Brian
and Diane Alves Paint Horses
AMBLINGS
FROM ACROSS THE FENCE
AMBLINGS FOR JULY
So many months have passed since my last update it's hard to
decide where to begin. First off, congratulations
to Kim Holloway from Virginia on her purchase of my lungeliner
from last year, Paged. It was a unique sale from the start
because everything about it was done electronically right
up until the hauler picking him up.
I posted Paged on Dreamhorse, uploaded his video on Youtube,
corresponded via email ONLY and received payment via electronic
transfer. And, the truly wonderful thing is I was happy
with the home he received and she was extremely happy with the
horse she received. There's always that tentativeness on
both parties I'm sure for her it was wondering if he would
look as he did in the video and pictures, move as she thought
he would and be easy to get along with. My concern not
only was whether or not he would have a home that took care of
him and appreciated him but also was he going to be what
she really thought he would be. The answer to all those
was we were both happy!
We had two foals born this spring. Both mares were bred
to our stud, Wildfire Candy and both on the same day.
Except, one went a month overdue so at least it was spread out
enough so we had an early colt and a late filly. Black
N White Page had a black toby colt and A Current Affair had a
bay toby filly so, we're back in toby land! I have to say
these were our first foals by Candyman and the cross with both
of our mares couldn't have been better. We were excited
to see how they'd do in the futurities.
We started the show year at Turlock with our 3-year-old mare
and did awesome. I finally had a horse to show in Amateur
Halter and she ended up with 2 Grands and 2 Reserves and quickly
closed the gap on finishing her superior in open. Over
Memorial Weekend I took the plunge on my own and hauled her up
to the Red Bluff show (my driving company were the two weenies
J) since Brian was off pig-hunting. Did great there winning
both Amateur mare classes and picked up a Reserve Grand in the
open. Now, there are only THREE more points to her superior.
Then, things kind of fell apart. We'd been fighting a quarter
crack on one of her front feet for months and her increased size
(height and mass) finally got too much for it. After a
shoeing the first part of June it started bleeding and she was
lame. So, instead of pushing her and perhaps crippling
her for life, we quit. She now gets turned out for the
day every day and is enjoying the life of being a "pre broodmare".
It's frustrating at best (so close to "the prize" and
so much fun to show) but her health circumvents a piece of paper.
That took us from 4 show horses down to 3. The two weanlings
(who weaned REALLY well) and my lungeliner. "Elmo"
(Page Me in Heaven Zips Heaven Sent x Black N White Page)
is finally coming along. We had him tested for homozygousity
last year and since that came back positive have left him as
a colt at least for the time being. The challenge
is lunging him because he IS a colt. There's always that
lack of attention and interest in other things. He's settled
down pretty good over the last month and if things go as planned,
his first show will most likely be the SJPHC show in August.
It WILL be interesting since he's never been anywhere before
(not even in the trailer). But, hey what's a horseshow
without a challenge.
Our most devastating horse news came 2 weeks ago. Sunday
morning Brian went out to feed and came bursting back in to tell
me we had issues with the colt (Gizmo). He was rolling
around his stall, hadn't crapped all night and was in a state
of extreme pain. We had wormed him the day before so thought
he was suffering from an impaction. We did all the "normal"
things (banamine for the pain, mineral oil and an enema) but
after about 30 minutes knew we were dealing with a more serious
situation. I called our vet (who fortunately was the one
on call) and 45 minutes later we were at the clinic. Gizmo
was in so much pain Brian rode with him in the trailer to keep
him from going down. Craig (our vet) was concerned because
despite the banamine he'd received, he was still extremely uncomfortable
with pain. They admitted him with the intent of watching
him for several days and waiting for the impaction to pass.
Um..not! By 3 pm that afternoon we were at a decision point.
Operate or put him down. His belly had distended and no
amount of meds could make him comfortable. We had already
discussed the route we'd take and because we owned both the mare
and stud, had bred them ourselves, had little capital invested
(up to this point) AND, he was an exceptional colt we opted
for the surgery. I will say too that we were fortunate
enough to be in a financial position to make that call.
Brian stood in on the surgery and it turned out to be worlds
away from an impaction. The colt had a twist and there
was 6 feet of intestine that had died all which had to
be removed.
Immediately after the surgery, we had a few days that were touch
and go. We received two calls from Craig (one late the
first night and the second two days later) prepping us for "the
decision". Really, at that point it wasn't a decision.
We'd done our best to give the colt all the care he needed but
we instructed our vet to put him down if he deteriorated and
the pain became unmanageable. Fortunately he finally started
to improve and right now he's home and at least right now, on
the upward climb.
We have a long road ahead of us lots of walking (good for
my dietJ), no showing this year (BIG BUMMER since he's an awesome
colt and HUGE) and most likely next year a path of lungeline
instead of halter. OK the last one is good news for
me! He's tall, leggy, has a neck that won't end and is
bred to move. I think I can see the light at the end of
the tunnel on that one.
All told now, we've cut our show horses for the year by 50%.
We now have just the two to focus on my lungeliner and
the late filly. I'll keep you posted as to how these two
progress.
 Aside from the horse front, there have
been many other things going on also. My mom, niece and
I spent an "interesting" 4th of July long weekend.
We piled into the truck at 2 AM on Thursday and drove 18 hours
to Colorado to see my grandmother, then turned around 2 days
later and drove home so I could be at work Monday morning.
It was an EXHAUSTING trip but something definitely memorable
at the same time. We were able to visit and spend some
time with my grandmother, we saw some beautiful country (New
Mexico really has it's moment for desert beauty) and we learned
more about each other. I have to say, right up to two days
before we almost baled on the trip just because the thought
of driving 36 hours over a long weekend was too daunting.
But, we did it. Seriously 3 women, 1 truck and several
bags of healthy snacks and we pulled it off.
As soon as we returned, I spent one stressful week at work then
turned around and headed to Seattle. My oldest sister had
surgery scheduled and Mom and I flew up to be there for it, then
I stayed for the remainder of the week to take care of HER babies
(cats) and get her settled in at home. Without going into
detail I'll say that things didn't go quite as planned (there
is nothing worse than having the surgeon call you into a "Private
Room" after a surgery that has gone twice as long as it
should have) BUT.she's on the road to recovery now and I expect
after she gets over the hump of the next couple weeks she will
feel better than she has in her entire life.
Personally, I've lost a pretty good chunk of weight which is
the first step for me to get my life back. It's amazing
how different you feel in the morning when the challenge of finding
something to wear is because not all the pants will stay up verses
not all the pants will button. It's refreshing, fun, revitalizing
and hopefully something that continues to get "worse"
as I keep working on shrinking my body.
I expect there will be other changes that occur before the end
of the year. Sometimes, a little weight loss, a chance
to think things through and "tough love" are motivation
to take charge of your life.
My quotation for the month is "Never regret something (or
someone) that made you smile". Laughter truly IS the
best medicine.
Stay cool and see you on the back fence.
Until next month,
Diane
Updated 7/19/09
Brian
and Diane Alves Paint Horses
(209)
394-2940
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Where Stars are born