Eddie's Ladies in Waiting

Just one more post (ok, there will probably be more, but just this one more for now) bragging about what a good job Kelly has done getting top quality mares lined up to breed to Eddie. I worked very hard with very little disposable income to improve my broodmare lines expotentially in the three years that I bred Eddie. One of my greatest fears while falling was that I would fail to continue this trend and never really be able to get Eddie bred to the quality of mares that he deserves--the mares that will get his name out there. Thank goodness Kelly came along. Her love of Eddie and her belief in his capabilities are as strong as mine are, and to find someone to believe in the horse that you believe in so much is rare, and is even rarer when, let's face it, Eddie doesn't have the most popular bloodlines listed in today's fancy, glossy ads. Eddie has great bloodlines--solid with proven champions and producers of champions, but none of them are the flavor of the month. However, that is exactly WHY I believe in him so much. He delivers strength and vitality into lines that have been inbred to the point of weakness (displayed in poor temperments, weak legs, hooves prone to lameness and founder, and very short careers). Our contemporary halter horses are beautiful--there is no arguement there, but a beautiful horse does the average person no good if they cannot afford the specialty shoes to keep them sound, the top vets to keep them healthy, and invest a significant amount of money into a horse whose career is over at 4 or 5 years old. Eddie's sire was out at rodeos rounding up bulls (keep in mind he earned his APHA Championship long ago) when he was 21! Eddie survived a horrific injury and has surpassed his life expectation--and we are so thankful that he is still as healthy and sound as could be possibly expected given the severity of the injury he survived. My point is, it would have been much easier for myself, or for Kelly, to go out and buy the flavor of the month to promote. However, I don't think I'm speaking out of line for her if I say I think we both believe in Eddie because we believe in improving the breed for the longrun, and he is the stallion to do it.

That being said, here are a couple (among many) of the outstanding mares lined up to be bred to Eddie for foals in 2010:

Margie's Girl--APHA Solid Barlink and Mr Norfleet bred mare. "Bambi" is a producer of Champion halter horses, ROM earners and multiple futurity winners. I'm very excited about this mare not only because she is gorgeous, a proven producer, but also Mr Norfleet and Red Sonny Dee (Eddie's grandsire) were the foundation from which the Sheriff's built their successful breeding operation--producing many champions from this cross.

Tandy Rocket Ballew--AQHA Cremello. "Sugar" is an outstanding granddaughter of Mr Yella Fella. She is a 3 time World Champion producer! Eddie will not just be bred once to this outstanding mare, but TWICE--for a guaranteed QUADRUPLE-registered foal!! This foal will be eligible for APHA/AQHA/PtHA/PHBA. The first foal will be promoted by Kelly's very capable hands and the second one will be promoted by Arroyo Quarter Horses, who have done an outstanding job in breeding and promoting some of the top dilutes in the industry. I just can't thank both Fulton's Crossing Ranch and Arroyo Quarter Horses for making this amazing cross possible!

The last year has been incredibly difficult, as so many of you know. It seems like there has been heartache after heartache. However, my dreams for Eddie have always been that--dreams for him to have the opportunity to first and foremost live a happy life, never again in the state of neglect I found him in when I bought him. I had also hoped that he could go on to be proven the outstanding sire I believed he could be. It makes this past year so much easier to bear knowing that Eddie is not only happy, well cared for and loved, but that he continues to have the opportunity to show what he can do as a sire and hopefully fulfill a lasting legacy.