And onto 2012

Well, I survived my last semester at school, but I blogged less than I ever have since starting my blog a few years ago!  The semester went well, but my time was pretty focused on school, then Wren (when I came home and she was awake), then school in the evening after she was asleep.  And weekends were focused on family when I could, but studying when I had tests looming early the next week, which thankfully were not often.

While I did visit them in the pasture (Wren really likes the horses), my horses have mostly been ignored.

I did make time for some hoof trims and did ride once or twice over the course of the semester.  Now that I'm on winter break (for a whole month!!!), and the holidays are over with, I finally feel rested and recovered.  And I have now ridden three times since Christmas!  I know!  That's a lot!  And I have the sore butt to prove it! 

Sadly, I've put the young horses on the backburner and really have not done any work with them, even though I had Griffin ready to work with me before school got busy.  I've really decided that I need to downsize my herd, but that is so hard to think about.  I worry about where they will go and what may ultimately happen to them.  So making that decision is really hard, but I know I will not have the time to work with them.  My original three are never for sale (Cody, Chico, Catlow), but the others are all being considered up for sale.  I'll work on that more this spring, since I doubt anyone is looking to add to their herd in the middle of winter.

And my nice snowy horse picture that I added to my header is sort of deceiving.  That picture was taken last winter in February.  We had a lot of snow.  This year, we have NO snow so far (the pics in this post were taken about a week ago and reflect what we truly have, with the exception of the dusting from a couple days ago which will be gone when it hits melting temps tomorrow).  It's been a crazy mild winter.  A blessing in some respect (it sure makes it easier to feed our 150 cows and horses and I've been able to ride anywhere I want), but I do miss the snow.  I guess I won't be cross-country skiing anytime soon!

And even though I haven't blogged at all, I have still kept up with most blogs I've always followed, just reading them whenever I needed a mental break while studying...which is often!  I hope you all had wonderful holidays!

Sassy has a new home!

And amazingly, it was not any of my advertisements that found her a new home. My nephew was also putting the word out and we are very happy with the people who decided to take her. We know the family fairly well. They live just a couple miles down the road from us and they raise beef and have a few donkeys and llamas. They often borrow our cattle chute to work their cattle. Well, they have decided to get back into horses and have purchased a big appaloosa. They want a second horse so mom and daughter can ride together and they really like Sassy. They know she is young and green, and so they are planning to send her to a trainer for a tune-up in a few weeks. They just took her home today. I am very happy. I think it sounds like a great home for her. I am so glad she is getting some further training before they go ahead and start riding her. And the very best part is that they live right along the highway, so we will be able to see her out in their pasture when ever we head into town! And you know, if they are that close, perhaps I can hook up with them for a trail ride someday in the future too.

Now, I can get back to focusing on my horses and not feel like I need to be working with Sassy in case I get anyone out to look at her. It's over and done with! And I hope I never need to sell another horse ever again!

internet dangers

It is a dangerous world out there and then add the anonymous and ubiquitous nature of the internet to that. I hope to be able to teach my child about the dangers of the internet so that they can view each and every interaction with suspicion and not invest much in them. It's sad that we have to do that, but we must in order keep ourselves safe or to avoid getting scammed.

I've had several people contact me about Sassy via the ad I placed on dreamhorse. Most of them ask a few questions, but never respond after I answer them. One sounds interested and we emailed quite a bit, but she has to sell her horse first. And then 3 of the 9 total responses I've gotten have been from scammers! Of course, I figured that out by their response to my response email, and then by their complete lack of response when I asked them for more info and stated that I would not make this sort of transaction solely over the internet and that they must answer my questions and contact me by phone. I just logged into dreamhorse today to see if there is a way to report such scammers and lo and behold, they actually flagged the three messages for me saying that they had other people report them as potential scammers. That's really good of dreamhorse to do that and try to protect their users. It just floors me that there are scammers that try to specialize in the horse for sale world. I guess they are everywhere though...where there is a niche, there will be a scammer. And these scammers have horrible grammar - I'm guessing that they are foreign. These scammers are easy to pick out. It'd be scary to try to deal with a scammer that actually does a better job at hiding it. What are the essential tips to pick out a scammer? There are many, but the most important thing is to never complete a transaction like this solely over the internet. While yes you can get scammed by someone you meet face to face, it is so much less likely and hopefully you can pick that person out as dishonest. Over the internet is difficult though.

Here is the latest scammer and my responses to them:

Initial contact email from scammer:

Hello Am good about this horse and i will like to buy it for my hubby, we have two horse which we love so much,i will like this horse to frolic with the other horses. I want to know its condition 2. Reason for selling 3.....what is the final asking price . and hit me up with more photographs if possible

My response:

Sassy is in good pasture condition - she's not fit, but she lives in a large pasture with other horses that keep her very active, so I'd say she's ready to trail ride, but would need further conditioning for other disciplines. You can see from the photo that she's got good weight on her.

Sassy is being sold because she is green and I don't have time to work with her. She was my nephew's horse, but he lost interest in her when he bought a motorcycle. He only rode her once after buying her from a friend (who did all the training on her) who was heading to college.

I have not decided on Sassy's final asking price. I don't want to drop much below $750 because she is a very nice horse who someone put a lot of work into and she needs to go someplace where she will be used. But she needs more work - she is green. I can be negotiable, to the right home, but I'm not bargaining with price until I actually get a person out to see her.

Where do you live? What is your husband's riding experience (because Sassy needs more work - either further training with a professional, or an experienced rider). Do you have a trainer in mind that you'd send her to?

Scammer's response (directly cut and paste so grammar and punctuation is the same)

Thanks so much for the prompt response to my mail,The price is okay by me,I
really wish to be there to check it but i am not chanced due to My job,Payment
will be via certified cashiers check,I will also wait for it to get cleared
before our family vet come for pick up ,I believe what I am buying from you is in
good condition so I want to secure the purchase to avoid loosing it,Concerning
the pick up, our shipper would be at your place to check on the present
condition of it and he will also take care of the transportation, for the pick
up after you have received and confirmed payment .please do provide me with the
below information to facilitate mailing the payment to you so as to have this
transaction completed ASAP
Your name and address your phone Number

And my final response:

Your email response sounds like a scammer (because you do not address the object for sale (horse)). I would appreciate a response to the questions that I asked in the previous email in order to show me that you are seriously interested in the horse and also that you have the horse's best interests in mind. Also, I do not make such important transactions solely via email. I will need you to call me on the phone so that we can discuss this. Please call me at ***-***-****.

I decided it was okay to list my phone number in my response because it is listed as a contact number in my dreamhorse ad, so this person already has access to that, but not my full name or address. And of course, the same precautions apply if I were actually to be contacted by phone about Sassy, although I doubt this scammer speaks good enough English to be able to pull of such a scam over the phone.

My neighbor and I worked with Sassy in his arena yesterday. Well, I sat and held the baby while he worked with her! We didn't ride her, just a ton of ground work. She's definitely rusty and could use a little more respect work, but she is absolutely unflappable. She doesn't get worked up if she gets spanked with a whip and she acts like someone just taught her to accept a tarp yesterday. I think her unspookiness is her best asset. Anyway, here are some pictures of her moving yesterday. She is a pretty mare. I hope someone takes a liking to her before I decide I like her too much and don't want to sell her!

It sounds like most of my blogger friends also had nice weather this weekend! We did too! On Sunday, it was sunny and pretty warm, so in addition to getting together with family for Easter, I was able to plant some irises that I'd had in a bucket all winter, weed my flower beds and get out to the barn to play with horses.

I worked with Sassy because I needed to know how she is going to be if anyone comes to look at her. And I'm happy to report that I have had two people call about her in addition to the 3 "looky-loos" who just texted/emailed about her and never contacted me again. Unfortunately, one person and I had a disagreement about her eye color and whether or not it meant she was going to go blind (she's not going to go blind, there is nothing wrong with her eyes), and the other never called me back after saying she needed to discuss her with her fiance who was the one interested in her. Although that person would have been a very good match for Sassy, as it seems she has a lot of training experience (I looked her up and found an ad featuring an off the track thoroughbred she retrained for barrel racing listed for $20,000 - whether or not she'll get that, who knows, but she sounds like she knows what she is doing).

So, no one has come to look at her, but I think it will happen, so I wanted to check her out myself. The only thing that I've done with her for the last year was have her feet trimmed, and lead her down the road from our cow pastures to my horse pasture. I was pleasantly surprised last fall when we did that because we had to lead her through my husbands shop area with tons of strange equipment and stacks of pipe. She didn't bat an eye at all that strange stuff, where as Pumpkin was very leary and suspicious of it all.

When I went in to get Sassy, she met me at the gate. I haltered her easily, led her out and held her for a second while my other horses freaked out about something and took off for the back pasture. Poor Sassy really wondered where they went and why they were in such a hurry, but she just danced a little and settled down. She was really good as I tied her to the rail and started grooming her. She stood well. I checked her feet and decided they needed a trim. I only did her fronts because I didn't want to spend too much time trimming - I wanted to get to trying to saddle her. She has really nice uncomplicated feet. They are balanced, nicely shaped and easy to trim. I've also never seen her sensitive on gravel, even after I'd just trimmed her this time. She was very good while I trimmed her, although she did test me by trying half-heartedly to take her hoof away a couple times.

Then I saddled her up with my training saddle. I untied her just in case she wasn't good about it. I threw the blanket up on her back expecting her to act like and old broke horse, and she did! I threw the saddle up the same way and she stood perfectly still. No issue with cinching up. She was great.

Then I took her out in the yard and used my training stick with a string attached to touch her all over and see how she took having the string tossed around her legs and over her back. I also slapped it on the ground near her hind feet very hard unexpectedly, and she stood stock still and relaxed for it all.

I asked her to move off and walk around me, she did so calmly and walked. Stepping it up to a trot was no problem. She changed directions with ease, although there were a couple times when she got confused about which direction she was supposed to go when I stepped in front of her, but with consistent asking, she figured it out without a fuss. I had to push her very hard to get a canter out of her, but I did get a few strides in both directions, and asked her to stop before she quit (didn't want to make an issue out of it since the footing was kind of slippery - just grass in the wet yard). I was surprised by how good she was, how much she knew, and how it didn't seem like she'd had a year off at so young.

Then I figured I should see how she took a bridle. Her previous owner said she used a snaffle on her, so I got out Chico's bridle. She didn't want to be bridled and stuck her nose up in the air as I tried to slip the bit in her mouth, but she didn't move her feet at all. I worked at getting her to drop her head for a while then slipped the bit in. She wasn't perfect but I think with very little effort she'll take to bridling easily. Once the bit was in, she stood and mouthed it for a while. I asked her to flex laterally with the bit as I stood at her side, and she did so very lightly on both sides. She flexed very well, and held her head to the side playing with the stirrup on the saddle.

I wasn't planning to ride her because the ground is still pretty soft and I didn't have a safe enclosed space to try her out in, but she was so good with the lunging under saddle even (didn't blink and eye at the saddle), and she was so soft in the mouth, I figured I'd try her out. I tried to flex her head lightly to the inside as I mounted, but I'm not sure she understood that. She did not stand very still for mounting and we circled around a few times before she stood. That would be one fault I found so far. She needs more work to stand still for mounting. Once I was up, she was okay, but seemed like she didn't really know exactly what to do with her guiding force no longer on the ground. She was calm, and moved forward when I squeezed with my legs, and flexed lightly to the bit, but getting good movement out of her while steering was a little shaky. All I did was ride her around the yard and try to get good small circles out of her in either direction, and she was getting better about it and paying more attention to me toward the end before I dismounted. She didn't want to stand still when I asked her to whoa and dismount, but she wasn't that bad...just a little fidgety, but I'm not sure I can blame her too much...I think my other horses would need a reminder about being polite when ridden/handled with all the fresh green grass in the yard.

I really was pleasantly surprised by her. The other problem with her is that she did not stop mouthing at and playing with the bit the whole time I had her bridled. I'm not sure she's very used to wearing a bit. That's the way she acted anyway, even though she did flex nicely to it.

I decided that I wanted to try to get some nicer pictures of her for her sale ad, but my nice saddle was at our house stored in the garage, so I led her down the road away from the other horses and up to our house. She was very well behaved at a time of the year when even the best horse can be a little herd bound! She was a little fidgety and slightly nervous for about a minute once we got up to our house, but she stood well while my husband held her and I changed saddled. Then we got pictures of her in our yard standing and being ridden. She was a little fidgety and chewed at the bit as though she didn't know what to do with it, but other than that, she was great.

I have relisted her with the new photos and increased her price. I think she is worth it. She has got a great temperament, pretty good ground manners, and a LOT of potential for the right person who can put some miles on her. Plus she is just a super cute mare with flashy color. She is definitely green, but my neighbor and I are going to work together to get some additional miles on her in the next couple of weeks. I need help because I have the baby with me, making it hard to do anything myself. But working together, we should be able to get her going. Plus my neighbor has a round pen and arena. We still haven't gotten our round pen set up. Soon though!

Selling horses

Wow, I really jinxed it when I announced that spring had come. Yesterday and over the night we got 9 inches of snow!!!! And it is still snowing. I went out to take some neat flowers in the snow pictures, but I couldn't find my flowers! Only the tall tulips had parts sticking out.



I dug down a couple inches to find the tulip buds resting snugly waiting for the sun to come out.


Isn't this sign ironic now?


So, I listed Sassy for sale a couple days ago. Selling a horse is the hardest thing ever! I've never done it before. And I'm not even attached to Sassy. I didn't let myself get attached because I knew I didn't have time for her and couldn't keep her. Even so, I still care about her well-being as an animal that deserves a decent life. So, thinking about all the possibilities of where she could end up in this poor horse market makes me shudder. But we can't feed her forever if we aren't going to use her, so she must go. She has unique color and a nice temperament going for her...unfortunately, she doesn't have the training level that will fetch a good price and guarantee her a safe future (if there ever is a safe guarantee for ANY horse once they leave your hands). She is 6 years old. She was started as a 4 year old, worked with a lot, and given about 30 rides. Then her owner got ready to head off to college, so she sold her to my nephew, who is 20 years old. He rode her once, bareback, then got a motorcycle and never looked at her again. She stood out in the pasture the whole summer of her 5 year old year. Now she's 6, and still green. My nephew said that she is not the deadbroke horse that he needs. Of course she isn't...she's only been ridden 30 times, and now she's had more than a year off...so what kind of price do you think I can get for her? Even if she was practically free, is anyone interested in this market?



Well, right after I listed her, I got 3 responses. One via email and then 2 people texted me (texted!!!!). What? I didn't expect that...guess I'm old fashioned! But if you are seriously interested, wouldn't you give me a call instead of text me? Almost every one of those people asked if she bucks or rears...well, she never bucked nor reared during her initial training and 30 rides, and I told them so. I told one person to call me to discuss a possible sale, and she said she would right after she picked her son up from school...did I hear from her? No. The other texter said she would be available to talk on the phone after 3pm. I called her at 4pm and left a message. Did I hear from her? No. The email person never responded to my answer that the horse had never bucked nor reared. I also did a little background research on the two people that contacted me over my phone. I punched their numbers into Google. I found a bunch of listing that they had placed to sell various horse related items and horses. One person listed a well-bred horse, stating that she needed to sell her because the horse needed about 2 more months of training to get her to the teampenning horse that she needed and she did not have the time to do that because she just had a baby. That horse was listed for sale in March of 2011. So, now this person is interested in Sassy who I clearly stated was still very green? Weird. The other person had about 5 horses listed for sale in the last year or two, all between $400 and $1000. I suspect she may be a dealer/trader and be looking to make a buck on Sassy. I feel terrible thinking of where she might end up if she went to this person...but if I'm too picky, I'll never get her sold and I'll have to feed her another winter! What do I do? I really have no actual proof that these people are dishonest or have selfish intentions. And of course, by writing this on my blog, I'm spilling it all out to the world about my suspicions...but I never misrepresented Sassy in her ad, so I'm not worried, and if these people are really interested in her and have good intentions, they will not be offended that I looked them up. And anyway, I'm sure I'll never hear from them. It's easy to inquire about a horse via texting, but not so easy to actually declare that you are truly interested by calling me.

I had wanted to work with Sassy a bit this spring before I listed her for sale and get some really nice pictures of her saddled and being ridden, but alas, the weather has not allowed for that! I wanted to do this in my round pen, but we have not been able to get it set up. The ground is still too wet to work (I want to put a good sand base down), and then there is the little problem of all the snow. Ugh. Has anyone else had this much anxiety over selling a horse that isn't even their own?