SUNSET AT LEGACY

ISN'T IT JUST BEAUTITUL? The days have been so mild. The colts get sweaty when they run around and play. Its good to be them though. They have nice lives. Bright is on the Right in this photo.

BRIGHT AT 11 MONTHS

HE IS LOOKING LIKE A HORSE NOW. But he's just ever so friendly and curious. He's also a horse that clears the trough when he wants to eat. That means he runs all the other horses off till he gets his spot and then then can come back and eat so long as they don't bug him. Bright is not a shrinking violet, and any worries that I previously had about him being a mama's boy have evaporated. Bright mixes it up with the other colts. And he is clearly leader of the pack. He's not a bully, he just seems confidant and well respected by his peers. He's growing nicely too. Big hocks. Tall hips. A long distance runner's body.

GJ BACK AT MAGALI

Lindsay Stud has reported that Good Journey made it back from Australia safe and sound. He is now at Magali Farms and ready to stand stud again. Whilw he was in Australia, Good Journey covered a phenomenal 119 mares, and that was after covering 80 in the USA. So his total mare cover for 2008 was 199 mares, including Queen of Paris. And he gets the job done.

Mares visiting Good Journey this season include Royal Purler (G1 winner), Umber (G3 winner), Grand Strategy (1/2 sister to G1 winner Grand Journey), Marsiliana (3/4 sister to Caulfielld Cup winner Arctic Scent), Elusive Doll (1/2 sister to G1 winner Hard To Get), Violet Haze (full sister to G1 winner Notoire) as well as daughters of Group One winners Ambala and Kissing Cousin.

Good Journey was paraded last Sunday September 7th to a group of local SA breeders who braved the wet conditions for a first look at one of the country’s most promising sires. Some photos from the day are included below.


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ANOTHER STAR FOR GOOD JOURNEY

GJ HAS ANOTHER WINNER IN AUSTRALIA. He has a giant 17.2 hand 3 year old gelding named "Miles Above."

Miles Above scored a scintillating last to first win at Sandown in September. Trained at Camperdown by Dennis Daffy, Miles Above walked out of the gates and tailed the field throughout before sweeping home with a powerhouse burst to take the 1500 metre (7.5 furlongs) Ratings 68 event by a length. The win followed on from an equally impressive maiden victory at Bendigo on August 7, his second run following a debut fourth at Hamilton on July 20.“That was a big performance after missing the kick, although knowing the horse as I do I always thought he’d power home,” said Daffy, who purchased Miles Above for just $20,000 at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.

HE'S ON HIS OWN NOW

Bright is on his own now. Lady Marquise went back to the farm to hang out with Queen of Paris. Bright's job is now to grow up big and strong. Here he is with his pals. He has nice big flat knees. Still a little skinny and lanky, but looking more horse like every day. He's got good room to run, and when it rains or gets hot, he's got a run in to get out of the elements. Legacy Ranch is definitely a nice place to live. He has been halter broke, but he won't start to train for another year. During that time, he will just eat and run around.

THREE AMIGOS

Bright is now a part of some juvenile gang of chestnuts in his 10 acre pasture.

Its funny to see. There are three chestnuts and four brown/black horses. They stand apart in groups from each other like 6th graders on the playground. I think Bright is the leader of his little band. Let me put it this way, when I would try to catch him to give him a carrot, he would run off and the other red horses would follow. The nice thing about this exercise was that Bright seems to handle the wet grass really well. Great stride. Nice turn of foot. He's the best turfer out there. In this photo, he is the horse on the outside with the strip of white down his face.

CARROTS ARE HIS FAV

BRIGHT LIKES CARROTS. Now that he is weaned, or in the process of it, Bright is eager to receive carrots from me. I think we've built a sort of trust over carrots. He has an expectation of me now. Alot of the foals don't know what they are because no one has ever come to give them carrots. No one has ever brought them any treats at all. But not Bright. He gets treats everytime I visit. He's going to be easy to train as long as you give him carrots. Anita and Diana (Legacy Ranch folks) both told me that he is such a nice tempered animal that he will be easy to train, and because of that, I can leave him a colt for as long as he needs to be. Everyday now, he gets walked from his stall on halter. In three weeks, he should have the hang of it and then go into an outdoor paddock with other colts to frolic and play.

BRIGHT GETS WEANED!

Bright got weaned last Thursday at the age of 6 months and a week. If you don't know what that's about, its the process of separating him forever from Lady Marquise. The two have been stuck to each other's side since he was born and he has had the opportunity to nurse at will. In order to wean him, they put him in the barn under the misters in a stall and put Lady back in a far away paddock with another broodmare. The reason they do this is to encourage Bright to eat regular hay now and to start the process of halter breaking. Usually, this is a really anxious time for both mare and foal, but because they had the opportunity to stay together for better than 6 months, the process has been a little easier. Bright does not seem to upset, but rather very very friendly. When I walked into the stall he cozied right up to me and sniffed for carrots. I guess he thinks I am the carrot lady now. I show up about once every three weeks and bring him delicious, cold, hard carrots. He's a really really sweet horse. I like him a lot. Lady Marquise also seemed to be handling foaling with great equanimity. She didn't seem bothered at all. The other broodmare she was with just kept pacing the fence line looking for her foal but Lady just dozed in the shade trying to stay cool. That is one smart and solid headed horse. She passed that on to her son.

Bright has a nice new foal halter on in this photo. The folks at Legacy made him a very nice brass plate with his name on it. Anita, the broodmare manager, told me that she thinks he has great conformation right now but is a little skinny. Alittle sucked up because his system is in shock because he can't nurse anymore. Also - he is growing tall like a weed. He's lanky. If I put my arms out straight, his back comes right up to them.

THE THREE OF US

Here we are. The three of us. Jen, Lady & Bright. This may be the only photo that I have of all three of us together. They look great. I am very happy. It was 102 out at the farm, but a really good day to go. Bright still stays close to Lady and still nurses. But in a little while, they will be separated forever. Then he will be sent to a back pasture to hang out with colts. He's growing up so nicely. His body is just long and strong. He has a beautiful shoulder and high croup. Long back legs for lots of power. Diana says he looks like a miler. I hope he has heart. If he does, he is the complete package.

TWO WEEKS UNTIL WEANING

Bright is only about two weeks away from being weaned. He is almost 6 months old now. So this may be the last photo that he takes with Lady Marquise. Here he is with Kate and Diana. Diana works with the broodmares and attended Lady when Bright was born. She helped him into the world. Now he is bigger than her. But still shy.

FRIDAY AT THE FARM WITH BRIGHT

Bright seems to like either Kate - or the baseball cap that she is wearing - which says his name. Kate is 5' 1" - so Bright is considerably taller than Kate right now. Look at that.

5 MONTHS BIG

Bright has a very handsome body. Good bone structure. Long legs. Nice high croup. He's a good looking athletic horse. Its nice to be able to look at him in comparison to other colts his age. He is bigger and stronger than most. And there is something else about him that is interesting to me. He is not a frivilous horse. He is no nonsense. He doesn't want any part of goofing off with other foals. He has one friend that I coudl tell and he nibbled on his mane. Other than that, he wants to just hang out with Lady.

BRIGHT IS FIVE MONTHS OLD

I went for a visit on Sunday July 20, 2008, and Bright and Lady M are now in the front pasture at Legacy with about 40 other foals and mares. Its so fun to see them all out together. Its colts only. The fillies are in another pasture because the colts like to rough-house. Except for Bright - who reminds me a little of shy sweet boy in a sandbox with feisty Irish kids from big families. Bright stays away from the trouble makers. And I suppose that's good because he will avoid getting hurt. Still - he had a bunch of bite marks and scratches on him. Lady and Bright are still a team and he is still suckling. But he's also nibbling grass and eating carrots. He's looking like a horse now. Just a small version.

NEW JOURNEY ON THE WAY

I've got a new foal on the way. I think it will be a filly. Her dam is Queen of Paris. I spent the morning at River Edge Farm outside Solvang. It was a clear, bright, warm morning. The Maples are full and leafy. We saw so many beautiful foals and mares. So much hope on the hoof. Saving the best for last, after seeing an incredible display of yearlings getting ready to ship to Keeneland, they brought the Big Gun out. Bertrando himself. In splendid living color. What a fantastic looking animal. For me - it was like meeting a Rock Star! The Great Bertrando. The sire of Bitey Bert!

Breeding horses is such an act of faith. It is an unreasonable willingness to accept the unknown as an adventure - and to launch a new journey. Faithful Journey is an adventure of hope and courage. Courage is a word that comes from the French word, "Couer" or heart. Courage means to have heart. Breeding horses takes heart. Its leaping into the unknown, taking the risk, and taking part in the story of life. Its being a part of circle of life. Breeding horses in this day and age, without land, isn't smart or reasonable or even a good business decision. But it is doing something that transforms the landscape for the better. Internal and external. Present and Future. And when I am standing in front of a foal, I feel fully alive with possibility. Ageless. I think alot of people do. I don't think you can get that feeling very often, and certainly not from investing in stocks. Faith is trust in the future, whatever that holds. And as Rimbaud once penned, "I came to live out loud." I am so looking forward to next Spring.

"WE HAVE A HEARTBEAT"

Those are magical and exciting words to any breeder. And a big relief. Today I got a call from Katie at Magali. Its been 28 days since Queen of Paris was bred. Katie simply said, "We have a heartbeat."

That made my day. I was on my way to Court to file a pleading and the phone call was so unexpected and so far removed from a breach of contract case that I had been working in all morning. In fact, just the opposite. It was a promise of new life. A beating heart. Something like a seahorse now, but like an acorn, the beginning of something beautiful and exhuberant. Barring any unforeseen catastrophy, in 330 days, we should have another lovely foal. The Promise of a new Journey.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON

DON'T GOOD JOURNEY AND BRIGHT JOURNEY LOOK ALOT ALIKE?

GJ IS A ROCK STAR AT STUD!

GOOD JOURNEY IS BEING SHUTTLED TO AUSTRALIA IN JULY AND ALREADY HE HAS 115 MARES BOOKED TO HIM. Lindsay Park is expecting a book fo 150. That's just insane. That means that he will be in the breeding shed every day. The Aussie mare owners are flocking to him at $18,000 a tryst. Despite having just 23 live foals in his first crop, he is among the leading Second Crop sires in Australia this season. From his two crops of racing age, 21 have faced the starter for 11 individual winners, highlighted by Group 1 WA Derby winner Grand Journey (also G2 winner of the WA Oaks) and the exciting G2 winning three-year-old Sound Journey. Sam Hayes from Lindsay Park said.“We wanted a horse with a strong female family and we saw this as a good opportunity to fit a proven horse into our roster to go with our young horses."

QUEEN OF PARIS IN FOAL!!

QUEEN OF PARIS IS IN FOAL TO GOOD JOURNEY!!

That means that we will have another Good Journey foal next spring - probably in mid May. He or she will be a one-half sibling to Bright Journey. Different dams. Because QOP and GJ are both red horses, we are assured of having another Chestnut. We won't know the gender for a while. Time to play the name game again!!

Bright has a Big Back End Now

Its disproportionate now. He's got a big ass. I have to think that's a good thing. Lots of acceleration in a big assed horse.

He's got a few cuts and scrapes on his legs too. He must be motoring around and getting into trouble. Isn't that what colts do? Sort of as a rule.

BRIGHT EATS HIS FIRST CARROT

May 26, 2008 - Memorial Day

Bright got daring today and decided that he wanted to try a carrot. Here he is taking his first nibble. I don't think he has back teeth yet - so he just bit the tip off and rolled it around in his mouth before swallowing it. But he liked it well enough to keep coming back so we fed him the tips of the carrots for an hour. He's still adverse to being caught though - but he was much friendlier than last time. I was talking to Pete and Evelyn for a few minutes about the upcoming CARMA poker party in Del Mar and he and Lady came up behind me and started pestering me for carrots. Lady shoved me around and he nipped at my pants and got me in the calf. He's still nursing from Lady Marquise - but I don't think that should last too much longer.