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Topic: Blessings for Tess (Read 1592 times)
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Beckie
ata
Gold Medallist
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Posts: 269
I LOVE Trakehners!
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Please send blessings out for our loyal mustang mare Tess, whom we helped cross over the "rainbow bridge" late last night.
Tess was a scruffy, tense little mare when we brought her home 9 years ago to become my husband's first horse. Difficult to catch and untrusting, she ruled the pasture and kept my young Trakehners in line. Bob spent the first 60 days getting to know her, leading her on hikes in Topanga State Park after which she became his faithful riding partner. In time she developed into a sassy, dappled, loyal friend with a large swinging walk and snappy Andalusian trot.
Once, as Bob revealed to me that he would stand on her butt in the middle of an open field when his hips or back spasmed while riding, he said "We need to get another Tess." Speechless and saucer eyed at the danger of him standing alone in a field abounding with deer and rattlesnakes standing on top of the mare, I just said..... "Well, there are not many horses like Tess."
She had a foal of her own prior to coming to live with us, where she became Auntie Tess, accompanying each new maiden mare through their first experience at motherhood, and then becoming the weanlings' patient pasture mate.
On Saturday at around 3AM, we were awakened to the loudest banging up in the barn. I jumped out of bed frantically thinking someone was badly cast. Instead, I found Tess contorting in a grand mal seizure leaning against the wall. I ran for Bantamine thinking that she was in pain. By the time I returned she was quieter, but when I took her out of the stall to "walk her out of it" she ran into things and it became evident that her vision had been affected. She suffered another episode at 7AM and by 9 the vet was here to draw blood, administer fluids, iv DMSO and steriods.
Her bloodwork came back normal with no elevated white cell count, no indication of viral or bacterial infection, normal liver function and blood sugar. It was apparent that she had an advanced neurological problem, probably a brain mass (tumor).
At 7PM she suffered another longer seizure lasting about 15 minutes and we called the vet. She left us just before midnight.
My heart breaks as Indiana calls from her stall or the front paddock searching the distance for her old friend and Iggy's babysitter. We had bred Tess to a beautiful chocolate palamino Kentucky Mountain Horse and she lost the pregnancy apporximately 2-3 months ago. We were hoping for legacy foal....... what we have are lasting memories of a very special lady.
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« Last Edit: April 12, 2009, 04:40:47 PM by Beckie »
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WendiK
FEI
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Posts: 147
I love my Trakehner!
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Beckie, my heart is breaking for you and the rest of your horses! It is so hard to lose one of our family members, she is at the rainbow bridge now in good company. Regardless of what a lot of people think, I truly believe we will see our animals again!
Blessings,
Wendi
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fuzzy
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Very sorry to hear about your mare. I recall that you have posted regularly about what a neat horse she was.
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Alicia
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Gold Medallist
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Posts: 353
I love Trakehners!
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So sorry to hear about your lovely girl. Sounds like she was one of a kind!
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Beckie
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Gold Medallist
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Posts: 269
I LOVE Trakehners!
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Thanks all. It has been especially difficult as we are in escrow to sell our house and are planning to leave CA for more horse friendly (or breeder friendly) areas in the next few months. We have decided that the cost structure for raising horses in the LA area is prohibative and the current economic situation will allow us to buy advantageously in another part of the country where we can economically expand our breeding business while pursuing "semi-retirement." (Really not sure what the definition of that is when you have horses.... ha, ha).
However, the real point is that we will have to leave the spirit and memory of Tess here. She loved being at our home (which is not contiguous to our horse property) and the neighborhood is all very sympathetic and supportive regarding her loss. However, that just keeps it at the top of our minds. We have two kids (ages 8-10) who clean out our mare and foal paddock each AM before I turn the mares out and they asked today "where is Tess?" I thought that it was going to break my husband's heart. It is funny... sometimes it is not the ones that you spend the most on, but the ones that you invest the most (time) in that really worm their way into your hearts.
Tess was supposed to be an average horse, nothing special. Yet in the true American way, our underdog grew into a shining example of what love and a relationship with your horse can become.
I credit her with giving me great Trak foals over the past years as she has taken over raising 5 of them after they were weaned. She was also present in the paddock when two of them were born in front of the whole neighborhood..... calmly moving to the background to give the mare space to foal and strategically positioning herself between the birth and strangers. I alway knew when I could leave the new foal and mom out all night...... as Tess and Mom would position themselves on either side of the sleeping foal........ I then knew that no coyote or bobcat would come stiffing around without paying the price of interference.
One of my favorite stories of Tess was when Jefferson, my first born foal here at the house was a baby. The fire engines left the nearby station with sirens blaring and the sound echoed down the canyon..... Tess and Joanna were calmly eating hay at the time with Jeff napping in the far corner of the paddock. When the sirens began to wail, Joanna trotted over to Jeff to stand guard.... and Tess.... she went to the highest point in the paddock and positioned herself as sentry over the area to assure that nothing unsafe threatened the foal and his dam. She knew her job and did it well...
And talk about breaking your heart.... yesterday, Bob said, "you know what this means, don't you...?" I said "No, what?" And he responded "Now we have both lost our first horse." (Twinky, my first Trak left me a few years ago). Boo hoo....... I guess that we have both gone through that passage as horsepeople now.....
RIP beloved girl..... 
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fuzzy
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I don't know where you're looking to go with your herd, but I can tell you I like Indiana really well for horsekeeping.
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Beckie
ata
Gold Medallist
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Posts: 269
I LOVE Trakehners!
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We are investigating several states. Main criteria are low taxes, good land value and good availablity of hay and pasture. We have been thinking about this for some time. We have looked at Wyoming and Colorado and are investigating Idaho and Tennessee.
Fuzzy, I grew up in South Bend and I think that you are just south of there. Most of my family is still back there but I am having trouble returning since I lost my Dad in 05. But Tennessee is in the running because it is closer than the western states to family and has more rain. My husband is from Boston, so we are both a little weary of really hard winters, but I have to tell you that summers in Indiana are great. I took him back in August the first year that we were together and he thought that I was crazy! He said "why do we want to go to Indiana in August?!... I said to EAT!!..." A week of fresh corn out of the fields, fresh tomatos, fresh green beans and fresh fruit and he knew exactly what I meant.
Here in CA they talk about "eating local" which just cracks me up. Having grown up in farm country, I wonder what these people have been doing all their lives???
I will keep you informed as we go forward. Looking for a place to expand the herd and raise great babies!!
Will miss the great vets, outstanding trainers, great stallions and our neighbors here in CA though.... But won't miss fire season, the Santa Anna winds, storms off the ocean with 9 inches of rain in a 12 hour period, hay at $15 to $24 per bale or the liability of idiots who dangle their children over fences in the face of 3 yo horses so that they can "experience" animals......... Now that I have a whole 2 yo colt, the latter just FREAKS ME OUT!!!! 
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Joy
ata
Old Hand
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Posts: 1,270
I love Trakehners!
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What a beautiful mare she must have been, and how sad for both you and your husband. I'm so sorry.
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