We are just getting going with our, hopefully, long time passion of breeding the All American breed, the Pony of America. Years ago I had been just been getting my feet wet when I got divorced and had to let go of my dream, temporarily. That first experience had us produce only 7 foals total. (I would like to point out that only 2 of those were colts - unlike my percentages of colts these days. But I digress.) I had a LOT to learn in those early breeding experiences and that was before genetic testing.
I had plenty of years off from breeding to absorb as much information as I possibly could and I still feel like I know nothing. Combine that lack of knowledge base with the fact that I breed a breed that has height and color criteria for registration and I'm always a nervous wreck twice a year. Being as mares' gestation is 11 months, those two times a year always fall in the spring. Foaling season and breeding season.
It all begins with planning the breeding, right? In a breed with as many outstanding stallions as we have, it should be easy to find a stallion and make a baby. But what most folks don't understand is that good breeders don't just look for easy. It's not about the closest or cheapest stallion. It's about what cross will make a foal that will be a benefit to the breed. As a breeder, you are looking for a foal that will be marketable and desirable by as many people as possible. That means doing a lot of market analysis. We watch to see whose stallions' get are selling and winning. We watch to see what foals sell the quickest each year. We watch to see which traits/skills/talents most people are looking for. Then we start stallion searching. You have to find a stallion that will produce the color for the breed standard, the height that everyone wants (even though our breed standard is 46-56", most buyers are truly only looking in the 54-56" range), and the skills that everyone wants. Inevitably we cannot find one stallion that checks all of our boxes to complement each mare. So then we have to start deciding.
For us this year that meant deciding - what is going to be harder to sell if we gamble? A solid, a gray or an overheight? Or do we play it safe and only breed to stallions tested to guarantee we get color so we only have to worry about height? But what if the best moving, best disposition, best height possibilities stallion is a risk of a solid? Am I a gambling woman? It's all about weighing where each thing lies on your list of importance. If disposition and movement are at the top, then isn't a chance or having a solid worth the chance of having a foal that will improve the breed? What about our own stallion prospect in the pasture? At 2, will he be ready to breed or do we purchase outside breedings again this year? Then you factor in futurity eligibility. Many people only want foals that are eligible to show in at least one of the fall futurities. That narrows down the stallion list even more.
At some point you just have to commit to a decision and try to get that mare in foal. Yet another process that seems like it should be easy, but there are about a million ways that it can go wrong. Do you AI and deal with lost semen shipments and missed ovulations or do you live cover and risk injury to your mare, the stallion, dangers of transportation, etc... ?Infections, twins, cysts, slipped foals... sigh. There is nothing like seeing that confirmed pregnancy and then seeing those signs of pregnancy to make a person start to feel like it was all worth it.
There is the happy lull of the interim few months where breeders get to do the dreaming. Dreaming of the color possibilities. Dreaming of colts versus fillies. (Will we ever have a filly born here at Berry Sweet Acres?) Dreaming of registered names and barn names. We love to come up with themes for our barn names. This usually results in a lot of hilarious brain storming. We have a great theme idea for this year and I cannot wait to share the story of how Sophie came up with "her" foal's barn name. This is my favorite part of the breeding process. The dreaming stage. But the dreaming stage eventually gives way to... foaling season!
Foaling season I'm a nervous wreck for all the obvious reasons: death to the foal, death to the mare or the worst case scenario - death to both. Every breeder worth their salt, that cares at all for their animals, worries about these 3 scenarios leading up to the delivery date of their beloved mares. It's especially difficult if they go over and prolong the worrisome period. Even after the foal safely arrives, there are milestones that need to be checked off before a breeder takes a deep breath and believes that the worst might be over. I'm sure most of my mares would rather foal out in nature with no worried Melissa watching over them and panicking that the foal isn't nursing yet, pooping yet, standing yet, you name it. But too bad, their tough luck is they get me and all my anxiety hovering outside the stall door.
As a breeder of a color and height restricted breed you also have us anxiously checking those babies for recognizable Appaloosa characteristics and color and promptly measuring that newborn baby to make sure it is tall enough to be marketable and short enough to be in height. Everyone interested in your foal is going to want to know "what height do you think it will mature?" You can use parents' heights as a guide, but another tried and true method is to measure the baby in the first day or so and then add 20". So if the foal is around 34" at birth, you will have a 54" pony. Get in there and measure that newborn. May the odds be ever in your favor; and I mean that sincerely. If you haven't handled a newborn baby and tried to get an accurate measurement then you probably have no idea what a trying task that can be. Anyone want to volunteer to come help me in a few weeks?
When all is said and done and that perfect baby starts cruising around and playing; your heart sings. It's a pretty amazing feeling getting to watch that baby that you planned, dreamed, and lost sleep over, grow up. Most of the time for us it means letting those dreams go on to make dreams come true for someone else. But part of being a breeder is knowing that your role may and is just the beginning to a much greater dream. We are anxiously awaiting 3 new dream foals in just a few months. Who wants on the waiting list?
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