baby number 2...

Baby number 2 arrived at 4 AM. Mother and foal doing great.  She had us worried for awhile, lots of pacing and restlessness but everything was fine. This is a Freisan Fire colt, dark brown like Mom, with a tiny white star and he looks tremendous. One more to go and then I can go out to dinner again! Now it is back to scheduled breedings and so the cycle continues. Two are off to Kentucky and hopefully my mare, bred to Redeemed, is pregnant. At 2 AM I wonder why I am doing this,  but then I watch the new foals play and run and I love it!

Baby Isabel arrived, filly by Smarty Jones...

One down and two to go. This little filly was born on my friend Isabel's birthday, April 21st.  At dinner the night before I said " Well , if it comes tonight we can call her "Isabel"!".  So here you are- Isabel.  She is by Smarty Jones and was conceived last year during the Kentucky Derby, which the Smarty  won easily. In fact , Smarty Jones came the closest to winning the Triple Crown in the last 25 or so years.  Just missed Belmont by a nose. So perhaps this little girl has an auspicious beginning.  Husband Mike is getting pretty good about helping these babies get born, knows to hang on to the legs while the mare pushes to help free the shoulders! Thanks honey! Little Isabel was up and nursing in an hour. She is going to be a grey like her mom and what was very funny was, that once up she wasn't going to lie down again. First baby I have had that slept standing up on day one!

lovely morning

It is a lovely April morning, my favorite month to sit out with cup of morning coffee. No bugs yet and just warm enough. There were a group of turkeys this morning just carrying on to beat the band. What do you call a bunch of turkeys? A troup of turkeys, a trick?? I will look it up later. Anyway they were warbling or whatever you call it, funny sound, then the owls started. They seems to be fighting about something. This is the second time I have heard owls fighting- very loud! Must be mating season! Mojo's must be rising in all creatures. Poor Bob, Mike's horse, is dealing with a very horny yearling colt. Bob is the resident babysitter and this time of year as the yearling colts mature, he has to fend off the colt biting and jumping on him. He is very patient, just kinda gently
kicks the yearling, never really knocking the sh__  out of them, which most any other horse would do. Bob is awesome. Still waiting on foals. The one pictured is two months old in Kentucky. My mares seem big, fat and content so far!

two down, three to go

Mike is home and spring came, lasted one day and summer arrived!  I'm not complaining, I love being hot right now. The shoulders have finally truly relaxed. Still waiting on three babies. The broodmares are big, fat and peaceful at the moment. I actually love hanging out with the mares, they are very serene just before foaling time. Hopefully there are no complications and we hop, skip and jump into a lovely summer. The weather certainly did. Hit a record 90 degrees yesterday. Mike and I took a day off and went to see the cherry blossoms in peak perfection in DC Wednesday morning. They were spectacular and so many people walking around enjoying them- it was fun. I love this moment in time, the very bright green of the first grass and leaves, the pink of the cherry trees, the forsythia yellow. Mike was exclaiming about how nice the sunshine was - Paris is very cloudy, rainy a lot he said- he missed the sunshine at home. I am very happy to have him home- missed my sunshine--him!

Waiting....

I am waiting on broodmares, broodmares are waiting to have babies, and in the moment, waiting to have breakfast! I am waiting for Michael to get home from Paris! And we all have been waiting for spring  for AGES- I think the wait may be over for the latter. Today is warmer and tomorrow I hear it may hit 70!!! Thank you Mother Nature.
Today is the Marlborough Hunter Pace, which is a nice way to enjoy friends, horses and the warmer temps. Yesterday was the Grand National at Aintree which I watched on HRTV( Horse Racing Television) for the first time. OMG! It is barely controlled chaos, if you get  chance, watch this race. The fences are almighty God huge, there were 40 ! horses in the field and somebody falls at every fence it seems, so there are loose horses all over this the mad gallop. They are the dangerous ones, as at a moment's notice, one could decide, "No- don't think I'll jump this one!" And then they stop or veer out. One riderless horse finished the whole race, finished second in fact, he jumped really well all by himself  and might have won if the rider had stayed on! Next year I think I will have a Grand National party. It lasts longer, four miles and 30 fences! It was amazing to see a herd of 40 horses taking these humongous fences.  Auroras Encore, a 66-1 shot, an 11 year old gelding, which is fairly old for this race, won with a first time jockey. He looked a little terrified during the race, probably glad to be in front most of the way.
A friend and I had horses in the same race at Pimlico yesterday ( no where near as exciting as the Grand National). She trained one, I bred the other. We had hoped to run one- two. W
ell we did, but unfortunately it was at the back of the pack. She beat one horse- mine!!!  That's horse racing for you.

the ups and downs of life....

April 1st. March went out with a chilly wind. Yesterday was a very bad day for my friend Carol, my partner in the horse business. We had decided to spend Easter Dinner together as we were both alone at our separate farms. As we planned to uncork a bottle of wine and just hang out, we went to look at her two week old foal. Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the bad. The foal had snapped his front leg off- literally- above the ankle. Horrific and hard to look at. There was nothing to do but call the vet for humane euthanasia, the mare had already started to pull away- she knew. We couldn't even figure out how it happened. Sadly we went in to drink in company, glad that I had been there, by chance, to support her. This morning the bad continued when she called to say the next foal, that  she had been waiting two weeks for,  was stillborn. I was so sad for her, there is such bleakness with these kind of things. Again, no idea why- it just happens. We are going to go out and continue drinking tonight. What else do you do. That was the down. And Mike is still away.
The up is it is April and slowly a little warmer. Two years ago Sarah was about to get married. Her two-year anniversary is tomorrow. Two years ago we were all in Santa Barbara, on top of a mountain, watching a sunset surrounded by family and new beginnings. Speaking of new beginnings, my friend Isabel just sent me the picture of her brand-new and first grandchild whose name, I believe, is going to be GW Kurek after Jerry. He was born last night.
The spring peepers are loud at night finally, the daffodils are blooming, the forsythia is trying to get going and the thermometer hit 60!
I had a lovely Easter Brunch with Sam, Steph and Mike's mom. Sam is a great cook! Mike is coming home soon and that will also be wonderful. I hope it keeps warming up- I need some sun. I wish my family and friends a blessed Easter Monday and always the new day dawns brighter.