A Heavenly Gift for Halo!

She doesn't know it, but this week provided an amazing gift to my little yellow filly. Monday night on a whim I tried again to call her breeder, whom I had a difficult time getting a hold of last year. Miraculously, he picked up the phone and didn't hang up on me once I reassured him that I was not a telemarketer. Once I explained that I was looking for information on a horse he bred, he was more than happy to help.

The very next day I received by fax copies of registration papers for Halo's dam, sire, and grand-dam. I was in elated shock - I previously had no information about Halo's dam at all other than that she was a paint. Now I know that her registered name is Jo Palafox, and her sire is Magnolia Pere, who has sired APHA champions. Halo's grand-dam is Leo linebred, and a nice looking mare. After I found out about all this, the people I bought Halo from were kind enough to send over a couple of photos of Go Jo Maudie (the grand-dam). Here she is - what a tank of a mare!

Halo's sire is also stocky and well-muscled, though I was told that he is not a very tall horse. Halo has a similar set to her ears when they are pricked. I'm not exactly sure what color he is; his registration papers say buckskin, which would explain where Halo's palomino coloring comes from, but he looks more grullo, especially with how dark his face is. Sooty buckskins can be dark, but not usually quite this dark from what I know.

And here is a picture of her grandsire on her dam's side, Magnolia Pere. His most notable offspring is probably Impressive Proposal, an APHA world champion. Impressive Proposal's accomplishments include ROMs in Halter and Western Pleasure, Superior in Hunter Under Saddle, and points in Trail and Green Working Hunter.

And a final picture of her grandsire on her sire's side, Drift's Chip.

When I bought Halo, I was taking a chance on an unknown, but I didn't mind. I wanted a project horse, and the details were less important than the nature of the horse herself. However, it is exciting to learn that she has good bloodlines, and all this information helps me predict more about what Halo is going to wind up looking like, and what she will best be suited for. I think plenty remains to be seen depending on how she develops through this summer. She's turning into a very pretty filly under all the fuzz, and now I am beginning to understand why. I am not only appreciative that I now know her bloodlines, but I'm also thrilled and grateful that she has some lovely animals in her lineage. Her full pedigree is available online here:

Brigadiers Gold Halo (registered name pending)

 I mailed off her registration papers to her breeder on Tuesday and received them back in the mail very promptly. Now it's just time to take pictures and get them sent off to the APHA. I'm thinking about waiting until the winter fuzz starts to shed out...right now it's hard to tell the difference between my almost APHA filly and a woolly yellow yak!