Marina...

It took several days to complete Marina’s video. I want to take more videos, some of the mares as well as new videos of Ibn, Jeri, and the kids. The mares, who are the foundation of any breeding program, never get the attention they deserve. Sandy a long time breeder, believes that 60% of a foal comes from the mare. That’s not physically possible, however since the stallions are generally not around for foal rearing, she might have a point. Foals pick up a lot from their dams. In the wild the stallions have more influence, but unless stallions are pastured with the mares in a herd environment, the foals generally never see their sires, more so since AI has become more and more common.

Ibn loves his kids. Currently I have him stalled next to two of his kids (both geldings) and LBM our little stud colt. Stalling him next to a filly I don’t feel to be wise, however in CA we used to let the little girls out to roam the property, and they loved going to visit Ibn. He reciprocated, and was always gentle with them. We can’t quite do that here, but it shows how gentle a stallion he truly is.

While I was editing Marina’s video (AB Marina) Rudy was taking all kinds of tests. He told his doctor to just make an appointment at the hospital for a Cath, because he had a blockage, but he wouldn’t listen. Two weeks he had to wait, and finally he went to Albuquerque for a Cath. It’s the last spot on this one artery to be clogged. Of course things were complicated by an allergic reaction he ran to a new drug that was supposed to replace his Arthritis, and stomach medications. He was very lucky to have survived, or so said the surgeons at the hospital. He had started to swell all over his body before he realized it was probably the new medication that was making him feel so ill. Not listening to his doctor who told him to go directly to the emergency room at whatever hospital was near him, he rested for a day, and then came home. Luckily he has plenty of angels watching over him. He needs them trust me. After over 17 years, I know better than anyone, without his Angels I’d probably be a widow.

Anyway we didn’t get any videos done of the kids since, he felt so bad, and his back was out on top of everything else. He spent the night at the hospital, and I brought him home the next day. Two trips to Albuquerque just about killed me (my back was very unhappy about that, don’t you know), but he should be good for another ten years or so, at least I hope so. This going to the hospital once a year is for the birds.

Meanwhile Rudy’s fixed the Fiero (YES!), my Father is out of the hospital, and Mother, and Father should be moving to Roswell in July – August. I have my friend’s horses coming mid-June, and she wants me to scope out a stallion out here as a lease/purchase for her, JLS Dakota Gold. I had looked at him myself a number of years ago as a possible cross for Angel. It took a while for me to convince Rudy to cross for a half-Arabian, and when I did, I found Sierra’s sire. I still like Dakota, and if we do stand him for my friend, I may yet breed to him. We’ll see.

We are still bone dry here although the monsoon trail is teasing us with a flow of moisture from Mexico. Fires are cropping up everywhere. Downed power lines started a fire in northeast New Mexico, and fires in Arizona are causing a health risk for people in central NM. Ranchers are having to feed their cattle because there is simply no feed for them in the grass lands. This is the worst it has been in New Mexico since 1950. We don’t depend on the land for feed because we only have 41 acres, and since we are in the foothills of the Sacramento’s, the ground is simply too rocky to support much in the way of grasslands. There are cattle ranches around us the largest of which is the Brewer ranch, but they have thousands of acres for their cattle. Still I am sure they are suffering.

The cost of feed has gone up due to the drought, and that does affect us. The one place I go for feed has gone up to $9 for a two-strand bale. Needless to say, I’m not buying their alfalfa. Hopefully the other feed store hasn’t gone up as well. I’ll find out tomorrow when I get hay. So far they have stayed at $7.75/bale. I wish I could get the big square bales. It would cost less in the long run. I can’t use the round bales, because I can’t pull off flakes, and if left in the pasture for the horses to munch on, they munch way too much. What should last for a while goes in a matter of two weeks or less. They are very happy campers for two weeks, and quite plump. We tried that one year, and figured we’d go broke in no time. They would literally eat us out of house and home. We’re not going to do that again any time soon, not at $90/bale for four horses. What were we thinking moving the ranch to New Mexico where there is freezing cold in the winter, with busted pipes everywhere, and bone-dry heat in the summer with the ever looming threat of fire? It’s those monsoon storms with their cool breezes that bring the temps down to the mid-seventies, green meadows, and the lifestyle that only small southwestern towns can offer that got to us. They say a sucker is born everyday, and I guess we qualify. After all, we do have a horse ranch that never makes money, and causes all kinds of stress. Why you ask? It’s those knickers in the morning, the hugs, the joy of a new born foal, and the satisfaction of breeding a horse that is sound, loving, intelligent, and committed to doing whatever it takes to make their human companion happy. It’s nice being that kind of sucker.