LEXINGTON, Ky. — At 2:08 p.m. last Wednesday, the heavy wooden door to one of the two breeding sheds at Spendthrift Farm rolls open. In walks a bay-colored, boxy horse with a prominent white blaze on his face and white markings on two of his feet. Into Mischief has arrived, ready to live up to his name and promiscuous reputation.
The shed is modern and spacious. The floor is covered in a deep layer of dark wood chips, springy underfoot (and hoof). The walls are padded and the ceiling is vaulted. As equine bachelor pads go, this is swanky. “It’s a little grand for horse sex,” quips Spendthrift CEO and general manager Ned Toffey. “But the boss [late Spendthrift owner B. Wayne Hughes] wanted it to have some ‘wow’ factor.”
The current object of Into Mischief’s ardor, a 16-year-old mare in heat named Street Beauty, arrived by van from another farm a while earlier. She was prepped for her date in another part of the breeding facility, interacting with what’s called a “tease pony” to get her in the mood. Loud whinnying and neighing ensued. (Once the mare is deemed ready to breed, the tease pony is sent back to his stall unfulfilled. “The world’s worst job,” Toffey says. “I tell people, if you’re a bad enough person in this life you’re coming back as a teaser.”)
In the breeding shed, Street Beauty is facing something that resembles a padded pommel horse, which helps keep her in place without crowding her against the wall. Workers stand on either side of her hind quarters, there to ensure that the coupling (literally) does not go sideways. A third worker, wearing a latex glove up to his shoulder, also assists with the physics of the coupling. Toffey, his daughter, Megan, and stallion manager Frank Howard observe from a control room…