FV Farrubi & Her Legacies

Years ago, 12 or 13 maybe, I was looking for a new riding horse.  I saw a mare for sale that peaked my interest.  I liked, errrr LOVED, FV Farrubi's pedigree & what I saw of her in her pictures.  But when I contacted the seller, I found out she was pregnant.  DARN!  I spoke at length with the seller about Rubi & something said in passing gave me pause.  It was just a hesitant pause in my mind, but something that would later prove to possibly be a life saver.

I was offered a package deal on Rubi.  I could have her, her 2 year old gelding (if I'd only known his future), & the foal she was expecting.  The only problem was that I wanted a riding horse & didn't want to wait through foaling & weaning.  So I passed & continued my horse shopping.

A number of months later I got an email from someone who had ended up with Rubi.  This person had been told of my interest months earlier & was contacting me to see if I would be interested since her foal was going to be weaned soon.  She was now 1/2 the original price.  Yes, I was interested.  Then that hesitant pause came back to me.

I contacted a couple of Rubi's former owners & what stories they had to tell.  The gal who had gotten her as a 2 year old, & paid good money, had given her away a couple years later.  She told me Rubi was crazy.  The final incident before giving her away was Rubi flipping out in the palpation stocks & eventually flipping over the rail.  Years later I would meet the vet involved at the time & her story corroborated the total flip out.  The next previous owner told me how Rubi would just "flip a switch" & go crazy.  She said there was no warning & there was no "getting the mare's brain back".  After multiple small incidences, the final episode for this owner was a total bucking frenzy that lead to a hospital stay with a severely broken leg.  In her opinion, the mare needed to be euthanized because she was dangerous.  The 3rd person I contacted told me that he was the only person to successfully ride Rubi.  By successful he clarified that meant he was the only one not to get hurt.  He did complete an endurance ride on her, but the unpredictability was just too risky.  He warned me to NEVER get on Rubi.  He said that all the things you do to normally calm & reassure a horse didn't work for her.  Pet her neck & she'd explode, talk to her & she'd explode, basically nothing you did would bring her brain back.  That hesitant pause served me well.  I told the current seller what I'd discovered & that I wasn't interested.  Until two months later...

When I opened that email I knew I was in trouble.  The seller wanted to know if I knew of anyone interested in Rubi as a broodmare only, at 1/3 of what she was originally asking.  That came to 1/6 of the price I had originally considered paying for her.  I emailed the gal back & asked if she would deliver Rubi to me.  To this day I still shake me head.  LOL

I'll admit that Rubi was freaky scary when she arrived.  Yikes!  You couldn't give her a pat or she'd go ballistic.  It was a bit unnerving to go in the stall with her because she'd whirl, her eyes would roll, & over the top of you she'd go, never even knowing what she was doing.  WHAT had I gotten myself into?  She was thin & sick when she arrived, mane snarled & tail chewed off.  WHAT had I gotten myself into?

Samskrit

DC Kid Rooster

Rubi's first foal for me was a gorgeous bay filly, DreamCatcher Fargo (Belesemo Diego x FV Farrubi).  Unfotunately I sold Fargo as a weanling & the new owner never completed her registration.  What a loss as she was a quality filly.  Rubi's 2nd foal for me was a chestnut colt who would become the horse of my dreams.  DreamCatcher Rabulaun (Rabu Farwa x FV Farrubi) was born in 2005 & came into the world a month premature.  I knew I was going to have a tough time saving the foal & was worried about crazy Rubi & what she'd do as I fought to save her foal.  That first night Rubi & I came to an understanding.  If she'd stay calm I'd do everything in my power to save her colt. She was awesome while I milked her & bottle fed her colt. No matter what I did with Launi, Rubi never lost her brain.  Even with many trips to the hospital for surgeries on her colt's legs, she never completely unraveled.  As soon as her colt was safe & healthy though, she was back to her "episodes".  Rubi couldn't handle pressure of any kind & would ocassionally "melt down".  She did come to trust me though, & would look to me for comfort.  I was eventually able to pet her all over & even clip her bridlepath.  But I always kept an eye on her so I could get out of her way if she bolted.  Her 3rd foal for me was another gorgeous bay, this time a colt.  DC Kid Rooster (DreamCatcher Rajiyyah x FV Farrubi) was sold, along with Rubi, to a friend who loved them both from the moment she saw them.  Kid is still the dearly beloved gelding of my friend.  Rubi's 4th foal for me was 7 years later.  DreamCatcher Auryn (DreamCatcher Alshain x FV Farrubi) is a lovely 2013 filly.  All of my Rubi foals have had a quirky disposition.  Fargo was extremely sensitive & hot; Launi is bold & challenging with an ornery temper, but he's also my heart horse & I know he'll never intentionally hurt me; Kid has Rubi's sensitivity; and then there's Ryn, who's bold & has a bit of a temper, as well as a little of Rubi's sensitivity.  To complete my Rubi Red Family is DreamCatcher Carlauni, the daughter of Launi before his nasty disposition got him gelded.  Carli is a sweet love bug, but can be hot & sensitive like her granddam.  She's the one most like Rubi in her temperament, but unlike Rubi, Carli trusts me & looks to me for her confidence.  She does have a temper but, as she's starting to mature at 5 yrs old, she's leaving those temper tantrums behind.  Sometimes I can see the Rubi look in all of their eyes.

And remember I mentioned I could have originally purchased Rubi as a packaged deal?  Well that two year old gelding has grown to be a truly exceptional endurance horse.  Farraba (Rabba Baron x FV Farrubi) was the 2012 Haggin Cup Winner at Tevis, & in 2013 he won the AERC Championship Ride.  Another son, Samskrit by Aur Samari, has also completed Tevis.

Rubi was laid to rest on Valentine's Day 2014.  While she's gone & no longer runs across my friend's pasture, she has left her exceptional legacies for those of us lucky enough to have them in our lives.  I consider myself honored to have had this quirky, hard to know, exceptional broodmare in my herd.

Thank you so much Rubi, for giving me my Rubi Red Family of Launi, Carli, & Ryn.  They are near & dear to my heart.  Without you I wouldn't have them.  Run free Rubi.  Run free with a peaceful mind.