Love Gold? You want the creme gene!

Ok, so on to one of the most popular and sought after colors in horses in general--GOLD. Whether golden palomino, like the ever-famous Trigger or golden buckskin like Pa's horse on Bonanza, gold shines. In Miniatures, the Gold Melody Boy and Kahoka lines are well known for consistency in producing palomino; the Buckeroo line for creating golden buckskin of top show quality one after another.

So, how does one find gold?

A palomino is actually a chestnut horse, with a single copy of the dilution gene known as creme.
A buckskin is actually a bay horse, with a single copy of the dilution gene known as creme.

Because these colors are the heterozygous version of creme, the horse has a 50/50 chance of passing on it's creme gene when it breeds. This lack of consistency used to cause all horse breeders no end of frustration, yet it was realized the only way to get a palomino or buckskin was through one or more parents being that color.

For a time, it was thought that crossing two palomino's or two buckskins had a chance of producing a foal similar to the lethal white's of frame overos. This is now known to be not true.

What you may produce with crossing them is the homozygous version of either color, in which the resulting foal will always pass on it's creme gene. These colors are known as:

Cremello-two copies of the creme gene on a chestnut
Perlino-two copies of the creme gene on a bay

It follows that if one wants to produce palomino, a cremello bred to a sorrel or chestnut is your best bet. Likewise, a perlino bred to bay is the best chance of producing buckskin.

A cremello is a beautiful ivory color, with blue eyes. ALL homozygous creme horses have blue eyes. A perlino will be that beautiful ivory color also, but with slightly darker points...a smoky ivory shade there.

It is now, with the knowledge and genetic color tests available, much easier to produce gold in Minis. Do not forget though that conformation has to come first over color! A horse should never be bred just for it's color!

Basic Genetic Terms

This will be a short and quick post, but needed for future discussions on genetics. This is a post of the most common genetic terms and their definitions that one runs into when researching Minis.

Genotype-this is the actual complete genetic make up of the horse, including dominant and recessive genes.

Phenotype-this is the physically visible genetic make up of the horse, what actually shows in it's conformation, color, and temperament.

Heterozygous-this is the term for when a horse carries ONE copy of a given gene, and thereby has a 50% chance of passing said gene along.

Homozygous-this is the term for when a horse carries TWO copies of a given gene, and thereby will ALWAYS pass this particular gene along.

Most often one will see these in reference to color, as we have tests for most of the color genes now. I am looking forward to the day when tests exist for conformation genes....

Signs of Foaling

As I said last week, foaling season is upon us. My first mare, my heart Sonata, has begun to bag so I think it is a good time to test my memory *smile* This is an 'off the top of my head what I need to watch for for foaling' post.

The most obvious of course is a milk bag. Mares will begin to "bag up" anywhere from 45 days ahead of time, on. Some mares are 24 hr baggers, as they have not yet read "Blessed are the Broodmares" or any other foaling book and learned they are to give us a few weeks warning by bagging slowly! Once a mare does that, or if she has a mother that does that, I know to be watching for other signs. Mares often pass on their personal foaling traits to their daughters, so those are good things to know, as it gives you a bit of direction at least in what to be aware of.

Miniature mares, unlike their full size counterparts, rarely wax or stream milk. In 18 yrs I have had ONE mare who waxed. From talking to friends with long term Mini experience, I hear they have had pretty much the same. So don't count on waxing in Minis!

Waxing, just in case, is when the tips of a mares teat's get covered with a bit of dried colostrum, and they look
like they have been dipped in candle wax and it was allowed to dry on.

Other signs....
..... when standing behind the mare, her rump will assume a varying degree of an "A" shape, as the muscles loosen up and droop.
......when pressing on the muscles around the tail head, they will have a jello type 'watch it jiggle' looseness, as opposed to their normal tight and firm feel. This jello feeling will trace all the way down the buttocks.
......she no longer has the ability to clamp her tail down when you lift it.
.......my biggie--within 24 hrs of foaling the brain will release Oxytocin, which results in the complete loosening of all muscles in that area. This loosening means the body can no longer form the stools into the common 'apples', and her stool will go to mush. When this occurs, I do not let her out of my sight until she foals! I have *never* had a mare go over 30 hrs (1 that went 30) and the majority don't go 12 hrs without foaling.

Later this week I will look at my vet books and see if I forgot any =)

Basic Information for Mini Horse Owners or Those Wanting To

I thought a post on 'what do you need to take care of a miniature' would be a good thing.

Ok, first off, the annual cost of upkeep of a Miniature is going to vary greatly depending on what part of the country you are in. It is also going to be roughly the same as the cost of keeping a dog. The lifespan of a horse, however ranges from 25-40 years--considerably more than the average dog! So do keep that in mind when you are buying.

The bare bone basics are food, water, and shelter, of course. Miniatures are extremely hardy, due to their Shetland Pony ancestry, and are typically easy keepers. There are, of course, exceptions (looks pointedly at Snippa)....every breed has 'hard keepers'. There are just fewer in Minis. Which is good news, except one has to watch their weight in the other direction-obesity is no better for a horse than it is for a human!

Clean water is of course, a bare necessity. Minis do not drink near what a large horse does, and do be sure they can reach the water-the standard horse trough is going to be too tall for most Minis. Mine will vary from 1-4 gallons of water a day each...the lower end being standard. They of course drink more in the hot TX summer's, and lactating mares are on the high end, esp combining TX summer with lactation.

Food for Minis consists of forage and grain. Forage is the MOST important, and if you have plenty of high quality forage, grain becomes something you give them just a handful of (literally) to keep them going 'oh, the good human is here!' and coming to you eagerly.

A horses' digestive tract is designed for slow, constant grazing on high fiber forage. Out at pasture is therefore, of course the single best option for any horse, Minis included. When pastures are thin, or drought hits and they die, or it is winter and there is not much to eat on, supplement with a quality hay. Orchard grass, coastal, bermuda, alfalfa, timothy, clover(as a mix with one of the aforementioned) are all excellent hays for horses. Fescue grass and hay needs to be avoided if you are breeding-it can cause abortion of the fetus-more on this later. Never feed moldy hay! Hay should be green (brown has been sunbleached, and the majority of the nutrients will have leached out, it is simply fiber at that point), clean, and a good example of it's 'type'....ie, you want leafy alfalfa, not all stems.

Grains are used to supplement forage, and to make sure the horse is getting all of the nutrients it needs. There are many very good pelleted feeds and sweet feeds on the market now, and are often now even marked to help the mini owner determine how much to feed. They will say something like '1/2# per 100#'s of body weight'.

Shelter is needed, of course, for intense sun, rain, wind, and cold. An open, airy run in is often plenty, unless you are breeding. Make sure it is situated so the prevailing storm and cold winds are blocked.

I need to go feed my little ones now, so I will get back to this in more detail soon. Be blessed!

A Relaxing Sunday Evening

Hello Readers! I hope you have had a blessed week, and are looking forward to the one ahead of us. I am still adjusting to the sight of so much green! The first cutting is being worked on by many of the farmers here in central TX and it is so wonderful to see hay laying cut and drying in the fields after last year's no-show crop.

Sunday is my Friday, and after I left work this evening I went to pick up my son at his best friend's house, and had a very pleasant visit with my friend, who is the best friend's mother. She is a 'big horse' person, rides dressage, and has recently bought back a lovely grey Polish Arabian mare she bred a few years ago. We talked Arabs while she bathed and I combed out forelock and mane, then had coffee and cake and talked horses more *smiles* All in all, a very relaxing evening!

I must say it was again gratifying to see that my Jangles sports a *true* Arab head...lovely dish, jibbah, nice small ears, large jowl, sensitive teacup muzzle all set off with those gorgeous Arabian eyes. I value truth-in-advertising, so it's nice to know I am accurate in assessing him, by comparison to another real-life old original bloodlines, Arabian.

My friend also owns Trakehners, gorgeous animals. Over cake and coffee I was educated in the history of the Trakehner breed, as opposed to other Warmblood breeds of German origins, and what is different about the Trakehner registry--ie, their standard of purity and no outcrossing to other Warmbloods. A preservationist myself, I found it very interesting, and also saddening as we discussed the loss of bloodlines that had been in existence in the registry since the early 1700's. Were they inferior lines, it would not be saddening, but the lack of foresight, and long range planning, of many breeds nowadays in pursuit of the 'almighty dollar' (or is it mark or euro, now?) is just flat out disheartening at times. But, then, there are always thank goodness, a few purists in every breed who keep alive what they can. And it gave me reason, again, to continue pursuing my goal, even when it seems like most simply don't care. Rev's blood is worth preserving. So here's to this year's foals, and another generation! 

My Last Filly of '11 that I never posted!

Ok, so today is bragging day =) I need to get updated pictures, as she is what...6 months old now?
Last Nov 1st my Bond Snippet daughter gave birth to one of my most anticipated foals for the year--her 2nd Jangles foal. I was praying for a filly, and oh did I get one! This girl is a keeper, as she is Snippa's first filly, and I am also praying she is now on a filly streak as she's been colts for her whole life....it's about time! So, introducing  Enyalien Delightful Revelation!

She is a loudly marked tovero, and was just a few hours old in these pictures.  Wait til you see her now! This girl is a keeper, as she will be Snippa's replacement when she retires, Snips is 17 this year. Here is a picture of Delight's older full brother, to show the consistency of this cross:

This gorgeous young man went to a 'show' home, and I hope they will show him one day. His name is Enyalien A Snippet of Revelation =)

So, Roys Toy Snippets Delight will be bred back to Jangles this year for a '13 foal. With foals like these, I can't see giving her to anyone else! If you would like to hear when she foals, or put dibs on that foal, just email me. 

Horse Color, Part 2--Agouti

Ok, so way back when I began writing on color. Time to take that up again.

We established last time that there are really only two base coat colors in horses--black and red. Everything else is created by a modifier on one of these two colors, and I will begin with the most basic and common--the agouti gene.

Agouti (pronounced ah-goo-tea) is the modifier that creates a bay horse. It is so common in some breeds, such as Arab, that a pure black is not easily came by and is prized. In other breeds, such as Friesians, it doesn't seem to exist-but then again, neither does red in a Friesian *smiles*

In American Miniatures, it is actually not overly common. There seems to be, at least in my years of observation, as many blacks, if not more, than bays. Why do I keep mentioning black? Believe it or not, a bay horse is really a black base! The reddish coat color can make that seem improbable, but they are. Here is why:

Agouti acts on black, and only on black, and restricts it to the 'points' of a horse. The points of a horse, an old time horse-lingo phrase, refers to a horses lower legs, from the knee/hock joints down, and to the mane, tail, and forelock. In a homozygous bay, you may also see the ears are outlined in black. Agouti pushes the black back into these areas, leaving the torso, neck, and head a variety of brownish/reddish/blackish shades. Bay is therefore a general term, and can be divided into it's own categories.

The common varieties of bay in Miniatures is mahogany bay and black bay.
 Mahogany bay is rather self-explanatory--the horse is the shade of mahogany wood (a very lovely color, I might add!).
Black bay *can* be difficult to distinguish from a black horse, as the horse is such a dark shade, so very nearly black, it appears so. You can tell a black bay though by it's muzzle-the muzzle hairs will be lighter, usually a shade of brown. I am researching now, trying to determine if black bay is a result of a weak agouti, or the sooty gene in combination with agouti. Either seems a likely possibility.
Brown bay is also rather self explanatory, and the body shade of the horse will be a very normal brown color.
Sandy bay is the lightest shade of bay, and could be mistaken for buckskin at times. It is a very light brownish, but should still have the faintest tint of red to it. Also, only a dilute horse can make a dilute horse, so if a horse is advertised as buckskin and does not have a buckskin, palomino, smoky black, cremello, or perlino parent, it is a sandy bay instead, most likely. (Trying to think of other things it could be...and not coming up with any just now.
Red bay is again, self explanatory--the body will be very like a chestnut's shade, only with the black points.

I got rather upset a few months ago, when I was browsing mini sites around the country, as I saw a horse falsely advertised as 'An extremely rare special color--this horse carries all 3 base genes, black, chestnut, and white'....the horse was a bay pinto. There is no such thing as a horse that displays both black and red base genes, and a horse carrying both genes is not at all uncommon! And pinto most certainly is not rare in miniatures....*shakes head* I do not like either option for this person's listing-either they are purposely trying to deceive (there was a $4500 price tag on this rather nondescript pet only quality miniature), or they really don't even know two of the most basic colors in horses-bay and pinto. It is not good representation for our breed, and that sort of thing only serves to drive in more a reputation of mini people are not REALLY horse people. Never good....

Ok, vent over. Thank you readers for reading, and I will be back soon!

Catching Up!

So, it's mid-April, and how in the world did we get here already?! How the time flies! It is actually GREEN here in Texas, and oh what a lovely color that is. I didn't realize just how very dead everything was last year. The farmers are preparing to cut the first baling, according to the ones who come in to my work, and I am still praying for life-giving rain throughout the season.

April also means foaling season is upon many, has been here for some, or is really close for others! I am still adjusting to being able to breed for earlier foals-in IN, you didn't want those babies coming any sooner than May if you could help it, April maybe!

Sonata is bagging, so she is now under 'watch', although I don't expect the foal for another month. This is her first, so I am praying for an easy delivery and for her to adjust well to motherhood. I have to reason to think she won't. Still...yah. Moms!

Fancy is really showing, but has not begun to make milk yet.

Melody is working on a milk bag, but went to her new home this past weekend! She was not an easy one to let go of, but I know Carlos and his little wife love her and will give her a great home, and she is close enough for me to visit often, so I am content. It is always so neat to mentor new mini people and see their enthusiasm!

Lillie I am seriously beginning to think is bred...that girl is getting a track record for breeding without permission! Time will tell....

I need to get new pictures up, and pictures of the girls who don't have any yet, ie, Buttercup and Delight! I will be having a photographer friend out this summer to take professional pics, and am VERY happy about that! Gabriel does such lovely work...

Well, that's where things are at now. See you soon!