HCTF LOST IN A STORM
(Stormwashed x Tiger's Silent Saint)
2003 bay dun mare, 14.3


In the spring of 2016 we tried to breed Charli, our smoky black silver mare, to a dun stallion. After months of monitoring her for a heat cycle- which included repeated ultrasounds by my vet, as with no stallion on the premises, determining heat is nothing but guesswork at best- she never seemed to be in heat. We finally ended up using drugs to bring her in heat and bred her (AI).... only to check the semen afterwards and discover it was less than 10% motility. Charli did not conceive, and got an infection to boot. I could not afford to try again and did not have much confidence that the situation would improve even if I did. I chalked it up to another story in my long saga of breeding fails over the past 8 years.

In November, local friend Sue Martin listed a pretty dun mare for sale, HCTF Lost in a Storm, a Stormwashed daughter, due to the hay shortage here in Georgia. I have always loved this mare and thought if we could get her bred, maybe I could get my potentially stripey foal. I asked Sue to go ahead and turn her out with Adiel's Snicker Zip, her bay splash stallion (Sweet's breeding). "Lacey" got in foal on the very first cycle- and in November! On October 17, 2017 she foaled a beautiful bay splash filly, "Sweetie".

Lacey had basically been lounging in the pasture her whole life. She had no idea about stalls, hoof trimming, deworming, baths, treats or grooming. Despite being apprehensive of some of the unfamiliar new things presented to her, she was always been willing to try. In fact, she is probably one of the most willing horses I've ever known. She was worked with every day- brought into the barn for a bit of grain, her daily dewormer and supplements, fly spray, hosing off, grooming and monthly hoof trims. She made remarkable progress in the short time she was here. The more I worked with her, the more we bonded. She seemed to enjoy attention, especially when I scratched her favorite spots! In fact, she would present her shoulder, "asking" to be scratched, to any visitor we had to the farm, including my vet (who really likes her!).

I believe Lacey is one of the nicest dun mares in the breed. She is typy and well put together with a higher neck set, more laidback shoulder, stronger loin coupling and better hip than most dun Morgans. Her sire is the well known grulla stallion Stormwashed. Her dam, Tiger's Silent Saint, comes from an interestingly marked 100% Foundation line of horses from the late Carol Copeland's breeding program - strong old Devan, Easter Twilight (thought to be the probable source of white in this family) and Flyhawk breeding. Lacey is a very high percentage Foundation mare, with only one outcross through the stallion Springdale King.

After foaling Sweetie, Lacey found an excellent home in Indiana with Julia Lord. I miss her personality, pretty face and super cool color.

Stormwashed

Robbi-Sue's Sweet Success Equinox Beaubrook
Robbi Sue Misalert
DBF Black Nightcloud B-L Independence
Declaration's Image

Tiger's Silent Saint

Lippatink's Sealect Midland Lipp-A-Tink
Sleepy's Fuzzy Fanny
Hawk's Countess Hawk-Prince
Devan Tess
Lacey's extended pedigree can be seen here.
There are pictures of many of her ancestors there as well.

Lacey and her 2010 filly, Stonelake Ballerina, who is a full sibling to Sweetie. (Video by Sue Martin, taken at her farm in Lexington GA)


Lacey in May 2018, two days before leaving for her new home in Indiana.

More photos of Lacey
(click on a thumbnail to enlarge)


Lacey as a foal (this photo is full size). Photo courtesy Barb Laudenslayer.


November 25, 2016- Lacey about ten minutes after being introduced to Adiel's Snicker Zip. He was reportedly happy for the company! Photo courtesy of Sue Martin.


Lacey, newly arrived at Brookridge, January 28, 2017.


Getting acquainted with the locals! That's WAR Adikyrie, my Forever Morgans rescue mare, who seemed hopeful that Lacey was a stallion ;-)



February 14, 2017- Lacey has been here a little over 2 weeks now. She has made big strides towards becoming a "civilized" horse. I got her front feet trimmed with very little effort, just patience and doing a little each day, and am working on handling her hinds; she has a bit of trouble holding up the left hind but today I was able to hold both hinds long enough to get them thoroughly picked out. They are very overgrown but we will get to that in time. She is getting groomed every day and seems to enjoy the attention. I'm thrilled with her progress. I started her on aloe vera juice in case she had ulcers and also Remission for magnesium supplementation and its calming effects. She does seem much more relaxed. I noticed that unlike a lot of duns, she is minus the mane frosting, which I found interesting. It really wasn't anything I had thought about as both of my previous dun mares had a lot of it.


May 2017- shed out and feeling good! Lacey has had several hoof trims now, and is very good about it. Since I am the farrier around here, all my horses have to be "old lady proof"!


My model horse friends- does this pose remind you of anything? The Hagen Renaker "Forever Amber", maybe? Right down to the broody belly :-)


Bronco imitation.

 
I still haven't gotten the picture that I feel shows her head off best, but these are not bad.


August 13, 2017- I'd been checking Lacey's udder regularly and when I noticed it getting a bit too big, too soon, it was time for a call to the vet. Her half sister Lovey had pulled this same stunt and whether it was normal and a familial thing or not we knew we were going to put her on Regu-Mate (progesterone) and antibiotics, in case she had a placental infection and was trying to miscarry. It's been a summer full of vet visits, for sure! The poor mare is absolutely HUGE and, I'm sure, ready to unload all that weight- can't say as I blame her.


September 3, 2017- Lacey gets a visit from Rhonda Evans, an old friend from our days at Shadowrock Farm. Rhonda's daughter Cassidy (who can be seen in many places elsewhere on this site) was a riding student of mine and our favorite barn sitter until she moved to TN a few years ago.


October 6, 2017- Kate Cabot from Massachusetts was here for the 30th Annual Southern Model Horse Convention, the model horse show we host here each fall. She formed an instant bond with Lacey, who insisted that Kate rub her itchy spots, and kept moving her shoulder (which is her favorite spot to be scratched) into Kate if she tried to leave. She does the same thing with anyone who scritches her- and wouldn't let my vet leave the stall after he gave her her 30 day prior to foaling shots! He kept scratching her, so she got her wish :-) It's comical, but also gratifying, that a horse who came here so fearful and uninterested in people has decided we are actually just THE BEST- in typical Morgan fashion!


October 15, 2017- Lacey is on MareStare! She will be in the stall every night now. Her due date is the 24th, but her udder is ready (though her milk has not come in yet) and her croup muscles are beginning to relax. So, it won't be too much longer! I took these pictures of her today- it appears to me the foal is shifting position- she doesn't look as wide when looking at her head on as she did yesterday. The cam link is http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=brookridgemorgans (if it doesn't load, the cam is off).



October 17, 2017- I had told Lacey a few days ago that it would be perfect if she foaled at 4 in the afternoon. After a restless night, at just after 3:30 PM on Tuesday October 17, she foaled a pretty bay filly with four white socks and a blaze, who we are calling "Sweetie" (registered name Sugar Rush). The story continues on Sweetie's page.


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Learn more about the very rare silver dapple gene at the Silver Dapple Morgans Project.

 
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Jim and Laura Behning
75 Glass Spring Rd.
Covington, GA 30014
(770) 385-1240
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