I WANTED A FILLY, OR HOW I BECAME A STALLION OWNER

I never set out to be a horse breeder. Although I had ridden since I was a child in Pony Club, I had always ridden and owned geldings. I knew virtually nothing about equine reproduction. The entry of my first mare into my life changed that. In 1994, I bought a well-bred ten-year-old grey Westphalian mare with which to ride and show dressage. She was my first warmblood. Although she was sound and had good confirmation, she was poorly trained. After riding and showing her for a year, I sorely wanted a younger horse without 7 years of bad training to undo.

Unfortunately, about this time, my husband lost his job as his employer of 19 years underwent a reorganization in bankruptcy and simultaneously, the price of well-bred warmbloods imported from Europe seemed to be increasing exponentially. So there I was, the owner of a well-bred mare lusting after a young, talented warmblood. There was nothing else to do but breed!

My first decision was to whom to pick as a sire. The only conformation flaw I could readily recognize in my mare was that her neck tended to be a little short and thick in the throat latch, similar to her sire, Chrysos. Her gaits were basically good, her walk and canter better than her trot. So I determined to stay away from stallions with short, thick necks and looked for stallions with big suspended trots. I eagerly read the stallion issues of horse related publications. I watched videotapes of prospective stallions and talked to my horse owning friends. I explored registration possibilities and dreamed of a black foal with four white socks (from my grey mare)! The horse that “sang” to my heart was Gauguin de Lully. Although I had only seen him in advertising copy and a few video clips, I knew I wanted a foal by him. So, I contacted his North American representative and got information about him but then I learned he was solely available by frozen semen, that there was no live foal guarantee and that the veterinary expenses attendant to insemination with frozen semen were much greater than those associated with live cover or cooled semen insemination. Here I was a breeding novice, with a maiden mare, who I was unsure could get pregnant, would be able to foal without a calamity, nurse the foal, etc. I just didn’t think it prudent to risk frozen semen with no live foal guarantee. I figured with vet bills and stud fees, that it would cost $5,000.00 just to get my mare in foal. I decided that was too much money to risk on an unknown venture; I chickened out and decided to pick a local stallion.

I finally decided to breed my mare to Wanroij, a retired, imported KWPN FEI stallion standing at DG Bar Ranch in Hanford. The stud fee was essentially the same as Gauguin’s but DG Bar would breed my mare on site with freshly collected semen, making the vet bills much less. The sweetness of the deal was that Willy Arts, the manager/trainer at DG Bar agreed to put my mare in training for 1 month while she was being bred. The training, board, stud fees, breeding and vet bills were less than $3,500.00 and I got a mare back that was going nicely and pregnant! Pregnancy agreed with Poppy. I showed her that summer and she was wonderful. We had lots of nice rides with scores in the mid-60’s. Although she looked pregnant to me, no one else perceived her as pregnant and her disposition was greatly improved. I was able to actively ride her until January, 1996, when she just decided that she just COULDN’T trot anymore and canter, well, that was just out of the question. Thereafter, I rode her bareback in a halter just at the walk to keep her loosened up.

Exactly 11 months, 7 days after my mare was bred, she presented me with a lovely liver chestnut filly that I named Orinda. I was sleeping in the barn, so I was able to videotape the birth just like a proud grandmother. Poppy turned out to be a good mother, had abundant milk and Orinda was very correct and pretty. I decided the breeding game might not be so risky after all. Obviously, I was being assisted by “beginner’s luck”. By the time Orinda was a yearling, I wanted to do something with her, so I decided I would take her to the breed shows and get her used to competition. Having never been to a breed show myself, I eagerly asked those around me what to do. I borrowed tapes of keurings and watched people show on the triangle. I set up a triangle in the indoor arena and practiced with Orinda – teaching her to change gaits on voice command.

My first breed show was at Glenwood Farms. Nothing but HUGE Hanoverians and Oldenbergs. Orinda looked like a midget even though she was a normal sized warmblood. It was hot. The sand in the arena was deep. I could hardly walk with long enough strides to keep up with Orinda and trotting – huh, she left me in the dust. I was showing against professional handlers. I didn’t know how to set up a horse with open legs (I thought it was like 4H and halter classes where you wanted all four feet square!). I had a pretty filly with braids but I was WAY out of my league! The classes were huge (over 20 horses per class) and we didn’t ribbon. The judges were all German and our scores were adequate, in the 70’s, but always a couple of points below the winners. It was good experience, however. I was feeling pretty good about the breeding game at this point. My filly was personable, correct, pretty and easily managed. She looked like she would grown to be about 16.1 hands, which I thought was a good size for me.

About this time, my late father’s estate settled and I had some extra cash, so I decided I would take the plunge and breed to Gauguin de Lully although by now I had also formed an attraction to Olympic Ferro (and he was BLACK). The deciding factor was that because my mare was just barely 15.3 hands tall, KWPN would not accept her in their mare book because she was too short. I talked to the Swedes and they did not have such drastic height restrictions. So I contacted the North American representative for Gauguin and arranged for 2 straws to be shipped to Pioneer Equine Hospital and I delivered Poppy to the veterinary hospital and asked them to “get her pregnant”.

Meanwhile, I continued on with Orinda. The next show was the West Coast Sporthorse Classic. This show had an amateur handler class. At last, something in which I wouldn’t have to compete against all those professionals! Again, in the open yearling filly class, we scored in the 70’s and got good remarks, but not good enough to place. The judges again were German and only HUGE Hanoverians and Oldenbergs placed. Finally, I got to show in the amateur handler class and I came in 2nd! Whoopee, a ribbon. My score was EXACTLY the same as in the open class, but the horse that came in 1st with her amateur handler had scored over 10 points HIGHER in the open class. So I tracked down the professional that had shown the filly in the open class and asked him why the disparity between the scores, after all, it was the same horse and my horse had gotten IDENTICAL scores in both classes. He informed me that because I was a middle-aged lady (the temerity of that young pipsqueak) that I just couldn’t get the most out of my filly and that I was probably losing 10 points on her scores because I couldn’t show her to her best advantage.

OH! Back at Pioneer, my beginner’s luck was holding. Poppy was short cycled and inseminated with the 2 straws of Gauguin semen and after about 2 weeks, she ultrasounded in foal. She was sent home pregnant with a little picture of the “walnut” that would be her 2nd foal. Beginners luck still holding, 11 months, 5 days after Poppy was bred, on a night when the barn lights shorted out and I was using a battery powered lantern for light, she presented me with a lovely bay filly (I rolled the foal on its back and it had no external genitalia – ANOTHER GIRL – yeah!

No wait, the foal finally stood and wow, genitalia dropped down…. How did that happen? She gave birth to a colt, oh no. So, I gave up my thoughts of filly names and picked out a name for the boy – Gauguin du Cheval, “Duc” as a stable name because it rhymed with “Dufus”, which he definitely was the night he was born. He kept slipping through the sliding door of the foaling stall and going out into the paddock and visiting with the horse next door. Of course, this caused Poppy to become 1,300 pounds of furious warmblood mother trying to tear down the barn to “protect” her new baby.

Duc was precocious and very curious. I thought he would make a very nice gelding. I had no secret thoughts of harboring a stallion. I had never handled a stallion. I had never ridden a stallion. Stallions were supposed to be scary. By the time Duc was 1 month old, I had a discussion with the vet about WHEN to geld him. We were planning on gelding at about 6 months of age. She stressed to me that I needed to make sure I was able to handle his genitalia so that when he was gelded, he wouldn’t mind me hosing him and applying medicine. She said it would make the gelding much easier and less problematic. I followed her advice religiously. Then I started to get these crazy thoughts in my head. Gauguin didn’t have an approved SWB son…. Chrysos, Duc’s maternal grandsire didn’t have any approved sons that were breeding. These were valuable bloodlines that my colt was carrying. I pushed those thoughts away.

When Duc was just 5 weeks old, Willy Arts looked at him during a party I hosted. Willy pronounced that he was a very correct colt. To me this was VERY high praise. I was really proud. This came on the same day that Orinda, now being shown in hand by a professional, was Champion DWB at the West Coast Sporthorse Classic and she and I won the Amateur Handler class! Meanwhile, Duc was endearing himself more to me. He passaged on the lead rope. And piaffed. He had an awesome neck – he looked just like Bucephalus. By the time he was 3 months old, I saw him trot across a pasture with his foreleg extended straight out, parallel to the ground from his shoulder. While his face was exactly perpendicular to the ground. And the rear legs matched exactly. And his neck looked like a swan. How could I geld such a thing and deprive the horse world of his genes?

So, his appointment with the vet to be gelded was cancelled. I decided I would keep him a stallion as long as I could stand it. Then I started to look for new accommodations for him. The barn in which he was born couldn’t accommodate a stud colt. After calling ALL the local barns, I only found 1 barn that had some turn out that would take a stud colt. So Duc moved to a H/J barn with two other “mature” stallions in residence and several stud colts. Life was good. He enjoyed his new friends and was growing. I concentrated on keeping him easy to handle with daily grooming and leading around the barn during the winter. At 9 months of age, Duc tried to jump over a double 5+-foot fence, in an attempt to get up close and personal with his best friend, a 4-year-old paint filly, who had come into season. Luckily, he didn’t quite make it, but he did manage to scrape his hind legs on the fence. His wounds were mostly superficial and they healed without too much hassle. He was starting to concern me, as when I would come into his corral, he would rear and paw with his front legs. Horse play certainly, but scary for his owner. I thought, did I really want a stallion?

At age 11 months, Duc went to live with a professional trainer. He was getting just a little too big, and too much of a boy for me to handle. His calling and the way he would “puff up” when he would do his “stallion” thing put me off. He was due to be inspected at the SWANA inspection in September. His fate as a stallion would be decided for the near term at that time by Karl Heimdahl, the head of the ASVH stallion inspection committee.

That summer Duc went to three breed shows and won two Reserve Champion Young Male Horse titles and won 2 yearling colt classes and won some money in a Pot of Gold class. Of course, the professional was handling him. I attempted to show him in an amateur handler class and even as a yearling, I couldn’t keep up with his big trot. We came in a miserable 6th place. Finally, the inspection arrived. I was nervous. The inspectors liked him, but he was 1 point away from a Class One. I asked the loaded question – “should I geld him because you didn’t place him as a Class One?” Karl answered, “No, if you can stand him as a stallion, bring him back as a three year old, we’d like to see him again.” Another reprieve for Duc. His date for gelding with the vet was once again postponed.

Duc looked funny as a two year old. He was shown at breed shows but kept getting beat by larger, more mature German colts. I despaired, my slow growing SWB colt looked like a runt. His gaits were still very good, but he was losing in horse shows because he looked like a colt, not a stallion and the other 2 year olds were flashier, bigger and more muscled. Of course, at least one of the competing colts was under saddle already and was approved by a German registry that fall. He still looked like a runt. He was really slow developing, but he moved great and he had a really cute face and was so sweet, with a great disposition. I despaired that he would not be old enough to present as a stallion as a three year old because he would only be 3 years 2 months in September. Did I want to push him that hard?

In January, I had a long talk with another SWB breeder who stood 2 stallions, one of which she’d bred and gone through the approval process with. She emphasized to me that it was really important to present Duc as a 3 year old as much more would be expected of him as a 4 year old. That made up my mind; I would push to get to the 3 year old inspection. I asked his trainer to start him in February when he was 2 years 7 months. Duc got backed at that time, but no real training. By May, he didn’t know how to turn or stop. He had, however, by this time metamorphosed into a very nice looking colt. Breed show season started and Duc was champion young male horse at his first show judged by Hilda Gurney with an 85%. She said many nice things about him. Maybe there was hope for this stallion thing after all. The next show was a disaster. Not enough work before the show, too much grain and way too much testosterone floating around the show grounds! The next show was better but he was still getting beat by the bigger, more mature German colts that really looked like mature stallions.

Starting on July 1, 2001, he went for training with Miguel Verbera, a licensed racehorse trainer/cowboy who had started several successful warmblood stallions. I told Miguel my time frame – I needed this colt trained by September so that he could be shown at a stallion inspection. Miguel started to ride him 3 times/day, six days/week. Duc started to grow and was interested in having a job. On top of 4 flakes of alfalfa/day, he was consuming 50 lbs. Of Equine Senior/week. I now had a horse that getting trained, but I needed a good rider to ride him in his stallion test and I needed to have him trained to free jumping, as he needed to be able to jump a minimum 3’7” with a 3’ spread. I tried local trainer/riders – no luck. I tried Southern California trainer/riders – again no luck. I wrote letters to notable trainer/riders in Europe. Again no luck. Finally, a friend from Germany put me in touch with a trainer/rider in Germany who specialized in young stallions, Olaf Zinnecker. I arranged for him to come over 11 days before the stallion test to ride Duc and get him ready for the test. In the mean time, on August 2, 2001, I showed him under saddle for the first time in Portland, Oregon. It was rough going, but we stayed in the arena and more importantly, I stayed on. He won his 3 y.o. class and scored well.

Los Angeles was our next stop. Duc showed well, finally beating the more mature German stallions that had been his stiff competition for the past 2 years. I again showed him under saddle in two classes and he handled the Los Angeles Equestrian Center with aplomb. The judges liked him. Olaf arrived and started to ride Duc. It was amazing. He took a young colt and within days he looked like a stallion – showing him in a frame and getting marvelous gaits out of him. We started free jumping and Duc took to it instantly. Things were looking up. In the mean time, we were feeding him copious amounts of grain to make him look like my German team’s idea of a stallion – 20 pounds of oats and equine senior on top of 4 flakes of hay – ˝ oat and ˝ alfalfa. He was getting bigger from all his work. It seemed like he was breathing fire like a dragon; I was glad that he had two German men handling him who were experienced with stallions. I was certainly a little put off by the change in my darling Duc.

Of course, then there was the tragedy on September 11th and the stallion test was moved, postponed, then postponed again. I was a nervous wreck. It seemed like I was commuting back and forth to Santa Cruz, a one and one-half hour drive from home (speeding). Everything was a disaster. My stallion handler was committed to doing an Oldenburg inspection on the same day as the rescheduled SWANA inspection. My German stallion rider was due back in Germany to present three stallions in his own barn for inspection. Luckily for me but bad for Olaf, he couldn’t get a plane flight back to Germany. Jens, my stallion handler was able to help in the morning with the inspection and then he drove (real fast) to the Oldenburg inspection 75 miles away. I don’t remember much of the stallion test. I was that nervous. Duc was nervous. He wouldn’t walk. Olaf had not wanted to longe him first thing in the morning because he wanted him “fresh”. This was a mistake but no one was listening to me. I wanted to keep his normal show routine but I was over-ruled by the “German possee”.

I was relegated to the role of nervous mother and anxious owner. Because he wasn’t longed, Duc wouldn’t walk with any relaxation and he got his LOWEST score on his walk – HIS BEST GAIT!!! He showed beautifully under saddle, however. Olaf did a great job, even showing the beginning of passage upon request. After consultation, the inspectors announced Duc’s scores and that he had passed! We did it. I could relax. Or at least I thought I could relax. I never anticipated that owning an approved stallion was so much work. There were other registries to be inspected and approved by. We had to finish the show season (successfully, with 2 HOY awards from USDF and being named CDS Sporthorse Champion).

A web page had to be constructed, photos needed to be arranged to be published. Ad copy needed to be designed. Arrangements for breeding soundness exams, stallion auctions, AV’s, phantoms, freezing, shipping. The list seems endless. Financially, owning a stallion has been VERY expensive. To make Duc even approach self-sufficiency, he’d have to sell 25 breedings/year. Probably VERY unlikely. Unless, of course, he grows up to be just like his dad…then he has a chance. But he’s a lovely horse. He is a thrill to ride and work around. It is fun talking to people who want information about him and there is a certain amount of “cache” as being known as the dressage rider at the barn with the “approved stallion” (that I bred myself – even better!). An added benefit is that SWANA has a bunch of wonderful, intelligent people as members and it is just small enough to be “personal”.

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