JS2 Ranch

🚨 EVERYBODY HAS AN OPINION ABOUT WHICH MARES SHOULD BE BRED… BUT WHAT SHOULD A STALLION HAVE TO PROVE?

Pedigree, conformation, athleticism and accomplishments matter. But around here, temperament isn’t a bonus—it is a requirement.

When Chrome is home for breeding season, he lives with mares and foals. That lets me watch what a pedigree page can’t show:

Can he be confident without being aggressive?
Can he approach a mare, accept a no and wait?
Can he do his job without turning the entire pasture into chaos?

In this clip, the mare wasn’t ready yet. Chrome checked in, respected her answer and waited until she made the next move.

So what do we breed for?

The whole package—temperament, soundness, athleticism, trainability, conformation, proven genetics and the ability to live, work and thrive as a horse.

Because a breeding stallion should bring more to the program than pretty papers and the correct equipment. 😂

Follow JS² Ranch for the real breeding decisions, daily ranch adventures and pasture soap operas. Around here, there is always another chapter. 🤍🐴

🚨 FOUR LEGS. ZERO INSTRUCTIONS. 🥹❤️

There are moments in ranch life that never lose their magic, no matter how many times you’re blessed enough to witness them.

His very first job on this earth sounded simple:

Stand up.

Unfortunately, his front end had a plan his back end had not agreed to. 😂

He pushed.
He wobbled.
He almost had it.
Then he gathered every ounce of determination in that tiny body and tried again.

Mama stayed close. The pasture committee gathered nearby. And I became exactly who I always become—the woman whisper-yelling, “COME ON, BUDDY,” as though enough encouragement might convince four brand-new legs to cooperate. 🥹

Before the papers, pedigrees, plans and big dreams, there is this:

One tiny soul learning how to be a horse.

Four shaky legs.
A brave little heart.
And a whole world waiting for him as he searches for his feet. ❤️

Some of life’s biggest victories begin with the smallest, wobbliest steps.

Be honest—were you whispering “come on, buddy” through the screen too… or was that just me? 🥹😂

🚨 IS SHE PREGNANT… OR RUNNING THE OLDEST SCAM IN THE BOOK? 💀😂

Gypsy spent roughly SIX MONTHS abandoned in the woods with two intact stud c**ts.

No breeding dates.
No medical history.
And absolutely no intention of cooperating with any investigation. 🙄

The vet tried an ultrasound. Gypsy acted like that probe was serving her divorce papers. So we drew blood and put the maternity lab on the case.

Meanwhile, this 31-inch woman has decided the mere POSSIBILITY of “eating for two” qualifies her for an unlimited buffet pass. 😂

Now she’s chasing feed buckets, demanding second breakfast and acting personally victimized by the words “Fat Pony.”

Ma’am… a possible pregnancy is not a coupon code for all-you-can-eat.

But give Gypsy an inch and she’ll take the feed room, the barn and half of Oldie Goldie’s retirement. 💀😂

So cast your vote: pregnant… or the tiniest con artist in Texas? 👀

💔 We didn’t know this would be the last baby she’d ever give us.

Classic Elegance SGH — our Ellie. 🤍

She was a great mare, a wonderful mama, and one of those girls whose name stays with you long after she leaves your pasture.

This was Ellie the day she delivered her final foal… and then three months later, still patiently letting that baby climb all over her like apparently personal space was no longer included in motherhood. 🥹😂

Ellie passed peacefully with her new owner, who is also a veterinarian, and that gives me a tremendous amount of peace. I know she spent her final days loved, watched over, and well cared for.

There are horses you own.

And then there are horses you remember forever.

Rest easy, Ellie. 🤍
Classic Elegance SGH.
You will always be remembered here.

If you’ve ever had one of those special mares you still think about, tell me her name and her story. Let’s fill these comments with some really good girls. 🤍🐴

🚨 THIS LITTLE C**T HAD MORE SPOTS THAN HE HAD HORSE… 😂

As a baby, he looked like Mother Nature tripped and spilled the whole paint bucket.

Spots on his face.
Spots down his neck.
Spots clear to his toes.

There simply wasn’t enough baby to hold all that color.

So the question was: would he grow OUT of those spots… or would the rest of the horse eventually catch up?

Well, bless his heart—the boy grew INTO every. single. one. 😍

And the apple didn’t fall far from the very spotty tree. All of our spotty babies originate from my sister’s program at Reiter Farms. She owns their sire, Wapz Navajo Danczer—and that stallion throws color around like confetti at a parade.

Subtle clearly does not run in that family. 😂

And around here, the spots are only the beginning! From spotty-body surprises and abandoned-pony soap operas to real-life love stories, live foaling cams and brand-new baby fairytales… there is ALWAYS another chapter being written.

Usually because somebody in the pasture made a poor life choice. 💀😂

Follow JS² Ranch for more fun every single day!

Now be honest: which one wins—tiny “more spots than horse” baby or the full-grown spotted showstopper? 👇

🚨 GYPSY ADOPTED A BABY HORSE… THEN DISCOVERED HE CAME WITH TEETH AND NO RETURN POLICY. 💀😂

When freshly weaned Preacher joined the herd, Gypsy took one look at him and decided he was her baby.

No interview.
No background check.
Apparently, no discussion of benefits. 🤦‍♀️

She expected one sweet little foal to love.

Instead, she got a feral teenage c**t who chews on her mane, bites his actual sister, and treats personal space like a weak suggestion.

Now this 31-inch mare is running pasture daycare, chasing youngsters twice her size, and yelling, “DON’T BITE YOUR SISTER!” like she’s been a mother her whole life. 😂

The adoption is final, Ma’am. Management offers no refunds.

Boy moms, what’s the wildest phase your son went through—and did he ever stop putting everything, including his siblings, in his mouth? Asking for Gypsy. 💀

🚨 WHEN DO YOU STOP WATCHING… AND START HELPING? 👀🐴

With Molly getting closer to having her very first baby, I thought this one was worth sharing again—because when those foaling cameras go live, I already know this question is going to come up. 😂

“WHY AREN’T YOU HELPING HER?!”

Or, depending on the situation…

“WHY ARE YOU INTERFERING?! LET NATURE WORK!”

Welcome to horse breeding, where apparently you can be wrong from BOTH directions. 💀😂

Here’s where we stand:

We WANT to let nature do her thing.

A normal foaling is something a mare’s body was designed to do, and if everything is progressing normally, baby is presented correctly, and mama is handling business?

I am perfectly happy to sit on my hands and let her work.

I don’t need to be the main character in somebody else’s delivery room. 😂

But that does NOT mean we won’t intervene when we believe a mare or foal needs help.

This birth is a perfect example.

We watched.

We gave her the opportunity to progress.

And when it became clear that she needed a little assistance, we stepped in.

Not to drag a baby out because we were impatient.

Not because watching a mare work made us uncomfortable.

Not because Facebook was yelling at us through the foaling cameras. 😂

Because THIS was the point where helping became the right decision.

And once she no longer needed us?

We backed off and let mama finish doing what mamas do.

That’s the part I think sometimes gets lost.

Good intervention isn’t about helping every time.

It’s knowing when NOT to.

There will probably be moments with Molly when she’s pushing and working hard and everybody watching the cameras is screaming:

“SOMEBODY HELP HER!” 😳

And we may be sitting there doing absolutely nothing.

That doesn’t mean we aren’t paying attention.

It means we’re watching very closely and giving her the chance to do her job.

And if something changes?

If presentation isn’t right, progress isn’t happening the way it should, or we believe mama or baby needs us?

Then we step in.

Hopefully Molly gives us the world’s most boring, textbook maiden-mare delivery and my only contribution is standing nearby looking sleep deprived and useless. 😂

That’s actually the goal.

But if she needs us?

We’ll be there.

Because sometimes good horsemanship means knowing when to lend a hand…

and sometimes it means knowing when to GET OUT OF THE WAY. ❤️🐴

So as we get closer to Molly’s first foaling and prepare to turn those live cameras on, consider this your friendly disclaimer:

If we’re not helping, there’s probably a reason.

And if we ARE helping… there’s probably a reason for that too. 😉

Now horse people—be honest:

Are you good at sitting on your hands and letting a mare work… or are you internally screaming “LET ME HELP YOU” the entire time? 😂👇

🚨 WILL HE MAKE IT THROUGH THIS DAY?

I don’t know how many more 100° days our 37-year-old man has left in him…

The coughing is gone. He fought his way through pneumonia. But this brutal Texas summer has taken a BIG toll—and today, his rapid breathing and exhaustion scared me.

He’s being hosed down. He has plenty of shade, fresh water, and people watching him closely.

But sometimes you can do everything you know to do and still feel completely helpless watching an old horse fight through one more miserable day.

The heat finally breaks in THREE DAYS.

We just have to get him there.

And then there’s her…

The tiny abandoned mare nobody planned on keeping.

We always joked that Gypsy married Oldie Goldie for the barn. But somewhere between stealing his retirement suite and turning him into a reluctant family man, I think she accidentally fell in love.

She came here needing somebody.

Now I’m not sure what her little heart would do without him.

Hang on, Old Man. ❤️‍🩹

PRAY FOR OG.
PRAY FOR GYPSY’S HEART.
WE JUST NEED THREE MORE DAYS.

Have you ever watched two animals choose each other when neither one was looking for anybody? 🥺

🚨 I HAVE OFFICIALLY BEEN REMOVED FROM THE RE**AL PROBE DEPARTMENT. 💀😂

Last night, I pressed an equine endorectal probe against Del’s belly and expected it to magically transform into a convex scanner through grit, prayer, and deeply misplaced confidence.

Del cooperated.

The machine worked.

The screen produced what appears to be either a baby, weather radar, or a haunted Etch A Sketch. 🤦‍♀️

So management finally admitted she owns the wrong probe for the external job she actually wants to do.

The correct convex setup arrives FRIDAY. 🚨

That means five bellies are officially going under investigation—including Molly, who is far enough along that if I don’t find a foal, I should at least locate one very large baby bone. 😂

My veterinarian can keep Internal Affairs.

I’ll be heading up External Investigations and the Tiny Goat Gremlin Division.

Before Friday, give me your best prediction:

How many of these five scans do you think will actually show babies? 👀

These home scans are preliminary; my veterinarian still handles official reproductive exams and anything medically concerning.