Tonight I'm heading to KY to pick up some more foals. It's my first KY trip, haha... I'm kind of nervous!! ; ) It'll be fine, I'm sure... I'm taking my dogs, of course, so I certainly won't be lonely. I will drive down tonight and stay at a hotel, then wake up early and head out. It's easier on everyone when we get the foals home earlier. This is a new farm we've never worked with before. They called and asked if we would take their babies because they want them to go to someone who will take care of them. Hopefully they are nice, all their mares are QH so I suppose most of the foals will be Appendix. If they take care of their foals, it could be the start of a great relationship. It is hard because some of the farms really don't care for the foals at all before we pick them up, which means we spend way more on medical bills than we usually would.
tSquared Appaloosas had a good question the other day. They asked if we are having to turn foals away because of lack of funds or supplies. Last year we had to turn away a LOT of foals. It is not lack of supplies, but lack of money, and most of all, lack of adopters. Our foal barn is designed for 10-15 foals. Last year, we had 41 foals for a few weeks. That is absolutely OVERWHELMING. Several bags of milk a day, plus there are SO MANY foals that it is very difficult to keep track of who is pooping, peeing, and drinking. We have decided that we cannot do that again this year. It will mean foals will be turned away if more adopters don't step up. In the last few years, pretty much everyone in the local area who can and want to adopt a foal, have. With the economy failing, people are not in a position to take on a project foal that will be a several year investment. This year, we have yet to turn away any foals, despite our extremely slow adoptions. It seems that the nursemare farms are getting a slower start, which may mean that the Thoroughbred farms were a little less ambitious in their breeding this year. Who knows. Almost every year, at some point during foal season, we literally run out of money. Typically we have enough milk, hay, and grain to get us through, but we end up "borrowing" gas on at the wonderul local gas station that helps us out - Pete's BP - and the foals are typically also given to us with the promise of future payment. Hopefully we will not reach that point this year. Keep your fingers crossed!!
Another question from MacPhd was when and where is Equine Affaire. DUH, how stupid am I?? That would definitely be a good thing to tell ya'll, haha. Equine Affaire is April 2-5. It is in Columbus, Ohio at the Expo Center. Equine Affaire is a great place to visit whether you are a horse person, or just someone who kinda likes petting horses! They have clinics and demostrations applicable to everyone from the equine professional to the casual equine enthusiast. Our booth at Equine Affaire is in the breed pavilion, which is in the southwest corner of the Expo Center. It is in the Voinovich Building. We are one aisle away from the demo arena, across from the tack store that will be set up there. We have a double booth and two stalls. It will be exciting! We will be selling raffle tickets, candy bars, tshirts, used tack, and OUR COLORING BOOK! DOn't worry, I know you're excited. Contain yourselves! You will be able to purchase the very first LCC coloring book for yourself for $10 - and it comes with a box of crayons!! We will also have foals and horses available for adoption. In previous years, we have taken bids "for the OPPORTUNITY to adopt" the foals and horses we take to Equine Affaire, but this year, we are just going to adopt them out for flat adoption fees. This way, we can hopefully get more animals adopted more quickly and moved on out of there. Best situation for everyone!
Number 25 is still at the vet, and other foals are coming down with the poops. Unfortunately, these guys are so susceptible to stomach bugs that when one gets it, they usually all come down with it. So, we are doing a lot of poopy butt cleaning and medicating. No worries, we'll have them all 100% in no time! Everyone seems to be doing pretty well. The little chestnut Appy isn't drinking a ton, but he'll get it soon. The red dun and the paint who were our first Equine Affaire picks are little hot rods! They love running around with the new big black foal. The four older foals are down in the lower barn and getting no adoption interest at all. Such a shame... they are all just darling.
I rode Ruffie last night for the first time. That horse is incredible. He is literally THREE DAYS off the racetrack, and he walked, trotted, and cantered on the buckle, went across the road, in the creek, up the bank. What a winner!! He is soooo sweet. He is still a TB straight off the track, so he will need a little patience and retraining, but he has a great brain to start with and that's the most important part. This horse has not been off the racetrack in at least 6 or 8 years. He is AMAZING! I love him. ; ) I love them all, who are we kidding.... He is a little low in his front suspensories, but his feet are really oddly shaped... I think with a little rehab he is going to be totally sound. He will make a great project for someone. (I am really proud of him in this pic, can you tell???)
I padded Artie up really thick and hopped on him to see what he'd do. He is UBER quiet. On the buckle, jogjogjog. He has a huuuuge crack in his front foot that will need fixed up, and his feet have obviously been ignored for a while - they're like pancakes. But after that, he'll be nice and sound. He is a little anxious right now, the dogs seem to unnerve him a little bit. But he is big and quiet. A really nice guy.
I also got on Oreo. Rachel said Oreo was really quiet, so I hopped on him bareback. He is really quiet. ; ) He has had some western pleasure training and he jogs and lopes very nicely, he just needs some work on his headset. But he's a fun little ride! He has an Appy brain, he'll test you a little bit and try to dive to the middle or to the gate, but once you straighten him out, he's a gem. Oreo's going to Equine Affaire. He'll be the main attraction, I'm sure... hehehe.
I've gotta go get ready for KY... here is a cute pic Tracy caught of some foals and I..
tSquared Appaloosas had a good question the other day. They asked if we are having to turn foals away because of lack of funds or supplies. Last year we had to turn away a LOT of foals. It is not lack of supplies, but lack of money, and most of all, lack of adopters. Our foal barn is designed for 10-15 foals. Last year, we had 41 foals for a few weeks. That is absolutely OVERWHELMING. Several bags of milk a day, plus there are SO MANY foals that it is very difficult to keep track of who is pooping, peeing, and drinking. We have decided that we cannot do that again this year. It will mean foals will be turned away if more adopters don't step up. In the last few years, pretty much everyone in the local area who can and want to adopt a foal, have. With the economy failing, people are not in a position to take on a project foal that will be a several year investment. This year, we have yet to turn away any foals, despite our extremely slow adoptions. It seems that the nursemare farms are getting a slower start, which may mean that the Thoroughbred farms were a little less ambitious in their breeding this year. Who knows. Almost every year, at some point during foal season, we literally run out of money. Typically we have enough milk, hay, and grain to get us through, but we end up "borrowing" gas on at the wonderul local gas station that helps us out - Pete's BP - and the foals are typically also given to us with the promise of future payment. Hopefully we will not reach that point this year. Keep your fingers crossed!!
Another question from MacPhd was when and where is Equine Affaire. DUH, how stupid am I?? That would definitely be a good thing to tell ya'll, haha. Equine Affaire is April 2-5. It is in Columbus, Ohio at the Expo Center. Equine Affaire is a great place to visit whether you are a horse person, or just someone who kinda likes petting horses! They have clinics and demostrations applicable to everyone from the equine professional to the casual equine enthusiast. Our booth at Equine Affaire is in the breed pavilion, which is in the southwest corner of the Expo Center. It is in the Voinovich Building. We are one aisle away from the demo arena, across from the tack store that will be set up there. We have a double booth and two stalls. It will be exciting! We will be selling raffle tickets, candy bars, tshirts, used tack, and OUR COLORING BOOK! DOn't worry, I know you're excited. Contain yourselves! You will be able to purchase the very first LCC coloring book for yourself for $10 - and it comes with a box of crayons!! We will also have foals and horses available for adoption. In previous years, we have taken bids "for the OPPORTUNITY to adopt" the foals and horses we take to Equine Affaire, but this year, we are just going to adopt them out for flat adoption fees. This way, we can hopefully get more animals adopted more quickly and moved on out of there. Best situation for everyone!
Number 25 is still at the vet, and other foals are coming down with the poops. Unfortunately, these guys are so susceptible to stomach bugs that when one gets it, they usually all come down with it. So, we are doing a lot of poopy butt cleaning and medicating. No worries, we'll have them all 100% in no time! Everyone seems to be doing pretty well. The little chestnut Appy isn't drinking a ton, but he'll get it soon. The red dun and the paint who were our first Equine Affaire picks are little hot rods! They love running around with the new big black foal. The four older foals are down in the lower barn and getting no adoption interest at all. Such a shame... they are all just darling.
I rode Ruffie last night for the first time. That horse is incredible. He is literally THREE DAYS off the racetrack, and he walked, trotted, and cantered on the buckle, went across the road, in the creek, up the bank. What a winner!! He is soooo sweet. He is still a TB straight off the track, so he will need a little patience and retraining, but he has a great brain to start with and that's the most important part. This horse has not been off the racetrack in at least 6 or 8 years. He is AMAZING! I love him. ; ) I love them all, who are we kidding.... He is a little low in his front suspensories, but his feet are really oddly shaped... I think with a little rehab he is going to be totally sound. He will make a great project for someone. (I am really proud of him in this pic, can you tell???)
I padded Artie up really thick and hopped on him to see what he'd do. He is UBER quiet. On the buckle, jogjogjog. He has a huuuuge crack in his front foot that will need fixed up, and his feet have obviously been ignored for a while - they're like pancakes. But after that, he'll be nice and sound. He is a little anxious right now, the dogs seem to unnerve him a little bit. But he is big and quiet. A really nice guy.
I also got on Oreo. Rachel said Oreo was really quiet, so I hopped on him bareback. He is really quiet. ; ) He has had some western pleasure training and he jogs and lopes very nicely, he just needs some work on his headset. But he's a fun little ride! He has an Appy brain, he'll test you a little bit and try to dive to the middle or to the gate, but once you straighten him out, he's a gem. Oreo's going to Equine Affaire. He'll be the main attraction, I'm sure... hehehe.
I've gotta go get ready for KY... here is a cute pic Tracy caught of some foals and I..
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