Redheart Appaloosa Foals – Registered – Apaloosa Horse Club (ApHC)
All done…
We have 1 x 97% FPD, 3 X 100% FPD, 1 x GAP 5 and 1 x GAP 6 registered foals.
Our breeding plan is slowly getting there, 10 years later 🙂
Appaloosa Frozen Semen At Stallion AI
Its been twelve days since our stallion DFR Patahas Redheart entered the Stallion AI centre, they collected from him seven times and he’s averaged 8 doses per collection, his semen is of a small quality being less than 10ml per collection, seriously concentrated!
It is a long process to get the health papers, both pre and post, we have two weeks to wait before he can have his first post collection CEM swabs taken, a further seven days before the second post CEM swabs and then a further seven days before we have the results. Only then will his frozen semen be validated for sale and shipment for the UK and Europe.
He certainly looks very well, the Stallion AI Team have taken great care of him. We are very happy to have him home although I believe from the staff reports he certainly enjoyed his holiday and behaved impeccably, as expected.
On his arrival home, he certainly had a lot to tell Reus…
Everyone likes a goody bag, such a nice touch 🙂
6am to 6pm – Herd Checks
There is no doubt our herd of Appaloosas appreciate routine, they are always near the gate in the morning and in the evening.
We don’t give treats, therefore they never look for them but we do give a lot of scratches.
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!
Foaling and the Placenta – A calcified yolk sack remnant!
Eight foals have safely been born at the stud, we feel very fortunate everything has relatively gone to plan. We have endured premature foaling from Peyres Catori Cat with Reus, the deep red coloured placenta below, we inspect all our placenta’s and make sure they are all intact…here are just a few random pictures.
Princesse Pascale endured a challenge whilst foaling Ben, the difficulty was the positioning of Ben’s forelegs but we managed to correct this and then break his fall just as the Vet arrived!
One thing we always meet is the patience game with our maiden mares, it always takes a while for them to allow the foals to nurse but patience is something we have lots of…
Foaling is very rewarding when it all goes to plan and we have been very lucky to date but we are aware things don’t always go to plan. We are a young stud, we are still learning, therefore enrolling on a course called “Foaling The Mare” will surely only be a benefit, supported by the National Foaling Bank held at Twemlows Stud Farm.
Knowing what can go wrong is a daunting thought, when to intervene, how long before you intervene, is it in the mares best interest to wait for the vet or load the mare and drive to the vets…So many questions and time is always against you, 10 minutes can mean saving a mare and/or a foal and possibly ensuring the mare is fit for future breeding.
I cannot go into the course details but I strongly recommend anyone foaling book a place.
However, I would like to share a short video taken during the practical session where we discussed the placenta, as you can see below, this recent foaling produced a very large remnant of the yolk sac. We were all curious about its contents, a good strong steady hand with a hacksaw was definitely required!
Have a look at this video – Calcified yolk sack remnant
A very enjoyable and educational day, we also had a peak where they store Reus’s semen.
Sunday siesta…
Sunday siesta…
Autumn Appaloosas…
The trees are losing their leaves and the temperatures have soared from minus one to eighteen degrees.
The dark evenings illuminated by the sun, the ranging colours, seen by everyone.
The dark mornings brightened by the moon, here are a few pics of our autumn in bloom 😂
LES ROBES DES CHEVAUX – Horse Dresses/Coat Colour – French Publication
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.
Peyres Catori Cat 
Redheart Pascalius 
Redheart Regal
Redheart Father & Son..
Christmas day 2004 we entertained the “family” for lunch, about 20 of us and the food prep took a very long time, we had purchased the Cat Stevens CD and the songs played continuously.
One favorite song was (and still is) Father and Son, well some of the lyrics are just so fitting here when I see Reus talking with his son Reality…
“Just relax, take it easy”
“There’s so much you have to know”
“I was once like you are now, and I know that it’s not easy”
“But take your time, think a lot”
“Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy”
As a yearling Reality is looking rather tall against his father Reus who is 6!
Look at the height of that spotty bum!
