1.Cloudy Agate is in foal to Supreme Champion ZMI.
She is due on She is due on Feb. 6, 2010

2. Give us Roxy's statistics, please.
Roxy was born March 19, 1993. She is 15hh. Roxy is now in foal to Zip me Impressive, our Supreme Champion and 2003 World's Best Appaloosa stallion. Roxy has Plaudit and Strawman bloodlines. She has had some very nice few foals. You can see some of them Here.

3. What is Roxy's personality like?
Roxy is great. She is relaxed and quiet. One thing we love about her is that she is calm and even-tempered, like our other mares. That's important to us for breeding purposes to pass along a nice disposition, but also for ease of handling - a horse is a big animal and it costs the same to keep a cranky horse as a nice one....so you might as well make sure you buy a nice one! You can see she has a pretty head and neck, and a nice slope to her shoulder. A good topline, too, although she has had several foals already. She also has lower hocks, which we like. That is thought by some to keep horses more sound. She is great after foaling and a really good mom!

4. Can you tell us about the foal's sire (father)?
The foal's sire is Supreme Champion and 2003 World's Best Appaloosa Zip Me Impressive, or "Zippy" as we call him. Zippy is the youngest Supreme Champion ever in the history of the Appaloosa breed. We bought him when he was 13 months old and he is regularly shown in competitions. He holds over 50 Top Ten World and National and Year End titles and has achieved three bronze medallions.

5. How will you know Roxy is about to give birth?
Roxy will show fairly classic signs of labor. The signals we watch for include her tail cocked continuously to one side; pacing; her udder very full and waxed on the teats; getting smooth and elongated under her tail; the baby moving back into position giving her a more "cylindrical" appearance; and the ligaments on either side of her tail feeling soft and loose in preparation for foaling. In addition she may be not as hungry the day before or day of foaling; she may drip milk from her udder a few hours before delivery, and she may lay down and get up frequently. Her water will break and then the foal should be born within one hour - but sometimes as quickly as 10 minutes, so watch close! The vet says she is to have a colt... we will see.

6. Does the light in the foaling stall bother Roxy?
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 Roxy 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.

7. What kind of technical equipment do you use to support the BarnCams?
We have six cameras in and outside the barn 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 Roxy foals.