THE TRIPLE CROWN TRILOGY by Kimberly Campbell
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The Dream Derailed….

Hello again…. I haven’t written in this space in a while, as I tend to quickly update followers on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/triplecrowndreams.    It has also taken me a while to come to terms with the derailment of my first Triple Crown dream of breeding a racehorse. In October, Lilly aborted her foal, at seven months of gestation. I received a call from Robin, the farm owner, that Lilly was in distress.  She was rushed to the Equine Medical Center in Leesburg.  No heartbeat could be found, and I fought back the tears. Given the advanced nature of the pregnancy, Lilly would need to deliver the foal herself.   She was brave, and the vets were awesome. The stillborn foal was a filly. Lilly would have been an awesome momma. Did Lilly know what had happened?  Or was she just relieved to be without the extra weight she’d been carrying around?   Did she know she was going to have a baby, or was she happy to be in retirement? The tests came back inconclusive.  They did show the placenta was nonviable, meaning that it couldn’t support the fetus.    I concluded that I wouldn’t be putting Lilly back through the heartbreak — for me or for her — of trying to breed her again. In the middle of October, Lilly Bear returned to my sister’s barn, to reprise her role as show horse extraordinaire.    She spent several weeks losing the baby weight and acclimating to her surroundings.  She became reacquainted with her old best friend Randy, along with meeting her new pasture-mates Rose and Sadie. I’m back in the tack, and looking forward to showing Lilly in 2017.   Timing is everything, and my daughter is now advanced enough to ride her as well.    Lilly has also matured, and patiently walked with my young niece the other day. img_42031img_42021   As for my Triple Crown dream?  I haven’t figured out the next step yet. Do I decide to try via partnership, to learn the ropes?  I’ve been chatting with West Point Thoroughbreds on and off over the year. There is the Fasig-Tipton Thoroughbred sale in Timonium, Maryland, in January 2017, and I’m contemplating a visit to see about purchasing a broodmare already in foal, or maybe a yearling or two-year-old. Everything happens for a reason, so I am sure the path will become clear.  Stay tuned….. (P.S. – When I informed the stallion owner what had happened to Lilly’s foal, I was told that, sadly, Tritap, the stud I had bred Lilly to, had died in May of colic.)

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