Just for Your Favorite Cowboy!

Hey There!

You know how you go to the Equine Affaire or Quarter Horse Congress and it seems like you are the only one without a cowboy hat?

Doesn't it get old having to say "Yee-Haw" without a hat?

Don't we all agree that every gentleman looks much-mo-better in a nicely shaped cowboy hat?

Are you the only cowboy or cowgirl in your family, and whenever you go out for dinner, you stick out like a Thoroughbred in a field of Shetlands, wishing that your family members were also wearing hats?

If you answered 'yes' to any of the above questions, you won't believe what I am about to tell you.

We have as many cowboy hats as you could ever want. In every size, in every color, and in every style. From Stetson to Seratelli, we have you covered (literally!) Come on out to see our selection- but be sure to call all of your family and friends for their hat sizes first! These hats are valued from $85 all the way up to $200, and we are letting them go for 60% off! Your choice!

If you bring a nice gift for the auction, we just might give you an even better deal than that!

The pictures below are of just some of the almost 350 cowboy hats that we have!
Give the farm a call, and come on out to pick yours (and your friend's!).

We also have English and Western apparel, english boots, english saddles, blankets, and tack, all at unbeatable prices and all brand new! A tack shop went out of business and donated a bunch of their brand new merchandise to us- and it's all brand new! From shampoo to saddle pads, we surely can complete your Christmas list!

Here are some pictures of SOME of the hats that we have... so come and get some!Even J-Dog is shopping for a hat!

The wall-o-hats is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Happy Trails!
Rachel

Mailing List Woes!

Hey Everybody!

Here is our invitation for our annual Christmas party. Our mailing list is "compromised" at the moment, so we wanted to let everyone know before they make plans for the fifth of December! To read this invitation, click on it, then zoom in on it... otherwise, it's blurry and difficult to read!
But about our mailing list...
Picture this:
You have a mailing list.
Your mailing list has over 2400 names on it.
You have it saved to Excel.
Excel is a complicated program, yes?
Yes.
You go to try to send out an invitation to everyone on your mailing list for the Christmas party.
You transfer the names and addresses to Word to make mailing labels...
... only to find that Excel has alphabetized the last names of the people on the list...
...AND their zip codes.
So now, good-old Excel is telling us that everyone with a last name that starts with 'A' lives in a city with a zip code that starts with '1'. Nice, huh?
Needless to say, this is a problem. We are currently spending our lives on www.whitepages.com to search to make sure that the listings we have are correct.
SOOOO, if you are unlisted, please email us your address if you want to be on our mailing list. We do not send junk mail, but you will get our awesome newsletters!
Actually, if you love us and want to save us some time, please call or email us with your name and address, even if you are listed, so we can get you back on our mailing list!

Thanks, and Happy Trails!
~Rachel

Get Ready For Winter!

Hey Everybody!

Just so everyone knows, this puppy is STILL looking for a home. He is a 10-12 week old Heinz-57 pooch that is lovable and ka-yoot! He is great with kids, dogs, and cats, and is pretty much house broken. If you are interested in adopting him (because everyone needs a free puppy!), call the farm! Just remember, YOU might not need another puppy, but this puppy NEEDS YOU! If you were having a good day, I'm about to wreck it with the next sentence. Winter is coming. Horse lovers know that that means a bigger hay bill, and longer hours making sure that their horses are truly comfortable. For the new horse owners that thought a horse would be such a great idea in the spring and summer (when their pasture was full of grass)... YES, you are going to have to feed old Bucky in the winter time. It is going to cost a LOT more than in the summer time. This involves BUYING hay and grain, making sure that their water doesn't have a 6 inch layer of ice on top of it, and making sure that your horse is not shivering off all of his weight. Now I'll be the first one to admit that dealing with horses in January when everything is slushy, muddy, and FREEZING cold is NOT appealing. In fact, I HATE busting up a frozen water tank then reaching in to pull out sheets of ice. We have all been there, though. The family gets together for Christmas dinner and during the festivities, you have to break away (hopefully dragging an unsuspecting cousin with you) to take care of the horses. It no big deal, it's just something that we do because we love our ponies. Sadly, there are people out there that have the whole "they can just eat the snow" mindset. These are the same people that have neighbors calling us off the hook telling us that there are skinny horses eating trees next door. This winter is going to be exceptionally bad because of the economy... if people have a choice to feed their family or feed their horses, which do you think will win? This is going to create an unremarkable need for our services, which is going to become increasingly difficult through the winter into foal season.

Something that we try to do is play 'Secret Santa'. We can only do this when we have surplus, but if we see a skinny horse shivering in a field, and we can't get in touch with it's owners to see if they want help, we will drop a winter blanket off at the house, or throw it some hay. It is not solving the problem, but the horse sure appreciates it. We can't do this, however, if we are struggling to take care of the babies that we are going to have in no time at all. This is where you come in. Your help, in any form, is greatly needed and appreciated. If you have a picky Thoroughbred that won't touch first cut hay... toss it our way, we ALWAYS know of underprivileged horses that would LOOOOVE some hay that is less than desirable for any other horse.

Shavings are always in demand at our farm, we are already stressing out about how to get enough to get us through foal season. Bales of shavings cost $4-6 a bag, and with the amount that we go through a day, the cost is daunting. We have been let in on a little secret, though. A big supplier is going to sell us bags of shavings for $3 a bag... as long as we buy a semi-load at a time. That cost to us (are you ready?) is $3500 a semi load. Add that bill to the never ending orders of $4000-a-load foal milk, and foal season is 'SPENSIVE! We made a promise to horses, foals especially, to do the best that we can. If you take care of them correctly, horses are expensive even if they are healthy... let alone if they need medical care like the one/two hundred babies that we get in every winter/spring! If you or anyone you know would like to get a tax write-off and donate shavings (or money towards shavings), any amount is helpful! There have been many times when we are down to 'that one last bag', and it just so happened that the bag was donated by someone who said that they "just came to drop off a bag of shavings... sorry it's not much!" People don't understand that every little bit counts and makes a difference. Come on out to volunteer, or even just to look around. I just got done taking a family on a tour with Victoria... people that have lived here for years and have driven by daily, but have just never stopped. This family FINALLY did, and were amazed by what they saw. If people come out to the farm to meet us, meet the horses that we save, and experience the Last Chance Corral, dogs and all, they will definitely be more likely to spread the word than if they just receive a newsletter from us once or twice a year. Help us help the horses, and spread the word!

Happy Trails,
~Rachel