Each spring, breeders breathe a collective sigh of relief when their healthy and happy foals start hitting the ground. But about nine days later, they begin to worry again, facing the choices that come with breeding their mares back and looking to the future.

This spring was no exception for many sport horse breeders, although for the breeders whose foals were the result of the Chronicle’s Auction for Aiden in late fall 2002, there were even more reasons than usual to rejoice (see ”The Chronicle’s Bulletin Board Pulls Together To Save A Life,” Nov. 28, 2002).

This time, they were particularly happy because the money they’d spent on stallion services benefited Aiden Hawk, of St. Petersburg, Fla. Aiden, now 2, is the son of Lisa and Joey Hawk and was diagnosed with a rare, non-heritable, liver condition called biliary atresia shortly after birth. Lisa, a member of The Chronicle of The Horse’s online bulletin board community, had shared the news of her pregnancy with thousands of other posters on the site, and she soon shared her despair over her ill son.

And her fellow bulletin boarders offered their support immediately. By October of that year, Gail Rogers of Brantford, Ont., had, literally, conceived an online stallion auction, offering a service to her stallion A Fine Romance to get it rolling. Quickly the concept grew, and by the time it was finished, breeders had donated services to more than 40 stallions, and people who didn’t have stallions or mares were participating in a concurrent merchandise auction.

Erin Harty, the Chronicle’s bulletin board moderator, organized the stallion-service auction, and Emily Daignault, an active member of the bulletin board, led the effort to organize the merchandise component.

Together, the two auctions raised more than $50,000, and Aiden received a liver transplant on Dec. 21, 2002. The funds raised were deposited into an account with the American Liver Foundation, which helped the Hawks pay for expenses not covered by their medical insurance.

Aiden’s recovery hasn’t been easy, though. In fact, he spent more than 200 days in the hospital in 2003 and gave his medical team and family quite a few scares. But, said Lisa, “One day his tests just came back normal. And they’ve stayed that way ever since. In fact, he’s now a normal little boy, and we’ve not had a single day in the hospital in 2004.”

Bring On The Foals

Diane McBroom, of Floyd, Va., was thrilled when she welcomed her foal, a warmblood-cross by Hall Of Fame out of a Thoroughbred mare, in early February.

“While I saved about $400 on the booking, I would have continued bidding even if the cost had exceeded the regular booking fee,” said McBroom. “Being able to help Aiden was my primary goal. Getting the breeding to Hall Of Fame was the bonus.”

McBroom’s foal, a filly, was born a solid liver chestnut. Considering the coloring, McBroom quickly gave her the barn name Olivia. In a comic gesture, however, McBroom decided to give Olivia the show name Wardrobe Malfunction as she was born the night of the Super Bowl half-time show involving singer Janet Jackson.

“I thought it was fitting that she came out that color–liver chestnut–considering she didn’t receive any of the pinto markings we’d hoped for by breeding her to Hall Of Fame,” said McBroom.

Jeanette Ford, of Chapel Hill, N.C., has a 13.2-hand Welsh-Thoroughbred mare named Spellbound she’d often considered breeding to Loyal Pal. “She’s a fabulous jumper and mover, and we’ve loved eventing, even though she should have been sold as a pony hunter and paid for my future,” said Ford with a laugh.

But Ford was still competing the mare, and she nearly passed on breeding her.

“I’m a sucker for an auction, though, so I just couldn’t quit bidding,” Ford said. “And it certainly was serendipitous as we bred the mare, and then two weeks later Loyal Pal was lost to colic.”

But “the fertile little pony” had conceived on the first insemination.

Ford’s foal is also a filly, and between the death of Loyal Pal and the connection to Aiden, she’s been named Patronus, the result of a wizard’s spell, manifested
as a physical entity, from the Harry Potter series.

The slick stallion auction advertisement produced by a volunteer graphic artist for the Chronicle’s print edition caught the eye of Pat Bewley, of Fairfield, Pa.

“I’d never even read the Chronicle’s website, but the ad was compelling and inspired me to log on and read the entire thread that detailed Aiden and his situation,” said Bewley. “It was a bumpy ride for quite some time, and I followed it with everyone else, just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best for the Hawks.”

Bewley owns three broodmares and has a selective, small-scale breeding program to produce horses for eventing. She had her eye on the young Thoroughbred stallion Epic Leap well before she saw the advertisement in the Chronicle.

“I would see [Epic Leap and rider Holly Hepp] at events, and the stallion was so lovely to watch and went so well for Holly, and really did have a fantastic temperament,” said Bewley. She’d decided to breed to him well before he became available in the auction, she added.

Bewley and her husband welcomed Aiden’s Epic on March 20. She’s a dark bay filly out of Bewley’s do-everything Thoroughbred mare Night Magic. Bewley calls the filly “Aiden” to remind her of the boy whose cause led to the foal’s conception.

“Actually, it’s a pretty funny story too, as a small-operation breeder,” said Bewley, remembering the night of the foal’s conception. “I was away at Longleaf Horse Trials [N.C.] and had left my husband, as a passing thought, the phone numbers for the vet and stallion owners. I told him, ‘You likely won’t need them,’ and, as it turns out, he did. We call it ‘The Weekend He Got Two Mares In Foal Without Me,’ and it’s probably something I’ll never live down.”

International Appeal

Aiden Hawk’s story reached out across oceans and inspired Alixe Cameron, of Queensland, Australia, to bid for services for a stallion in Canada. Cameron, a native of Calgary who grew up riding show jumpers near the famous Spruce Meadows showgrounds, is currently studying law in Australia.

“I decided to breed my mare Visa (named that because that’s how I paid for her!) when she was 3, since I’d purchased her as a
young horse right before moving to Australia,” said Cameron. But it wasn’t until the auction began to take shape that she picked a stallion.
“I was in Australia for most of the Aiden story. In fact, I planned my Christmas holiday back home to Canada to make sure that I wouldn’t be on a plane during the final minutes of the auction,” she said.

“Luckily for me, the owner of the stallion I was interested in also posts on the bulletin board. As soon as I saw that Gelan was in the auction, I knew that this was fate deciding for me. I’d never participated in a silent auction like this, nor even bred a mare of my own–which made it interesting trying to explain to my friends that I was getting excited about bidding on horse semen,” she said.

Cameron’s parents welcomed “IOU” on April 28. He’s by Canadian Sport Horse stallion Gelan, and out of Celeste (Visa), a registered Canadian Sporthorse who is mostly Holsteiner.
“I’m making arrangements to bring him to Australia to grow up with me and the kangaroos,” said Cameron.

Renewed Faith

Lisa and Joey Hawk have now closed the chapter on their son Aiden’s pre-transplant life, and they’re looking ahead to the future.

“With Aiden healthy and normal, Joey and I have decided it’s time to expand our family, and were hoping to conceive another child very soon,” said Lisa.

“Thanking the wonderful individuals who gave us a priceless gift of hope and comfort seems so trivial,” she added. “But that is the only thing I can say, over and over, and I want everyone involved in this to know just how much their efforts and love is appreciated and reciprocated.”

“What The Chronicle of the Horse online community did for our family is amazing and constantly renews my faith in humanity.”