Starting this year off with a new face: Allow me to formally introduce- Hermits Snow White!
All the way from Yorkshire, UK, "Snowy" is being imported as I write this (13 Jan) and making her way here to the blistering cold of Chicago, IL, USA. This exceptionally bred, rising 4yo mare, is the daughter of the famous Hermits Indian Brave and granddaughter of the beloved Patch of Hermits. Standing 14.3hh, she's certainly a pony next to her soon-to-be adopted sister, Destiny (16.1h FriesianX). Another surprise? She's being imported IN FOAL to Willowsway Lawbreaker "Bandit". This will be Bandit's first foal on USA soil!
This is a *possible* in-utero foal opportunity to the right home.
But wait! Of course there's more (or I wouldn't be writing a whole blog post about it). Destiny got a well-deserved year off and is coming back in foal this year for a 2025 bundle of spunky joy- or 3.... I have received word from my repro vet that her recipient mare herd is FINALLY READY, meaning I now have the ability to get multiple foals from Destiny! My plan was to put Destiny back in foal to carry another Wylster 463 Sport Elite AAA foal (aka "Nebula") that I can keep this time, but wanted the ability to do embryo transfer to increase my odds of getting another filly. So... if I'm only keeping 1 foal, and she isn't being put in foal until May or June.... what should I do when she goes into heat in March? Glad you asked....
Where Are They Now?
Little (not so little!) Nebula found a forever home with an amazing family in South Carolina! Before she was weaned, she went to the Friesian Sporthorse Association breed inspection in Iowa, where she earned her Bronze Elite medal! This is the highest ranking a foal can receive before it learns to ride/drive. As a result, Destiny earned "FSA Approved Mare" on the same day, and now we are working towards HER Bronze Elite medal (she missed it by 1 point!) and becoming a Preferred Mare (earned when she has 4 foals that earn Bronze Elite- 3 to go!). Before she left for South Carolina, the vet commented on her size saying, "She's bigger than the 8-month-old foals I've seen and she's barely 3 months old.... She's a monster of a foal!". Destiny, once again, outproduced herself.
As for Vision, he found his forever home in warm and sunny California! It's only fitting that the colt who racked up almost 7k followers on TikTok in a month is now living it up in Los Angeles. He truly was born to be a star! Not only that, but he just so happened to find his half-brother (another Julius 486 son!) in the process and the two of them are inseparable. When he left, he was hitting another growth spurt and was already 15.2h at 15 months old. His half-brother is 5 years old and 17hh..... I fully expect Vision to give him a run for his money! Vision will be standing at stud at Sussex Friesians once he's old enough.
As always, if you'd like to stay up to date with my goings on- either with my human & animal healing practice or with the horses, you're welcome to follow me on social media to get the latest news and tons of wholesome horsey pics!
Wishing you and yours a fabulous 2024,
Abby Malvestuto, LMT