Is anyone expecting any babies this year?

[angelsdream]

Who all is expecting any new kiger's or other horse's this year? Getting close to all the little ones being born....

[Michelle Clarke]

We have nine due....oh, gosh, did I really say that!!!!?? Two are not mine though , they belong to Lynn!

www.ranchobayo.com/maresdue.html

Charro has one foal expected, but it is a secret for now!

Two due in March, 6 due in May and not sure when the new Kiger is due.

[desperatehorsewife]

Sadly, no (sniff)...although that does open up the window for some training that may not have taken place if we were worrying about a foal.

[lwood92]

These are my two that are due this year.
Mari (Kiger from 07 adoption. Due date??? I took this picture on 1/16. We think she has about another 5 weeks maybe? Any other thoughts?)


Morgan (QH bred to QH) Due end of March. Not quite sure she will make it!

[nrly]

my paint Flashy is due in April of 08

[angelsdream]

WOW! lwood, your morgan looks like she's going to pop.. whew... Love the black and white paint nola, my friend absolutely obsesse's over them.
Michelle, you look like you've got some pretty ones coming also. How do the quarter horse/kiger babies turn out? seems like a good cross.

[Michelle Clarke]

Thanks Tiffany! I have been thrilled with the Kiger/QH cross so far. It is very popular with alot of folks and I think the two breeds really compliment each other. Our two mare are foundation bred, and VERY line and inbred (program started 65 years ago w/1 stallion and two mares - no other blood ever), so when this is crossed, the hybrid vigour is incredible! We will breed Lynns' mare to Charro next year, she is not very linebred, so it will be interesting to see how that turns out. I also just bought an Appendix filly (5/8 thoroughbred) but it will be years before we breed her (if ever).

Lynn bought one of the coming two year olds, Solana, maybe she can share her thoughts on them.

[angelsdream]

Yes that does sound like a good cross Michelle. What do most of the people that buy the crosses do with them? I bet they are very versatile.

[lwood92]

I LOVE the Kiger/QH crosses that Michelle has. Solana is just coming 2 and we don't really work with the horses much at this age. But, the things we have done with Solana I think she handles very well. She stands well to have her feet done. She seems to really think about things. She has a lot of presence about her.

We string tested her the other day and it looks like she will be about 16hh! She is already about 15.1hh!

I think that she is going to be very versatile. I used do eventing, although I can no longer do that, I think she could do it very easily. She has a beautiful, lofty trot. IMO she leans more toward an English type horse, but I plan on doing both English and Western events with her. I think she will easily switch gears, but of course we will learn more as she gets older and more training.

I also have a half sister of Solana's (they have the same mother). She is just started saddle training and will be bred to Desi in the spring. I plan to breed my girls to Kiger and Lusitano Stallions. My emphasis is on Event horses, but I do want them to be versatile lifetime partners with their new owners.

[Michelle Clarke]

I think the cross is very interesting, especially since the QH has origins with the spanish horses, and especially the Foundation bred ones more so, because they don't have thoroughbred or very much close in. Texas is the state that deveoped the QH by using the "range mares". Other states heavily used the eastern thoroughbred types and some even used draft types...I belive John Hanthingy was a full Percheron or some famous name like that.

I searched high and low for the right QH's and belive I literally found a "gold" mine (pun intended for the dirty white horse fans...)! The nice thing is when I went to pick out my mares, I got to see 170 head of all related animals from all different age groups and it was so neat to be able to do. Momma was at the bottom of the pecking group and had had a broken leg when she was two (which was not attended to), so her front leg is crooked, but her genetics are incredible. Picasa is also her daughter, so all our foals are still very related which I wanted too.

I have only sold three, so I can't really answer in detail who likes this cross. I belive that once they are older and have jobs, we can really tell what they are all about. I have had some QH folks interested in breeding to Charro for cutting, so I am not sure if that will pan out, but we will see. One is a Dual Pep daughter or granddaughter, can't remember...the hard thing for me in doing outside breedings is I am always concerned about what will happen to the foals, so I am not sure if I will even agree to some of the requests for breeding.

[fantasykiger]

I am expecting one foal at the end of March with really long ears yep' my very own Kiger Mustang Mule. Hopefully a molly and dun....but I will be pleased with happy and healthy. The funny thing with mules is they can be very beautiful or not. Either way they are still great and I am very excited as I only have a couple more months to wait.
This is Fantasy now, she is starting to show a bit of a belly.

[Michelle Clarke]

Oh, my!!! Fantasy looks so slim compared to our fatsos due at the same time....!!!!! I am jealous! We are working on our feeding program though as it applies to "easy keepers" and spanish type horses.

[DianneC]

I have LadyRose, Cedar and Sedona bred to Chinny. Sadly, Calista was bred but I'm sure she has twins and will abort. She is huge already and uncomfortable, poor girl, so hope its soon. Vet says nothing to do but watch her and wait it out. TBs and some QHs have twins fairly often and that is why they are routinely checked at 16 days so one can be pinched off. Has anyone heard of other Kigers twinning? I sometimes think the are immune to many maladies that strike other horses since they are so hardy, but that itsn't true.

[nrly]

flashy is getting big will post a more recent picture of her she is about 5 months along.

[JoanMRK]

Dianne, I believe Jillian had twins born last year. Not exactly sure though. Hopefully she can get on here and tell us.