Robin Boies

Greetings from the absent blogger. My last entry announced the arrival of Roller Derby. At that time we were awaiting the second foal out of Nate’s other mare Chocolate Overdose. I went out early this morning to check Coco, she had foaled and much to my distress the colt was dead. He was a great big beautiful colt who was a great-grandson of Seattle Slew on his sire’s side and Secretariat on his dam’s side. We were devastated by the loss.

Mares exhibit great distress at the loss of a colt, much like what you see and hear about elephants upon the death of a family member in the herd. That is what came to mind as I observed the hoof churned soil around the silent prone body. Coco perplexed and distraught started her nervous head swaying from side to side, once in awhile making a full arching circle as we loaded the corpse into the back of a truck.

Each wished we had checked her just one more time during the night.

Posted by Robin Boies at 6:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Most of our days here seem pretty mundane, but then there comes an event like a special mare foaling...

Scootin N Bootin and her new foal. We might call him Roller Derby if we can get the name. He had a stomach ache and rolled like a big horse on his back side to side, trying to relieve the discomfort. That is what told us he needed some help.

This little guy had a tough time his first twenty-four hours, we were up late into the night helping him as his mother Scootin' patiently watched.

There is a story behind this mare. While living at Fort Campbell, Kentucky our son Nathan made friends with the matriarch of an old established family in the Nashville area. They met at the dog pound; it was a common bond in dogs, horses and Confederate geneology that led to Nathan spending weekends at their home riding horses for the family.

To make a long story short, Nathan came home with two pound puppies, and two Thoroughbred mares rescued off the race track. So, we are in the race horse business. We have one fancy colt that we named Contact Sport that is a year old. His daddy was second in the Preakness, his mother is probably the fanciest mare that has ever set a hoof on this place. Scootin lost her colt last year, so we are excited that she has a live and healthy foal on the ground. There is nothing like a bred-up Thoroughbred, they are a thing of beauty.

Posted by Robin Boies at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)