(Stormwashed
x Tiger's Silent Saint) 2003 bay dun mare, 14.3
In the spring of 2016 we tried to breed Charli, our smoky black silver mare, to a dun stallion.
After months of monitoring her for a heat cycle- which included repeated ultrasounds by my vet, as with no stallion on the premises,
determining heat is nothing but guesswork at best- she never seemed to be in heat. We finally ended up using drugs to bring her in heat
and bred her (AI).... only to check the semen afterwards and discover it was less than 10% motility. Charli
did not conceive, and got an
infection to boot. I could not afford to try again and did not have much confidence that the situation would improve
even if I did.
I chalked it up to another story in my long saga of breeding fails over the past 8 years.
In November, local friend Sue Martin listed a pretty dun mare for sale, HCTF Lost in a Storm, a Stormwashed daughter,
due to the hay shortage here in Georgia. I have always loved this mare and thought if we could get her bred, maybe
I could get my potentially stripey foal. I asked Sue to go ahead and turn her out with Adiel's Snicker Zip, her
bay splash stallion (Sweet's breeding). "Lacey" got in foal on the very first cycle-
and in November! On October 17, 2017 she foaled a beautiful bay
splash filly, "Sweetie".
Lacey had basically been lounging in the pasture her whole life. She had no idea about stalls, hoof trimming, deworming,
baths, treats or grooming. Despite being apprehensive
of some of the unfamiliar new things presented to her, she was always been willing to
try. In fact, she is probably one of the most willing horses I've
ever known. She was worked with every day- brought into the barn for a bit of grain, her daily dewormer
and supplements, fly spray, hosing off, grooming and monthly hoof
trims. She made remarkable progress
in the short time she was here. The more I worked with her, the more we bonded. She seemed to enjoy attention, especially when I scratched her favorite spots!
In fact, she would present her shoulder, "asking" to be scratched, to
any visitor we had to the farm, including my vet (who really likes
her!).
I believe Lacey is one of the nicest dun mares
in the breed. She is typy and well put together with a higher neck
set, more laidback shoulder, stronger loin coupling and better hip
than most dun Morgans. Her sire is the well known grulla stallion
Stormwashed. Her dam,
Tiger's Silent Saint, comes from an interestingly marked 100%
Foundation line of horses from the late Carol Copeland's breeding
program - strong old
Devan, Easter Twilight (thought to be the probable source of white
in this family) and Flyhawk breeding. Lacey is a very high
percentage Foundation mare, with only one outcross through the
stallion Springdale King.
After foaling Sweetie, Lacey found an excellent home in Indiana with
Julia Lord. I miss her personality, pretty face and super cool color.
Stormwashed
Robbi-Sue's Sweet Success
Equinox Beaubrook
Robbi Sue Misalert
DBF Black Nightcloud
B-L Independence
Declaration's Image
Tiger's Silent Saint
Lippatink's Sealect
Midland Lipp-A-Tink
Sleepy's Fuzzy Fanny
Hawk's Countess
Hawk-Prince
Devan Tess
Lacey's extended pedigree can be seen
here. There are pictures of many of her ancestors there as well.
Lacey and her 2010 filly, Stonelake Ballerina, who is a full sibling to
Sweetie.
(Video by Sue Martin, taken at her farm in Lexington GA)
Lacey in May 2018, two days before leaving for her new home in Indiana.
More photos of Lacey (click on a thumbnail to enlarge)
Lacey as a foal (this photo is full size). Photo courtesy Barb Laudenslayer.
November 25, 2016- Lacey about ten minutes after being introduced to Adiel's Snicker Zip.
He was reportedly happy for the company! Photo courtesy of Sue Martin.
Lacey, newly arrived at Brookridge, January 28, 2017.
Getting acquainted with the locals! That's WAR Adikyrie, my Forever Morgans rescue mare, who seemed hopeful that Lacey was a stallion ;-)
February 14, 2017- Lacey has been here a little over 2 weeks now. She has made big strides towards
becoming a "civilized" horse. I got her front feet trimmed with very little effort, just patience
and doing a little each day,
and am working on handling her hinds; she has a bit of trouble holding up the left hind
but today I was able to hold both hinds long enough to get them thoroughly picked out.
They are very overgrown but we will get to that in time. She is getting groomed every day and seems to enjoy the attention.
I'm thrilled with her progress. I started her on aloe vera juice in
case she had ulcers and also Remission for magnesium supplementation
and its calming effects. She does seem much more relaxed. I noticed that unlike a lot of duns, she is minus the mane frosting, which I found interesting. It really wasn't anything
I had thought about as both of my previous dun mares had a lot of it.
May 2017- shed out and feeling good! Lacey has had several hoof trims
now, and is very good about it. Since I am the farrier around here, all my horses have to be "old lady proof"!
My model horse friends- does this pose remind you of anything? The Hagen Renaker "Forever Amber", maybe? Right down to the broody belly :-)
Bronco imitation.
I still haven't gotten the picture that I feel shows her head off best, but these
are not bad.
August 13, 2017- I'd been checking Lacey's udder regularly and when I noticed it getting a bit too big, too soon, it was time for a call to the vet.
Her half sister Lovey had pulled this same stunt and whether it was normal and a
familial thing or not we knew we were going to put her on Regu-Mate (progesterone) and
antibiotics,
in case she had a placental infection and was trying to miscarry. It's been a summer full of vet visits, for sure!
The poor mare is absolutely HUGE and, I'm sure, ready to unload all
that weight- can't say as I blame her.
September 3, 2017- Lacey gets a visit from Rhonda Evans, an old friend from our days at Shadowrock
Farm. Rhonda's daughter Cassidy (who can be seen in many places elsewhere on this site) was a riding student of mine and
our favorite barn sitter until she moved to TN a few years ago.
October 6, 2017-
Kate Cabot from Massachusetts was here for the 30th Annual Southern Model Horse Convention, the model horse show we host here each fall. She formed an instant bond with Lacey, who insisted
that Kate rub her itchy spots, and kept moving her shoulder (which
is her favorite spot to be scratched) into Kate if she tried to leave. She does the same thing with anyone who scritches her- and wouldn't let my vet leave the stall after he gave her her
30 day prior to foaling shots! He kept scratching her, so she got
her wish :-) It's comical, but also gratifying, that a horse who came here so
fearful and uninterested in people has decided we are actually just THE BEST- in typical Morgan fashion!
October 15, 2017- Lacey is on MareStare! She will be in the stall
every night now. Her due date is the 24th, but her udder is ready
(though her milk has not come in yet) and her croup muscles are
beginning to relax. So, it won't be too much longer! I took these
pictures of her today- it appears to me the foal is shifting
position- she doesn't look as wide when looking at her head on as
she did yesterday.
October 17, 2017- I had told Lacey a few days ago that it would be perfect if she foaled at 4 in the afternoon. After a restless night, at just after
3:30 PM on Tuesday October 17, she foaled a pretty bay filly with four white socks and a blaze, who we are calling "Sweetie" (registered name Sugar Rush).
The story continues on Sweetie's page.
