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!