Balance

I have a lengthy first journal entry of 2016 in the works, but the emotions of the day and the events of late cause me to post a different entry. Carol, the kids, and I have spent the last month being reminded of the balance of joys and sorrows that comes with breeding horses.  We produced our best crop of foals ever this year, we had enormous keuring success both here and in Holland, culminating in our oldest Totilas mare being featured in In de Strengen, and we were recently nominated for Breeder of the Year by our peers.  That's a lot of joy to balance.  But, as those of you who've been doing this as long as we have know, it's going to be balanced sooner or later.  Within the last month and a half, we've now lost five horses.  Our coming three-year-old Don Tango colt moved to his new home.  He had a freak accident in the pasture and broke his leg.  Our two-year-old UB-40 x Vincent colt tried to jump a gate while he was racing around playing, got caught on it, and fractured his pelvis.  Mistral, our 22-year-old Vincent mare, dam to the two boys I just listed, pulled both suspensory ligaments so severely that she was having difficulty getting up and down, so we euthanized her to alleviate the pain.  This week, our beloved younger Totilas daughter from Orchis, Honorites SSF, fell on the ice and fractured her pelvis.  We've been treating her all week, but she aborted her 9-month-old fetus this morning--and, when she went down to deliver, she displaced the fracture and couldn't get back up. We are saddened by all of these losses, but losing Nora is the most difficult.  She was a special mare, and just at the beginning of a brilliant career producing the next generation of SSF superstars.