This is Lexlin's Jewel Cahill, our gray mare who we call simply, "Jewel."  We saw her pop up on a sales thread, and, within hours, we had a deposit paid, and she was heading to our farm.  We knew we wanted her as part of our program at first sight (horse-based "love at first sight?").

When we purchased Jewel, the seller was out of Virginia, but the seller was selling on behalf of the real owner who was a friend of hers.  The friend of hers that she was selling Jewel for lived less than an hour from us.  The "middlewoman" had likely trailered Jewel 12 hours the prior month to Virginia, and then trailered Jewel back 12 hours (so she could also once again visit her friend) back to us in Tennessee.  Jewel probably wishes we all would've taken the more direct route to getting her to us with only a one-hour trailer ride.

Jewel's a very good momma mare.  She is working this winter on a third foal with a three-peat breeding to her husband horse, Nazareth (more on him soon).

She's given us two fillies so far that are chestnut-based (more on Flo and Cherry later, also).  She's not yet given us a foal with her one extension gene (which would make it black based) nor a foal that was a colt.  Maybe that's what she has in store this year?

Jewel has been good to us.  Both of her prior births were quick and smooth, and both were also during the daytime hours (very considerate of our sleeping schedules).  For her maiden foaling, she was in a small outdoor paddock attached to the birthing stall when her bag showed.  Our son, who loves helping us out when he's around, simply asked her to stand up and follow him into the birthing stall.  She paused her labor just long enough to do exactly that and then finished up quickly in the birthing stall.  She's such a good girl.

For Jewel's second foal, since we always expect a night-time birth, we were surprised when our horse groomer came to the house to let us know that her water had broken one late afternoon.  Another smooth, daytime birth.

Jewel is very well-made in our eyes (even if she is one of those horses that always looks like a different horse every set of photographs that we get of her).  She's also the horse on our farm that is last to shed.  She's often getting the last of her winter coat shed out a month or two after all of our other horses have donned their summer outfits.  Fortunately, we live in the mountains and we have more moderate temperatures than surrounding areas in the valleys or areas further west off the Upper Cumberland Plateau.

She's a little bit bossy out in the paddocks to the other horses, but we've found that mares that have a little bit of fire in them normally make really good mommas.  She's also a really well-suited companion to her husband horse, Nazareth.  The two of them together rule their pastures as a very gentle and kind King and Queen couple.  Other horses always look to the two of them for leadership.

We're hoping for another great foaling with Jewel this summer.