Ever wondered how this:
Redheart Pascalius
Becomes this:
Redheart Pascalius
Redheart Pascalius aka Evee, is black (EE aa), she has inherited one copy of the Leopard Complex Gene (LP/lp), she has characteristics.
She did not inherit the Pattern gene (PATN1) therefore we would never be able to see her spots if she had any because LP and Pattern work together, she is now a black roan.
Two seasoned broodmares and two maidens, all in foal to DFR Patahas Redheart.
Our four broodmares on their way to higher ground.
All in their 7 months of gestation, all looking really well (a little too well) but they will need their reserves to get them through winter…
There are many assumptions about breeding for colour especially with the increasing availability of equine genetics to the public. More and more “breeders” are certainly breeding for colour, evident by beautifully coloured marked foals with no obvious thought for conformation, pedigree, temperament, registrations or performance and the list can go on…
No horse has perfect conformation, beauty is and always will be in the eye of the beholder, one reason why we prove the Redhearts in the ring, every Judge has their “ideal” type and colour should never come before confirmation. The rules are simply based on 60% conformation and 40% colour in “Most Colourful Class’s”.
Early this year we contributed a few images of our Appaloosas to aid the explanation of their genotype for the first French written book of equine genetics and it’s scientific approach to the colours of horses. It’s Author Laure Marandet has created an excellent book which explains the process of colourisation and hair dilution in horses. We are certainly privileged to have contributed to this publication.
LES ROBES DES CHEVAUX: Approche génétique et scientifique des couleurs des chevaux.
So last weekend, our repro vet Mark Georgetti gave us his time, his patience and his expertise by sex scanning our three mares at around 60 days. We would like two fillies to continue our breeding programme with the semen stored from Hevans EV Catorrius (Reus). The only mares unrelated to him are Princesse Pascale and Caricks Redheart. You cannot breed two non-characteristic Appaloosas’s, (maybe one day the rule will change) therefore our fillies need to be heterozygous or homozygous.
We have inseminated all our mares with fresh semen from DFR
Left to right, Princesse Pascale carrying a filly, Peyres Catori Cat carrying a colt and Caricks Redheart also carrying a colt.
PP – Filly
Catori – Colt
Myka – Colt
The 60-day ultrasound identified our mares are carrying single live fetuses. Mark was very patient to find the view required and eventually the genital tubercle was located.
We are grateful our mares are in foal and the foetuses are “single” and “alive”, we pray the gestation and births follow suit!
Peyres Catori Cat, who is Reus’ dam is carrying a colt and Caricks Redheart is also carrying a colt.
Princess Pascale is carrying the next future Redheart filly, how ecstatic are we?
We await Redheart Pascalius’s (Reu’s half-sister) sex scan at the end of the month, our GAP 6 foal is definitely a filly or a colt though!!!!
At 61 days gestation, our last mare Redheart Pascalius (Evee) has been sexed scanned.
The live scan definitely showed a filly but the picture I took looks like a colt, so time will tell.
Redheart’s first GAP 6 foal (six generation of Appaloosa x Appaloosa breeding).
The genital tubercle (which eventually will become the penis in a colt and the clitoris in a filly) develops on the midline of the fetuses, between the hind legs. The structure moves towards the umbilicus in a colt and toward the anus in a filly.
I wonder when DFR Patahas Redheart (Blu) was watching over his herd as a yearling did he think one day they will all be carrying his babies?
April 21st,2013, Redheart Pascalius (aka Evee) was born, from this day her destiny was planned, to be proven in the ring and then to join our broodmares. Over the past five years, we have witnessed the amazing colour and pattern change as she’s matured and today we announce she is confirmed in foal to our stallion DFR Patahas Redheart (aka Blu).
Evee 2013
The BREEDING
Evee 2014
Evee and Blu are on the American “A” register with the Appaloosa Horse Club UK.
The foal will be “A” register
Both horses are registered with the British Appaloosa Society, Evee GRADE A and Blu GRADE B.
The foal will be registered as GRADE A
Evee 2015
Evee is 100% Foundation Pedigree Designation (FPD), 5 generations of pure Appaloosa x Appaloosa blood lines, Blu is also 100% FPD, therefore the foal will be 100% FPD. Because you cannot get higher than 100%, the Appaloosa Horse Club introduced the Generation Advancement Programme (GAP) which allows the foal of two 100% FPD parents to enter the first level, GAP 5. Evee and Blu are both GAP 5, therefore this foal will be the UK’s first GAP 6.
Evee 2016
Evee is not eligible (75% required) with the Foundation Appaloosa Horse Register, she is
72.0215% but Blu is registered at 92.9687%.
The resulting foal will be registered, with foundation lines traced back to the first 8 Stud Books of the ApHC at 82.4951%.
The GENETICS
Evee is genetically black (EE aa) and Blu is (EE aa) so the resulting foal will be definitely (EE aa). Blu carries the cream gene, so there is a 50% chance of a smokey black foal.
Evee has one copy of the Leopard Complex gene, LP/lp and Blu is LP/LP. The resulting foal will definitely inherit Appaloosa Characteristics from the LP gene with the result being 50% heterozygous (LP/lp) or (LP/LP) homozygous.
Evee 2017
Evee didn’t inherit the PATTN1 gene (patn1/patn1) and Blu has two copies (PATN1/PATN1), therefore the foal will 100% inherit one copy from Blu and be PATN1/patn1.
Both horses are negative for the 5-panel test and grey gene, by default the foal will also be negative by parentage.
The PERFORMANCE
Evee and Blu have excelled in the ring, both have won at County and National level. Between them, they have won Championships and Register of Merit (ROM) certificates with ApHC, Highest Grade Awards with BApS and Performance Awards with ApHC UK.
Evee 2018
X
Blu
History in the making, one reason why we breed forward!
Our ten-year plan is now well underway, we have imported new Appaloosa blood into the UK, we have shown in-hand all our “foundation” breeding stock and strongly believe our stock have earned their merits to breed, now we begin competing under saddle.
We have tested all the stock’s genes to clarify breeding forward with clear genetics. By definition, breeding negative mares to negative stallions can only result in negative foals. HERDA – Hereditary Equine Regional Dermal Asthenia, GBED – Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency, HYPP – Equine Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis Disease and MH – Malignant Hyperthermia and of course the two most important here in the UK as Appaloosa registration default, the Grey gene, and PSSM1 – Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy.
For our own interest, we have tested the “foundation” stock for their colour and Appaloosa genetic makeup. It’s good to know what percentage of chance you have for specific color and coat patterns. One definite result we will never know is the gender, although saying that, our 2016 sex scans were correct.
The British Appaloosa Society (BApS) and the Appaloosa Horse Club UK (ApHC UK) have very strict guidelines for breeding registered purebred Appaloosas. We make sure our paperwork is fault free with DNA on file, genetic tests, stallion licensing and of course pedigree percentages. Redheart Appaloosa Stud pride themselves on not only ensuring completed registration certificates but the highest of the grades possible from each mating, being 100% Foundation Pedigree Designation (FPD), Generation Advancement Programme (GAP 5 or GAP 6) with Appaloosa Horse Club and GRADE A or STUD BOOK with the British Appaloosa Society. Our horses are overstamped with the Sports Horse Society and all foals are eligible.
We treat our mares like “princesses”, they are very important and are not breeding machines. We believe in quality, not quantity. The current supply of “Appaloosa’s” is high and the demand is low and if you’re looking for a spotty horse, then the market is plentiful, it is only through education will people understand the history of a Purebred Appaloosa, albeit BApS or ApHC UK registered. The current market offers some wonderful spotty horses, but beware and ask the right questions, not every spotty horse is an Appaloosa. The realisation that the purebred Appaloosa is a rare breed in the UK with less than twelve 100% FPD horses, less than six GAP 5 horses, not one GAP 6 and there are less than ten British Appaloosa Society Stud Book registered horses. (These figures might have increased to date).
We treasure our stallion, DFR Patahas Redheart, his age is a huge advantage to the longevity of the stud and his colour test confirmed homozygous black with a cream gene and homozygous PATN1 with foundation lines traced back to the first 8 Stud Books of the ApHC at 92.9687%. We know we have something quite unique, a very rare find in the Appaloosa world and one of a kind here in the UK.
Many studs and stallion owners allow their stallion to run with mares, some cover in hand and it works perfectly fine. On the other hand, some owners have seen and experienced detrimental damage to their stallions and mares under these conditions. Trying to limit the damage of such accidents we have stored frozen semen from our stallion Reus before castrating him, allowing him to have a rich life among his relations. Planning ahead with our stallion Blu, we have established a small AI unit, consisting of stocks, a basic lab, and a dummy mare. Certified by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as a UK AI technician I have the certificate of competence in AI of equines.
We are delighted to announce Princess Pascale, Caricks Redheart and Peyres Catori Cat are scanned in foal, due early April 2019.
We await Redheart Pascalius to come into season, looks like we will be busy next year!.
After a long winter, the ground has certainly dried and the spring grass is coming through.
Over the last week, our mares have joined our two yearlings, Regent and Reality in the pasture. Slowly increasing the amount of time spent grazing, they haven’t come up for air!
And then…waking up to this view!
The Winter With The Redheart Appaloosas
At 6 am the stable lights go on and at 6 pm I’ll straighten the bed
Without a doubt, come rain or snow, out in the corral they must go
Stretching their legs and keeping their head, it’s never long before they’re fed
Our stallion likes to smell the air and our broodmares like to stand and stare
The yearlings love to buck and run, they really have so much fun
The rest are easily pleased as we wait for spring it seems
There’s always one that loves to roll, the one by the gate see’s the feed bowel
The night-blind horses can see in the day but in the dark, only the light shows the way
They follow me with never a doubt, they trust me when they go out
The days are stolen and I want them back, never time for cleaning tack
I used the camera and as you can see, the horses are posers, just like thee
Peyres Catori Cat
Redheart Catorrius / Hevans EV Catorrius
Redheart Regal
Redheart Regent
Princesse Pascale
Redheart Pascalius
Redheart Reality
DFR Patahas Redheart
Caricks Redheart
Every year we sign up to and compete in the Inhand Performance under The British Appaloosa Society, Appaloosa Horse Club UK, and the United Saddlebred Association.
Our home-bred filly, Redheart Pascalius finished her in hand showing campaign last year. We are proud to add these awards to her Performance Record, a credit to her as a young filly and worthy of her joining our broodmares.
A Reserve Champion certificate from the Appaloosa Horse Club UK for their Open Appaloosa Horse Club Performance Awards.
Two beautiful rosettes from The British Appaloosa Society, the Highest Points for Youngstock and the Inhand Section.
From the United Saddlebred Association, she received a Champion certificate for their non-saddle bred Inhand and utility classes along with two gorgeous sashes.
We are aiming to cover her with DFR PATAHAS REDHEART early next year, the resulting foal will be black based (AA ee) with 6 generations of Appaloosa (GAP 6). 
Thank you to the Societies for sending such lovely memorabilia.
Another quality mare for our breeding programme!
Nothing like a good scratch, on a hot sunny day!
Princesse Pascale, her daughter Redheart Pascalius and her son Redheart Reality.
Redheart Regent is the half-brother of Redheart Pascalius and nephew to Redheart Reality!!!!
They are all very close and all very closely related.
Peyres Catori Cat 
Redheart Pascalius 
Redheart Regal