I've been busy. I haven't been posting much here, but I'm posting elsewhere trying to do more advertising for our veterinary practice. If you are interested, check us out on our website and you can find us on facebook too! "Tomah Large Animal Veterinary Service"
It has been a very cold February here. It's been nice to use the new barn for feeding, but the fencing can't be finished until the ground thaws and dries out and the landscaping can be finished around the barn. That means that when I want to supplement them, I have to open their gate and let them all file into the barn (which they learned to do without being haltered and led within a few days). They also all know which stall is theirs now. The pain comes when they are done. I have to halter and lead them back to the pasture 2 horses at a time. If I try to do all 4 and lead 2, invariably, the two loose horses wander into the yard to dig for grass under the snow. If the weather was nicer, it wouldn't be such a pain, but it has been very very cold. We are just patiently waiting for winter to end!
Cody
Cody (Codys Blue Chick) - 2003 sooty buckskin AQHA quarter horse mare. Born on a ranch in MT, purchased as a 2 year old. Boss mare of the herd.
Chico
Chico - 2004 bay mustang gelding from Beaty's Butte, OR. Adopted as a yearling. Cody's faithful sidekick.
Catlow
Catlow - 2004 sorrel mustang mare from South Steens, OR. Adopted as a yearling. Number 2 mare in the dominance hierarchy, but lead mare of the herd.
Stormy
Stormy - 2004 brown Standardbred mare. Acquired 9/7/13. Unspooky little trail mare that is so far learning her place in the herd.
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3 comments:
Horses are always funny in the spring, aren't they?
I didn't realize your mares were bred! I have a random question and please don't take it the wrong way, I'm just curious about your decision, I'm not judging you at all! ;-) Why would you breed your mares, and not just adopt more young mustangs that need homes?
I've gone the adoption route, and I really enjoyed it. But you never really know what kind of horse you are getting, even if you watch them before you adopt. I don't have the time to go through the gentling process right now. I'm just at a different point in my life where I can't commit to the time it takes to take a mustang from wild to one safe enough for my daughter to be around. I LOVE my mares and want to always have a piece of them. I know that you never really know what you are getting with a foal too, but I was very particular about choosing a stallion with all the qualities I wanted, and I know my mares temperaments. Plus, I have lifetime homes for these horses. I know there are lots of opinions about breeding horses, but a good horse is a good horse, and even without papers, my two have qualities that I'd like passed on to my future trail horses. By the time the foals are ridable, the older ones will be in their mid-teens, and then by the time the foals are solid riding horses, my old girls might be nearing retirement age. And I will always have a peice passed along....like family! I will likely adopt another mustang in the future...but not right now. I will LOVE the mustang and the diversity in the "breed". But I've also always wanted to raise a foal of my own, since I was a little girl...and now I finally have the chance.
Hi Kara! Thanks for the response. If it makes sense to you, then it is the right thing for you to do. I wouldn't get a wild mustang and gentle it either, not right now, anyway. Maybe someday, I might like to try it. My next mustang will come from a TIP or yearling youth gentling program. The teens do all the groundwork and gentling for 90 days then the horses are shown at an event and adopted out. All they need from there is more time and specific training to ride (the youth do not ride them, but many saddle and bit them.) At least that way I'd have a better idea of what I'm getting, and I would have one that has a good foundation from which to work with! ;-)
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