Frenchy

I was finally able to make a flying trip back to SD, deliver geldings and pick up my fillies and the new mare.

Frenchy is home...

I promise...She IS more attractive than she looks in this picture. :-). She was rather cranky today...not that I blame her, that is a long trip for any horse. But I got some insight into her personality right off the bat. LOL. Holy Hell...She IS her mother's daughter!! For a second, when I went to catch her and she pinned her ears and gave me a dirty look, I had a flashback to when this mare's mother was a youngster and displayed identical actions. LOL.

I am really excited to receive this mare in such a nice, trim condition. I was expecting a much heavier, older-looking mare. This changes my game plan significantly. Originally, I had thought that I would just let Frenchy set over the winter, foal out next summer and then start her back under saddle after weaning the foal. Since she is already in good shape and not sporting a sagging baby belly, I'm going to go ahead and start working on getting her back under saddle now and ride her through the winter. That will put me a full year ahead of my 'game plan'...which is to see what this mare can do on a barrel pattern. :-). She needs some handling anyway...by all rights, she far exceeds any expectations I usually have about ranch broodmares. As a rule, no one in that area handles their broodmares, usually you're lucky is they are halterbroke, but this mare leads, ties, loaded in the trailer without hesitation and hauled nicely. She does need a refresher course in facing up to be caught and foot handling. It shouldn't take a lot of work to bring her back though, after all, she was rode as a 2-3 year old and Brian said they had just started to rope on her when she dinged her hock and was pulled from the sale that year.

Although her feet are in much better shape than most of the broodmares that come out of that country, she definitely needs them worked on. She's pretty clubby her right front and both hinds. Not so much on her left front. I'm going with it's nothing more than wear pattern and won't be a problem when I can start trimming her regularly and get those heels down.

I got a good, up close look at the stud that Frenchy is bred to and am now, even more excited about the foal than I was before. CS Flashlight is just incredible. I have already received 3 offers to buy this foal from various people...LOL. Not happening!!! But I guess people questioning why I am taking Frenchy out of the broodmare pen and testing her skills as a barrel horse are understandable. If people are offering to buy her unborn foal, she obviously have value as a broodmare...and I do have every intention of raising a few more babies out of her. But I also bought her to ride. I'd like to see what she can do herself. Brian Fulton said this mare's sire (Frenchman's Bullet) was in his opinion, one of the nicest, if not THE nicest stallion Frenchman's Guy has ever sired. That is saying a lot because Brian has been up close and personal with A LOT of the Frenchman's Guy horses and he wouldn't say that idly. *I* don't have any personal experience with the Frenchman's Guy horses, although a fair number of the girls I run against locally have them and love them. So I'd like to get a feel for what that brings to the mix. I already know that the dam's side of Frenchy is and can do. I got the distinct feeling that Brian was really disappointed that his son sold Frenchy. Brian seems to think that this foal, out of Frenchy and by his CS Flashlight stallion is going to be an exceptional mix.

Now that all of the family drama is permanently quelled...It's time to get to work building my own program. :-)