I finally got word from my folks about their first crop of foals from their new stallion, and best of all, they sent pictures! Now I can’t wait to travel out to their ranch in Idaho to see them for myself. They have had a good foaling year (last spring they not only lost a foal before birth, but also had to put one of their best mares down due to birthing complications) so it’s a blessing to see these happy little horses on the ground, safe and sound.
This first one is out of their mare, Ruby Red, a bay roan mare who had a mule baby last year. I think this will be the first foal they’ve had from her. Matched with their blue roan stallion, she had a big bay roan filly. I love this filly’s alert expression and huge muscles. Not sure how old she is in the picture, but not more than a week or two, and she’s already looking amazing. All of Dad and Mom’s horses have flourished after moving from Nebraska out to Idaho. I think their grass is better, and maybe the terrain contributes to their huge muscles, but most of their horses have put on a couple hundred pounds just from the move itself. Even the ones that aren’t ridden regularly sport big hindquarters and strong backs. I love seeing photos of them.
The second foal was a red roan filly out of their red roan mare, Lazaroni. The filly looks pretty light boned in the photo, but Lazaroni is a very short, heavy, strongly built mare, so I’m curious to see how much of the stallion’s height the babies will possess.
The third foal is a big bay stud colt out of their bay mare Hickory. This is the first successful birth of a stud colt to be born on the ranch since they moved to Idaho in 2003, so hopefully he’ll prove to be a keeper. They’re going to need some good ranch geldings in a few years, as all of their older ones are putting on years. The bay colt has silver feet, so he may start to roan or change to another color.
I have a plane ticket purchased to go out there this summer, and I can’t wait to meet these babies and take more pictures of them. I’m so excited that they all had easy births and no complications. They have one more mare to foal this spring, and that’s old Belle, who will again be having a mule baby. Hopefully we’ll hear good news of its birth very soon.
These babies show such promise of becoming good ranch horses when they grow up, and I’ll try to keep up with them in photos and keep track of how they’re progressing. There’s just something about new foals that is surprising and inspiring.
