Good Morning, Everyone!
The BIG DAY has arrived!
Yesterday, I had my ‘mane pulled’ (groomed and thinned out) and hooves polished so I would look perfect for this ‘moment’! I rather suspected that it was getting close due to all of the attention I was getting. The vets were here during the morning checking me…to be sure my system was ready. Charles, Mike and Matt were at the barn helping me to learn some proper MAIDEN MARE Etiquette…so I would be totally prepared for this experience. MAIDEN MARE is the term used for a MARE who has never been bred before. That’s ME! All day…I had so much ATTENTION!
Then this morning at about 7:30, MY LIMO ARRIVED. A lovely SALLEE VAN was waiting outside the barn ready to take me to Darley. It is approximately a 10 minute ride to that farm from Lane’s End. Matt went with me on the van…and Charles and Michael Cline also went along. I guess it was decided that Bernie and I would be the last couple in the Darley breeding shed for this morning’s session.
Well, WE GOT RAVE REVIEWS! It all went very well. In horse terms, it was ‘one jump…and a very good cover’…meaning that everything went perfectly in our first meeting. Per the guys from my crew…”it was TEXTBOOK. ZENYATTA was unbelievably professional…especially for a maiden mare. It was all nice and easy and went PERFECTLY.” Oh, my guys…Mike, Charles, and Matt are TOO CUTE! They really love me! Blush-Blush!
I must say…Bernie was also extremely professional and very focused on his job! WE MAKE A GREAT COUPLE!
By 8:30…I was back in my LIMO with Matt going home to LANE’S END!
What a morning! Life has so many different kinds of experiences for one to explore and appreciate when the time is right for them to happen! Hooves crossed…..that this day, February 23rd, becomes VERY SPECIAL for me and my new role as a MOM!
I’ll keep you posted as we go along! I am so excited!
With Love,
Hugs to ALL~(including Bernie!)
Z
Gloria K.
One beautiful baby coming up!
LauraJ
@QH Breeder, interesting, although I don’t see Zenyatta being a good match for a quarter horse, assuming you meant for racing. She has no early speed. It takes her almost a mile just to get rolling. I would have loved to see her try a 12- or 14-furlong turf race. Zenyatta could be a great dam of sport horses, though. It might be interesting to see the results of a mating with a first-class warmblood.
@Ensign, do you know what happened with Rags’ Giant’s Causeway filly? I thought I had seen pictures of them together, but my memory may be flawed. She looks so much like her mother. Do you know if they have named her, and if they will keep her or sell her?
TresB
Did we expect anything less than nice, easy and perfect from our Lady Z? What wonderful news! Thank you Dotti for sharing it with us all. I’ll smile for the next 11 months thinking about the wonderful bun in Z’s oven. Congratulations!
Liinda Bain
so, what mare was bred to coincide with Zenyatta’s birth so her filly/foal can be ripped away from her so she can be the wet nurse to the TBs little blessing. Too much TB breeding,your over saturating the horse market.STOP!!!
Zen-Fan
Congrats Zen and Team Z!
I see the YMCA is auctioning off a personal visit with you…I hope that I can talk my husband into the $3,000 minimum bid! Even though you are worth much more. Or at least I hope one of your fans wins the prize!
Best wishes
Cheryl
Congrats! I hope we find out soon if you are going to be a mommy! I hope you have a little dancing girl that looks like you! May God keep you safe!
Cyndi Higgins
Good to hear you are doing well, was worried about this, but you seemed to have pulled thru as the amazing horse that you are. Hope to hear the news soon about being preggers. Good luck to you, make sure the folks at Lanes End are treating you especially nice tonight!
Linda Weiss
Oh Zenny…..You are a class act all the way beautiful girl. And by the sound of things it seems “your guy” Bernie is too. Much luck, love & positive energy I am sending your way as always!
Love you forever….xoxoxo
Delores
Oh my Z, what an experience. I am so proud of you, you did great, just like we all knew you would. You are truly a lady.
I love you and can’t wait to hear the daily news on you. I love you very much and am really proud of you. You know how to get things done right from the start.
XOXOXOXO to you and your baby.
Mary McQuire
OMG! You did it…well, so did Bernie! Hope it was a succesful cover! When will you know?
Mary M. Meek
@ENSIGN — Rags to Riches was indeed had milk and was able to nurse her second foal, a Henrythenavigator colt born last St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland. I think she is still in Ireland and bred to Galileo.
Barb France
I’m so glad we were told AFTER cause lots of us would not have been able to sleep last night!!! Happy news for all…happier news when we hear the little heartbeat!!! Zenny, always a lady…I hope Mikey is OK!
ENSIGN
@ KathyB,
.
Darley requires that all maiden mares must be jumped before arriving to be bred so I’d say that was part of Zenyatta’s lessons yesterday. Not sure if they use Capone for that or just teasing, but it’s basically a dry run (I’m tempted to call it a dry h_ _ p….lol) so she’s aware of what will happen. Can be scary for them the 1st time a stallion jumps up on their hind end.
.
@ LauraJ.
Rags filly hasn’t been officially named yet that I’ve seen. In so far as I know she had some milk production issues (not uncommon with a maiden) so the filly was raised on the nurse mare.
ENSIGN
Thanks Mary! I knew she was in Ireland, just hadn’t heard if she’d raised the 2nd foal or not but atleast there were photos of her with him, unlike the 1st filly.
anita
thanks lauraj. always good to learn something new as i obviously was not familiar with the details of tb breeding! now it makes sense!!
Debi
Oh Sweetheart Zennie! This is your Big Day!! I love how you’re always such a lady-girl!{{xoxo}}Bernie was all business was he? He’s a very handsome boy… All your girlfriends (that would be us) are all tuned in, with smiles and tears, love you!!
Elizabeth Goldstein
Congrats, Zenyatta……what a a couple!
Bobbi
Great job on the storytelling of a delicate situation, Dottie! Hey, does anyone know what Linda Bain is talking about and is she right?
muffin
CONGRATS, Zenny! :D This is such a big step for you! And we’re all here for you, all the way, girl. :) Remember that
Pamela J Hebert
Of course you handled today so well, you handle everything so well. Hope all goes as planned. God bless you Zenny!! Wish you all the best that life has to offer. Hugs n kisses sweet girl.
Kathryn Cogswell
Liinda Bain: More knowledgeable folk may answer you & courteously, too; this is the one mare whose care has been so thoughtfully planned as to enhance Thoroughbred legacies so your concern may be misplaced. There ARE heart-wrenching practices mis-using mare`s milk and post-foaling urine & most are open for research and change. Just on this occasion, though, a number of dedicated persons made every effort to foresee a constructive future for Zenyatta AND other horses by example. I may be wrong — it isn`t unusual — but on the small-scale breeding programs of my past, a nursing mare who lost her foal would supplement another`s when needed. Mare`s milk of kindness is an historic and metaphorical, symbolic gift, especially sweet because it gives life, even to another`s foal.
teresa
Z, That sounds a lot more classy than many humans. :) As always girl, I want you to be healthy and happy. Hope it all goes smooth as silk and you have a “foal onboard”. <3
QH Breeder
To ENSIGN…AH, but what a show horse it might make!
L
@Bobbi,
Linda is talking, rather passionately and harshly about nurse mares. If you read ENSIGN’S comment on here about Rags to Riches first filly and my own about Curlin’s dam, there are times when a Thoroughbred mare is not capable of raising her foal. When this happens rather than bottle feed/hand rear the baby, which can cause quirky behavior with equines, a farm would rather put a valuable TB foal with a ‘nurse mare’.
Nurse mares are mares of any breed (QH, TB, Paint, Gypsy) who are bred and foal around the time of a commercial breeding farm’s foaling schedule. *IF* their services are needed, their foal will be hand reared and the valuable TB foal will be placed with the nurse mare.
It’s not a perfect solution by any stretch and different farms approach the issue of an ‘orphan’ foal in different ways. Nurse Mares are one option.
Nancy L
Don’t know if you can really explain but because we raise horses and breed mares, I really want to know. You wrote “Charles, Mike and Matt were at the barn helping me to learn some proper MAIDEN MARE Etiquette.” Can you tell me what or how they taught you this? It would sure help the mares that we breed on our farm.
L
Here is an article that Blood Horse did on the practice of a Nurse Mare in response to questions about Curlin’s full brother being on one. It’s a good article.
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/market-watch/archive/2009/05/11/curlin-s-full-brother-and-his-nurse-mare-her-name-is-suzie.aspx
Cheryl Heath
Oh, Zenyatta, it sounds just perfect. I am thrilled for you and for all of us…..aunts and uncles…..if you don’t mind. Best of luck.
QH Breeder
To LauraJ…I do realize my proposal is way out there, but the Mosses are not typical race horse owners, they LOVE Zenyatta, and if she was mine, I’d just like to have lots of little Zennies out there to see what she can really do…I’d have a Warmblood cross, an AQHA cross or two…I don’t think they’re in this for the money at all, so wouldn’t it be fun to see her offspring in the dressage ring dancing? Or to find out if they can jump too! With that marvelous hindquarters, I bet they can.
Cheryl
Queen Z has done everything in a highly professional manner so no surprise here. Glad to hear that all went well and will be praying for a happy and healthy pregnancy. You deserve the best! Hugs to you and the writers of your diary who so clearly tell your story. Love it! It is the first thing that I look at when I fire up the computer.Please continue to keep us posted.
L
@Nancy L,
A few comments up ENSIGN gave a good account of what Dottie was diplomatically saying. Due to Darley’s requirements, Zenyatta would have been ‘jumped’ by a tease stallion wearing a protective apron to introduce her to what she could expect from Bernie in the breeding shed.
This way she wasn’t completely startled when the time came for the actual mating.
I imagine this also gave her handlers a good idea of how she would receive a stallion’s advances so any necessary precautions could be taken to ensure it was a professional, low stress encounter for both Zenyatta and Bernardini.