A Red Sky At Redheart Appaloosa Stud…

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We join the many people who appreciate the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, moonlit halos and anything else Mother Nature throws at us…

During the beginning of October we’ve witnessed several evenings with a red sky but to capture an image with such beauty requires Appaloosas here at the Stud!

 

You can’t make animals in a herd, naturally, stand and pose for you, so you waited and wait and wait! Until, eventually, during the “movement” of grazing, you catch that split second of “the shot”. Here it is, with our two main mares…

Peyres Catori Cat & Princesse Pascale

Red sky at night, Appaloosas delight!

Redheart Appaloosa Stud – Behind The Scenes…

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So the morning begins at 6 am when the horses are tended to, in work at 8.30 and home by 6 pm.

After the horses are all tucked up its usually 9 pm but the weekends are so very precious, we aim to compete at about 10 – 12 shows a year, leaving the other weekends free to continue the works at the Stud.

We are so fortunate to have wonderful friends and family who always are here to lend a hand when needed and the village children are very helpful if the work repays in McDonald’s!

Here is the progress of the manège.

 

Redheart Mares – Sex Scanned…

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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?

Artificial Insemination & Semen Collection @ Redheart Appaloosa Stud

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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!.

 

The Appaloosa Mares are out in the pasture..

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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!

 

Heads Down

 

And then…waking up to this view!

Appy Redheart Valentines – Ten Years

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Redheart Appaloosa Stud specialises in the breeding, showing and promotion of purebred Appaloosas to achieve what our breed is known for – versatility, athleticism, stamina and the heart to compete in any equine discipline.

Redheart Appaloosas breed purebred Appaloosas (30/30) with a 5 generation pedigree and our horses are a “cocktail” of height, colour, stature and pedigree percentages.

We ensure our mating’s are created to complement each foal, aiming for the perfect Appaloosa.

Redheart Appaloosas provide all registration documents, pedigree, genetics and colour test certificates and all our horses are negative for the 5-panel test and the Grey Gene.

We shall not forget where we started, 14th February 2008 travelling to France and importing Peyres Catori Cat and a year later, travelling to Austria and importing another weanling, Princesse Pascale. Both fillies imported to become our “Foundation” broodmares.

Ten years on both mares have produced seven wonderful foals between them, creating a unique gene pool in the UK and enabling the Stud to expand, continuing on our journey, enhancing the Foundation Appaloosa bloodline.

We created a plan, we have implemented the plan and we have stuck to our plan. Ten years on, we have superior broodmares and an exceptional unrelated stallion.

The future Redheart foals can only exceed our high standards and expectations of breeding PURE Appaloosas.

 

Princesse Pascale

Princesse Pascal’s sire Akawaio Potawatomi

Peyres Catori Cat

 

Peyres Catori Cat’s sire – Sully Tomcat Peyres

 Appy Redheart Valentines 

Winter 2017/18 At Redheart Appaloosa Stud

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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

Redheart Appaloosas – The Stud

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I’m sure I am one of many equestrian women, whose childhood dream it was to have a pony! Building a “large shed” at the bottom of the garden is one thing, renting a stable or two on a yard is a totally different experience and then renting a private yard is an expensive but wonderful experience but it has never just been me and my horses.

Redheart Appaloosa’s formed in 2008 and a 10-year plan put in place. Nine years on, with only one more year to compete our breeding stock-in-hand (before we compete under saddle) I finally see my adult dream become a reality.

In April 2016 we found a cottage for sale with pasture land for sale next door. After secluding the sale and eventually moving in late September, we employed Eleni Randle from G Herbert Banks, an expert required to guide us through the planning and development stages. After gaining us planning for an agricultural barn under permitted development, Eleni soon engaged to apply for ‘a change of use’ on the land, from agricultural to equestrian with the proposal of an equestrian barn and ménage.

All planning was granted in April 2017  and we wasted no time, we fenced out the horses and set out the area. There is a slight gradient to this land and the excavation was rather large, the groundwork proved an easy process of “cutting and filling”. The foundations were dug and the concrete poured.

The next task was to retain the ground to the rear and sides using gabion baskets filled with stone. After much research sourcing the right materials to complete the build, the steel frame purchased from Browns of Wem based in Shropshire. With the help of family and friends to erect the steel frame, we were ready for the delivery of over 2000 blocks.

As soon as the external blockwork completed, we commenced the preparation and laying of the reinforced concrete floor with an acco channel running the length of the building. A huge (30 meters) concrete pump landed on site to make sure ease of pouring the floor in one day, we worked until the late hours to create a brushed finish for grip.

The following week the fibre cement roof arrived from Briarwood Roofing and was again laid with the help of family and friends.

With a dry shell, the block work painted and the cedar wood (Yorkshire boarding) fixed, purchased directly from Olli Gladstone at Gladstone Saw Mill, Gloucestershire.

Heading into autumn, we took delivery of the internal stable front partitions sourced from Stables Online. A huge push to create two stables as a priority to enable our colt’s to be weaned and castrated. It seemed to have taken forever to build the internal walls, paint them and build the grills between but with the daylight hours are very short now and it’s only the weekends are we able to make progress.

So here we are, a two weeks before Christmas, what an exciting dream to fulfil. This would not have been possible without the help of our wonderful friends and family who I truly thank. The professional people who have aided us through our venture have exceeded all expectations, the Redheart horses have a barn for Christmas!

Redheart Foals Date with Castration…

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Regent and Reality have now been successfully castrated.

We worked night and day to complete two of our ten box’s, the date made and the deed complete.

It is never taken for granted the complications that can occur after castration, thankfully Regent and Reality recovered very well from the procedure and hopefully will grow slightly taller as their growth plates will now take longer to close. One reason for castrating these boys early!

Redheart Appaloosas / G Herbert Banks

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For those that follow the news, you will remember the Stud being granted permission for an agricultural barn, an equestrian barn, and manège. None of this would have been possible without the expertise from Eleni Randle at G Herbert Banks.

We are absolutely delighted to read, Eleni used the Redheart Stud development as her case study in the publication of the G Herbert Banks – Property View November 2017.