September marks another anniversary for DeLuna Acres. It’s hard to imagine we started this venture three short years ago with a handful of bottle babies and have now grown to forty. So much has changed in such a short period of time. Lots of really proud wins and, of course setbacks, too. Every year I use this milestone as a look back to reflect on the wins and setbacks. Without further adieu …
Our young herd had another strong year in the show ring, participating in seven shows including our first trip to the ADGA National Show in Redmond, OR. Despite the small number of animals taken to shows this year, we were really proud of the results:
- 31 Class Wins
- 3 Grand Champion Wins
- 5 Reserve Grand Champion Wins
- 1 Best in Breed Win
- And a 13th, 14th and 19th place finish at Nationals
A second highlight for the farm were the solid numbers recorded in this year’s Linear Appraisal Test: 3 scoring 91 EEEE, 2 scoring 89, 4 scoring 88, 3 scoring 87, 1 scoring 86, 2 scoring 85 and 1 scoring 84, with seven of our does recording an E in mammary. So incredibly pleased with the results for such a young herd and excited to see what the future holds.
A third highlight was receiving notification from ADGA that three of our girls, Solarus, Venus and Quartzite were awarded their Superior Genetics (SG) Designation as two year old does. Hoping for many more to come in the years ahead as our does continue to mature.
The highlights weren’t without their share of setbacks. On June 23rd we lost one of our top senior does, Quatorze to twisted gut. Ten days later we lost our most promising doeling out of Pot of Gold to enterotoxemia. Both were a hard and painful reminder how little we really control despite the great care provided to our herd.
My late mother always said that setbacks come in sets of three and this was no exception. In June, Shelli made the personal decision to permanently relocate back to her home state of California to live. I made the commitment to myself, friends, family and customers to continue on with this venture and see it through to the end. There are many days when I question if it’s all worth it and it takes me about one minute to come back to my senses that YES, it really is all worth it. I love these animals like family and I am not about to throw the towel in. So onward to year four and hoping the wins significantly outweigh the setbacks.
And before I close, none of this could have been possible without the dedicated support and guidance of friends, family and most importantly great mentors. I will be forever grateful to each of you.
All The Best,
— Jim