As I write this, I know in just a few days I will be exhausted from the work and the worry but right now I am SO ANXIOUS to welcome this year’s foals! I’m ready!
I am grateful that their dams are all looking wonderful, in top condition, and having healthy pregnancies.
I am thankful that the grass in my paddocks is really starting to green up. My paddocks are cleaned up, fertilized, and now with the warm rain today and they are turning a brilliant green.
I have some beautiful second cut hay “candy” stocked in the barn, and lots of clean straw. The feed bin is full and the medicine cabinet is stocked with the foaling essentials. There’s a fresh bag of peppermints on the counter too! The maternity stall is prepped, the cameras are ready and so am I.
Avery x Copernicus 341 days
Britta x Zavall 336 days
Daisy x Spot Cash 322 days
Abbey x Spot Cash 312 days
A breeder’s milestone is that 320-day mark, when a pregnancy passes the “hurdle” and is considered viable. The average is 340-342 and that has been where most of my mares have foaled in the past, but they can go for up to 370. Let’s hope no one tries that, I don’t think I can take it!
The mares are all in paddocks close to the barn, where I can see them from the house. They come in for a final check before bedtime. They get a snack, and I do the checks: have a look “under the hood” and see what’s going on. They are getting used to me taking pics of their udders and looking under their tail. Good girls, they let me have a feel a drop of milk to test.
I’m anxious to see what colour we have tonight? I am torn. Pink = I get to sleep. Yellow = baby watch!
Shallow Brook Farms 