Alex asked if we have found out if Lady is in foal. To be honest we have been so busy after the flood, we have not had time to get the Veterinary in to scan her. We have not seen Lady come in to season since she was covered. That would be a good sign that she is in foal. Even more so with Branston being able to be close to Lady’s stable. If Lady did come into season we would soon know with Branston being a Colt, by the way he acted. Woody although ill, has come into season a couple of times since Lady has been back from being covered. Branston let us know then. I will try to get the Veterinary in next week to make sure that if she is in foal she is not carrying twins, that you wouldn’t want in a thoroughbred.
The other reason I need the Veterinary to come in, is that I need him to look at Breeze, as we have not seen her come into season this year. I am concerned that she maybe in foal. If she is it will not be good news, as there is a chance that she was covered by one of the Colts last year. I was not told about it until a couple of months ago. By the time I was told it was to late to do anything about it. By all accounts the Colts got out, and were seen with Breeze last November. I am hoping that she had finished cycling by then. But if my memory serves me right it was quite warm then. Mares will stay in season longer if t is warm. I would like to see Breeze have a foal, but having one in October, for that is when she would have it, would not be a very good time. Breeze and any foal would be stabled through the winter. Not a good start for a foal. The foal would be getting on for six month old, before it it was running about in the fields with Breeze.
With thoroughbred Horses like Lady and Woody, the ideal time to have a foal would be February to March time. There is a chance that the weather would be kind, so that the mare and foal could get out in a field for part of the day. and the spring grass would be starting to grow. Some breeders try to get their mares to foal in early January, so that they have a full year for the foals to grow before becoming yearlings. Get it wrong, and the mare foals late December, you are in all sorts of trouble, for as soon as January the first comes, on that days the days old foal becomes a yearling. The foal then grows being out of its age for racing. The Manager of the Stud where Lady was covered, made a visit to Denbury yesterday, and told us of an occurrence that happened this year. The mare in question was the highest priced mare sold last year. In foal to a top stallion. It sold for over