Nievas B14

Goodbye to Nievas

Nievas continued to perform well throughout 2013, when her year-end total reached $107,933, including a Classic/Challenge Non-Pro Championship at the NCHA Summer Spectacular with Brandon. In 2014, the then 7-year-old mare’s show schedule slowed down, but she still banked nearly $40,000 with Brandon.

Nievas BRLosing Nievas was like losing a sibling for Brandon and Rieta Dufurrena. • QHN File PhotoWhile Nievas’ untimely death has undoubtedly limited her future as a producer, Ed said she has two 2-year-old stud colts, a yearling Metallic Cat filly and another yearling colt to carry on her name. There are also three embryos in recipient mares coming next year, and the family hopes to have one more foal crop from Nievas’ oocytes.

But for Ed, the hardest adjustment to make will be Nievas’ absence in the barn. His greatest memories of the talented mare have nothing to do with her performances; they are the moments he spent petting her when he first walked into the barn each morning.

“I love horses, and there was never a time I’d walk in my 40-stall barn and her head didn’t come out. Every day, her head would come out and she nickered,” he said. “These are our friends, our livelihood and our financial investments. I don’t invest in the stock market; I invest in what I know, which is horses. And she was one of the best I’ve ever known.”