Our 2019 Foals – Two Months Old
Two months have past since we met our 2019 foals, they are all doing very well and their individual characters are beginning to shine.
Rookie
Revelation
Relentless
Reflection
Don’t Forget About The Stallion…
We all know a foal inherits 50% of its genetic make up from the sire and the dam, we constantly post about the foals and occasionally about the mares, I suppose because the foals are funny, unique and very NEW!
But, let us not forget our stallion DFR Patahas Redheart.
We have come a long way with Blu, from Switzerland at 6 months old in fact 🙂
Since his arrival Blu has been so easy to do, he’s kind and gentle, he has the most affectionate personality and that’s just a tiny contribute to his qualities as a stallion. His genetic make up is perfect for breeding and his one copy of cream adds the 50/50 chance of his foals being Buckskin or Smoky Black, not to mention his performance record in the ring!
His 2018 foal Ru has already won her first Championship and his 2019 crop are just quality with the same high level of intelligence with that soppy affectionate trait.
Blu was broken to ride earlier this year, although he turned 4 in January he needed something to focus on after the long winter, he was ridden away and took every day of learning as expected, not a bother or care in the world. None the less that doesn’t mean we are heading off in the ring under saddle, we like to give our horses time and time is what he shall have.
Out by day and in at night Blu is very chilled and enjoying a year off, time to grow mentally and physically.
He’s slightly run up at the moment in my eyes probably due to all the mares recently coming into season, we anticipate this cycle to continue unfortunately, well until our new paddocks are available, its a constant working progress here at Redheart Appaloosa Stud.
We are not breeding with him this year, we are a small stud that breed quality not quantity and we certainly don’t want a herd of young stock while the supply and demand is very unbalanced!
We are not allowed in the orchard with the horses, only for photo shoots 🙂
DRF PATAHAS REDHEART Sunday 23rd June 2019
A Day Showing At Royal Three Counties 2019
We adore agricultural shows, so much to see, so much to do and the prize money is very generous 🙂
Entries for these big shows close months before and as every horse owner knows, anything can happen, one day your horse looks amazing and the next day it looks like a completely different horse!
We entered Redheart Reality in the Main Registered class and Redheart Regent in the Part bred class, but it was the night before the show that Reality was the chosen one.
The Appaloosa Classes at Royal Three Counties are usually affiliated to BApS, the support has slowly declined and with the risk of losing the Appaloosa Classes all together someone did something about it…This year they opened the affiliation to REGISTERED APPALOOSAS (BApS and ApHC UK) & BRITISH SPOTTED PONIES, so we had a right mixture, which was rather a spectacle but a tough one for the Judge!
All the Redheart Appaloosa’s are registered with BApS & ApHC UK so, I get to choose if we go English style (plaited with bridle) or American style (braided with halter). Given the choice, especially at County level its always great to dress up different, we attract a lot of interest from the public and I believe it represents the true history our Appaloosas (it’s also easier and quicker to braid than plait) 🙂
With all the recent rain it was no surprise for a tractor to meet and greet us, credit due, the work force at the show did an exceptional job giving the conditions they were working in. We experienced a slight hick up with our entries, the computer experienced a glitch which messed up my entries but thankfully with the downloaded email confirmation on my phone it was easily rectified and we continued the day, we accept these things happen and is all taken as “A Day Showing”.
Reality was pretty shocked by the donkeys in the ring adjacent, he was pretty scared when a horse flipped over in the ring parallel to us and I struggled to run in the deep conditions but he won his young stock class, his performance was exceptional. This horse could trot around the ring on his own, stop and back up and line up on voice command, I’m sure of it!
The Championship, Redheart Reality put in another outstanding performance, placed as Reserve Champion to Desired Edition and Megan Share, we have been Reserve to Desired Edition many times and we are proud to stand next to Megan and her beautiful horse.
All In A Day’s Showing…
The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) UK Spring Show 2019 – A Father & Son’s Day Out
1st June 2019, will not forget this day in a hurry…
Up at 4 am, bathed and plaited Reus and bathed and braided his son Reality who both had spent the night out. On the road to Farnham in Surrey, we missed the exit off the M4 and then we got back on track we hit the diversions, annoyed but calm I drove very carefully as we negotiated roundabout after roundabout. I gave in to the fact we may have missed Reality’s in hand classes but we may just make it in time for the ridden with Reus.
Arriving at the showground the wonderful Matt Ayling, the top man for the ApHC UK First Aider very kindly opened the gate, how amazing does such a small gesture make you feel. From this moment the day unfolded remarkably well. Our first sight as I jumped from the lorry was our 2018 filly Ru, we sold Ru to Wendy Fitzgerald and Ru was having her first outing, she looked amazing and as I shouted her name across the car park in that stupid high pitch Ru Ru, her head shot up and a whinny called back to me, well my heart melted.
We quickly got changed, unloaded Reality and went straight into the ring, he had no time to look and never batted an eyelid at his new surroundings. Walk, trot and halt, perfect and so we continued in the soaring heat. He collected the first place in his age class in UK and USA, he went Male Champion, Young-Stock Champion, USA Champion and Supreme In Hand of the Show – What a superior horse he is without question.
Redheart Reality Male Champion
Redheart Reality Young-Stock Champion
Redheart Reality USA Champion
Redheart Reality Supreme Champion
We can not express in words how wonderful it was to see RU do so well, she also took the winning places in the female classes taking the Reserve In-Hand Champion.
Redheart AppaloosasNo sooner had the in hand finished, Reality went back on the lorry and Reus came off, tacked up, quick change and on with the ridden. We didn’t get chance to warm Reus up, I was not going to ask him to make a shape and look like a horse that was ready to compete for a show, we let him walk and trot around, using our first class to our advantage, make no mistake he certainly looked like a horse that had just come straight off the lorry! But, after our second show, I pulled him together, put my legs on and squeezed him up. Well what a transformation, he carried me, he felt under me and so responsive, we actually did a half pass on both reins to get back to the rail, I felt a sense of happiness and fulfillment even if we hadn’t got placed I would have been satisfied that our transition from Western to English was coming together, albeit slowly.
Hevans EV Catorrius Ridden Champion
And there we go – Ridden Champion, could not believe it but I do believe the judge had seen a huge transformation and credited us with the potential Reus was showing and deserved.
We are not ones to hang around after competing, we have a lot to do at home and getting the horses back is always a top priority. We set off with an eta home of 5.30pm, brilliant I thought, I’ll do this that and the other…It wasn’t meant to be, as that rumbling noise came we knew a tyre was about to blow, hazards on as we drove a few more miles at 20mph to junction 3 of the M3. With the rescue on its way, we parked on a lane under some trees for shade and gave the horses a haynet and offered them a drink whilst we waited for Mr. Tyre Man.
Reus and Reality without question are true soldiers, it was a few hours before we could set off again, our new eta was now 9.46pm. We arrived safely home, horses turned out, a large G&T for me and bed.
I never take for granted our horse’s success but sometimes it’s not what goes on in the ring but outside the ring that makes me so very proud of them.
Photography At It’s Finest…
If you work with animals and children then you will know you have to go with the flow…
They have their own minds and don’t necessarily understand what you want from them, so you have to wait and wait and wait!
So we waited, all we wanted was one picture of all four foals together.
Within an hour (that’s amazing) we got not what we asked for but for what we hoped for, four foals in a line.
Boom… The Redheart 2019 foals, not only in a line but in age order! Priceless
I’m not a photographer, I don’t pretend to be a photographer but I do like to capture images of my horses that speak volumes to the equine world!
Redheart Regent Wins At Windsor…
We didn’t manage to get Regent to a show last year, he was sold but we bought him back when his new owner suddenly experienced a huge personal challenge. I did regret selling him in the first place but he was supposed to be a filly to be retained (because I ordered a filly 🙂 ) we have no use for a gelding in our breeding programme! As time has gone by, we have grown very fond of Regent, maybe because we don’t know who his sire is (a very nice Spanish Stallion in Spain somewhere) and we feel sorry for him or is it the excitement of the unknown, or maybe because he’s just so perfect? Who knows but he’s very correct, has lovely paces and an adorable personality, a fine horse.
As he lives out with our other two-year-old gelding Reality, its taken time for his coat to come right for our first show of 2019 and we haven’t had time to do much with Regent because foaling duties took all of my time outside a full-time job during April but we did manage to squeeze in a few very late nights a few days running up to the show. A week prior to the show Regent looked ready for a fluffy coat competition!
All our horses load and travel from a very young age, I never have to worry about this, he was frequently bathed and trained as a yearling to walk, trot and stand in hand and all this stayed with him…
So his début outing was ROYAL WINDSOR, a huge equestrian event, a daunting experience for a baby and to be honest any first-time show can go either way, make no mistake if it had proved too much for him we would have happily put him back on the lorry and come home. Regent took the walk to the ring with eyes on stalks, he kept a little too close to me for reassurance but 20 minutes walking around the pre-ring he soon switched off in the company of a familiar sight – other Appaloosas.
His stride is big, he covers the ground and entering the ring with 13+ other horses we soon began to lap them at a gentle walk!
Separated into young stock and over 3-year-olds, Regent stood quietly in line although a few balloons and pushchairs with umbrellas did make him jump, a sneaky hand of grass sorted this out. His show was straight, calm and professional with a lovely extended trot, we felt great and the Judges comments were very flattering.
Into the Championship and what an absolute star, we came Reserve to an extremely well-known Multi Champion called Desired Edition, certainly an award that holds status.
Despite a blow out on the lorry and despite a two-hour journey home taking five hours due to the M4 closing two lanes, our Debut Outing with Redheart Regent was certainly a day to go down in history at Redheart Appaloosas.
Ghost’s Stiches OUT!
Well since Ghost’s accident her wound has healed really well, no discharge, limited swelling, no infection and today she gets her stitches out!
She hasn’t coped very well with box rest and although we’ve kept our pony in with her for company, all she’s wanted to do it be out with her friends! I don’t like keeping horses in, even through the winter months ALL the horses go out but on this occasion we’ve had to be cruel to be kind!
Fernando Bulnes takes Ghost’s stitches out…
Tidy job but we expect scar tissue, we are very grateful to Fernando for looking after our filly with continuous updates and checks we are even more thankful Ghost is a filly and a very well-bred filly at that because her show ring career is sure to be over before it’s began!
The 2019 Foals Genetic Results…Surprise Gene!
When breeding Appaloosas, part of the registration is parentage DNA testing. It involves pulling mane or tail hairs (with roots) and sending to an Animal Genetics Lab, the certificate is then sent with the registration documents and the results clarified with the dam and sire’s DNA on the breed association database.
For our own satisfaction, we like to know “for a fact” what Appaloosa genetics our foals have inherited. We requested the combination panel of Leopard Complex, Pattern gene, Base Colour, Cream and we decided this year to check for Dun!!!
So here are the results…
Redheart RelentlessHomozygous black (EE aa) few spot (LP/LP) colt with one copy of the Pattern gene (PATN1/patn1).
Redheart RookieBay (EE Aa) with one copy of Cream (CR/cr) making her a Buckskin, she’s a few spot (LP/LP) with one copy of the Pattern gene (PATN1/patn1).
Redheart RevelationHomozygous black (EE aa) with one copy of the cream gene (CR/cr) making her a smokey black near leopard filly. Heterozygous Leopard Print (LP/lp) and heterozygous Pattern (PATN1/patn1).
Redheart ReflectionBay (EE Aa) with one copy of cream (CR/cr) making him a buckskin leopard. He’s heterozygous Leopard Print (LP/lp) and homozygous pattern (PATN1/PATN1). Reflection is the reason we chose to test for the Dun gene, his phenotype is quite unique in my mind and as it is with Appaloosas, they always surprise you! Very much curiosity but the results proved his dam Caricks Redheart carries the gene nd1, a gene found in Dun’s that can show primitive markings (nd1/nd2) not to be confused with the Dun gene that affects colour dilution.
Now that’s a surprise!
April FOALS…
Well, what a month!
Two weeks (from the 15th to 28th April) we’ve seen the delivery of four healthy foals!
At 344 days Catori gave birth to an unusually marked few spot colt, six days later at 349 days PP gave birth to a buckskin few spot filly, which we will keep because the odds for another is quite high (50% filly, 50% buckskin and 50% homozygous). This is the 5th foal born at the stud on the 21st of April!
Another six days passed and we saw just before midnight the safe arrival of Evee’s first foal, a filly born at 333 days on Friday 26th. With what seemed like only a few hours sleep…we sat waiting and watching our second maiden Myka deliver her leopard colt at 355 days (just past midnight) on the 28th.
All our mares are exceptionally well and being great mothers to their foals, all the foals are healthy and have all straightened up and now running around the field.
To be honest, April has been a blur, there are many emotions of foaling but the best sight for any breeder is the view of two feet and a nose!
From the delivery, the foals all managed to latch on and all the mares passed the placenta (all intact). We do consider ourselves very fortunate especially seeing what unfolded before us!!!
Please see each page for more information…
April madness!
You Can’t Wrap Them In Cotton Wool…
Horses are horses and we can’t wrap them in cotton wool although we do try so hard to prevent injury’s! Accidents happen no matter what!
Ghost our new filly has settled well, she’s been accepted within the herd and now plays with Regent and Reality but and it’s a big BUT on this occasion their playing has caused great upset at Redheart Appaloosas!
One of the boys has caught Ghost’s leg hind leg, a wound that I have seen many times before and I know it’s not a good!
Despite little sleep as we have tended to Princesse Pascale and her new arrival, we loaded Ghost at first sight of this wound and headed off to Three Counties Equine Hospital.
At this point we didn’t know if the injury had affected the tendon sheath, she wasn’t lame so this was a blessing, all we could do was clean it, bandage it and let the professional deal with it.
Thankfully Ghost is a very sensible filly, she loaded and was a dream for the Vet and staff which makes the process so much easier to deal with.
It wasn’t long before the good news came, the injury hadn’t interfered with the tendons. She was stitched up and brought back home on strict box rest.
A very tidy stitch up by Fernando Bulnes MRCVS,
We have a long journey ahead of us but we will do our best…