I breed Hanoverian horses, but Delta (Delta Queen WSS) is the first one I've kept for myself!
I own both parents. She was born April 1st 2023, and has been MASSIVE since birth. For a variety of reasons, I had not planned to keep a filly from this cross, but as soon as she was born, I said, "this one's for me, I want to keep her." Mr. Heck, who is both incredibly supportive and frustrating practical, asked, "how does that fit into your 5 year plan?" I said, "it doesn't!" He asked, "who will you breed her to?" I said, "she's not for breeding - she's for me to ride."
Sooooo we made a bet, based on one of her DNA tests - if she was a carrier for the fully recessive disease gene that she had a 50/50 chance of carrying, I would sell her with no further argument, and if she tested clear, I could keep her with no further argument.
Fortunately she is not a carrier, because if she was, there would definitely be further argument
It's funny - as a breeder I am attached to all of my foals, and always fantasize about keeping each of them, but really, since I want to keep breeding and don't want to be a hoarder, I don't struggle with that impulse much - in fact, I started breeding horses 20 years ago and she is the only horse I currently own that I bred (I've hung on to a couple over time, but eventually sold them, including one that I kept til he was 17, but when someone fell in love with him and asked to buy him, I realized that she loved him more than I did and he deserved to be with her). So I don't just keep them. But it was different with Delta - I just knew.
She is MASSIVE for her age. Her mom is 16.2 and built like a brick house; her dad is more finely built but 17.1 (that means that his withers - where the neck meets the back - is 5'9"). Delta looks to be on track to be as tall as her father, and maybe not quite as solid as her mother, but close. It's hard to tell in photos because baby horse fur is weird, but she will be jet black as an adult, not a spot of white on her (technically she has a white spot at the heel of one of her feet, but it isn't noticeable). She is too big for me - at 5'8" I have trouble reaching my legs to touch the right parts when riding a huge horse, and do better on a horse her mom's size, but we'll make do.
She has an incredibly quiet and easy disposition - she takes everything in stride. I won't be able to ride her til she's 3, but we hang out and do a lot together. Recently she learned to be led off a golf cart, which is a handy skill. A couple months ago I took her to some competitions where the goal was, while leading a horse, to tackle obstacles that mimicked things one might encounter on a trail ride, and judged the horse's ability to stay calm and approach the obstacles willingly. We got 3rd place in one, and 8th at the other - but that was out of a large group of horses, and at the one where she got 8th, she was the youngest horse by several years (it was also her first time leaving the property; I hosted the other at my place - so unlike the other horses, she had to deal with a whole new set of challenges *while processing the idea that there is a whole world out there.*
Anyway, just wanted to share my gigantic toddler horse. She is perfect and I am VERY proud of her.
I own both parents. She was born April 1st 2023, and has been MASSIVE since birth. For a variety of reasons, I had not planned to keep a filly from this cross, but as soon as she was born, I said, "this one's for me, I want to keep her." Mr. Heck, who is both incredibly supportive and frustrating practical, asked, "how does that fit into your 5 year plan?" I said, "it doesn't!" He asked, "who will you breed her to?" I said, "she's not for breeding - she's for me to ride."
Sooooo we made a bet, based on one of her DNA tests - if she was a carrier for the fully recessive disease gene that she had a 50/50 chance of carrying, I would sell her with no further argument, and if she tested clear, I could keep her with no further argument.
Fortunately she is not a carrier, because if she was, there would definitely be further argument
It's funny - as a breeder I am attached to all of my foals, and always fantasize about keeping each of them, but really, since I want to keep breeding and don't want to be a hoarder, I don't struggle with that impulse much - in fact, I started breeding horses 20 years ago and she is the only horse I currently own that I bred (I've hung on to a couple over time, but eventually sold them, including one that I kept til he was 17, but when someone fell in love with him and asked to buy him, I realized that she loved him more than I did and he deserved to be with her). So I don't just keep them. But it was different with Delta - I just knew.
She is MASSIVE for her age. Her mom is 16.2 and built like a brick house; her dad is more finely built but 17.1 (that means that his withers - where the neck meets the back - is 5'9"). Delta looks to be on track to be as tall as her father, and maybe not quite as solid as her mother, but close. It's hard to tell in photos because baby horse fur is weird, but she will be jet black as an adult, not a spot of white on her (technically she has a white spot at the heel of one of her feet, but it isn't noticeable). She is too big for me - at 5'8" I have trouble reaching my legs to touch the right parts when riding a huge horse, and do better on a horse her mom's size, but we'll make do.
She has an incredibly quiet and easy disposition - she takes everything in stride. I won't be able to ride her til she's 3, but we hang out and do a lot together. Recently she learned to be led off a golf cart, which is a handy skill. A couple months ago I took her to some competitions where the goal was, while leading a horse, to tackle obstacles that mimicked things one might encounter on a trail ride, and judged the horse's ability to stay calm and approach the obstacles willingly. We got 3rd place in one, and 8th at the other - but that was out of a large group of horses, and at the one where she got 8th, she was the youngest horse by several years (it was also her first time leaving the property; I hosted the other at my place - so unlike the other horses, she had to deal with a whole new set of challenges *while processing the idea that there is a whole world out there.*
Anyway, just wanted to share my gigantic toddler horse. She is perfect and I am VERY proud of her.
