It’s been almost two years since I started watching my Thoroughbred broodmare, Exotic Blue, for signs of imminent foaling. A lot has happened since that cold February morning, when she gave birth to a little bay filly with a white star and one white sock in what first appeared to be a normal delivery.

Jo’s Magic officially turned 2 today (as did all North American-born Thoroughbreds, by the tradition of The Jockey Club – Magic’s actual birthday is Feb. 15). With the launch of TheHorse.com’s new blog stable – including a conversion of my Rejected Filly article to this new interactive blog format – it seems like a good time to post an update.

"Scout" and Brush Back: Three weeks after Jo’s Magic was born in 2007, I welcomed a foal produced by another broodmare I owned then. Raising the two foals together worked great, as they got along well, even if their personalities were night and day. "Scout" was a colt to Magic’s filly. He was stand-offish where she considered every stranger just a friend she hadn’t yet met. The colt was petulant, while the filly seemed to vie for Ms. Congeniality. He needed to be convinced of every lesson; she was eager to please. The two were inseparable until they reached about a year old and – nature being what it is – it was prudent to part colt from filly.

Scout was sold as hip #4701 at the 2008 Keeneland September sale. He was shipped to South America, where his sire (Honour and Glory) is especially popular. Gone is the barn name "Scout," now replaced with his registered name, "H and G Back." You can bet I’ll be watching his progress as a young racehorse – especially because I now have his full sister, a filly of 2008, in my barn