Baby, It's Cold Outside!

above: a very muddy Beth on 24 December, 2008

above: a very muddy (again!) Beth on 31 December, 2008

We have had a good few sub-freezing days in the past few weeks, and hope to get those all out of the way by March! Well, above is Beth's baby, as of January 7--that's day 257 of gestation. Today is day 260. Which means, should she foal at the "average" of 340 days, we have 80 days left, with an estimated due date of 31 March. And thus, the guessing game begins! By day 270, much of the foetal development has already occured, and the whole body will be covered with fine hair. The mane and tail will have become longer than the rest of the hair. There is still a good deal of maturation within body systems which will happen at the very end of the pregnancy, allowing the foal to survive outside of the dam. Additionally, Beth's oestrogen levels should have finally peaked, and be on the decline, so we may notice some change in her behaviour. At day 300, we will begin to record daily observations to allow us to better predict when she will foal--especially rectal temperature, udder observations, and mammary secretions.

This is also the time of year when mare owners (and their hangers-on, like me!) begin the annual great stallion search. More than a few have caught our eyes this year, and one particular stud in Spain really seems to be catering to the show-jumping and eventing blood which we prefer: Yeguada Campos. The have stellar mares, a good few upcoming young stallions who look like they have real potential, and some nice stallions in competition. Personal favourites so far include Copyright C (Corrado I x Schampus xx x Calypso I), Chepetto C (Contender x Mytens xx x Lord), and Crunch C (Corrado I x Julio Mariner xx x Capitol I). Do you have a shortlist of stallions yet?