A Baby Boomer Dreams of Arabian Horses - The Mares

Part 1 of the Baby Boomer Series

Probably about six months had passed since I had begun my search for an Arabian mare that would be my special mare. While I had come home with two Arabian mares, bringing the total of my broodmare band to three, not one of them was that special mare I was looking for. Each of these last two horses was registered with ownership including both Dave and I. That translated to they were farm mares.

While I didn't own the mare I really wanted (the Dare Malik daughter), I had found her and I had a plan. Since the breeders would not sell the mare to me directly but would lease her to me with an option to buy, that was the route I would take. The nice thing about the plan was it gave me some added time to come up with the purchase price of the horse. I would send for her in the spring.

In the meantime, I was pretty pleased with my broodmare band. While I had originally just planned on having two mares to breed to Legs, expanding that number to four (assuming I would be able to get the Dare Malik daughter) meant that I would have four very different mares to cross with my Khemosabi grandson. I would breed each mare a couple of times and then select the two broodmares that crossed the best with him. Well, that was the plan anyway.

The business plan, once Scandalous was gone, had been changed to reflect it now being centered around her young colt. The horse would have to mature enough to be able to breed mares at all so the original change to the business plan was to cover mares in Legs's two-year-old year. That way by the time he was three, I would have an idea of whether or not it was even worth the trouble of keeping a stallion. If the foals weren't what I expected, the young stallion would be gelded.

The most recent mare I had acquired from Kings Gate Farm, KG Phadra Rose was the same age as Legs. There was no way I was going to breed her at two. Then there was Lilly (registered name Ballyhoohoo) and she was so little I was going to pass on her so she would hopefully grow some more. That left Krugorrs Heiress, the filly who had basically never been out of her stall when I bought her, to be the first of my mares to breed to the colt. Then, of course, there was the mare I planned to lease.

Trainers I know discouraged me from breeding the colt at all at the age of two. Most claimed it would ruin the horse and make him unmanageable. I couldn't imagine how breeding a couple of mares would wreck a horse forever. It just didn't seem to me that the psyche of a young colt should be that fragile. I was convinced that Legs could handle breeding and showing just fine.

His sire, GS Khochise had such a great temperament. The horse was know to go show in the morning, and win no less! Go home at the lunch break and breed mares! Only to return for evening classes and win in those too! If Khochise could do that, I figured Legs could too! He darn well better!!

In addition to "my" two mares (you notice how I put that in quotes to cover my wishful thinking about the mare I was to lease), my friend, Jodee from Oregon had a great Gamaar granddaughter, Kurra Min Sadi. Kurra was a beautiful chestnut mare with the most incredible eyes and a pretty big attitude. Her conformation was typical of the Gainey bred horses but like many of the older horses of that breeding, she could use a little refinement.

This horse was also to be bred to the young horse, Scandalous Legacy. Jodee and I had a deal, we would breed the mare two seasons. The first foal would be mine and the second would be hers. The mare would also be part of the plan for the colt's maiden breeding season bringing the total to three mares.

I was pretty sure that Legs could add the refinement needed when crossed with this mare. I was really excited about breeding this Gamaar bred horse. While I knew she was a mare I could never own, just to be able to have one of her babies was a dream come true.

And, more importantly, the mare had experience with maiden stallions. I knew it would be difficult enough teaching a maiden stallion to breed without complicating it by breeding to a maiden mare. Kurra was to be our teacher!

To be continued...........

The Maiden Season





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