Kiger?? 23

[barbhorses]

[DianneC]

Not enough information, do you have a side view? Interesting whorl pattern up the chest and neck. Just from color, is this the claybank sulphur you posted a while back?

[barbhorses]

Unfortunately, no I don't have a side view. and this horse is actually a zebra dun.

[barbhorses]

This is Mestene (The Blue Stallion x Sulphur's Molly). She is a Sulphur.

[Michelle Clarke]

She's very cute...love the creamy color.

[barbhorses]

Thanks Michelle! She is the grand dam of my mare's foal in 2011 I can't believe that my mare is also a grandma this year for the second time So nice to see a beloved horse's genes continue even if the result isn't a purebred. I plan to continue my mare's line in a purebred form in my own breeding project.

[Michelle Clarke]

Comparing generations is way too fun...I am working on a new update for the Rancho Bayo website and it is quite interesting to see the foals over the years devleop into adults. Especially when I have so many full/half silbings running around, I can really see what genes have carried through. Also fun to see how much the program has changed over the years in reflection of what we have learned. Am learning right now how important the dam of the sire is, especially with the fillies and especially if you are going to breed those fillies.

[lindad]

According to Linda Tellington Jones, a long "Wheat Ear" or "Torn Collar" swirl on the chest/neck is considered bad luck by the bedouin breeders, as were 2 swirls on the forehead. Torn collar refers to the custom of tearing the clothes from the collar as a sign or mourning.

[barbhorses]

I was just wondering how much Mestene would influence this coming foal. What do you mean by how important that dam of the sire is? Does of the sire really come through in terms of type, height, etc. if the foal is a filly?

[Michelle Clarke]

So she is the dam of the stallion you bred to? The stallion passes on an exact replica of the maternal dna to his fillies, which is a big influence because the Y sperm does not carry a lot of information, by the X does. So "female" traits in the filly are passed through from the sires' maternal line. I am working on finding out how much is known as far as what exactly is considered female traits and male traits. They learned through Secretatriat, that the size of the heart comes through the female line.

I have found that trainability comes from each side, depending on what temperment traits were passed. Size is hard to say...Charro seems to have a HUGE gene somewhere, as both boys and girls by him can get rather large (16+), even purebreds, so I'm not sure how much is hybrid vigour. So far Gringo is already bigger than his sire, Saphiro; and Charro is his grandsire on the female line (with the dam being only 14'2) so I would guess it would come through the female line, but with him it could also be hybrid vigour. Then I have full siblings that range from 14' to 16' so.....

Interestingly, our fillies by one of the Luso stallions are difficult to deal with, even having three different dams (two are full siblings). The colt is wonderful; just a dream to work with. With that said, I won't be breeding any of those females, as they are most likely to pass on that maternal line from the Luso, which is not optimum for our client base. It will be a learning curve to see what the colt produces, if we decide to breed him, and if he produces good colts or good fillies or both.

We've had six full siblings by our HispanoArabe mare and Charro: four colts and two fillies. Both fillies are pretty emotional; all the colts are easy going and not spooky or reactive at all. Her filly by Desi (Charro son), is pretty even keel. She had one colt by Saphiro that is easy easy easy and one colt by another Luso that is very emotional, but comes around quick. However, his first reaction is always over the top. Now, we have another colt here being boarded by the same stallion and I see a lot of tendencies like the other colt, but he holds it together better. The owner says he is just like his dam in that instance.

I don't know how much that helps, but it sure is an interesting journey!

[barbhorses]

Yes, that is the dam of the stallion that I bred Victoria to. So, what you are saying is that if the resulting foal is a filly then the filly will likely resemble Mestene? What about the mares that tend to reproduce themselves?

That is really wild that you get so many different heights from Charro! Wish that we knew who his ancestors were in order to see where that height gene came from! Good for business I am sure as most people seem to like a taller horse (save the rare few like me! lol). Mestene was about 15HH. Pueblo's sire was Sulphur's Chance and he was about 14.2HH (I think). Victoria tends to reproduce the stallion's height. Her 2005 filly though ended up at 15HH or 15.1HH Which is taller than Victoria and the mare's sire. So, would you say then that the foal will be tall due to Mestene?

This is really fascinating, but also so confusing because there are so many different variables! Feel free to continue to share your knowledge! As a fledgling breeder I could use all of the advise and experience I can get!