It is official, soon we will have a key lime!

Ultrasound 1, a photo by BrianaHassibi on Flickr.

So – we are officially expecting. Charm is “in foal”, although just barely. Superstition precludes me from celebrating just yet, but it’s hard not to be excited. The vet will check her again in two weeks, and then again two weeks after that. In the meantime, Charm is supposed to carry on with her usual routine. At 4 weeks (it’s 2 now), it will be the size of a key lime.

Here’s something crazy: someone (Judy) told me about something called Foal Alert that gets sewn into the mare’s vagina and sends an alarm when she goes into labor. Who knew there were such things?!! See, I’m already enriched from this experience with knowledge I didn’t have before.

And by the way, as was proven to me for the millionth time this weekend, karma is unrelenting – so make sure yours is all good. Or at least mostly good. Karma … now there’s a name for a foal.

ABB

Bo's 3rd 2013 Foal

Bo's second foal of 2013!

Here is a photo we just received of Bo's 2nd foal (a colt!!- a boy!) of 2013!

Charm's IVF Photos

Charm's IVF Photos from April 27, 2013

Murphy’s law, of course, applies to mare’s menstrual cycles. I knew it would. When I was “strongly encouraged” to go on a “mission” to Israel from April 20-28, I suspected that Charm would be Ready for Freddy at just that same time. So, before I left, I made sure that Denise (Barn Manager) had phone numbers for the sire’s owner and the vet. Sure enough, Charm came into season while I was in Jerusalem. I received an email from Denise, and later some great pictures (thanks to Briana), of the procedure that took place on April 27. While I was sorry to miss it, I was excited to share the news with the others on my trip, and I spent some significant time on the 13 hour plane ride back to the U.S. thinking about what might be. (By the way – Israel is an interesting place. So much going in in such a small space. The archeological sites were amazing, and the briefings we had on the current situation were fascinating. But I think I overdid it on the hummus.) I understand that Charm was very well behaved for her procedure, and according to the pictures there was something of an audience around watching. Good thing she didn’t get embarrassed.

When I got home, I spoke with Dr. Smith to make sure he would send the specimen container back to the breeder (for my $250 deposit), and I sent pictures of the procedure to Karie (the breeder). Karie wrote via email,“Sweet! This was a first! In all of my breeding years, I had never shipped semen to any client, that had someone on the other end taking photos of the breeding process! That is just neat. It took our collection 'full circle" to see what is happening on the other end!”. Karie then reported that she had new pictures up of Bo’s first 2013 foal – check them out at www.meadowstarr-ranch.com/2013-Foals.html.

Karie explained to me that the new colt has ink spots, which indicates he is homozygous tobiano – so interesting, I never realized you could tell without a genetic test. Anyway, the new colt is adorable (see him below!)– and what legs he has!

So, according to Dr. Smith, we should know on or around May 11 whether Charm is “with foal.” Check back for a possible announcement on this blog. Fingers crossed.