Life is bittersweet at the ranch right now.
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For the past three years, Dad had been working with Audrey's two oldest boys in developing a small broodmare farm. Nothing big, just some really nice hand-picked mares. It was amusing to watch them pour over stud pedigrees to get the genetics just right for a potential All American Futurity winner and exciting to watch the foals being born.
As with any new venture, they encountered some bumps along the way. One colt arrived prematurely and didn't make it and another had to be fitted with a special shoe to help his tendon stretch out properly.
"Ol' Magic Shoes" would pitch and buck until he could throw the shoe free and the next thing you know, there the boys would go, truck and trailer for another shoe.
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[caption id="attachment_4477" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="Jess Agrouvatin - Easter Morning"]
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Well, their first baby, Jess Agrouvatin, is a yearling now and is slotted to sell in the TQHA Yearling Sale in Houston next week. Mother has stepped up and has been helping Bryson every morning and evening to hand exercise and groom Jess so he will be in top condition for the sale. It is crazy to watch the coddling:
Don't expose him to the sun during the heat of the day - that'll mess his coat up.
Hand exercise him in the round pen in the morning and evening - that'll build those hip muscles up.
Don't let him near the other mares - they might bite him and scar his coat.
Give him "the" special mix of feed and vitamins .... and on and on it goes!
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So today, as I watch them start to pack their gear and supplies, I look with anticipation and regret at next week's yearling auction. The boys will be selling their first baby, Jess Agrouvatin, Hip #184, and what would normally be a farm's time of celebration will be tinged with bittersweet memories with the absence of the one who started it all.
We are sure going to miss Dad, but are comforted at the same time as we see his legacy live on in the boys.
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For all men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord stands forever. - 1 Peter 1:24-25
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