SUGAR RUSH
(Adiel's Snicker Zip x HCTF Lost in a Storm)
2017 bay splash filly (Ee Aa SW1/n W20/n)
click here to see Sweetie's color test results

pictured at 12 months old, October 2018

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 (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 failed breeding attempts over the past 8 years.

That November, local friend Sue Martin listed a pretty dun mare, HCTF Lost in a Storm (a Stormwashed daughter), for sale 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!

Fast forward to mid-October 2017. Lacey was absolutely huge. I mentioned to her that it would be great if she could foal at about 4 in the afternoon (Coral's long foal watch of 2015- when she went nine days past her due date- was still fresh in my mind). Well, I ended up spending just two nights on foal watch; the second night, Lacey was very restless, so I knew we were close. Her milk came in that night as well, but morning came and no foal. I kept an eye on her, and at about 3 in the afternoon I saw her lie down. Some 30 minutes later Sweetie entered the world.

Like her dam, Sweetie is a thinker. She is very willing and easy going. If something worries her- like the first time she encountered a mud puddle at the gate after a rain- simply pausing and giving her time to process the situation (instead of pushing on or forcing her) yields positive results. Even as a young foal, guiding her to and from turnout was easy- she went where I pointed her with no fuss or fight. Sweetie's temperament is very amenable. Leading, grooming, hoof handling, fly spray and showers on hot days were all easy learning experiences for her.

Sweetie's sire, Adiel's Snicker Zip, comes from the Sweet's breeding program of the late Harry and Mabel Sweet, featuring old and comparatively rare midwestern bloodlines. He carries the splash gene, and passed it to Sweetie. Sweetie's dam Lacey is by the well known grulla stallion Stormwashed. Lacey's 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. Sweetie is a very high percentage Foundation filly, with only one outcross through the dam line via the stallion Springdale King (who is behind the well known and prolific sire of dun Morgans, Robbi Sue's Sweet Success).

Sweetie is tested heterozygous splash and heterozygous W20 (the "white booster" gene).

Sweetie's new owner is Briar Cullaton of Shelbyville, TN. Sweetie's wonderful new owner! Briar owned Morgans years ago; in fact, she used to work for Carol Copeland, who bred Sweetie's maternal grand-dam! Sweetie has three new horse friends as well as her new Mom. I will miss her beautiful little face greeting me when I show up to the barn but I'm confident she's in good hands! Congratulations, Briar, and welcome back to Morgans- you've got a great one- not that I'm biased or anything :-)


Adiel's Snicker Zip

Sweet's Classy Zip Sweet's Classy Boy
Sweet's Dixie Donna
Sweet's Brandi T-Bone Bimbo
Sweet's Lady Diamond

HCTF Lost in a Storm

Stormwashed Robbi-Sue's Sweet Success
DBF Black Nightcloud
Tiger's Silent Saint Lippatink's Sealect
Hawk's Countess
Sweetie's extended pedigree can be seen here.
There are pictures of many of her ancestors there as well.

Sweetie at 4 days old.



Sweetie, hoof handling, 8 weeks old.


Sweetie getting a trim, which she didn't even get up for!


Sweetie at 7 months old, June 2018

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


October 17, 2017- From the house, I noticed Lacey lying down so headed to the barn. She got up and down a few times. No water breaking yet. Milk just pouring out of her as you can see.


She chose a spot right next to the peanut gallery. That's Roadie. He knew something was up.


The amnion appears. Then, OMG! Two white front feet and some white on the nose! At this point I had to stop taking pictures and help Lacey. She took awhile moving past this point, so I held onto the foal's fetlocks to help keep her progress from sliding back inside.


All out! I broke the sac over her head and started clearing it away from her front legs.


My friend Doreene Gaustad (a former ob/gyn nurse) had asked how the in utero foal's hooves don't puncture the mare's uterus, so I took this picture to show her the little protective feathers of tissue that cover the end of the foal's hooves. Kinda hard to see since the leg and hoof are so light. It wears off as the foal moves around after birth. A small bit of it remains and becomes their frog.


Sweetie trying to get up and Lacey, who had been resting up until this point, gets a good look at her.


Is there anything more beautiful than a mama greeting their newborn for the first time?


Lacey got up and encouraged her filly to do the same. I used some baling twine to tie up the ends of the amnion so Lacey wouldn't step on it. The weight provides just the right amount of traction to encourage the placenta to release from the uterus properly, which happened just a few minutes later.


And she's up! Like a sawhorse ;-)


Almost dry and checking out her new world. Mama is getting a well deserved snack of alfalfa.


October 18, 2017- One day old. Sweetie looking in the wrong spot. Lacey watching the guy working on my neighbor's roof. He was a great ear getter!


Found the milk bar. Sweetie is a bit up on her left front toe. Our vet suggested starting her on Ulcerguard until the fetlock relaxes (pain can cause ulcers). He thought it would be normal inside of three days, and that did turn out to be the case. Her IGG was super good- always a relief!


Here she comes! Her trot looks a little stiff because of the upright left fore. Her movement looked much better by the end of the day.


Those WHISKERS! They are white, and she has so many it's like a beard, LOL!


I think this was my favorite picture of the day.


She sleeps so soundly- I sat down beside her, brushed her all over and ran my fingers inside her ears- and she never woke up. Look at that cute lil face. I think model horse folks call the little detached spot on the muzzle a "kissy spot". Not sure if that is in use in general horse lingo or not. But it was the first thing I saw when she was coming out of her mama yesterday- that and the two white feet!


This was my best attempt at a conformation picture. You can see the upright left fore. It actually looks much better just 14 hours later.


October 20, 2017- Three days old. I failed in the foal photo department today. I slept in (finally) and by the time I got my chores done, Sweetie was conked out. The afternoon heat was not conducive to activity; she pretty much slept through the short period I had available for photos today before we had to go to an appointment. I hated that, because today was Day Three, an important milestone in the "future looks indicator" department. I only took 4 photos, and here are all 4. They're not very good because I missed the frolicking she'd done earlier in the day before it got too warm. By nightfall, she was zipping around again, but of course it was too dark then for pictures. You can see her left front fetlock has relaxed and she is no longer on tiptoe- YAY!


October 21, 2017- Four days old. You cannot be a Brookridge horse and not know what a bicycle is. Jim was off to a mountain bike practice and stopped by to say hi to Sweetie and Lacey.


How's this for your future reiner or cutting horse? Or dressage... or CDE?


A few days ago she just about fell over if she tried this stunt. Leg is looking great!


I am pleased by what I see here. She is filling out nicely.

 
Sweetie and Lacey get a visit from my neighbor Elizabeth Allen today.


Lacey said "be sure to give ME some attention too."


Sharing Mom's hay.


October 24, 2017- Sweetie is now one week old. (Lacey ruining the shot by coming to see me. I love her!)


Somebody discovered that those red dirt mounds are to be avoided. Or you will burn, then itch.


I was cleaning up the dropped branches and pecans in their new paddock. Sweetie was curious about the wheelbarrow.


Every time I got down to take a picture, she took it as an invite to come in for scritchies.


A bigger turnout space inspired a major case of the zippy zoomies!


The beard...blowing in the breeze... just cracks me up!


After exercise comes mealtime. Sweetie is savoring every tasty drop. (Diane Keiter posted on this pic on Facebook "That's her num-num face!!!!")


One week old conformation picture. I will need help to get one with her head and neck straight- she is always watching me!


October 27, 2017- Our friends Dale and Doreene Gaustad dropped by tonight to see Sweetie. Lacey continued her attention seeking behavior (she LOVES having her shoulders scratched and will present herself to anyone she thinks will oblige) which gives me a huge warm fuzzy when I think of what she was like when she arrived here back in January.


October 30, 2017- Sweetie is 13 days old and oh so pretty!


Yesterday was Sweetie's first day out in one of the bigger fields. She had a great time running and exploring.


This looks like a very expensive dressage baby to me. So uphill and soft. She does a very slow, very collected canter. It's really beautiful to watch.


Once in the new field, Lacey's first priority was grazing- the smaller paddock they had been in up til now was stripped, so the luxuriant grass in this bigger field made her VERY happy. Sweetie is trying out the grass too.


The cedar trees were like a magnet for Sweetie. It occurred to me that they are kind of a natural "cowboy curtain", if you are familiar with that obstacle from Trail Challenge events.


A really neat shot of Lacey showing that flying Morgan trot!

These aren't much different... but they were having fun.


After exercise comes sleep.


Sweetie discovering she can eat while lying down.


I didn't get the perfect side shot, and her knees are buckling in this one, but you can see how nicely she is filling out.


November 3, 2017- Sweetie is 18 days old now. I love to see a horse with a short underneck and a long crest- they will carry themselves correctly. Sweetie already has "on the bit" down, both in motion and standing.


Sweetie watching my yappy dog Sophie, who is great for getting ears up. Mom is checking on her. I love the way her parts fit together- even at this stage, where she's starting to look pretty motheaten. I despair of Lacey ever growing a winter coat, but Sweetie is getting nicely fuzzy.


Showing off her "uphill" canter.


November 14, 2017- I didn't take any pictures of Sweetie last week; after Pat's loss I was kind of in a funk, and the weather- cold and rainy- didn't help. I have to say, the irresistible charm of a foal is a very effective anti-depressant. It's hard to feel sad when you're hanging with the Sweetums :-) I always said that's Pat's main purpose in life was to make me smile, and now Sweetie is doing the same thing :-)


Lacey knows when I want them to move. Every horse that is born here or moves here later in life learns what to do when Mom has the camera :-).


Official four week old photo. Sweetie is now at the "milk fat stage". That is not dark hair around her eyes- it's skin. Jim  calls her "the raccoon". I think if I painted a model horse like this, people would think it looked unrealistic; it's kind of unrealistic looking in real life, too! She grew out her slick birth coat into the wooly bear that she is now; I don't think this will shed until spring, unlike foals born earlier in the year, but we'll see.


Cheeky Sweetie. Getting her off me long enough to take pictures is quite a feat. She is VERY friendly and will walk right up to anyone, looking for a good shoulder scritch. She'll be getting her first hoof trim this week.


Baldy face! Glamour shots will have to wait until spring. But she's so cute- like a big stuffed toy!


Lacey is an EXTREMELY good mama. She always has one eye on Sweetie. Some of this is a bit overboard as she still herds the filly away from any horses that venture too close to the fence. Sweetie is very curious about the other horses and nickers to them, only to have mama come barreling up and threaten the other horse with a "how dare you?" mama bear face.


Lacey is finally letting Sweetie hang out with the neighbor's goats. Hopefully Lacey will continue to relax her vigilance in the coming weeks so Sweetie can get a new equine friend.


Sweetie exploring a log that Jim salvaged from a cedar that came down in Hurricane Irma. The rest of the tree met Jim's burn pile, seen behind Sweetie. The second pic shows her calmly stepping over the log (she's training herself!).


November 18, 2017- Sweetie was officially one month old yesterday. This is the age I generally start introducing them to the other horses. WAR Adikyrie, my Forever Morgans rescue mare, was chosen for the very important task of becoming Sweetie's first horse friend. Things went very well! I had put out several piles of hay so hopefully everyone would relax and just eat- and that's what happened. This is about fifteen minutes into the introduction. Sweetie is sacked out and Lacey is on guard.


Time for some Mother/Daughter mutual scritching.


Sweetie WANTS to go visit with Kyrie, but Lacey kept herding her away when she got too close. You can see her displeasure in the first picture (ears back). This is about as close as Sweetie was allowed to get today. Kyrie was very good with the situation and knew not to push to get closer to the filly. I was pretty sure she would handle this well since she was good with Callie two years ago.  


November 20, 2017- Two days after Kyrie joined the mare/foal herdlet each afternoon, I looked out and saw this. Which mare is the mom of that little punkin? :-) Makes me so happy that Lacey is trusting her new babysitter :-)


November 28, 2017- Sweetie is six weeks old today- it seems like she's been here forever :-) She's become the high point of my barn time, every day. Last Friday she had her first hoof trim. She SLEPT THROUGH IT. When I was ready to trim her she was lying down almost asleep- one eye was half open- and she just did not care to get up. Well, I discovered it is possible to trim (well, rasp mostly) the hooves on a sleeping foal, LOL! When she got up later I was able to check all four for balance and discovered I did pretty good- only one heel needed a smidge more off :-) and the toes rolled a bit. She is excellent about having her hooves handled- I need to get someone to video her ground handling to date.

It occurred to me today that Sweetie is my only bay now that Pat is gone. I have such a representation of colors here... it's like God knew Pat was leaving soon, so he sent me another bay for my little herdlet.


It is hard to get exciting photos of the Sweetums. It's warm here and she is in full winter coat, so her active periods are at dusk and dawn, before it gets too warm, and it's hard to get good photos in the low light then. As I was about to give up on getting any "exciting" photos, suddenly Coral came galloping across her field. Sweetie's tail went straight up and she started prancing around- of course, I did not get a picture of it! I just wanted to watch! But I did get a couple of her leaping with joy :-)


December 3, 2017- Long time friend and riding student Cassidy Sutherland brought her two year old son Evan out to see Sweetie and the other horses.


December 16, 2017- Sweetie is 8 weeks old and officially two months old tomorrow. She has turned into a lil fluffball and I don't worry about her in the cold weather we've been having (but her Mom has yet to grow a winter coat, and is in fact, shedding! Rosie is shedding too (weirdoes!) but I've seen no signs of that from any of the other horses- that's usually a late January "thing"). This was my favorite shot of the day.



More eight week old pictures. My "attention getter" of the day was Roadie's old Jolly Ball.


December 24, 2017- Merry Christmas, from the Sweetums!


12/30/17- I am hardly ever in pictures with my Morgans because I am usually the one TAKING the pictures. But today I convinced Jim to take some shots of me with Sweetie.


"Let's leave mom for some pictures, Sweetie". She goes wherever I point her with just a hand on her neck. She has been one of the easiest foals (if not THE easiest) to get from turnout to stall and back again- a real plus when it's just me leading both her and her mom! Lacey deserves a lot of the credit here as she always seems to know where to position herself to stay on the right side of the filly as we are leading. She is the best mama mare I've ever had. Gold star for Lacey!


Lacey always wants to be a part of the goings-on. She was resting her muzzle on my head or shoulder (asking for attention) while I was trying to get Sweetum's ears up. "I love you too, Lacey". If this mare was not already sold she would go right back to Zip in the spring.


I took this pic a little later in the day (12/30/17). I have Sweetie's mane hair braided to get it to lay over. She looks like a little puffball here. I was amazed last weekend after they had been out in a rainstorm just how much more refined she actually is under that inch and a half of pure winter fluff. This picture reminds me of a similar picture of Connor and also one of Pat at about the same age.



1/16/18- Sweetie will officially be 3 months old tomorrow, but we have possible snow and freezing temps coming in tonight- so I figured taking pictures today at near 50 degrees, even though it was overcast, was better than the windy sub freezing temps that are predicted for tomorrow. I hear you hearty northern folk chuckling at me. So here is my little woolly caterpillar/buffalo/creature!


Official three month old pictures... and my "attention getter" for the day. There really is a very elegant foal under all that fluff. I am so excited for her to shed out!


1/17/18- The horses all came inside overnight since there was a front coming in, possibly bringing snow, a fairly rare event here in Georgia (we missed the previous two opportunities earlier this month). Cold and dry the horses do well outside, but cold and wet... well, they all got sick in January 2014 when I left them out in a cold wet weather event, so never again. I was prepared to have to wait awhile for the Sweetums to dare put her lil tootsies in the unknown-to-her white fluffy stuff; I had a foal take so long once that I had to turn her around and back her out the barn doors just to get her outside! But not Sweetie- she took a look, thought about it a second and ventured on out. It made me happy watching her having fun, discovering something new! This was my favorite shot of the day- I was not quick enough to turn the camera to get all of her in the shot, but I was just glad what I DID get was in focus!


Lacey got a wild hair. The wind had blown a gate open and she and Sweetie escaped briefly to the back yard, but were easily lured back to the pasture by a rattling bucket, thank goodness. The excitement inspired her to race a few laps up and down their field, Sweetie in hot pursuit. I told Sweetie she didn't have to follow her nutty mother!


Taking a breather.


Bouncing around because she's excited.


Lacey gets the right idea.


This is a solid foal!


1-21-18- What a difference 5 days makes! Wednesday we had snow and lows in the teens, and our high did not reach freezing. Yesterday it got into the low 60's and today it probably hit 70. Just spectacular weather! It was so warm that I opened the Dutch doors on Sweetie and Lacey's stall this afternoon when they came in for their alfalfa and grain. The last time it was warm enough to have them open, Sweetie was so little she couldn't see out over them! Today she had a room with a view!


February 22, 2018-This is the face that greets me each morning. There are patches of lush fescue in the front yard which I pick for her. She is looking at me with great anticipation!


I've been busy with a painting project (actually portrait models of Lacey and Sweetie, which can be seen here) so didn't get pictures of Sweetie on her 4 month birthday. Just grabbed these quick shots today.


February 23. 2018- I heard Lacey screaming her "FEEEEEED ME!" whinny this evening and wondered what was up. Jim had just arrived home and it seems they have now also trained him to pick them the long lush fescue from the patch in the front yard :-) It was another hot day here- Sweetie looks like a wooly mammoth under all that sweaty winter coat!



March 7, 2018- Sweetie's weaning day has arrived. I did not sleep well last night, worried about this event, but I had everything ready so knew it was time. Sweetie's been on Ulcer-Gard for a few days- just trying to help her through this as much as I can :-) This morning after being fed, everyone went to their new semi-permanent pasture arrangements- Rosie and Kyrie in with Sweetie, Lacey in the next paddock over with a gate opened to new, fresh grass for its distraction factor; and Roadie got his daughter Charli for company. Coral and Topaz stayed put in their usual pasture. Everyone got lots of good food, and Sweetie and her posse have a whole round bale. So far so good. No calling, no running. The photos are from the first day of weaning through day four.




March 17. 2018- Sweetie is 5 months old today and officially a weanling! The weaning process went very peacefully. Since the weather stayed cold and windy, I let Lacey go back with Sweetie and company at night for the first 5 days. On the 6th day I led Lacey into the pasture to let Sweetie nurse one more time at midnight, but did not turn the mare in with the little herdlet after. She is staying in the paddock next to Sweetie and her friends. They all got a rye hay treat at night for awhile when I fed everyone at my late night barn visit.



March 24, 2018-Sweetie and her posse moved to our biggest field today, a field Sweetie has never been in. She had a blast! This was a bit unsettling to Lacey; from her vantage point in her paddock, she now could not always see Sweetie; adding to her emotional state is the fact that she was in the throes of a particularly strong heat cycle. Prior to moving to her new digs, Sweetie came into her own stall for the first time since weaning started. Her posse was stalled across the aisleway, in sight. She was a bit upset at first but after about 30 minutes, with me regularly returning to give her treats of grass and grain, she settled down to eat her alfalfa.


May 24, 2018- I looked outside at dusk to check on the horses, and I noticed an extra set of legs in the pasture. Rosie and Kyrie did not care, but Sweetie was on alert!

   
June 7, 2018- OMG, it's been two months since I last took official photos of Sweetie! She was slow to shed the last downy remnants of her foal coat this spring- and then the rains came. For three weeks we had multiple daily deluges. The pasture looks fabulous! However it was impossible to get good lighting for pictures. This week has been sunny and mostly clear, but hot. So I didn't get anything too spectacular today because neither Sweetie or myself wanted to work that hard ;-) But you all can see her final shade of bay, and that she's in that gangly teenager stage.

The cantering picture was my favorite of the day. The standing (rear view) ones show off her nice straight legs and her silver tail, which keeps growing in silver, so maybe it will stay!


The face that greets me when I arrive at the barn each afternoon to feed.




June 9, 2018- I pulled these from video I shot today, hoping to get a decent conformation picture for the top of Sweetie's web page. A couple other moments made me smile, so I saved those too. The cantering picture reminded me strongly of Pat- the same engagement behind, and the color is similar.


September 12, 2018- I haven't taken pictures of Sweetie since June, and she has grown a lot over the summer. So it needed to get done- I sure haven't been doing a very good job of marketing when I don't have current pictures! The heat made it tough- we are all ready for cooler weather. I always try to find a novel object to get the horses' attention when I take pictures. Sweetie (and her buddy Kyrie) is thinking, "What's this?"


...and CONTACT! Of course she had to taste it to see if it was edible! She has never seen a table before and it took her only a few minutes to march right up to it. She is not the bravest foal I've ever had but she is very smart.


Turning the table on its side was a bit spooky. But not for long.


October 28, 2018- I had been messaging back and forth with a very nice lady regarding Sweetie since late July. Between my surgery, my Dad's passing, SouthCon, and her own schedule, we could not finally meet up until this weekend. We had a long phone conversation a week ago and it solidified my gut feeling that she was "the one" for my lil charmer. The kind of new owner we all wish for for our beloved youngsters- knowledgeable, patient, experienced but willing to learn and take in new ideas, and on the same wavelength about natural horse care and keeping. A retired nurse, which is always a plus when you own animals :-) So without further ado, meet Briar Cullaton, Sweetie's wonderful new owner!

Briar owned Morgans years ago; in fact, she used to work for Carol Copeland, who bred Sweetie's maternal grand-dam! Sweetie got her first ever trailer loading lesson yesterday and it was accomplished without any stress on any of our parts. Briar's trailer is a nice two horse stock with LQ, but the step up was a bit hard for Sweetie to figure out- but figure it out she did :-). Today she loaded up inside of 30 minutes and was on her way, traveled well, and this evening is safe in her new home near Shelbyville TN, where she has three new horse friends as well as her new Mom. I will miss her beautiful little face greeting me when I show up to the barn, but I'm confident she's in good hands! Someday, I may lease her back for a foal from her to continue her wonderful qualities.


October 28, 2018- Transporting my babies to their new home is always a worry, especially when they've never been hauled before (like Sweetie) and are traveling alone (also like Sweetie). It's a relief to hear when they are safe and sound in their new home. Briar kept me updated with pictures of Sweetie each time she stopped to let her rest. We shouldn't have worried; Sweetie handled the new experience beautifully, as she has everything else in her short life. At a truck stop Briar got a big kick out of Sweetie watching all the big rigs roll by!


Safely at Briar's and tucked into her stall for the night with a slow net full of yummy hay.


November 3, 2018- Sweetie running in her new pasture. Introductions with her new friends have been going well so far, one horse in with Sweetie at a time. Soon they will all be one happy new herd.


May 2020, coming three years old.


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


 

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