Tired of Waiting For Your Foal?

By: Brittany Bevis

Playing the waiting game is part and parcel of the breeding process. After months of researching the perfect cross, planning the ideal breeding time, and preparing for the little one’s arrival, it can seem like 11 months takes 11 years.

While anxiously waiting for This Girls Hot, a 2010 sorrel mare by Blazing Hot, to foal, Suzanne Pickard of JS Quarter Horses in Ontario, Canada, decided to have a bit of fun with a clever photo shoot for the mare’s owner. Suzanne explains that Miley’s owner, Annika, doesn’t have any human children of her own and refers to her horses as her “kids,” so she thought it would be fun to give Miley a “mare-ternity” photo shoot! “There is so much work and money that goes into getting a foal on the ground. It’s nice to have a little fun in the process!”

“Miley is by Blazing Hot and out of a daughter of Promote This Tip (Chips Mariah). She was bred and raised by myself and my husband, Jason Duquette. We sold her to our client, Annika Rear, as a yearling, and she has kept her with us the entire time.”

Miley is a maiden mare, and, for her first foal, they selected AQHA stallion, Lazy Loper. “We have trained several Lazy Lopers over the years and always loved them. Miley went down to Leemans Farm to be bred to Lazy Loper. It was the first time she ever left our farm. It was really weird not having her here! We were really happy when she returned after being bred!”

When Suzanne first came up with the idea for a mare-ternity shoot, she had to enlist a few friends to help out. “I contacted a few girls from our barn who I was pretty sure would go along with my crazy idea! We watched the weather and picked a day that had a beautiful snowfall. Two of our clients, Kristy Beck and Linda Hardy, have nice cameras, so they brought them and helped captured the awesome photos. Thanks to Kristy Beck, Jolene Beck, Linda Hardy, and Teygin Quinn for helping me!”

“We took the photos one morning before Annika came to the barn. After the shoot, we had to do a lot of covering up as we wanted to keep it a surprise for her. The ribbon we used had covered the barn floor in glitter, so we had my daughter, Erin, put the ribbon on her pony so there wouldn’t be any suspicion, and we had to try and get the sparkles off Miley!”

After a few weeks of photo editing and framing their favorite images, the portraits were presented to Annika has a gift. “Annika was surprised and very touched. Also, Miley loves attention, and she has a lot of personality. I think she enjoyed the shoot. We used her favorite treat, peppermints, and some grain to keep her attention. She’s been a dream come true. To breed, raise, and train one like her is a privilege.”

Now, all that’s left is counting the seconds until Miley’s first foal arrives… “The baby could be born any day. Her first possible date to foal was February 20th. When Jason and I bred Miley’s mom to Blazing Hot, I told her almost every day how I was hoping for a bay stud colt. Instead, we got a perfect, sorrel filly with lots of white. Maybe Miley will have the bay stud colt!”

Since the mare-ternity photo shoot was such a big hit, we wondered if they’ve been thinking about a newborn foal photo shoot. “We’ve been chatting about it! We’re thinking maybe a gender reveal photo shoot since they’re so trendy!”