Hello to the board!

I just found your website a few days ago and have been lurking. I'm looking forward to getting to know the place and sharing my horse obsession.

Welcome aboard.

WELCOME and look forward to chatting with you. Can't wait ti hear your horse tales...

Thanks for the welcome you guys! I'm still browsing and trying to get a feel for the board. I'm looking for a place where adults can enjoy horses and reasonable conversation without having to wade through too much of a battle zone. Hopefully this is a place for that!

Jump IN! Welcome aboard, a small group, but we are a great group! Just ask us!

Invite anyone else you chat with, we can always use some new topics and Friends.

This group is very diverse in what we do with horses.. We really don't do the attack mode.. May not always agree. But, that is what the board is for.

Welome to this great place. Its small but fun, and your joining us just in time to see the new babies arrive. The only time you really get ripped apart is when we have to wait on pictures. I'm not gonna mention any names though.

LOL.. sounds like a nice place! Thanks for the welcome. I can't wait to see the new babies!

Ok..finally getting around to writing my introduction. Sadly I lost my mother on December 22nd last year and it has been very difficult dealing with everything since then. I am coming out the other side slowly.

My husband and I love horses and both rode as youngsters but then were away from horses for many years. We always dreamed of having a "farm" and trying to be as self-sufficient as possible and finally we were able to settle down and buy a small farm/ranch. My husband retired in the US Navy and then went on to work in the private sector before retiring a second time from GTE/Verizon. Once we got back into horses we couldn't stop. We have too many but they are very well cared for. We have friends who help us ride and keep them respectable..lol.. We hope to dowsize both our horses and cattle in the coming year. I forgot to mention the cattle. We also raise Black Angus Beef and sell most of our calves privately for the table. I currently work as a waitress at Cracker Barrel.

We always loved Appaloosas and when a local breeder died suddenly and his stock became available, we bought 4 mares and one filly. We have since sold the filly but retained the 4 mares. None of them were saddle broke and they actually had not been handled very much so they have some respect issues. We have been learning a lot as we go and if I could do it all over, I'd learn more before jumping in. Still, where we are is where we are..lol.

We bred our mares for the first time this spring and so are expecting 4 bundles of joy in April and May 2010. I'm very excited as I really like the stallion we chose. we have been criticized for choosing one stallion for such a diverse group of mares. While I can agree to some level, I still believe this stallion will compliment each and every one of our mares in some way. I have also been criticized for breeding for color. I can understand that argument but honestly, I need to like what I look at before I can get more involved and I see nothing wrong with aiming for color so long as it is not the primary focus. The stallion we chose is a fewspot and does indeed have a color guarantee. Appaloosas in particular are penalized by their registry if they do not have color.

Again, If I had it to do over again, I'd not breed all 4 of my mares. We have only managed to get one of them under saddle and the second is scheduled to be put under saddle once the baby is weaned next summer. Our current plans are to leave the two older ones to be left as broodmares. We do make a commitment to our foals. If they are not sold and are of age to be put under saddle, we are committed to getting it done. We try to make their lives as productive as we can and do as much as we can to ensure they will have a decent future with or without us.

Our ranch is still a work in progress. We still have barbed wire in places unfortunately and lots of things on our "to do" list but we are trying to reach our goals one step at a time. I have put pictures of a few of our horses in the gallery section. That's about it from here. I look forward to getting to know you all!

Is there any way I can have an email sent when topics I am watching are replied to? I have looked but can't find anything. Thanks for any help!

Neat! I LOVE CRACKER BARREL! Id never take home a pay check from there! I think a good name for a Appy is, are you ready for this, App for that or Ive got a App for that.. Hee hee.. Like the commerical for the app phones. Hee Hee

Triple J Quarter Horses wrote:

Neat! I LOVE CRACKER BARREL! Id never take home a pay check from there! I think a good name for a Appy is, are you ready for this, App for that or Ive got a App for that.. Hee hee.. Like the commerical for the app phones. Hee Hee

Well I try to go straight through the door at CB so I DON'T spend everything..lol. We do get a good sale once or twice a year where we get good discounts on their products. I normally buy up stuff for Christmas then. LOL..re your Appy name I want something really pretty for her because she's so pretty. Still working on it.

Oh, you mean you have one to name??? We love to help name them, post under general, and put a photo of her, and her pedigree, We can come up with some dandies sometimes!

Triple J Quarter Horses wrote:

Oh, you mean you have one to name??? We love to help name them, post under general, and put a photo of her, and her pedigree, We can come up with some dandies sometimes!

Will do

Hi! Welcome! Im always the last to post around here, lol. You will like it here. There is rarely any drama, no waders needed! As mentioned above, we LOVE to see pictures, so start sharin!!

Bucks&Blues wrote:

Hi! Welcome! Im always the last to post around here, lol. You will like it here. There is rarely any drama, no waders needed! As mentioned above, we LOVE to see pictures, so start sharin!!

Hi B&B! I uploaded a bunch of my horses pics in the gallery section. Give it a look. I had to go out of town for a few days so haven't had much "internet" time. I love the thoughts of NO drama..lol.. Looking forward to this place.