Blood

Horses are in my blood.  I come from a long line of horsemen.  With spring approaching (hopefully), I've been putting a lot of time and energy in finding Whiskey a baby father.  I fret and flip flop between stallions.  This will be Whiskey's first foal and I know its a crap shoot.  You just don't know what you'll get.  However, I keep thinking if I do enough homework I can eliminate some of the potential negative odds.  There are definitely times  I wish I could worry less and go with the flow more.  After all, it really shouldn't be a big deal.  But it is to me.  

When I first bought Whiskey she was my first mare in a very long time, for as long as I could remember I'd had geldings.  As long as I've had horses I've somewhat followed bloodlines.  But with a mare in my herd it became something of an obsession.  I wanted to know how she was bred and what it meant.  What I found out is over 8 generations she has 11 Three Bars, 9 Leo, 5 King, 2 Joe Hancock, 2 Poco Bueno, 1 Peter McCue, 1 Wimpy, 1 Skipper W, and 1 Joe Reed II.  I being a strong believer in breeding distinct bloodlines and avoiding any in (or line) breeding was aghast.  Until an old breeder told me this was normal for this many generations.  

Okay, so what did this mean for a potential mate?  For me it means avoiding any running, thoroughbred and Three Bars breeding.  The other thing I've been curious about is Foundation breeding vs standard AQHA breeding.  Is there a difference?  Does it matter? 

Because curiosity killed the cat, I'm sending Roxy and Whiskey's paperwork to the National Foundation Quarter Horse Association to see what percentage of blood is foundation and if they qualify for foundation status.  Will this impact my feelings about them?  Nope.  Will this make them better horses?  Nope.  But I think it'll be cool to know.  

And now, I'd better get back to my stallion searching.  I've given myself this week (spring break) to find and pick the stallion I'll breed Whiskey to.