planned that breeding. We can't take credit for that dream, that was Alicia and then later Meg who foaled out Pepper. We are thankful forever that Meg let us name our little Pepper Potts with the Berry Sweet prefix. But Pepper doesn't have our name attached as the breeder.
To accomplish these goals I know I have a lot of work cut out for me. First things first, I have to breed the best mares I can find (which I feel I have) to the best stallions out there - which I feel I have done. It isn't just breeding a great stallion to a great mare though. It is breeding the best mare for that stallion. The stallion that is right for Cher is not the stallion that compliments Fi the best and so on. So I have to match them to the best of my ability. I've done a lot of research. I search pedigrees and progeny. I check with people who have had foals by the stallions about movement, trainability and disposition. I watch for performance records, but am not afraid to take a chance on new or upcoming stallions that check other boxes. I make sure they are genetically clear and almost 100% of the time I make sure we will end up with a colored foal. I have gambled a little the past few years with one mare. Last year I struck out. Here's hoping my luck is better in 2023. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm getting more knowledgeable all the time.
That is just the first step! Once confirmed in foal there has been 11 months of preparing the mare to produce the best possible baby by keeping my mares healthy, fit and ready to foal. Next is the anxiety of foaling season and praying that all these future Congress hopefuls arrive safe and sound (literally sound). Then begins the process of keeping those babies healthy and safe as they go through their first few months. As my vet said last year, "foals are born to die". Ask me about the fun of deworming foals.... thank goodness our babies last year were all attention seeking as they forgot pretty quickly the tubes of dewormer shoved at them.
Then comes the process of trying to find the best homes for our babies. I dream of finding show homes for all of our babies. While that is always a goal in the back of my mind, the best home for each of them is a home where they will be loved, taken care of and worked with to become a using member of the horse world. We have been blessed to find wonderful families to love our babies and a couple of them have already been in the show pen. Long time followers have maybe seen Monster (Berry Sweet Cookie) and Boogie (Berry Sweet Rhythm) out and about in the show pen. Our first babies are just old enough to be riders and I love getting updates of our boys under saddle.
Truly, it doesn't matter if our babies become the next Congress champion if they find their way to someone who loves them. I love seeing updates of our babies with their kids and families, being loved on and having their basic training started. I know where each of our Berry Sweet babies is and I am so happy for the families that have them. I have big dreams and big goals but I'm also patient and realistic. This dream wasn't built in a day and it won't be accomplished in one either.
Thank you to all the breeders who have shared their wealth of knowledge on breeding, foaling, bloodlines and so much more. I'd try to list them all but I'm sure I would forget some of them. I do have to thank Anne Dykstra for always being willing to share her mares and knowledge with me. Also Jess who is always just a phone call or text away at breeding and foaling time. Dean for his years and years of knowledge of pedigrees and breeding mares. Tracy for her help with understanding all rules, colors and such related to POA. Kent for answering all my questions about older bloodlines I'm not familiar with and so many many more. Every little step towards my dream has been because of amazing breeders like all of you.
Now... just 21 more days till the first Berry Sweet baby should be here. Pray for rapidly melting snow, warmer temps and green grass to go with safe foaling. I mean, if a girl can dream in MN, dream big - right?
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