What should I do?

The sale we are planning on taking the foals to is next Friday. They were looking for some more saddle horses & brood mares to "even out" the sale.
I am going to take Trouble. I am also thinking of taking Cali (the pinto) and Secret (Vamp's daughter). They really don't fit into my breeding program. Would you take them if you were me? With 3 mares and 4 babies gone, we'd be down to 14 horses.
I'm also thing of taking Whiskey. This is a copy of her papers. Would you keep her or sell her. She's bred to Pep. Selling her would get me down to 2 broodmares.





She's on the left.

Does she fit your breeding program? Does she have nice babies? Add the pros and then the cons and see what comes out better. From the picture she looks like a nice mare. But I'm not the one that has to feed her. I hate making these decisions. So I really do feel for you.

Thats the thing. She has nice babies. But she really isn't fitting into where I want my program to go. I'm thinking about waiting and selling her privately, because one more isn't going to make a huge difference. I'll already be down to half of what I had here last winter. I just hate selling, but in this business, it's kind of a requirement.
What I'd really like to do is geld both Pep & Gun and breed to outside stallions. It would give me more choices and I could breed to some really nice horses. But I can't imagine Wade saying yes to gelding Pep. If I come up with the money to do Gun, I've got the go ahead to geld him if I see fit. Because Gun's ring allows his testicle to move out of his scotum and back, the vet wants to do surgery so we lower the risk of intestines coming out. So it'll be around $400 or so.
A friend of mine told me to wait till Wade is at work, phone him and tell him Pep tryed to jump the fence, ripped open his scrotum instead. Then tell him I'm bringing Pep to the vet. When actually we're just getting him gelded. I don't think it's a good idea, but I'd sure like to make him a gelding.

The best advise I ever got from a horse friend is, "sell everything you have and get one good horse".. I believe that.. Sell as many as you can and plan for your future. I am going to be right behind you and it's not easy. But, niether is taking care of them.

I think I would just take him in and do it if thats what you want. Trust me, Wade would find out the truth eventually and then you would have to hear about that. I myself wouldnt own a stud, I love breeding to a different one every year if I choose. If you sell her yourself at least you have control over the home she goes to.

For what it costs to breed and keep a stallion I can breed to a pretty dang good one and change it up every year!!!

I like just having my mare(s)...no stallions here...when we have yearling stud colts its all I can do to keep myself from running them to the vet before a sale

Dang stud colts...its just not an accepted practice to sell a yearling gelding as a race horse...people want to make their own decisions...so we let them...and its just that much less we have in them! But ugh!!!!!!

I LOOOOOOVE stallion shopping! We actually went today and looked at 8 nice stallions (well, 5 were nice, the others were decent)...such fun!

That's my thing. If I didn't have stallions here, I could breed to so much better ones. I have like 4 picked out that I would love to breed my mares to. So I'm going to the vet tomorrow to have mares preg checked again before the sale, and set up an appointment to have Gun gelded. I will work on Wade and get Pep gelded. If I sell half the horses, maybe he'll be ok with that.
He was talking a while ago about how when I used to just buy problem horses, work on them and re-sell them, I seemed less harried, had more time to ride (not halter breaking & teaching manners to 5 babies helps), and made more money in the end. So I think I can talk him into it.
So here's my plan
Sell-
Cali
Secret
Trouble
Whiskey
4 of the 5 babies

That would leave us with 12.
Plus, if we get the prices we want, Vamp & Tom will leave too. And Gun once he's gelded and starts thinking he's one. Although Vamp would be hard to sell. She does almost everything around here.
So then I'd be down to maybe 9, not counting the 2 foals we'll have arriving next year.

Well it sounds like you have a plan. That's always good. I wish you luck and good prices at the sale. So what studs do you have in mind? I love stud shopping.

The studs I like are:
Who Whiz It
Seven From Heaven
Custom Pistol
Royal Blue Quixote
Just to start with. What do you like?

I have to think on that one. I always loved Hollywood Dun It. I like some of the ones you mentioned. So let us know when your ready and we can all search for you. That could be fun

Mare hates all studs.. She won't touch them.. i did get her to hold mine for a few minutes that SSA..

I like having my own stallion. I do not have to worry about all the shipping and chute fees on top of the breeding fee and vet cost. And, there are those nasty owners who only want to do this and that. Not to mention taking my mare to someone to let their rank stallion climb all over her and possible injury

I like what my guy does for foals. And, other then the fact he does not go out to pasture with everyone else he is a very nice horse to live with. Thay does make a big difference. If he was nasty he would not be here.

I am still trying to figure out where the stud came up in this thread.. LOL. I thought it was about selling a mare? Did I miss something...

We started talking about selling horses, which turned to gelding horses, which lead into which stallions we like. I should start a new thread. Because we are starting to look for stallions to breed to. Time to look now, so that I have everything ready by March.

Royal Blue Quixote is awsome!

To get back to the original question, good Lord, left with 14, IF you sell? Girl, I thought you were way below that now... did you slip up and buy some more? Ha!

I think you ought to load up everything but young'uns horses/projects, the girls' horses, and yours. Get that number down to where it's manageable, say 4-6. And those 4-6 or whatever should have jobs. If their return, like for broodmares or stallions, isn't taking care of their yearly upkeep, they need to go. However, on the side of projects or a family horse - keep the ones that have been doing the job, not the ones who can't. If the mares' babies can't go for at least $1,000, as long weanlings, then they need to go. If the stud's babies and/or outside breeding doesn't bring in at least $1,200 a year, they need to go.

I love owning my own stallion; however, since I'm not breeding anymore, there's no sense in it. We did Kid's feet last night, and I've just been letting him be a horse out in the pasture - so much easier to deal with, no nipping or trying to get into trouble! As soon as it cools off some more, we'll start back on him. He'll make a heck of a horse for me.

Also, one of the problems with owning your own stallion is, there's something new on the line-up every year. The older bloodlines sometimes go by the wayside, and new ones pop up every year. To me, if you can't have a stallion or a broodmare who's an OWN son or daughter of the 10 top leading stallions in whatever discipline, you're spinning your wheels as far as breeding. There's way too many for sale horses to compete with at this point.

And Bluejay's right, sell a lot to get the premium ones. It takes just as much money to feed a "regular" horse, than it does to feed a real good 'un! I'd absolutely love to have an own daughter out of Smart Chic O'Lena or Carol Rose's horse!!!!!

Well, I had 27 last winter. Have sold 12, but we also had 5 foals born. Haven't bought any.
This is what we're figuring for horses well likely have over the winter

Brennen-
Sandy
Seth- his 2 year old
Caffiene- his yearling 4-H young horse development project
Robin- his weanling in 4-H young horse

Me-
Hickory, my 2 yr old
Penny, my yearling
Vamp- I will be riding her, but if she doesn't sell, I've got someone who will lease her

Wade-
Tom, Brennen's older gelding (he is advertised for sale)

Taegan-
Freckles

Sean-
Tony the pony

Pep- I would really like to geld him, I think I now have permission, but the vet is super busy right now. He wants to do it mid October at soonest.



Want gone, but will likely stay
Gun- I REALLY want to geld/sell this one, have him advertised & someone e-mailed today.
Whiskey- Because we own her in partnership, she
can go to the other guy or sell. She is now advertised.

I know Brennen has 4, but he's paid for them himself and works to pay their keep, so as long as that continues, he can keep them.

Mare hates all studs.. .... I dont hate them but I would never want one. I like boy berries to be gone. I love to look at them at someone else's place. Yes Bluejay, Tommy is a gentleman but I still wouldnt have him at my place
Ok, I will start looking at studs tonight. I have such a busy life I have nothing better to do. So your looking for reiners right?

Yeah, but the way my mares are bred, I also look at cutters & WCH. I'd really like to get into Working Cow Horse. Less repetitive than reining. I like the challenge.

Mare, what are boy berries

So, Brennen & I decided not to breed the mares we will have left next year. Gonna wait a while, see what the market does and just enjoy the horses we have right now.

there are some really nice Bob Acre Doc horses in the working cow arena you should check out by the time you are ready there will also be a whole buch of new nice horses out there

Bluejay wrote:

Mare, what are boy berries

YOU DORK!! They are this things that we fry up around here for appetizers. Care to come for a visit??

I would love to come visit.. But, we will dine out.. And, I think those Rocky Mountain Oysters are from sheep....

Good idea to hold off on breeding those mares and stand by for some thing to give in these terribly hard times.. It's not just us poor folk having this problem.

LOL!!!! Rocky Mountain oysters come from cattle/former bulls. They eat them a lot here.

YUK, when you can have a nice med rare steak.. We band our cattle when they are born. The little things just fall off.. No worry about bleeding or infection either....