Updated pictures of my yearling smoky black TB filly - Nightlight

They can be seen at:

Guaranteed Gold - Draft Cross Foal Photos

We will also be breeding a Clyde mare this coming Monday/Tuesday so that foal can be seen in 2010 as well once she foals out

your stallion is STUNNING! they are all beautiful.

I am so jealous! She is stunning.
I'm totally in love with her markings, too. If she turns up missing one of these days, I swear it wasn't me. lol

VERY pretty markings! I'd love to paint him if you'd ever want a commission done

Thanks so much again everyone! I am so flattered that its not just me that thinks they are nice horses ...

And I am thrilled beyond words to announce that Nightlight has been sold, to my trainer - Jill Johnson of Hunters Peak Farm in OA (she has also had my Faux Finish mare for the last year and a half) and she will be leaving in a couple of weeks once I get the paperwork done and we both figure out what day works best for us to meet halfway and get her on her way to her new home!

She will be taking her to Upperville if all goes well, Warrenton and Kentucky and the PA Futurity as well and then giving her the winter off, then bringing her back out as a 2 and 3 year old in the Hunter Breeding classes. And then if all goes according to plan, Jill will show her in the Green Conformation division for a couple of years, then perhaps the Open Conformation as well, and will then retire to the broodmare band ...

It is so important when you only produce a few foals each year, that they all find themselves in perfect homes such as this will be for her and added to this, I will also be getting a couple of embryo's as well, so now I get to think about who to breed her to as well down the road!

So - as her very proud breeder and former "Mom" I will be cheering her on from the sidelines and hoping for the very best for her and for Jill

As if my sucky day wasn't bad enough Donna has to go and throw jealousy into the mix once again! hahahaha

I hadn't even seen these pics on here, just some in a different thread. Once again, I love what you are doing and I wish you all the best with them :)
I have NO idea how you can manage to sell them!!! *sigh*

REAL easy when the bills come each day and those darned people actually expect to be paid for the goods and services they provided to us!

And those darned horses actually expect GRAIN and carrots in their buckets twice a day as well!

I look at it all very realistically. I cant afford to keep and show and promote all of them, so if they get placed into perfect homes (as this one is) she will get shown extensively all over the east coast as both a baby and a mature horse, I get the publicity for my stallion and my breeding program and it didnt cost me a dime to get it ...

Plus - with getting a couple of embryo's from her, I also get to capitalize on her from a breeding perspective as well

So - it is truly as win/win as it can possibly be, plus I really like and respect Jill a great deal. She has turned into a friend and "business partner" more than anything else, and as I get older (damn I hate that thought!!! ) I will need someone to continue showing the youngsters that my creaky old knees wont allow me to do any longer. So - its a perfect partnership. I put the babies on the ground and get them to a certain point, and then Jill takes over from there and we both benefit from them

You are such an awesome person - I love your whole outlook on everything and your confidence. You are very right as far as the bills and the promotion goes, but they are simply amazing horses and I would just get so attached.
My husband keeps telling me, "Now you know when you start breeding you CAN'T keep them all..." I have sucker written across my forehead LOL

Funnily enough, this is the HARDEST part to drum home to someone who is looking to produce a few babies each year for the commercial market

You CANNOT keep them all

You dont WANT to keep them all

You WANT to sell them

I dont care how many kisses this one gives you it has a price on its head and in order for your business to open its doors tomorrow, it needs to be sold

I also dont care how sweet and nice the dam is, if she is not producing a baby that someone wants to mortgage their souls and their home to own, you also dont want her in your broodmare band either ... and she may also fit in perfectly with someone else's program, bred to their stallion choice, but in your program, with the stallion you are selecting for her, if she cannot produce a top level foal, she needs to go

Any of the experienced breeders will tell you as soon as that foal comes out, you KNOW if it is special or not and the next few days and weeks merely re-affirms that conviction

There are too many "nice and ordinary" foals being produced and their market is very very limited. I mean VERY limited and many of them end up in sad situations, so today - more than perhaps at any other time in recent memory, you have to go forward with such a strong business plan and produce superior babies a) if you have any hope at all of surviving and b) if you want to ensure those babies are going to find early, perfect homes ...

If you are breeding one or two to keep - whole 'nuther ballgame - but if you are breeding to sell, be prepared with a proper game plan and also be prepared to stick to it - no matter what ...