If you're wondering why I keep talking about the Forli* bloodlines this week, let me explain why. For 20 years I was "an adopted child" of a couple who owned a riding stable. Their kids were interested in Three Day Eventing; the mother was interested in dressage, and the father just liked to ride for pleasure. I started riding at the barn just before their breeding program took off (and I ended up helping to train the horses and new riders - yes, I was the
dreaded instructor). Most of the farm horses were "rejects" - not because they were ugly or untrainable, but because they were considered to be unsaleable or useless as riding horses. Come-A-Miss (Punky) was a thoroughbred mare; she was born a twin, and her mother rejected her. The farm took her in and bottle-fed and hand raised her. She was delicately made, but loved to jump and go across country. She was a regional champion in Three Day Eventing. We bred her to a 16-hand black thoroughbred stallion, who was making a name for himself in the show jumping circuit. Forebow was considered too slow for the track, but he was an excellent jumper. Forebow was the son of Forli*. Punky and Forebow's son, Shadowfax, sired a great many of our foals at Sleepy Hollow, after we had 6 foals by Forebow.
I dearly loved all of our horses, whether we had bred them, or not. When I visited Florida last week,
I was reunited with Fancy Fax, Shadowfax's daughter. Fancy Fax is now 26 and is still the same opinionated, tall, strong horse that she was bred to be. Here's a photo of us from last week:
Left to right: Easy, Betty (the Critter Sitter), Big Red, and Fancy Fax at Sleepy Hollow Horse Farm in Micanopy, Florida on Thursday, 27 October 2011.
