Doin' Research

Our Creator amazes me every day!


I know it sounds cliche, but I truly enjoy observing and admiring God's creativity and intentionality in nature. ...Presently, I'm watching Isaac...his day to day growth, his insatiable curiosity, his mastery of new skills...his play.  And, how Sassy Anna "parents" him...how far she allows him to explore, when she needs to corral him, how she corrects him so that he learns proper "herd etiquette".





She is an amazing horse mama and we are following her lead!  Improving our own ability to "speak horse" clearly.

Thus far, we've kept Sassy and Isaac in a separate pasture from Lexie. This weekend, Sassy chose to introduce "Auntie Lexie" and Isaac through the fence, so we'll allow them to be together again very soon.


Now, about 10 years ago, we raised two quarterhorse foals, and, more recently, I watched my friend, Pam's, warmblood colt grow up, caring for him whenever she was traveling.  I have to say, in comparison, Issac is exceptionally precocious, inquisitive and bold. He's also a thinker! Sassy has her work cut out for her...and so do we!  This weekend we fortified the fencing of one pasture, and added an extra chain to each gate.  We'll be doing the same to the other pasture shortly.

meeting Tig at 8 days old

12 days old, in the newly-fenced pasture

We've also been doing a ton of research!  You see, while we've owned and cared for numerous horses in the last 15 years, we've never owned a potential racehorse.  Don is calling on his dad to recall as much as he can from the family's time in harness-racing, but things have changed in the last 30 years! And, thanks to the internet, much more information is available at our fingertips.  So, Don has been doing a ton of reading and watching videos to learn more about raising Issac to reach his potential.








Another part of our research....the most fun part....is going to the track.  We went to the races at Tioga Downs this weekend.  What a great evening!

Our equine dentist and friend, Brianne, is, among many things, an outrider at the track.  So, when a racehorse is hot or nervous, or a driver experiences a tack or equipment malfunction, she's the one that rides out on her quarterhorse to catch the wayward athletes and calm the situation.





Thanks to her, we got to check out the stables, meet some gorgeous racehorses, talk with a trainer, and ride in the pace truck for races 12 and 13.  It was so cool to see the horses and drivers "get their mean on", as the race began!




We also met this really sweet couple from Canada who owns several racehorses, two of whom reside with a trainer in New York and frequently race at Tioga Downs.  They were a wealth of information and experience to us, as they've been into it for many years.  And, as it turns outs, Jim's father bought a filly out of the "Dillon" bloodline back in the late 60's, directly related to Don's grandfather's stallion!  It is quite possible that his father knew Don's grandfather!

I'm sure we'll be making more contacts, visiting more breeders, owners and trainers in the next year or so.  Staying in close contact with our awesome veterinarian, who also dabbles in harness-racing.

I, generally-speaking, like to see or know what steps 1 through 4 of the journey look like before I'm willing to even take the first step!  But, often times God says, "Just trust Me with this and take the first step.  Then, I'll show you the next step."  Now at 40+, though sometimes reluctantly still, I can do that.

This is one of those times.  

Today

Raising this colt is a huge responsibility...and a significant added expense.  But, also a pretty cool blessing! We will do our research, be intentional about the choices and investments we make, and see where it all goes.  I have no idea where this new adventure will lead us or with whom our lives may be intertwined, but I'm just gonna have to trust God.



I believe my Heavenly Father is very intentional with His children.  We, the Westbrook Family...are supposed to walk this path for now....to learn and grow in new ways...to be moved out of my comfort zone....

We are going to be learning a lot this summer...we thrive on these new experiences!
We...I...really do, although I am often uncomfortable during the process, unlike my very confident husband.

Not sure where all of this will lead, but...here...we...go...

Details in the "Tapestry"

I believe God is in the details of the lives of His children. That said, now that I have had a few days to digest the events of this week, I have to share some of the unique details revolving around our newest addition...






From the time Sassy Anna went into active labor to the time her colt stood up for the first time, this beautiful butterfly flitted and floated about the scene, landing on nearby rocks, and finally resting on the placenta.

In many cultures, butterflies are a symbol of new life, hope and joy.  In my faith, they symbolize resurrection.


In Japanese and Greek culture, a butterfly represents the soul of a loved one.  That butterfly's presence reminded us of new life and hope, but it also made us think of Mommom Westbrook, Don's grandmother.  She loved butterflies, but she also adored Pop's racehorses.


And, it reminded me of Leslie, the late wife of Sassy Anna's previous owner, John, who was always so kind to me.  Each summer, when we tarried by the farm, hoping for a glimpse of the mares with their new foals, she would invite us to come and meet the new babies or watch the silly yearlings cavort in the field behind her house.

We contacted John, and his daughter, Diana.  We learned that Sassy Anna is, in fact, 23 years old this month!  And, High Tech, our little guy's sire, recently turned 20 years old himself - both rather late in life to produce a foal.  Sounds an awful lot like Abraham and Sarah of the Bible, who laughed when God told them they would have a child, despite being well past their child-bearing years!  With that story in mind, we've been calling our colt, "Isaac" for his everyday barn name, after Abraham and Sarah's son.

We also learned that out of the six broodmares with whom High Tech was pastured last summer, Sassy Anna is the only one that conceived!  What are the odds!  And, High Tech hasn't produced any offspring during the previous two summers... John and Diana figured if any of those mares conceived, it would not be Sassy since she was the oldest in that group.  They were truly just as surprised as we were.  In fact, John couldn't stop laughing, he was so tickled by the news!  "Isaac" truly is High Tech's last heir, then.

His first steps:


DSCN7750 from Jennifer Westbrook on Vimeo.

I'm definitely not the superstitious type, however, there is an old saying about a horse with one white sock being good luck...Guess what our little Isaac has?  Yup...one..white..sock.

We're calling him Isaac here at home, but we haven't chosen an official name, yet...the name that will go on the Standardbred Registry...the name under which he will eventually race, assuming he makes it that far!  We have a couple months before we have to pick one, though.  A few ideas from our dinner table conversations:
     Helaughs
     GoodbyeMonet
     Livingonaprayer
     CrazyTrain
     Ineedadoctor

Our first order of business, besides getting weight back on Sassy Anna (she got rather thin because we didn't realize she was pregnant) and keeping both horses healthy, is to improve our fences one paddock at a time...colts will get into trouble if they can!  We took Isaac into the big pasture for about twenty minutes this evening to see him stretch his legs...

DSCN7804 from Jennifer Westbrook on Vimeo.

For now, we enjoy seeing him discover his world and figure out how those long legs of his work!  It's amazing to watch him move with more and more confidence each day.  It's both exciting and a bit daunting witnessing this story, in which we have been chosen to play a key role, unfold before our eyes!

I'm totally smitten with this little guy, but at the same time I am asking myself "Is it wise for us to keep him once he's weaned?"  I mean, he is the offspring of a harness-racer who earn over $350k in just two racing seasons and sired several other winners during his time standing at stud!

"Do we have... or can we acquire... the resources and connections needed for all this?"

The old saying goes, "How do you make a small fortune with horses?  Start with a large fortune!" While Don and I consider ourselves to be very fortunate people, we definitely do not have a fortune sitting in the bank!  Raising a colt, especially the first two years, is not easy or cheap.  There are many details that have yet to be worked out.

But, there's another old saying: "Where there's a will, there's a way!"

I do hope we get to be part of this story for a long time, but I will leave that in God's faithful and trustworthy hands.  He's already worked out the details!

Craziness!

I haven't composed a blog post in a couple of months because things have been pretty quiet around here for the most part.  Don and Will go to work each day, I teach the girls in the morning and go to school in the afternoon (which I am really enjoying, by the way!), and Don, Will and I take turns driving Rosie and Grace to their part-time jobs.  We're finally going to church regularly, again.











We've had some lovely weekend visits from special friends and family.

 














We planted our garden, expanding it as well.

Overall, life at Westbrook Farm seemed to have taken on a steady, comfortable rhythm after the "busy-ness" of maple season dissipated...

That is until yesterday...

For those of you that follow my blog fairly regularly, you may recall one from the fall, specifically October 23rd, when I shared how we became the "retirement home" for an older standardbred broodmare simply because Lexie needed a companion.  I mentioned that my thought, as I hauled this mare home from PA, was, "I must be crazy!"

One of our former neighbors from Pennsylvania was beginning to retire his mares because, at 86 years of age, he is finally ready to get out of harness racing.

Sassy Anna was one of his and his late wife's favorites, so we felt kind of honored that he and his daughter offered her to us.  You see, 50 years ago, Don's late grandfather owned and raced several standardbred horses, and Sassy's owner actually knew him!


So, the day we loaded Sassy onto our trailer, Diana mentioned in the course of conversation that their older stud had been out with the broodmares all summer, but he hadn't produced a foal "in a couple of years".  However, on the "off chance" that he bred Sassy, they didn't want the foal back.  Since we knew Sassy was around 20 years old, I had my doubts that she would be bred, so I chuckled and promptly dismissed the comment....until about 24 hours ago!

Now, it's not like Don and I have never done this before.  We've cared for pregnant mares, been there for the birth of a couple foals about 10 years ago.  Cognitively, we know all the signs of a pregnant mare.  In hindsight, all the signs were there...I saw Sassy's topline and shape changing...but I kept dismissing them due to Sassy's age....


Much to our surprise, Sassy gave birth to a colt just before 10am on June 1st.  And, the girls and I were present for the whole experience!

I'm so glad Grace decided to take her daily walk a few hours earlier than usual because she discovered Sassy was in labor.  Breathlessly, she burst into the kitchen and yelled, "Sassy's having a foal!  Get out here!"  Sassy was so calm and collected about the whole thing...probably because this is her 7th or 8th foal (John, Sassy's former owner, couldn't recall exactly when Don asked him during their phone conversation)!

Thankfully, Don was working only twenty minutes away when we called him, So he was able to join us to see the little guy's first steps! (I will try to upload a video or two in my next blog post!)




Ironically, Don, the kids and I have talked about how cool it would be to get the Westbrook family back into harness racing.  We'd dream up unique, creative "racehorse" names and imagine what our jockey's silks would look like.

We've even gotten Don's dad in on these conversations a few times!  It's pretty neat to hear my father-in-law reminisce about the time he spent around the track with his father and the horses they owned.  We've seen the old pictures, and heard about how much Don's grandmother adored the horses.

We've been to the races a few times, and every time we have a blast trying to pick the winners, placing a few small bets, and cheering for our favorites
......hanging on the edge of our seats when an outrider makes a daring rescue on that rare occasion that something goes awry.




So maybe its time....time to act on that dream?  Apparently, this little guy's sire, named High Tech, was a pretty big deal in harness-racing, both as a competitor and a sire to some very good racehorses. Well, only time will tell...maybe we have the makings of another Breeder's Crown winner! High Tech's last hoorah! Or, maybe just a pleasure-driving horse (Doubt that!  Look at those amazing legs and naturally balanced conformation!)

For now, we'll just enjoy this sweet little blessing and do our very best to keep him and his mama healthy, safe and sound.  That's challenge enough with a curious, inquisitive colt!

This summer just got REALLY interesting here at Westbrook Farm.

Watch for my next blog post - I PROMISE it will be full of foal pictures.  And, maybe even a name for him, although that's still in the "dinner table discussion" stage, until we get to know him better...

Sleepy colt this morning...entering the world yesterday was quite exhausting!

CRAZINESS!