Will be bred to Supreme Champion Zip
Me Impressive for 2004.
Tell us more about Penny!
Penny is a 10 year old registered Appaloosa mare. Penny’s registered name is “Just A Lil’ Penny”, but this beauty is anything but little! She goes 16.2hh and is elegant and flashy. Penny holds four consecutive Top Ten National titles and in 1999 earned a Reserve National Champion title. Penny’s first foal was “Dixie” featured on our web site; a tall black filly with a great disposition. We will show Dixie in several events later this year. She foaled a few days early with her first foal, but basically right on time.
Is Penny a good mother?
Yes, she is! We choose our broodmares for disposition as well as conformation, pedigree and show record. Penny is a calm, easygoing mare who doesn’t fuss about a lot of things. She is delightful to handle and is an easy keeper. This relaxed nature tends to pass along from mother to baby.
How will we know Penny is about to give birth?
Well, that may prove to be a very tough question! If Penny foals this year as she did last time, she just might surprise us. We were hurriedly putting down straw in her stall as she was delivering the baby! Penny did not wax up on her udder, and she did not drip milk until she was in active labor. Similar to our mare Rosie, Penny does not show that classic “waxing” sign of foaling. Behaviorally, one can usually tell by restlessness, pacing, tail wringing, tail cocked to one side continuously, biting or kicking at her sides, and other more detailed signs that we take note of several times each day but which probably are not readily visible on the BarnCam. Those other signs include the ligaments around her tail head getting soft and loose, her tail head becoming more pronounced, and getting smooth and elongated under her tail.
Tell us about the sire of Penny’s foal!
The foal's sire is Supreme Champion Zip Me Impressive, or "Zippy" as we call him. Zippy is the youngest Supreme Champion ever in the history of the Appaloosa breed. He is dark bay with a spotted blanket, and is eight years old. We bought him when he was 13 months old and he is regularly shown in competitions. He holds 31 Top Ten World and National titles and three bronze medallions.
Does the light
in the foaling stall bother Penny?
No, the light is from a low-watt light bulb. We enhance the lighting of the
picture via the computer software so that you can see things better at night.
Lights are off during the day. We will also turn off the lights after Penny
foals and the baby is up and nursing vigorously. (about two to three hours
after foaling) Mother and baby will be in natural light every day, whether
they are in the barn or outside in their paddock.
What kind of technical equipment
do you use to support the BarnCams?
We have four cameras in the barn and one in the house all devoted to supporting
the technical side of the BarnCams. We have four wireless cameras and one
video camera pointed at the horses we are featuring each day. An older, wired
system runs from the foaling barn to the TVs in the house so that we can do
hourly and then half-hour checks at night without running down to the barn.
We have three dedicated servers to handle all the traffic - it has been incredible!
In addition, we will use a hand-held camera for our BarnBuddy Club members
when Penny foals.