Last spring foal arrival

Help me name this gem of a colt! He may hang around to be another breeding stallion and for some reason, I just have struggled and no name I come up with suits this sparkling personality and sounds important and unique. Please send me ideas!

This is our last for the spring out of Karina and by Ami MacHugh's amazing Kianto. Can't see in the grass but has 3 white socks which would be different for us to have markings in one of our boys. Who wouldn't like Kianto--big and black and talented, but mostly, I wanted one of his sons (Wanapum is his half-brother) because of Kianto's personality and willingness and it looks like this colt is going to have an exceptional personality as well. Thanks, Ami, for allowing this to happen.

Speaking of Ami, a lovely mare that she bred and now belongs to a friend in Texas has come to stay with us for a bit. I'll be breeding her and enjoying her super colt that is at her side while they are here. Her name is Galerna and she is tall, big boned, quiet and it is a real honor to have her with us. I would love her baby to be a filly to add another bloodline on from Galerna's dam side to my program, but of course just hope for a healthy baby. In between anguishing over what to name the bay colt, I anguish over whether to breed Galerna to Gitano or Wan. Please vote in on that too!

A few more mares confirmed in foal and still breeding to get everyone settled. Already 100 degrees today here so our breeding season will quickly come to a halt until fall. Working on getting some of the babies ready to wean, had hay cut this week and just the usual stuff going on.

If you will not be offended if I don't end up using, I welcome a long list of names that start with a P. Help me!

My favorite season

well, I thought this photo so lovely but small, it doesn't look as cool as I thought? This is Paladin (Fantasia x Wanapum) today.

All is lovely here--not blistering hot, not windy and we have been blessed with a bunch of rain so my first hay crop ought to be nice. Have had good look in getting mares back in foal and breeding away as we wait for Karina for our last foal. So far:

fall: Bielsa x Wanapum

Habana x Wanapum and for spring, 2012:

Hipolita x Gitano Mor Karateka x Gitano

Isabelina x Wanapum

Dolly x Gitano

Gentileza x Gitano

Fantasia x Hereje

and we'll find out this weekend if Conesa back to Wanapum.

Been busy with my volunteering to try to handle the IALHA futurity program and my Registry Board work. Bob Langrish coming this weekend to photograph on Monday. Onemisio headed out last night for Pennsylvania--thanks, Gina, for wanting this special soul.

Hope to be posting soon my news about Karina's foal and until then, everyone have a great rest of spring.

Newest arrival: Providencio

Do I sound like a broken record or what as I ramble and rant on every time a new foal is born? But wow--am I crazy about Providencio, pictured here 3 days old. He is the 4th in a row of the Destinada x Gitano Cross that I feel is the home run for what I want to achieve as a breeder. So now just wait another month or so for our last spring, 2011 baby from Karina.

Special thanks to Lucie in Canada who did one of those love at first sight experiences and will be the permanent mom for Principe, to become another Canadian. My other good news this week is that Isa took in her breeding to Wanapum so that we are doing well with getting the girls back in foal for next year. Two of the outside mares that were here to breed were confirmed in foal and went back to their homes. Got fertilizer down right before a light rain but still praying for alot more rain for our hay and pastures but mostly for the poor folks suffering and having losses from the Texas fires. Next week my Atlanta sister coming for a few days to help with mom and give me a little break---possibly I'll catch up so I don't do things like I did today--took about an hour's worth of photos of the babies in the pasture only to realize I had no card in the camera.....sleep will come. Worth losing it to have a colt like Provi 2!

Happy days

If life could be better than having beautiful weather, things turning so green and new babies, I don't know if I could stand it. Pictured here (he is getting more than his share of posts!) is Principe enchanting a couple of young lady guests here this weekend. The horse lover in the blue shirt asked for a trip here from her home in Michigan as her birthday gift to get to be with animals. My kind of girl! Her cousin in pink is local and a regular visitor with her grandparents who board their horses with us. How else am I lucky? Well, besides having all healthy babies so far this spring, I have had buyers and some more folks being interested. Olivia (Bielsa x Gitano) leaves this week for Oregon. The following week Obriza (Destinada x Gitano) heads to Montana where Khan (Galisteo x Flama) already has his home. Picasso (Dehesa x Wanapum) will join Libertado, Nemo and Naxos here locally which is always a treat as I get to see how he will mature in person rather than through photographs. Dolly's total snuggle-bug daughter, Octavia (by Gitano) will be boarding here for a while longer, but ultimately will head to her forever home in Florida. But the long distance awards go to Padma (Ibiza x Gitano) and Odalisca (Karateka x Hereje) who will stay longer than is typical for foals, as they have a major journey to their new lives in Australia. Thank you to these wonderful buyers.

So proud

For those of you that have been here, you may remember seeing the black plastic mess created for the frac tank for the gas well at the bottom of one of the mare pastures. The boys have worked so hard clearing and we finished our big fencing project to enclose the previous messy area to let the mares and babies, rather than us, do the mowing. The mares now stay down there, loving having a new spot to go to. Of course makes for farther to walk down to retrieve them! Flama graced us last night with a lovely solid bay colt. She is so consistent and I am grateful this one is a colt--I kept her last two fillies and looking at how pretty this colt is, I would have wanted to keep again if a girl so bravo, Flama, protect me from myself! Hada had a DARLING Wanapum colt. He has those big white rings around his eyes and a big blaze so alot of white that is irresistable to me. Sweet, sweet personality to go with. This morning, had a fun time. The Denton Convention Center has asked me for years to bring a tour group and I've always said no--I'm so busy in the spring but for some reason last fall I said okay. Could not have asked for a prettier weather morning and a group of just lovely people who I think were expecting a big show barn and some riding demonstration. Ride horses? Not us! Valente brought Gitano out and probably 40 of the 50 guests all raced up to him and stood hugging his neck, feeling his oily/beautiful coat, the texture of his wavy mane and tail and could not believe it when I told him last week he'd bred 5 mares and was this quiet. Then we brought out Isabelina and Principe, a couple of weeks old who again stood like statues with crowds of people, at least 20 of whom got to rub around on Principe's ringlet mane. Everyone wanted to crowd to the birth stall to see Flama's 8 hour old colt and of course neither the colt nor Flama was the least bit concerned for the sudden onslaught of people and instead, Flama just looked proud. I couldn't have been prouder and know my ambassadors left a great impression of the magic of iberian horses on all our visitors today.

Anyone heading to or from Oregon?

Yippee! A natural horsemanship instructor has chosen Olivia (pictured above). Every time another horse hits the horsey lotto by having a gentle and understanding owner, I breath a sigh of relief. This gentleman will be driving down to pick Olivia up from Oregon and therefore, would be available to pick up horses heading this way from his area (northern California, Utah, Oregon, etc) or, would love to have a horse or horses to accompany Olivia for her trip from here in North Texas to Oregon. If you are shipping any horses probably end of April/more likely beginning of May, please let me know so I can hook you up.

Picture is Principe today at 3 weeks old. Boo hoo. I can't keep him--makes zero sense when I have Gitano, may keep Gitano's son, Macanuo, and this guy also related to all the Remate girls.... Tons going on. Thankfully, compared to last spring, way more horse inquiries. A lady/now friend from Florida is buying Dolly's Octavia and a big sigh of relief that this super-special soul will go to a great, great home and bonus that sounds like she will be staying here to grow up in big pasture with pals for a long time. Fantasia had the giantest ever colt last week by Wanapum. I know I've said before "this is the biggest one ever" but this one is off the charts. Quiet, gentle personality and just got back dna that he can produce color even though he'll be grey. Am not going to offer him for sale until I see if Karina has a colt or filly. Named him Paladin. Macanuo is revised as of last week and do not recall ever a revision experience where the spanish representative raved about one. He was better behaved than I even hoped at another farm where there were mares every direction--there was nowhere to face him that he wasn't looking at a pasture of mares. Hada is back! What a special horse she is and will always be welcomed here. I doubt she'll foal for another week or so but I'll be right there with her when she does. Her owner is going to wait and see what this Wanapum foal is like before deciding who to breed her back to for the 2012 foal. Dixie, Disney, Nobleza and Luna also visiting to breed and possibly two new boarders arrive this weekend. Horses everywhere--what is better? I can think of nothing. This year's babies seem so special and how fortunate I am to feel that way after so many years and so many babies. Padma is such an old soul and so sensible and I did not intend to get attached as I can't possibly keep another Ibiza daughter when I already kept two. But attached, impossibly, I am! Perfeita is just conformational perfection and you just have a time taking your eyes off of her. Picasso is unlike any we've ever had before from a looks perspective and Principe is the in-your-face personality like Oaxaca was from day one. Prisca has a great personality plus the "it" factor movement and drama that I love and now Paladin is statuesque beyond belief. Each so special, I can hardly stand it! Next week have a Denton Chamber of Commerce bus tour of barn group coming to educate themselves on andalusians. Have avoided doing this for years but figure opening my gate to introduce some folks to these horses and babies is the least I can do in thanks for having these horses to begin with.