The Stars Are Aligned
Posted by Labels: derbies, Peppy Del Cielo, reining, Running With Wolves, Walking With Wolves, Wildwood Liberty, Wimpys Little StepThere can be only one possible subject for my post this week after the phone call I received Friday - my good mare, Peppy Del Cielo, is confirmed in foal to Wimpys Little Step! Although this is hardly the last hurdle to jump before I have a foal, it is a major step (pardon the pun...).
It all started last fall. My friend, Jill, and I had planned to attend the NRHA Futurity in Oklahoma City since spring. As the date of departure neared, I checked the draws for the Futurity, which led to checking out stallions for my Gallo Del Cielo mare, Peppy Del Cielo aka "Prima". Prima is the dam of both my stallions - Running With Wolves and Walking With Wolves. She is also the dam of a Wildwood Liberty that is no longer owned by me but who competed successfully in futurities in 2009. I had not bred Prima in 2009 so that I could afford a breeding in 2010 (I will only breed her to proven stallions).
I kept going back to Wimpys Little Step, NRHA's youngest Two Million Dollar sire, but the breeding fee was high. I emailed his owner to begin communication but I did not get an answer before Jill and I left for the Futurity. When I got there, I found out Wimpys Little Step was one of three stallions being honoured at the Futurity. He was not only featured on the big screen in the middle of the arena, but also in the flesh. Shawn Flarida rode the gorgeous palomino stallion into the pen for the award presentation.
Following the Non Pro finals, Jill and I made our way back to the barn and there, in front of Green Valley Ranch aisle, was a celebration cake for Wimpys Little Step. As I ate a piece of the cake I talked to the breeding manager about shipping semen to Canada (not easy now!) and was satisfied that they could get it done. I still did not commit.
After I got home and for a couple of months I weighed the pros and cons. This was a big step, a huge financial commitment! In the end, after multiple emails, I booked Prima to Wimpy. In April, I hauled her to Deep Creek Veterinary Services in Salmon Arm. She had been bred there several times. The vets knew the mare and Prima knew the facility. I was going to have the best chance to get this done. She cycled (as she was supposed to) and checked back in foal 16 days later (as she was supposed to!). Jill was with me when I got the call. She said, "I think we should drive to Alexis Creek for a lottery ticket and you're buying!" I'm generally not a lucky person, but I'm feeling very blessed right now. 
Could it get any better? Maybe. Here is how 2011 is stacking up - Prima's three stallions are all eligible for Derbies. Running With Wolves, Wildwood Liberty and Walking With Wolves - four, five and six year olds out of the same mare - will compete against each other in reining derbies - the same year that their dam, Prima, drops a Wimpys Little Step! If that isn't enough, Prima's first grand babies will enter the pen! The stars are aligned for 2011. Let's hope I can keep them that way!
3 comments:
Great news about Prima, Sharon!!!!! I was seriously thinking of you the past few days, mainly because I know you and Silk would have had a ball with us. Vance wanted to cut some cull cows so we all headed to the 50 acres of tame grass they were grazing - Vance and I on Wrangler and Gunner, Darcy on the quad with the paperwork (cow numbers, etc) and Allan manning "the gate", actually the opening into a wide alley leading to the yard. Gunner entered the grazing herd with calm alertness of a cutting horse and quietly separated the animals being summoned, one at a time. Then we located P142 and as she was the last one (you know it, for a reason) I called Vance off his search. His comment, "She's a Jansen. Could have an attitude." He bought some bred heifers from Wayne Jansen a few years ago. Well, after the cutting horse part was iffy completed, we found ourselves in a full-throttle working cow horse competition! Oh, did I mention that have had 10 inches of rain and 7 inches of wet snow in the last while? There were no heroics and I let my wanna-be working cow horse run by a few times. Eventually we got her past Allan at the opening where she proceded down the lane without further incident. We could have used you and Silk....
Yes, Silk and I would have had a ball chasing cows with you - if we had survived! We tend to forget about our safety when we are working cows! With all that rain and snow, it cannot have been safe. You be careful.
For sure I know those kind of cows. I remember one here that got into my pasture and Art and I (on foot) were going to chase her out. (We were on foot because we were fixing fence at the time - the neighbour's. Anyway as we approached this cow,I warned Art she looked like "she had an attitude" as Vance says. The words were no more than out of my mouth when she attacked my 5 strand smooth wire fence and got tangled up in it. I was so mad I left her there with wire wound around her hind leg - still in the fence. I thought we were going to have to cut her out of it, which would have made me madder, but she got out of it herself. Anyway, I don't think Silk and I would have had any luck chasing her on the side hill, in the sand and through the trees.. She was "one of those",
Tried to answer this yesterday after I saw your post but didnt get to it until late last night - then my computer ate it! Just didn't feel like starting again.
If you're chasing cows today, be careful. We don't want to have any more wrecks, do we? (Says the woman who will riding a two-year-old and a new mare with an attitude today sometime.)
Hi Sharon,
Wow, your stars surely lined up for a successful 2011. Sometimes things just fall into place and that's when they are meant to be...
Good luck!
Petra Christensen
Parelli 1Star Parelli Instructor
Post a Comment