This past year has been one of growth & change for our budding breeding program. Kisia our grey Andalusian (Inscribed PRE) mare produced her first foal for us....a wonderful grey filly we've named Kiva. She's a really lovely combination of her parents, very like her dam but taller, longer legs & somehow looks like will even move better! Like her mom, she is very beautiful....think Unicorn pretty folks....this one will seriously draw a crowd one day....her face is perfection. She also inherited her moms power & balance. She's strong, sensitive & athletic. I believe crossing Kisia with the stallion Klickitat (Revised PRE) has added to the temperament as well. I've been calling Kiva my 100% girl. Her mom as a foal was an overachiever who gave 150% at least to new things, which sounds nice, but can be daunting in a sensitive, powerful creature. Kiva so far is proving VERY trainable. If you followed my old blog, you might recall a post about Zorra's optimization where I explained the process or theory of optimization in developing a horse. For ultimate optimization one starts with choice of parents. I applied this same thinking to "making" Kiva. Choosing a stallion that compliments Kisia in every possible way was, of course, key. There are many good stallions around. That doesn't mean they are great for my mare. I also enlisted the help of Kisia's breeder who patiently watched many videos, sharing her own knowledge & expertise about what some stallions might add to my mare. My first question to her was asked as Kisia was traveling here as a foal. I asked for an honest assessment of her strong & weak areas which gave me a head start in my search for understanding how a mare & stallion can outproduce themselves in their offspring. Health & condition of the mare is clearly vital. Our mares are on individualized nutrition programs, get daily exercise and stay up to date on immunizations & deworming. Besides stallion choice & mare health, one often over looked aspect is that of my mare's training. I'm convinced that when my mare is happy to see me coming, she imparts this trust of humans to her foals. She should also tolerate all kinds of handling so I might safely clean & care for her as her foaling time approaches. She should patiently allow me to handle her new born foal. Basically, she should trust my intentions. This means I've put the time in to develop a relationship with her as well as exposed her to types of handling that will be required well before she is foaling or has a brand new baby at her side. Not everyone does these things nor does everything think they are important. I'm not saying they are wrong but that this is what I feel gives my foals the best start I can provide. My goal for breeding foals is that they are physically & mentally able to partner with a human but also like it! At just over a month old our Kiva is bright, super athletic, friendly & happy. She lives in a herd of well socialized mares, comes in the barn daily where she wears her halter, has a meal & gets groomed. She yields to pressure nicely, is respectful, picks up all feet & is friendly with every part of her body. An "optimal" start in my opinion.
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