Can I tell you a little secret? I mean, I’m going to tell you either way, unless you just stop reading…
I never had any aspirations to be a horse breeder. This was never my goal, never something I particularly put any thought into doing or wanted to do. Breeding horses is something Kelly researched and wanted to get into, I was just the supportive girlfriend.
And if we’re being really honest (which I always try to be), labor and delivery make me extremely nervous. Bad things can happen really quickly.
Trisha was our first foal born, in 2019. At the time we had purchased three broodmares but only had one early enough to breed for a 2019 baby. We were instantly smitten with Trisha, but kept saying how we wished we had a second baby running around beside her.
In 2019 we successfully bred our other two mares and after one failed attempt at artificially inseminating Trisha’s mama (Jessa), we decided two babies for 2020 would be perfect and left Jessa open.
In March of 2020 we had our spunky Ronnie colt but, devastatingly, just ten days later we lost our other broodmare and her unborn baby due to complications while foaling.
And just like that, we were looking at another year with just one baby in the field.
I really struggled with the loss of MJ and her unborn foal. Especially as we got to start watching Ronnie grow and explore and figure things out and I kept thinking, “MJ’s baby should be right beside him.”
Something you should probably know about me is I’m kind of frugal. I have a hard time spending money, especially large chunks of money. I’m currently working really diligently on paying off debt and I have big financial goals I’m working toward and I’m highly motivated to stay on track.
But dang, I wanted Ronnie to have a little friend. It turns out, I may be an “emotional buyer”. Ha!
So I started toying with the idea of purchasing a broodmare “of my own” and really focused on looking for a 2-in-1 package, a mare with a foal currently on her side. I was looking for a mare with similar lines as our current breeding program, a mare who would cross well with Steele in the future, and a mare with a little size to her (although I was going for height, I ended up with STOUT).
Oh yeah, and a mare on a budget.
Anyway, without further ado, meet “Wynonna” (Tripped Out Freckle) and her filly “Reba” (by Xtra Heavyduty Nitro).
