[QUOTE=Fred;6550802]
Thank you Somermist.
I’m sorry for your loss of your dear Keepsake, but her name is appropriate,isn’t it?
She will be with you always. Thank you for sharing her story with us.
:sadsmile:[/QUOTE]
Thanks, Fred. Yes I do think “Keepsake” is appropriate. Someday I “may” use that name for one of our foals. My husband has suggested it once before, I just could not do it. I guess I will know when and if that is right.
Take care.
My foundation broodmare, Metierofthefield - http://www.pedigreequery.com/metierofthefield - 1978-2009, was an exceptional little mare. We saw an ad during a vacation to FL for her and went to see her. She was frightened and at a (race) training facility. She was shipped in by an obscure breeder in Alabama who had not bothered to touch her and at 3 years old, she objected to the rough breaking practices of the cowboys there, so she was offered for sale. An App breeder was also interested, so I insisted we buy her immediately! Huntsman was only a yearling at the time, but I was looking to the future. Poor Metier - she was afraid, barely led and very distrustful - it took years to gain her trust completely. She never trusted men or people she didn’t know. Her first foal was by a friend’s stallion and her second was Huntsman’s first foal and the love of my life - Flutie (1985-1992). She had 11 foals for me and everyone was special and hard to not keep. I still have Sneak Preview (1993) and just gave her last foal to a close friend and kept her daughter as a riding horse. She had the walk of a lionness – great range from her shoulder. She was defiant – not one that could be bullied or really told what to do – it was negotiated and asked. But never offered to kick or bite, just said “NO!”, so we worked with that and showed her the respect she deserved. I loved her and she was very connected to me and I valued her trust. She was so fragile although healthy as she aged. She was the alpha mare always – shared a pasture with Huntsman for a time, they loved each other. She was so attached to her last baby – With Panache - named for how Miss Metier did everything. She was such a good mother would even nurse other foals, lots of milk, but her last foal seemed to take alot out of her and I decided not to breed her again – she had done enough. Her foals did dressage, evented, did some hunter shows, played polo and had foals. They were super sensitive, very athletic in movement and ability and were lovely – mostly black! She knew she was loved and treasured – Her last day on earth she was fine but that evening she started having severe colic pain and thrashing – no meds I had were working. I had to wait on the vet as it was Christmas Eve and I was alone with her, helpless to really do much for her. I was relieved when the vet gave her passage to the Rainbow Bridge. She was a few months from turning 32. She is buried back to back to Huntsman and I am honored as well as lucky to have known and loved her. My story really doesn’t do her justice, but she was very special. I saw her face and expression in her grandson this past weekend as he competed in the AEC – finishing 9th out of 33 after only doing 3-4 events in his entire life. It made my heart smile.
PennyG
I love our mares, each is special in their own right. It’s so nice to hear from people who truly appreciate them, and all they give and do!
I used to board at a foaling-out facility and it used to kill me how neglected the mares were. Burrs, hooves grossly untrimmed and in horrible condition, skinny, etc. Sadly that was the norm there, to the point the facility owner used to comment jokingly that he had to dim the bulb in my mares stall because the gleam from her coat blinded him.
I treat our mares the same as I do our riding horses. Hooves stay trimmed, coats stay brushed, and they get apples daily 
I lack in the mane pulling department, but that is universal (my geldings is no different).
Lovely story about Metier TKR.
I am in sad shock this morning.
Yesterday, very unexpectedly, I lost one of my dear old girls, Macassa.
The vet came last night and eased her pain.
Go, Maccie, and thank you dear girl, for those beautiful babies and for the years we had together.
So sorry for your loss. Godspeed.
Gail, I’m so sorry – it seems like the elderly ones are fine one minute and in serioius to critical condition the next. Thankfully, you were there to take care of her immediately. Godspeed Macassa and hugs to you, Gail.
PennyG
I’m so very sorry, Gail. Godspeed Macassa. TKR, what a touching story about Metier.
I am so sorry you have lost another beloved wonderful broodmare. May you ease your pain loving your foals and channeling Garnet’s Cricket Song in the near future. xoxoxoxo
So sorry, Gail…
Thank you Susan, Holly, Diane, Laurie and Penny.
I’m just heartbroken and can’t stop crying.
I knew this day would come, we all know it, but I just wasn’t ready.
I don’t think we are ever ready.
:sadsmile:
RIP
Oh no, I just saw the update. So very sorry. My thoughts and prayers are with you. RIP.
thank you Somermist.
I had written some little stories about some of my horses, including ‘Mom’ and Macassa, but unfortunately my computer died last week, ( a mug of hot tea spilled on it had something to do with it) and with it my stories were lost.
However in this old thread, there is a bit of a story about Macassa, one of her wonderful foals, and a little bit about what we have been through together.
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?t=224441&highlight=South+Bound
We are never ready. I don’t ever WANT to be ready. Broodmares are so close to us breeders hearts.
Hugs Gail. I’m so sorry.
Fred - what a beautiful thread you have started. I am so so sorry for your recent loss.
When I was primarily a rider, I adored my geldings. But my career turned me into a mare person. Maybe it’s because I got to know the girls so well…
Now as a breeder I love the girls that grace my fields even more. I have one of those heart mares… actually a couple but we have a 23 year old that retired here - just one more foal. Four foals later… what can I say? She is the best. More precious than gold in many, many ways.
Here she is with her 2012 contribution. Possibly the best ever.
[QUOTE=VirginiaBred;6562217]
We are never ready. I don’t ever WANT to be ready. Broodmares are so close to us breeders hearts.
Hugs Gail. I’m so sorry.[/QUOTE]
Thank you Randee.
I agree, I don’t ever want to be ready either…
:sadsmile:
Oh no, I am so very, very sorry. Losing a dear old mare is one of the hardest things a breeder can face. :sadsmile:
[QUOTE=dr j;6562924]
Fred - what a beautiful thread you have started. I am so so sorry for your recent loss.
When I was primarily a rider, I adored my geldings. But my career turned me into a mare person. Maybe it’s because I got to know the girls so well…
Now as a breeder I love the girls that grace my fields even more. I have one of those heart mares… actually a couple but we have a 23 year old that retired here - just one more foal. Four foals later… what can I say? She is the best. More precious than gold in many, many ways.
Here she is with her 2012 contribution. Possibly the best ever.
Thank you for the kind words, Dr J and for sharing your mare with us.
“More precious than gold in many, many ways”
:yes: I agree completely.
I looked at your picture and she is indeed a lovely mare, and that is a beautiful baby.
I hope you have many more years with her.
[QUOTE=Home Again Farm;6563140]
Oh no, I am so very, very sorry. Losing a dear old mare is one of the hardest things a breeder can face. :sadsmile:[/QUOTE]
Thank you very much for your kind thoughts Mary Lou.
I was thinking about why we love them so much, and I think part of it is the intensity and emotion of the whole foaling process.
Our mares ask so little of us, and they give us so much.
Throughout the doldrums and dark days of winter, it is those beautiful round bodies, so full of life and promise that give us hope for spring and better days to come.
Macassa was a tough mare, and while a wonderful producer, perhaps the worst ‘Mummy’ ever.
She broke my heart regularly.
But in spite of that she had a sweetness and a kindness that made us love her.
She was always the one who came first when I called…
She had just one daughter who I sold as a weanling…but I have been lucky enough to get her back. That daughter is now in foal, and I hope Macassa will live on in her foals as well.
I’m glad you got Macassa’s daughter back! Did Macassa ever accept any of her foals and how did she get the name “Macassa”? Good luck with grandbabies!
PennyG
[QUOTE=TKR;6563396]
I’m glad you got Macassa’s daughter back! Did Macassa ever accept any of her foals and how did she get the name “Macassa”? Good luck with grandbabies!
PennyG[/QUOTE]
Thank you Penny, I am glad too. I love this young mare and feel that she combines the best of her sire and her dam… I see Macassa very strongly in her.
I bought her directly from her breeder, and she did tell me where her name Macassa came from…but in the mists of time, I have forgotten.
She barely tolerated her subsequent foals and went from indifference to anger in the blink of an eye. We kept hoping she would learn to love them but at the same time didn’t want to put an innocent creature at the mercy of her moods.
So, we made the decision to stop breeding her, and retired her.
We did try ET, and while she caught both times, the embryo did not survive.
:no:
Although she was very frustrating, I still loved her dearly. Her lack of maternal instinct was not her fault, it was just the way she was. She was kind and beautiful in every other way. I am grateful for having her, and while she broke my heart, she taught us much.
About loving something for itself, herself, and not what she can do for us.
One of these days, I will try to write the Macassa story again.
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