Friday, February 13, 2009

So by all means, let's make more...

Okay, so this may never see the light of anyone else's computer monitor. But I'm irked. Again. And I'm stewing about it, and I need to stop, but it keeps running around and around and around in my head.

It's the same old story.

Talking to the farm owner the other night she says, "I need to seriously think about selling some horses."

Which is true.... 5 mares and a gelding.
She doesn't really need that many horses.


But the reason she's thinking she needs less is that she wants to make more. She's been considering local studs and what they have to offer and which of the mares she wants to breed this year, because it's been 4 years since she had babies on the place and she likes seeing babies around.

The last four foals she had didn't "sell." We now have one of them - she gave T one of the weanling fillies around the time we got engaged. Two went to a sale - as weanlings, which I don't want to think about, but I didn't have any control over and couldn't stop. And the last one is still there - the gelding - and I may make an offer on him if all else fails. Sunny's half brother (same stud), out of a nice mare with a wonderful disposition, and he's a doll, but I don't really need another horse....

The three 6 year-old mares she bred on the place. They haven't been started beyond what I've done with them - basic handling & groundwork. Two older mares that have been ridden. But the one that rides well is only fit for a light rider and light riding, and the other although gentle is pretty much just started, and doesn't know squat beyond "don't buck."

Sp she's talking about this stallion and that one, and maybe we should go look at one somewhere else. And I suggest politely that perhaps she might consider instead of breeding this year, spending the stud fee money on getting a couple of the 6 year-olds started and some advertising.... But no.

Because she wouldn't get
her money back out of them.

Ummmm.... At this point you've paid the stud fee to make them. You've paid to feed them for 5 years. You've paid for vaccinations, hoof-trimming & worming. You haven't shown them; haven't had them trained beyond ground work. You're NOT GOING to get the money you've put into them back out of them. At this point with the horse market the way it is, you're going to be lucky to re-coup the stud fee you paid. At this point it's about getting them suitable for using, rather than for a one way trip through some dog's digestive system.

But somehow, that's not the point.
At least not the way she sees it.

And then tonight it was the hay. New bale, I'm peeling off the part that was on the ground so they don't eat mold, and she asks me what I'm doing. Duh!

She says, "Well, they're going to have to learn to eat some mold, because I'm not paying for hay just to have it wasted!" And she starts to pick it up and put it in the feeder.

I was PISSSED. Excuse me, but MY HORSE IS NOT EATING MOLDY HAY!!! I like him alive and not colicking. And I told her so. In no uncertain terms. And then I wrote her a check. She hasn't wanted to be paid for hay because I'm doing all the horse chores and paying for the grain - but I figure if I pay for it, I can "waste" it.

Bahhh!

7 comments:

Mrs. Mom said...

Ooooo boy. OK, soooo.. what about taking her to a sale and getting a couple of the babies that come through? Might be an alternative, and might be able to save a foal/ weaner or two....

I feel your pain though. Seriously.

As to the hay? Dude... plop some sh*tty moldy food on HER plate, and tell HER to adjust, because it does not need to be paid for just to be "wasted".

Hang in there!!

Mikey said...

Wade said the same thing Mrs. Mom did, send her to the sale to buy some. Lord knows they go thru only days old. But some people, you just can't tell em nothin.
I'm amazed that in this day and age, she doesn't know this about the horse market.
And the moldy hay. Unfrigginreal. *shakes head* SO not cool.

SunnySD said...

Thanks, guys. I think the steam has stopped coming out of my ears now. More and more I think it's a case of willful blindness. She like raising Arabians, and she likes having foals around, but she doesn't really know what to do with them once she has them - won't spend the time or money doing anything productive with them. She could have a horse or two and just enjoy having them, but then she wouldn't be a "breeder." Which she's not - not in any real way.

She knows the market's bad. I guess, she just thinks that a) the situation doesn't apply to her, or b) it's magically going to get better, or c) it's no worse than it's ever been. And she won't go to a sale because they're "too sad" to watch(!) - she prefers to think rosy thoughts about where the horses end up.

The hay? I think I walked into a spat between her and her husband. I think I made my point though - I picked up a handful of the moldy slimy crap and asked her if SHE would like to eat something that smelled like sh*t. Hopefully things will blow over. But I'm investigating options just in case.

Something has to change, because I'm feeling like the lucky "enabler" in the situation.

Rising Rainbow said...

Geez! I LOVE raising Arabians too, but I would never consider breeding without having a specific plan for the foal. Just breeding because I love babies is NO reason to breed. They don't stay babies long enough to justify that so you end up breeding over and over. Sooner or later you have to deal with the consequences of the decision and the horses pay in the long run. Very sad situation. I can sure understand you head of steam, I get some myself over this. People who breed like this ARE responsible for the glut of unwanted horses.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Yowww-zzzaaa...A first hand look at why there are too many horses around these days!!
Sadly, I know several horse breeders that are continuing to breed just as many because...this is "just a cyclical thing" and in a couple of years it will all be better. CLANG!!

If she likes to have babies around, how about she contact the Arabian Registry and let them know she has the facilities to foal out a couple of mares for other people? Any rescues in your guy's side of the state that has bred mares that they need a place for?

If she is good at foaling out and making sure momma and baby are well-taken care of, there has to be someone who would love her expertise, without her actually having to create more foals of her own. My mom is an expert at taking care of old horses. I have often told her she needs to find a place where all she would have to worry about was pampering old horses or bred mares.

I hope all works out okay for you though Sunny.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

My bad...that was a double comment, so I deleted the duplicate.