Night after night, we had watched the TV screen, hoping for the mare to foal …. night after night, I had fallen asleep on the couch.

Her name was Mistical Song, and she was in foal to Selket Louchiano, who had starred in the documentary film based on my novel, Fate of the Stallion. Friends had warned me against the breeding, casting doubt on the foal’s personality. After all, they said, Song is an Alpha and her mother was, too. What you’re doing here is line-breeding on Alpha-stuff and you know how that can be. Ron Hevener, you’re going to be sorry! You’re bringing a demon child into the world!

And so it went for almost a year, because horse pregnancies, as we all know, last eleven months. For nearly a year, I heard warnings and admonishments from experienced horse lovers saying I had made a mistake and I would regret it.

Did it matter that the mare was a daughter of a World Champion possessing qualities very difficult to obtain in the breed? Did it matter that I was not only doubling up on the Alpha mares, but on him as well?

No, it didn’t. The only thing that mattered was a “similar” mating they had done years before, which resulted in deformity.

But, was it similar? No matter how much I tried pointing out why this mating was worth a try, my arguments fell on deaf ears.

For many breeders in animal husbandry, there is a vast difference between line-breeding and in-breeding. But, not everyone agrees. In dogs, for example, a pedigree showing substantial line-breeding doesn’t even call for the lifting of an eyebrow. Experience has proven to us that the practice of line-breeding or in-breeding isn’t nearly as important as the health of the individuals we’re intentifying.

It is possible to breed out health and conformational faults very quickly by such breeding practices. It is also the closest thing we have to “cloning” individuals of outstanding quality and value.

Because of my background in dogs, I wasn’t afraid to breed close relatives. As for the “Alpha factor” on everybody’s minds, it didn’t bother me at all, because I don’t believe temperament is inherited. I believe a “tendency” toward a certain temperament can be inherited, yes. But, I do not believe temperament is inherited “intact.” Let’s take a closer look at temperament ….

The sire has a temperament and so does the dam. Dogs do not raise themselves. And dogs in different kennels or homes are affected by all kinds of variables. Most important of these variables are the people who care for, train and raise the dogs.

Pups – and all young animals – are imprinted by who (or what) is first with them in the beginning of their lives. You can teach newborns some very important things in the very first hours of life. It stands to reason that the reactions (temperaments) of most young animals are shaped by the primary care-giver in their lives.

What about dogs that seem to inherit the temperaments of their sires, you ask? Good question. But, let’s consider all the possibilities of environment, training, housing and other human intervention before drawing our conclusions. (Readers are invited to write to me about this. I’d love to know your theories).

As the great moment drew near, and Song was heavy in foal, the people in the countryside grew uneasy. Nervous laughter and jokes punctuated the warnings – increasingly dark and dire.

Was it any surprise that I, too, began to wonder?

What if they were right? What if horses were different from dogs when it came to breeding them wisely? What if I had made a mistake? If I had, what would I do with a demon child horse???

As I watched the mare circling in the fresh straw of her box stall, I held my breath. Slowly, she lowered her great self and stretched out on her side. Raising her head, she heaved … and we ran to the barn.

We didn’t have long to wait.

First, the feet ……. normal ….. (sigh of relief) …. the forelegs, and I took hold of them firmly …. normal (another sigh) …. a delicate muzzle …. please, please, please let everything be all right!

Head, neck, chest, back, hips ….. one more great heave for the back legs … and all in a flush of warm, slimy water.

There, before me, blinked the bright eyes of a newborn foal – looking right at me!

“Welcome to the world!” I said, cupping her face in my hands. And she nickered – really nickered at me – as if to say, “Thank you for believing in me.”

She was stunningly beautiful. Of all the foals on the farm, she was she was right up there with the most typey. “You did it, Ron,” I was told. I felt wise. My experience with dogs had proven a point and paved the way for the farm’s horse breeding program.

It woudn’t be fair of me to finish this story without letting you know a few other things.

While the filly was, indeed, beautiful, and very loving toward people, she was also smaller than we had hoped.

As she stood, my heart sank. Was she cippled, I asked myself, as she struggled to stand? Were the hind legs normal?

They weren’t. Both hind legs were twisted in a swoopig curve, ans so was her spine. In all my years, I had heard of something called “wind swept” but I had never seen it. Apparently, it is caused by the unborn foal lying in the same position for too long as it develops. I had been reminded to run the mares around their pastures for this very reason, and had not been consistent about it.

“Don’t worry, Ron,” I was told. “She’ll grow out of it.” And, luckily, she did.

But, it is the other matter that intrigues me more … because, several weeks into her life, my gentle and beautiful filly (By now, widely known as my favorite) was seen in the pasture dong a most extraordinary thing. One by one, my plump little beauty approached the other foals. One by one, she laid back her ears and bared her teeth, turning occasionally to kick at them. As if that wasn’t enough, when she was finished with her “classmates” she went on to their mothers as well.

Had I believed in temperament being inherited, I would have expected nothing less of this tiny filly asserting her dominance over eveyone else in the field.

It was the approving presence of the big Alpha mare standing behind her all the way, (Applauding every move and blowing kisses to her darling), however, that changed my mind.