Someone asked me the other day about the babies I have raised in the past. This led me to taking the proverbial trip down memory lane. My journey as a POA breeder stopped and started with my divorce and subsequent remarriage. The first time around I almost exclusively made the breeding decisions and we had 7 total foals. This time around I have a wonderful partner in our breeding program (and maybe the voice of reason when I get crazy ideas) and we have had 7 more foals so far. Out of the 14 foals we have only produced one solid, which is crazy to me considering the first time around we didn't know nearly as much as we know now about color testing and how to guarantee color. Our one solid came because we took a 75% chance on getting color and as luck would have it (or not as the case may be) our best filly so far ended up being a solid. Disappointing but we will find her niche in the open show market or a broodmare band. It's crazy to me that out of the 14 foals we have produced we are also back to even on gender - 50/50 colts and fillies!
I made the little graphic below one day. They are pictured in the order they arrived. (Even foals born in the same year are shown in the order they were born.)
EZ On the Eyes (Luckey Strikes Gold x Westwind Licorice)
EZ For You to Say (Jamaican Scotch x Sailing Susie)
Suddenly Its EZ (Suddenly Sammy x Dutch Diamond in the Ruff)
Dutch Majorly EZ (RY Major Equity x JWW I Am A Bright Girl)
Diamonds Make It EZ (RC Tough N Salty x Dutch Diamond in the Ruff)
Majorly Kidding (RY Major Equity x Shez No Kid)
Dutch Rock N Roll (RY Major Equity x Cutie Shadow S)
Berry Sweet Rhythm (Fifty Shades Darker x Dutch Rock N Roll)
Berry Sweet Beat (Dutch Norman Borlaug x Silvers Precious Lady)
Berry Sweet Cookie (Kid O Bounce x Oh Chip I'm Broke)
Berry Sweet Tea (Super Southern x Silvers Precious Lady)
Berry Sweet Perfection (Ive Got Super Powers x Maid of Copper)
Berry Sweet Fantasy (RPRs Impulsive Superman x Dutch Rock N Roll)
Berry Sweet Guaranteed (Guaranteed Equity x Silvers Precious Lady)
I also reflected on how our breeding decisions, while getting more complicated, are also producing better and better foals for POA. This year's crop really knocked it out of the park and I can't wait to see what they can do in a couple of years. Our goal is always to get our babies into show homes. We haven't always been successful, but we have been lucky that they have found families that love them and care for them. That's truly a blessing. The ponies that are in the show pen are doing great and proving to have the outstanding dispositions that we hope to always produce. We want to breed all around ponies that have the kind of minds that kids can show and train from the beginning.
This year we put a TON of thought into our breeding choices. We poured over descriptions of stallions, researched the get he had on the ground, talked to tons of stallion owners and yes, I made a spreadsheet. Even when we had to go to plan B (and then C with China) we knew that our top 5 choices would have all created babies that will be an asset to the POA breed. We have some amazing crosses lined up for 2023:
**We have bred Dutch Rock N Roll (RY Major Equity x Cutie Shadow S) back to Fifty Shades Darker for a full sibling to Berry Sweet Beat. He's been showing these past two years in the in hand events and doing awesome. We are very proud of him! Next year's baby will ride and will have the best disposition. Cher was the born broke/quiet kind and can go years without being ridden and then ride off no problem. Eliot/Boogie is showing that he will be the same.
**We bred Dutch Love (RY Major Equity x a Silver Kid daughter) to The Impulsive Kid. That pedigree speaks for itself. Arya was an incredibly talented Futurity champion mare until injury sidelined her. The Impulsive Kid is just beginning to make a name for himself as a sire of pleasure ponies and has an amazing incentive for 2023. That baby is going to be outstanding in the halter pen and as a rider.
**We bred Silvers Precious Lady (Silver Kid x Docs Rough N Tuff daughter) to Hot Chocolate Hunter. Hunter has some amazing babies out there in the show pen. I got my butt handed to me by one last year at Congress as a matter of fact. (LOL) We believe Fi and Hunter are going to produce the next champion pleasure pony that everyone is going to want in their show string. We pray for spots (this is our one risky cross this year with a 75% chance of color). Spots or no - this baby will ride.
**Both China and Millie are bred to Nugget. China (Maid of Copper - ApHC mare that was my show mare for years) was his first mare to settle and Millie was a last minute/mid summer purchase that was meant to be his first test mare.
We are hoping that 2023 will be the last year we take so many mares to outside stallions as we are "super" excited (I made a punny there) to breed our quality mares to our junior stallion, Super Cool. We did not have plans to breed both mares to Nugget because: 1. We wanted him to grow up a little yet before he bred much. 2. He literally had zero interest in breeding mares. He was scared of them. However, as it tends to do, the world made some decisions for us. China came up open on us twice. We were literally on plan C with her which happened quite by accident. The vet was there checking and confirmed her open. She declared that China was ready to breed, right then. We were going to have to ship semen again and hope we weren't too late when Tim said, "How about we try her with Nugget? I mean, she's sedated - it's not like she's going to kick or hurt him. Maybe he will gain some confidence." Feeling a little guilty, we tried just that. It took nearly half an hour for him to get the confidence and let me tell you the sedation was well worn off by then. But he bred her once and that was all it took. Next vet check showed that the little guy had his first baby on the way. He had a much better handle on the process with Millie and we are excited for that cross as well.
We are already looking ahead to 2023 and who we will cross our mares on this coming season. We would like to breed most of them to Nugget, however -we do have to consider an outside breeding or two for a couple of our mares. We will let you all know what roads we go down and pray for a shorter breeding season this coming spring. Berry Sweet Acres is a growing breeding program and we are excited to share our babies with all of you. If you're in the area, stop by and see Scoopie or Sundae. Or if you're looking for that next prospect, check us out. We might have your next Congress champion just waiting to go home with you.
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