Our little ranch consists of 111 acres that runs along a creek bottom called Turkey Bottom about 5 miles as the crow flies from the Guadalupe River near Shiner, Texas.  We’ve been raising Quarter Horses for around 15 years and currently have 33, along with about 20 cow/calf pair and a bull.  

My husband, Walter Scott, and I live on this small ranch and have moved 2 houses near the road for our son and his family and our daughter and her family.   Our son, Clint and his wife, Cassondra, and their 2 children live in one house and he occasionally feeds for us and helps with the ranch chores. Our daughter, Jenny Calliham, and her husband, David and infant son live in the other house and they are vet techs in Cuero, Texas and work for equine specialist, Dr. Cynthia Garrett. They play a large part in our horse business by pitching in with the twice-daily feedings, treating, medicating, and also breeding the mares and stallions. I usually feed so I can check everyone for injuries or illness and see if anyone needs anything different in their diet.

We were extremely happy when our black mare, Miss Ebony Trixie, foaled a beautiful brown filly in January of 1999 and we named her Redford’s Royal Seven, also known as Seven. Her name comes from her unique seven-shaped blaze.  Seven has had the most extraordinary personality from birth.  We now realize this comes from her sire, Royal Blueberry.  We have had 4 foals sired by Royal Blueberry and have kept all of the fillies as mares. We also have a 3 yr. old buckskin grandson of Royal Blueberry that is also a grandson of Doc Olena.  This personality seems to have been passed down to him as well.  He is very people-oriented and gorgeous to look at.
Anyway, Seven is very docile and never shows any aggression, not even with a new foal.  We call Seven our giant dog.

Our first showing experience was showing Seven in a futurity in Austin.  Despite our amateur status, we won a red ribbon. We were very proud of the way she looked and her calm behavior.  Actually, she was patient with us.  She also did very well when we showed her in Sequin. My young granddaughter, Kenzy, has ridden Seven extensively.  Because of Seven’s calmness, Kenzy has been able to overcome her fear of horses and riding.

Seven’s first foal was a dummy foal by Golden Caantender that did not survive.  Seven’s second foal was a gorgeous Palomino filly that had Seven’s personality.  This filly was one of my favorites and was definitely not leaving this place.  However, last fall during the night she laid down next to a tree and got cast.  Every time she tried to get up, she hit her head and we could not save her.  

Seven’s third filly is a buttermilk dun by Golden Caantender.  This filly also has a calm demeanor just like her mother.

On March 15, 2006, Seven had a bulky sorrel stud colt by Classical Skipper.  Beau also has Seven’s wonderful personality.  

In April our mare, Diana’s Design, (a granddaughter of Sonny Dee Bar) had a beautiful buckskin colt we named Cooper, by Invest In Rodeo.  Mother and colt were given their shots, the colt got his enema and the mare expelled her afterbirth.  Unfortunately, Diana bled out during the night and died.  In the morning we found we had a very frantic, hungry colt on our hands.

We caught Seven, put her in the stock, and made her allow the orphaned Cooper to nurse along with her colt, Beau. Cooper was drawn and dehydrated and we made Seven allow Cooper to nurse every two hours and also supplemented this with 8 ounces of Foal-Lac from my grandson’s baby bottle.  Seven was not very happy about it, but she tolerated it.  We had to feed her really well since she was nursing two foals.

Eventually, we put Seven, Beau and Cooper out in a large shady lot and Seven began to allow Cooper to nurse without help.  We were still supplementing Cooper until he decided he didn’t want the bottle anymore.  Everything seemed to be settling down.  A foal feeder was set up and we made sure that foal feed was always available.

Seven’s dam, Miss Ebony Trixie (Ebby), foaled a bay stud colt by Olenas Poco on April 5th.  Ebby and her colt Zeke were put in the lot with Seven and her two boys. On May 15, Ebby started to colic.  Despite great effort, the Ebby died and we now had a second orphan colt.  Zeke had been eating well, be we needed to figure out what to do with him, when we realized that Seven had already accepted Zeke and was allowing him to nurse.  Zeke was a big, strong colt and used to being around Seven and so she just included him in her family herd.

Cooper, the buckskin, has been treated for ulcers.  He is now taking lixatenic for anemia, B-12 injections, and something for building muscle. His growth enzymes were found to be a little low, but I have noticed a marked improvement in his appearance and his energy level.

It’s so cute to see these three colts – a sorrel (Seven’s baby) that is very confident and bulky, the buckskin that is smaller, quiet, needs more care, but has great potential with time, and a bay that is spirited and bulky.  Hopefully with time they will all three grow up to be normal healthy horses.  They are bred to be champions and the longer they are with Seven, the more they are taking on her amazing personality.  Beau is entered in the Go For The Gold Futurity and Cooper is entered in the Alamo Gold Futurity for this fall’s shows.  Seven is taking very good care of these three boys against big odds!

We did not breed this wonderful mare back this year.  It’s a good thing because she now has a big job that requires all of her resources.  She deserves the Mother Horse of the Year award for raising 3 rambunctious colts!