The 7th 2018 foal has been discovered! This foal was born to two year old, Quillan. Quillan is the 2016 daughter of Ireland and Galaxy. The father of this foal is unknown. She has been named Silver Bow.
Thank you Dennis McCollough for the use of your photos! Abbie and I will be on the mountain very soon! I can’t wait to see this little one in person!
Sandy
Hi!what a wonderful surprise! Electra and Galaxy are grandparents twice this year. I think Quillan will be removed this year but I try not to think about it … It’s nice to see this foal! last year at the same time only two foals were born. On the pictures Quillian seems to be close to her daughter even if she is young I think she can be a good mother with the help of Electra and Pococeno it should be good. I think Shamrock’s father is also the father of Quillian’s filly.
Thank you for your comment. There has not been a final decision released on the possible removal.
Great news but can’t help worrying about a potential removal. Its kind of sad that so far only two mares from the window of opportunity have foaled while there have been so many young moms. Nevertheless it seems that Quillan has a good supporting system and she and her little filly can have a nice life in the mountains until their potential removal.
Regarding the paternity, i don’t think Galaxy is out of the question. I do remember Dancer Cloud’s and Sitka’s daughter who stayed with her natal band and her foals were fathered by Cloud so it could happen again.
Regarding Shamrock, its still too soon to figure out if she is a palomino so her father can be Bolder or Killian, otherwise the chances are fifty fifty between Galaxy and Missoula
Even if we have to deal with an upcoming removal i am glad that more foals have made their appearance this sping, last year was really gloomy without any foals running around, so i prefer more babies even if some of them don’t survive or be removed
The difference though is that Dancer was much older and had stayed with the band longer than is usual before anyone saw her being bred by Cloud. In her younger years she was seen investigating and being bred by other stallions. Dancer staying in her father’s band as she aged led to confusion and a break down of the father-daughter relationship. In order for Galaxy to ne the sire of this filly he would have had to breed his yearling daughter. It’s actually uncommon for stallions to inbreed with their daughters. They recognize the father-daughter relationship allowing their daughters to grow up umder their protection and is the reason the stallions allow their daughters to investigate other stallions and leave the band when they are of age. That relationship is strongly intact at one year. While it is possible Galaxy is the sire, it’s very unlikely. Obviously there are uncommon occassions where a stallion might be an exception, however Galaxy has never been obseeved to show that kind of behavior towards his daughters. In new photos Shamrock very much looks palomino. Galaxy is not her sire and is unlikely this filly’s sire.
Thank you for your comment and wisdom on this Sarah!
Thanks for your comment. I actually haven’t thought about that explanation and i agree that Galaxy likely isn’t the father of the fillies, it just that animals do have unpredictable behaviour sometimes. Its funny how this herd is really closely monitored and yet there are still many surprises, thats how nature work. So i suppose the sire will be unknown for now
SP I wanted to share with you that today I found out from a friend that one of the avid horse watchers observed Quillan being bred by stallion Tecumseh/Chance last summer and the timeline corresponds with this fillies birth. So Tecumseh is likely the father. 🙂
Sp : think the father of Silver Bow and also the father of Shamrock because the two fillies were born in the same period. It is therefore possible that a standard is introduced for a few weeks in the Galaxy band. I think Quillian and Pegasus would have wanted to go with this stallion but that Galaxy would not have wanted. Like Electra at the same age when she was still with Raven and Mateo followed her but Raven wanted to keep her daughter.
Thats great news thanks!!!I am relieved its Tecumseh