Miss Victoria has rapidly and completely taken to life on the ranch. Tom is now convinced Cleveland Bays have a natural instinct for cattle work. At 11 years old, Victoria was pretty "green" about being ridden outside the corral. The first few trips out, she would spook and grab over odd shadows on the ground, crossing creeks- the usual "silliness" many green horses display. At about trip three, Tom presented Victoria with cattle. She immediately forgot about watching out for Cleveland Bay eating shadows on the ground and started watching cows. From that first introduction to cows, there has been no looking back. If you give Tom half a minute to get started, he will light up when he tells you about how this big mare will sit and turn with a cow. If you have not had the opportunity to meet a Cleveland Bay, you may think a horse with their size and bone might be a little "clunky". A few minutes watching this duo work will convince you otherwise.
Tom and his Victoria have made a fantastic team this spring, going about the business of calving, branding, and moving pairs out to pasture. She has very quickly become his favored mount, which left me with quite a challenge when I began the "Find a suitable pure stallion to breed Victoria" campaign. Spending hours researching pedigrees, talking to stallion owners, and looking at stallion offspring was the easy part. Convincing Tom to turn loose of the bridle reins long enough breed, gestate, and raise a pure foal was a marathon of carefully constructed arguments to which Tom's reply most often was "but what will I ride?".
A few weeks of discussion later, and a compromise in which Tom got the final say in stallion selection, I am please to report Miss Victoria is temporarily being housed with Dr. Hilt. Dr. Hilt has been tracking Victoria's ovulation and when the timing is appropriate, will be ordering semen from Idlehour Lions Share who stands at Bay Hill Farm. If all goes well, we'll be adding to the world's pure herd in
Tom and his Victoria have made a fantastic team this spring, going about the business of calving, branding, and moving pairs out to pasture. She has very quickly become his favored mount, which left me with quite a challenge when I began the "Find a suitable pure stallion to breed Victoria" campaign. Spending hours researching pedigrees, talking to stallion owners, and looking at stallion offspring was the easy part. Convincing Tom to turn loose of the bridle reins long enough breed, gestate, and raise a pure foal was a marathon of carefully constructed arguments to which Tom's reply most often was "but what will I ride?".
A few weeks of discussion later, and a compromise in which Tom got the final say in stallion selection, I am please to report Miss Victoria is temporarily being housed with Dr. Hilt. Dr. Hilt has been tracking Victoria's ovulation and when the timing is appropriate, will be ordering semen from Idlehour Lions Share who stands at Bay Hill Farm. If all goes well, we'll be adding to the world's pure herd in
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