For several years, I had been threatening to breed my fabulous competition dressage mare, Jeddien.   And each year, my trainer convinced me to wait another year since we were doing soooo well.

However, last year, when we moved to the USA, and Jeddien had to go through quarantine, we took advantage of the fact that Cornell University (where Jeddien was quarantined) had some good stallions on site.   We bred her to DaVinci, a grey Dutch Warmblood.

The first pregancy did not last more than 2 months.   So we shipped her to a local equine hospital for a short stay where she was rebred to DaVinci... with help from FedEx.   This pregancy took.

Last night, around 12:30 am, Jeddien's foal arrived.   And what a surprise she is!   We were expecting a chestnut, hoping for a grey or a bay, but got a redhead with four white socks!

If this little girl grows up with her mother's high work ethics and talent in the dressage ring, her flashy good looks will make her a real head turner.

But for now, her job is to run circles around her mom, play, eat, sleep, and grow.   And at 12 hours old, she is doing all of this quite well.