I got an email yesterday with the description “Krystie’s Boo-Boo”, and two pictures. She did a good job of it I must say. I told Sherry that she must have been jealous of Sierra, and just had to have stitches of her own.
Krystal is Marina’s third foal. We bought Marina, and Moraddinn in Buckeye at an auction. She was small for her age (a year and a half), but her personality said Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. When she was little we used to call her little Miss Priss, because every time she didn’t want to do something, she would push out her lower lip in a perfect pout. There are many stories I could tell about her early school days, but the best one is the day Rudy was working her, and she really didn’t want to do what he was asking. She decided to throw a temper tantrum, tripped herself up, and ended up with Rudy still on her back on the ground. I’ve never seen a horse so surprised in my life. She totally didn’t know what to do. She looked at Rudy as if to say what happened? When she got up she had this very sheepish look on her face, and was totally embarrassed. Needless to say after that the lesson went very well.
Then there was the time that the cinch broke on Rudy, and he slowly slid to the ground. Good girl that she is she simply stopped, and looked at him as if to say, what the hay are you doing down there. You don’t belong there. That’s our Marina, while she may be a pistol, she always does the right thing. She is the most well behaved, and well trained horse we have. She loves to be ridden, so much so that she gets all excited, and it’s twenty minutes of bouncing around until she calms down enough to only do one thing at a time when you ask her to, and not before. You have to understand that’s after we have chased her in the arena, and she has done dozens of circles at a full gallop. Then she’s absolutely perfect on the trail.
Both her, and Moraddinn share a common sire (Marina), and grandsire (Moraddinn), named Marax. While I have looked I haven’t been able to find out anything about him. At one time I did find a half-sister of Marina’s up in Michigan I believe. She has other notable Arabians in her pedigree as well, MS Santana, Bask, Ghzi, Abu Farwa, Arax, Nagasaki, and Witraz to name a few. Those at least are names that I recognize. While I have learned a lot about bloodlines I am far from being knowledgeable.
When we first got the kids Rudy was worried not knowing how Sara would react to trespassers in her territory. She couldn’t be put into pasture with other horses because she was such a dominant mare. Now here we are bringing home two little twirps. I told Rudy she would be fine, and indeed she was. She was so funny, she actually adopted them as if they were her own. We only had a little more than an acre, but the whole back was fenced so we bought some corral panels, and made two stalls inside the pasture. Every night Sara would stand guard over the two babies daring anyone to come near. Those were her kids, and she would defend them with her life.
Rudy often says that Sara taught Marina everything she knew so she would be the next in line, and so she did. Marana’s personality is so similar to Sara’s she could almost be Sara. She is just as good under saddle. Small and powerful, she can turn on a dime, and go on forever. Unfortunately she also shares one other thing in common with Sara, she too has Cushing’s.
When we moved to California one of the vets we used commented on Sara being a Cushing’s mare. I of course had never heard of it, and neither had Rudy. The tell tale sign was her coat which could get as long as 3” to 4”. It got to the point that I had to clipper her every summer. She also had the sway back, and the hay belly. This was in the late ninety’s. When we moved to Auberry the vet there basically told us there really was nothing that could be done for her except to give her pain medication, which we did in the form of Yucca. It seemed to help her some. When she started to founder that was it, we had to put her down. Rudy couldn’t bear to see her suffer. If we had known then what we know now, not only would we have babies from her, but also she would have had a pain free life, and a much longer one.
The first year in New Mexico we couldn’t get anyone in foal, not even Sadie who is a little hussy, and takes first time every time. It came to the point that Marina wouldn’t even come into season, and then one winter her coat was exceptionally long, and we knew, she had Cushing’s. She started to have problems with her feet so we called in Warren to confirm her diagnosis, which he did with a blood test. We were heart broken, but in the meantime I had done some research, and added Chaste Berries to her diet. I didn’t really see any change so Warren started her on Thyro-L. We finally saw improvement, but she still didn’t come into season. We added Pergaloid to the Thyro-L, and that did the trick, Marina was in season in no time teasing Ibn shamelessly. We bred her, and continued the Pergaloid up to her last three months as it can inhibit lactation. Krystal is the result of that breeding. We have not had to go back to the Pergaloid, and she is cycling normally. We will breed her again this summer, and keep her bred. It seems that some mares do much better if you continue to breed them, possibly because they don’t have the hormonal ups, and down of regular cycles. I don’t know, and I don’t care, as long as she is healthy, and pain free I am happy. Besides she produces wonderful babies.
Like her, Marina’s babies are small, and powerful. They are also super sweet. Aulina (her second foal) is in Gilbert, Arizona. Her owner has been working her, and hopes to show her in Scottsdale. That would be wonderful, not only for our ranch, but for Marina, and her adoptive mother Sarashea. I can’t think of a better legacy for Sara than to have her granddaughter (in heart) showing in one of the most prestigious shows in the US. I can almost feel her smiling down at us with an approving look on her face, saying job well done.
No comments:
Post a Comment