Wiseman wins at Lexington Virginia !!

Martha rode the five year old Wiseman (Lord sinclair/Lancet) gelding to a win at training level and a second at first Level at the dressage show in Lexington, Virginia. The humedex on show day was 41C !

Daniosa and Calypso

We took Zinosa(Tango/Purioso) and her filly Daniosa(Lord Sinclair/Tango) out into the sand arena for some pictures. Daniosa was her usual bouncy self!!

We also took the yearling Calypso(Sandreo/Jazz) out and he showed us some of his very nice movement!

More Foal Pictures

The foals are growing very fast these days and seem to get bigger every time you look at them! They are all very friendly and love to visit.

Sometimes the best place to ride is in the field!

It is nice to get out of the arena and do some field work a few times a week. The horses love it and it is also a lot of fun! Here are some pictures of Megan and 4 year old Zijde Roos(Burggraaf/Hofnar), enjoying the big field!

Breeding Update

Breeding Update.

It is nearing the end of June and the time when the mares having “early foals” must be already in foal. Here in Prince Edward Island spring does not come early ! Because of this we do not want foals in March or earlier. There can still be snow and most definitely be red mud in the turnouts. We have some large pens which were previously used for cattle but we still like to have fields for the foals to run in soon after they are born.

We checked Vuzarma pregnant yesterday. This gives us five pregnancies to date.

Florentina is in foal to Sir Oldenburg
Veganieta is in foal to Brentano II
Waltzalina is in foal to Johnson
Zinosa is in foal to Lord Sinclair
Vuzarma is in foal to Concorde.

To follow, we have two more mares not yet bred. The later foaling Virtual Rose and Verginia who has not shown us regular cycles. We have put both of these mares on P&E and expect them to be ready to breed in about two weeks. This will be good timing if they get in foal then as the five earlier mares will be all our foaling facilities will handle.

The five mares all are in foal to first service with frozen semen. Although there is an element of luck involved in breeding mares we think it is an area which requires very careful management and that good management is rewarded.

Here are some of the things that we do to get our mares pregnant. Most of it is common knowledge but here goes!

1. Buy good semen. We purchase from reputable stallion owners and rely on their advice plus check out other breeders results.

2. Have healthy mares. We are fortunately working with younger mares who are on pasture in a group.

3. Check for signs of heat carefully. We do not use a teaser stallion but any “strange” horse will do for a few days then use a different gelding or mare.

4. We are very fortunate to have a very well informed repro vet who lives near by and gives us excellent service. Dr Ed McAulay from Montague Vet clinic does all our repro work and is a large part of our breeding success.

5. Scan/palpate early in the cycle to avoid surprises.

6. When there is a 38+mm follicle we give HCG. Theoretically ovulation should take place 32hrs after the injection. If the mare is already planning to ovulate she will go on her own so if the follicle is larger we will start checking every six hours.

7. Check the mares for ovulation every six hours. This is essential as the frozen semen is viable for only six hours.

8. We breed post ovulation. In spite of our best efforts we do not do well predicting ovulation. Large, soft follicles can be large soft follicles six hours later.

9. We inseminate using deep horn technique with “Mini Tube” catheters.

10. We are meticulous about thaw times and avoid cold shock past thaw.

11. We use full doses.

With all this there are some mares that do not conform but that is what keeps life interesting.

More foal pictures.

The most recent filly Viva Voltaire/Idocus/Quattro was out for a walk with her dam Virtual Rose today. She does not have an official name yet but the current top of the list is Diva Rose.

Virtual Rose has a filly!

Virtual Rose had a filly(Viva Voltaire/Idocus) early this morning. She is bay with a small star, two small socks on both front legs, and two tall socks on both back legs.

Breeding Update

Breeding News

We are in the midst of breeding season. Almost all of our mares are bred using frozen semen. and the breeding protocol requires that insemination with frozen semen must be within six hours of ovulation. This can mean ultrasounds in the middle of the night !
However, with good semen, good heat detection and rigorous adherence to the ultra sound schedule by a good vet we are very pleased with our conception rate. Mares are always unpredictable compared with other livestock we have worked with so breeding is a challenge. We usually breed post ovulation because even with ultrasound predicting ovulation is very difficult.

Last week Veganieta (Jazz/Zeoliet) checked pregnant to Brentano II. We are excited about this breeding as this mare needed a bit more bone and Brentano II should bring more bone, rideability and great movement. We expect this cross will give us a big horse but we like big horses!

We also have bred and ready to preg check next Monday Florentina (Florestan/Phonix ) to Sir Oldenburg, Waltzlina (Jet Set/Haarem) to Johnson and Vuzarma (Hamlet/Purioso) to Concorde. Bred this week is Zenosa (Tango/Purioso) to Lord Sinclair in an attempt to get another foal like this years Lord Sinclair filly.

To come is Virgina (Welt hit II/ Zeoliet) which we plan to breed back to Donnatelli and Virtual Rose (Idocus/Quattro) who has not foaled yet. We will make the final descision on what to breed her to when we see the foal.

Up date June 9th. Florentina checked pregnant to Sir Oldenburg and Waltzlina checked pregnant to Johnson.

Charlton NPF

Charlton NPF (Concorde/Hamlet/Purioso) is now a one year old colt. We had an inquiry from a prospective buyer and we needed to do some photos. Normally we do not jump yearlings but jumped him over a small cross rail to show is style. We were very excited about how he looked and his natural ability to jump.

Again more foal pictures.

Any breeder will tell you that foal watching is a big waste of time. These pictures will tell you that it is time well wasted !

Foals on Pasture.

The two older foals are now out in the big pasture with their dams. The chestnut foal, Demarko, (Johnson/Floristan) is a colt. The bay filly, Denosa, is a Lord Sinclair/Tango. There is always some nice movement when the go out in the big pasture for first time.

Verdi /Hamlet foal is now three days old

Vuzarma's new filly

Vuzarma had a new filly (Verdi/Hamlet) last night.

Caprice photos

This time of the year we do some halter training with the yearlings. They have learned the basics as foals. As yearlings this is refreshed and they learn to stand, walk and to trot with the handler. At this age they progress very fast and after a few days of work they know all they need to know as yearlings. A few refresher lessons during the summer and they will be ready for appropriate work as two year olds next year.

We took these photos when we were working with Caprice a yearling Sandreo/Floristan.

Training in Virginia

Martha was joined by our niece Megan Crouse for two week of horse training and other activities in Virginia. The bay gelding is the five year old Wiseman (Lord Sinclair/Lancet) The Chestnut is the four year old Zandman (Quattro B /Cavalier)

Pasture time !

It was time for the two year olds to go out on the front pasture. We like to start them on the pastures just as the grass is coming up. That way there is not a big growth of grass when they go out. Ther is lots of acreage so there will still be plenty of grass even though the horses get an early spring start. The first thing they do when they go out is to gallop around even though they have been out in the smaller pasture. It is always exciting to see how they move.