I went to visit Cletus today! Visiting a fetus is really very dull. I was a total dork out there in the paddock, with my ear to the belly of my very patient recipient mare, Sweetie, who really didn’t care what I did as long as I kept the carrots coming.
Having been around horses for most of my life, I know one thing: When all else fails, bribery is the way to go. To ensure that Sweetie doesn’t mind me hanging around once Cletus becomes more than a fuzzy ultrasound picture, I’m going to become The One Who Brings The Food, so that I am as much into her good graces as is possible.
So I’m bringing carrots by whenever I can. Sweetie lives up to her name—she’s a petite Thoroughbred, nearly as wide as she is tall at the moment, and considering Cletus won’t be making an appearance until late May/early June, that’s really something. But she let me fuss all over her (I’m sure the carrots greased the skids), and let me talk to her belly, for which I am very grateful I was alone. (“Who’s going to be my 2020 Olympics horse? You are! You are!”)
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I swung by partially to bring carrots and partially to get in my paperwork for the attempted production of Cletus 2.0 for 2011. I’ll be breeding Cleo to Harmony’s Rousseau this time; Rousseau is also Dutch, like UB40, father to Cletus the First, but Rousseau is approved for the American Hanoverian Society. When Cleo produces her first AHS-registered foal, she’ll complete the requirements to become an Elite Mare, which would be nice, as well as increase the sale values of future Cletuses. (Cleti? Maybe I shouldn’t overthink this.) Cletus 2.0 will probably be a sales baby, but whether it is more like mom or dad it will have a wonderful character and a dynamite canter, two great places to start.
