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New Arrival, April 7th - 5th Colt in a Row!!
Randy and I anticipated that Betty would foal around April 25th, given her breeding date of May 20th and an average gestation period of 340 days. So we were actually a bit concerned when she started waxing on April 6th. No other signs of impending labour. Just in case, and with the weather being unseasonably cold (- 14 degrees Celsius; about 11 degrees colder than average), we put Betty in the barn overnight. What a sight to behold when I went to feed the herd the following morning! There was a wet, dark grey beauty struggling to get up. Randy and I towelled the foal off and watched - agonizingly - as the little one tried to find it's all-important first sips of milk. Eagerly, we checked for sex and couldn't believe our eyes, our 5th colt in a row! What are the odds? (And why can't I win the lottery?!) We named the little toughie, Tie, as in a railway tie, and Tie Domi.
Tie's registered names will be "Peace Haven Nestlé Tie". The three-part naming convention is made up of the herd name ("Peace Haven"), the sire's common name ("Nestlé") and the foal's common name ("Tie"), as required by the Canadian Horse Breeders' Association. The herd name is governed by who owns/owned the mare at the time she was bred. The foal's common name must begin with a predetermined letter of the alphabet, according to the year of birth, with 2007 being a "T" year. In keeping with our railway theme, the common names reflect railway terminology or people/place names.
The three-part name became mandatory circa 1974 while the assignment of alphabetical letters to the common name was made standard much more recently, in 1993. The letters I, O, Q and V are not used, owing to possible confusion with the numbers 1 and 0 and the letter W when tattooed letters are used for identification.
Lou Heros Sire Line Represented in Western North America
Congratulations to the new owners of Phantom and Phoenix in Oregon and Alberta, respectively, who have added these outstanding stud prospects - two of the last male offspring of Bienvenue Lou Heros - to their herds. It was difficult to "let go" of our first youngsters, but knowing they went to the best of homes made it so much easier.
Delavoye Heros Phantom - Sold to Oregon, USA Delavoye Heros Phenom - Sold to Alberta, CAN
Canadian Horses Exhibited at the Manitoba Royal Winter Fair!
Randy and I had the distinct honour and pleasure of taking Jessy and Heidi to the 100th Anniversary Royal Winter Fair in Brandon, held during the week of March 26 - 31, 2007. When we were asked to help out at the Rare Breeds Canada booth, we didn't say no. What better way to spread the word about the wonderful Canadian Horse and show off our girls. Although squeezed together in one large box stall, the mares demonstrated exemplary behaviour for 10 long hours. As the crowds had swelled and the stands filled up, Randy and I did an in-hand demo, explaining the history and special, defining characteristics of the Little Iron Horse.
We're also pleased to say that the horses generated some interest amongst local and provincial newspapers and magazines, so watch for upcoming features! Darci Clark took up the challenge of listening to us babble on and on about the Canadians. Our farm and horses were featured in her column, entitled "Café Westman", on Sunday, April 15th in the Community News Edition insert of the Brandon Sun newspaper .
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Copyright 2007 - Pendennis Hills Farm |
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