OCONOMOWOC, Wisc. — Snow blankets the pastures at Saddlebrook Farm. This is the home of Frosty, an 11-year-old mare who's positively glowing, despite a chilly name and her cold claim to fame. As one of only a handful of Appaloosas to date to be artificially inseminated with frozen semen, it's possible that she'll be the first of her breed ever to foal successfully — live on the Web, no less — as a result of this reproductive technique.

Clearly, Frosty was named for her white-tipped ears, not her warm and nuzzling nature. She's been a fine mother to five foals (and counting!) and endeared herself not only to her family and friends in her Wisconsin community, but also to horse lovers around the world. Countless virtual barn buddies, via Web-cam, watched in real time a few years ago when Frosty gave birth to a foal named Diva. Hundreds were moved to send heartwarming notes to Bill and Susan Theil, Frosty's owners:

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to watch Frosty foal," writes Connie Hoffman, a lifelong horse lover confined to a wheelchair. "Frosty (and Diva, of course) is the first thing on my screen in the morning and the last thing off at night. I am handicapped and your little 'window' offered me an opportunity that I never thought I'd experience. You helped me feel as though I were right there in the barn with you all."

As Frosty nears her due date this time, the Theils will be waiting in good company again, of that they can rest assured — at least rest as well as anyone can hope to while huddled in a horse stall with one weary eye open and focused on a foaling mare. Though the barn will be quiet and dim to suit Frosty, nail-biting throngs will be waiting to whoop and cheer when a leggy creature weighing 70-plus pounds drops, aerodynamically, on the clean hay of Frosty's stall. Countless wide-eyed well-wishers, glued to PCs and laptops, will be hanging on Frosty's every maternal move and her baby's shaky attempts to stand.

Next>> Frosty's Chilly Conception

This latest chapter of Frosty's story began 11 months ago. Frosty's conception was, no pun intended, coldly clinical. Andy Schmidt, a Wisconsin theriogenologist — meaning he's a vet that's board certified in the reproduction of beasts — employed a method known as "deep-horn" insemination using frozen semen that had been collected from Saddlebrook's own sizzling stallion, Zip Me Impressive, aka "Zippy."

The use of frozen semen is common in the breeding of cattle and not uncommon in horses, except with the Appaloosa breed. The official watchdogs of the Appaloosa breed only recently granted permission for this method. The upside of frozen semen is that it ostensibly defies both time and distance. It can be stored indefinitely and shipped worldwide. The genetic wealth of famous and fertile stallions such as "Zip Me Impressive" can be mailed across continents for generations to come.

"Zippy," a flashy dark bay with a spotted blanket, remains "level-headed," according to his owners, despite holding 50 top-10 world and national and year-end titles, including 2003 World's Best Appaloosa.

Of all the superlatives and accolades swirling around the stallion, there's one that just might raise eyebrows a notch higher than any of the others: Zippy's frozen semen is simply magnificent.

"Zippy is fabulously fertile, amazingly fertile," effuses Chris Bessent, the Wisconsin vet overseeing Frosty's prenatal care.

"We used one dose of this semen when Frosty was in heat," Dr. Schmidt says. "She settled and got pregnant in the first cycle."

A certain percentage of stallions' semen just doesn't freeze well, Dr. Schmidt adds, explaining that the frozen semen is less viable than "cooled" semen (the more common method) and less dependable than semen delivered in the natural (albeit old-fashioned) way known as "live-cover."

Because Zippy is alive and well and living at Saddlebrook alongside Frosty, the Theil's didn't need to freeze his semen for breeding her. They could have employed the same cool method that worked just fine the last five times it was attempted, most recently producing Diva. However, the Theils wanted to test Zippy's frozen semen before making it available for shipping abroad.

With Zippy resting soundly on his laurels, the hard work of foaling is left to Frosty who, according to her owners and vets, is more than up to the task, thanks to a sturdy constitution and sweet disposition.

A foaling mare is not a scene that many people ever witness. Unless, of course, you're a barn buddy.

"Mares are pretty sneaky," Dr. Schmidt attests. "Most people don't get to see the foaling. There are people who've had horses for years, and never got to see their mares foal."

As fight-or-flight prey animals, horses have an extraordinary ability to delay foaling by blocking production of the hormone oxytocin that causes contractions, Dr. Schmidt explains, adding: "They'll wait until things are quiet and people are not bugging them. They're tricky. Then they'll lie down and have their foal. It’s a survival instinct."

The neat thing about Appaloosa foals, according to the Theils, is you never know what color you're going to get. Frosty's last baby looked just like his father, Zippy: a black-and-white blanketed, spotted horse. But no one knows what this one's going to be, Bill says with expectant glee: "You can get a solid this year and a leopard next year, with the same mare and stallion."

Appaloosas are beautiful animals, Bill adds. The birth of one always leaves a lump in his throat.

"The sound the mare makes (to its new foal) is so amazing," Susan agrees. "Frosty, who loves being a mom, touches noses with her foal and makes this soft, low noise. There's nothing else like it; it's kind of a low woof and kind of a nicker. It's very emotional."