Happy first birthday to The Class of 2019, they are all developing differently, both mentally and physically but the main similarity is how they know their routine, 6pm is dinner time every day and they know it!
Redheart Revelation
Redheart Reflection
Redheart Rookie
Redheart Relentless
Redheart Rookie
You may have noticed Redheart Rookie (our 2019 buckskin GAP 5 filly) has been moved from our Mares Page to our Sales Page?
Sometimes you need to take another look at your future breeding plan, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Rookie and sometimes you must to let your best breeding stock go! So, why have we decided to sell her?
Rookie was a planned future breeding mare for Reus, not only do the genetics work but her dam Princesse Pascale is our biggest mare at 16hh, so Rookie’s height and quality stamp from her sire DRF Patahas Redheart meant she was perfect.
Reus is gelded, we only have frozen semen available and we certainly didn’t want to deplete his stock (also we believe frozen semen is wasted on maiden mares) so we have decided to try and create a future breeding mare BY REUS with Princesse Pascale.
This filly will be a full sibling to Redheart Reality, 100% FPD, 16hh, ApHC UK, ApHC and BApS Stud Book registered. We are not bothered about coat pattern / colour, the result will be a quality filly who we would aim to prove in the ring and then hopefully become broodmare with our Stallion Blu…
Thus, creating GAP 5 foals by Blu instead of 100% FPD foals by retaining Rookie and using Reus. We can then continue our Peyres Catori Cat, Hevans EV Catorrious blood lines.
Redheart Rookie
Plan B 🙂
We can confidently put the Artificial Insemination (AI) kit away as our last mare scanned in foal. We pray all mares to carry full term and wish them a safe delivery resulting in five healthy mares and foals for 2021.
Here is a little clip of our 2020 Stallion Semen Collection – Made easy by DFR Patahas Redheart
All five mares are confirmed pregnant, looks like January, February, and March 2021 will be busy and exciting. Due to current government guidelines, it is not essential for us to have the mares sexed scanned although we seem to have orders for fillies!!
Princesse Pascale is our first mare due, from the size of her embryo we can work out she ovulated on the 12th February, this means her estimated foaling date for 2021 is between January 8th and January 23rd (330 – to 345 days).
Peyres Catori Cat, from the size of her embryo we can work out she ovulated on the 15th of February, this means her estimated foaling date for 2021 is between January 11th and January 26th (330 – to 345 days).
Caricks Redheart, from the size of the embryo we can work out she ovulated on the 16th of February, this means her estimated foaling date for 2021 is between January 12th and January 27th (330 – to 345 days).
Talismans Redheart, from the size of her embryo we can work out she ovulated on the 17th March, this means her estimated foaling date for 2021 is between February 10th and February 25th (330 – to 345 days).
And, our last mare Redheart Pascalius, from the size of her embryo we can work out she ovulated on the 10th April, this means her estimated foaling date for 2021 is between 7th and 22 March (330 – to 345 days).
There are many ways Studs collect from their stallions, there is no rule. Most studs comply with what suits the stallion, what facilities are available, and depending on help available. The main criteria for collection are health, safety, and all measures in place to limit disease control.
We have found training our stallion very easy, he’s a sensible horse and we “read” him well. Once he has reached the point of “no return”, there is only one objective for him – mount the dummy mare and ejaculate. For this reason, we have been able to safely collect from him and successfully AI our mares.
April 2020 is certainly a bit different from April 2019…Despite the sad news that surrounds the world with COVID-19 we are very much in a happy safe place here at Redheart Appaloosas, for which we are thankful for!
Here is a few pictures of our yearlings after their April Shower
Redheart Rookie
Redheart Reflection
Redheart Relentless
Redheart Revelation
Our past foals have predominately been born in April, our eldest foal is now 8 years old and our youngest foals are now yearlings this month…
Frisky February
Artificial Insemination (AI) – A process that involves depositing good quality semen into the mare’s uterus at the right time, taking all necessary precaution to reduce infection.
There are many reasons why I decided to plan my barn the way I did, there are many reasons why I decided to complete an Artificial Insemination course and there are many reasons why I choose to try for early foals but all my reasons are due to my own personal thoughts on breeding and what suits me.
I’m employed full-time, up at 6am and home at 6pm, the work load I complete on my own and would never complain, breeding is a passion, every day is a school day and everything must work for me as an individual. Therefore, the stallion and mares must be cooperative in all manners, you can’t have a mare trying to get out of the stocks when you have fresh semen ready to be inserted.
To start at the beginning we needed to control our mares estrous cycle which is affected by light, turning the barn lights on at 6am and off at 10pm has given the mares 16 hours of “artificial light” and sure enough come February the 5th we saw our first mare “show” to our stallion.
This year we have 4 seasoned mares and 1 maiden, the seasoned mares are faultless with AI but we certainly prepared our maiden well in advance, washing her vagina, bandaging her tail and teaching her to stand quietly in the stocks well before AI could take place.
We invested last year in a set of stocks, a dummy mare and an AI “kit”, we successfully inseminated 4 mares, the mares were not a problem but teaching our stallion was certainly a challenge. The aim is for the stallion is to “flower” or “called belling” (which basically means he reaches the point of no return before ejaculation), I won’t go into detail, but our stallion went from being unbelievably shy to being obsessed and overly keen with the dummy! All his actions have been noted for future reference as his mating behaviour certainly changes with individual mares (such as he flowers and ejaculates within seconds with one of our mares but takes 4 or 5 minutes to even get aroused by another one of our mares). His sexual response (libido) certainly has increased this year with a very mature and sensible attitude.
AI takes less than 5 minutes to complete, from collection to insemination but preparation takes nearly an hour…
Many factors affect collecting from a stallion with an AV, temperature, the tightness or pressure that surrounds the AV, some like it loose whilst others like it tight, we have not experienced a “non-collection” from our stallion so I guess either we are doing what he likes or he really isn’t fussy? The last reason is the amount of lubrication (Ky jelly) used, remember, you are trying to mimic a vagina, if the AV is too slippery or too dry many stallions won’t ejaculate, I think we have this lube sorted 😉
As soon as our stallion sees the AV, the screaming starts, to an inexperienced person the noise is quite frightening but to a breeder its music! We are ready, hard hat on, steel toe capped boots, mare ready and stallion ready. The stallion’s stable is opposite the dummy and we put the mare in the stable parallel to him, her stable is opposite the stocks. We watch and wait for the stallion to become aroused and just as we see the flowering, we open the stable door, timed to perfection within a few strides he’s on the dummy making love to the AV like it’s his right and duty!
Our stallion likes to have what I call “his cigar moment”, after ejaculation, he always turns his head to the right, as if he’s looking at the mare – “was that good for you?”. He climbs off the dummy in a daze and he’s returned to the stable! The mare is then walked into the stocks and inseminated…
We have collected many times during February, we are convinced we have at least three mares pregnant but two just didn’t feel right, we’ll soon find out at their 16-day scan. At this first scan we gain vital information, first a positive pregnancy, secondly the detection of twins and thirdly by the size of the oocyte (egg) we can work out when ovulation took place and therefore predict the foaling date.
As a qualified AI technician, I can only use fresh and chilled semen, I can not use frozen. I am only allowed to use my certificate within the UK as per the Veterinary Surgeons Act 2010 No 2059. I must adhere to all limitations of disease control, for this reason I do not stand my stallion at public stud and do not have boarding mares here at Redheart Appaloosas, it’s just too impractical.
It will be wonderful to have all mares confirmed in foal earlier in the season to enable our stallion to compete back under saddle for the 2020 show season without him loosing weight fretting over in season mares…
Foundation Appaloosas registered with the Foundation Appaloosa Horse Registry (FAHR) are exceptionally high in numbers in the USA (140 registered in Washington alone) compared to other Countries…
Redheart Appaloosas are very proud to have put the Foundation Appaloosa on the map here in the UK.
FAHR #1079 Redheart Rookie 83.0077%
FAHR #1080 Redheart Revelation 82.0312%
FAHR #1073 Talisman Redheart 95.0195%
FAHR #1068 Redheart Ru Chubarry 79.7851%
FAHR #1042 DFR Patahas Redheart 92.9687%
FAHR #1033 Redheart Royale 78.1249%
DFR Patahas Redheart – 5 Years Old TODAY!
You’ve made your memories, experienced the highs and the lows.
They’ll soon become anniversaries, so make plans before this dawn.
Look up, look forward, sit high and ride on, because before you know it, 2020 will soon be gone.
Happy New to you from Redheart Appaloosas x
Absolutely delighted to see our 2019 Appaloosa foals’ picture was chosen to feature in this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, celebrating the READER ISSUE – “All the drama and emotion of your 2019”.
