Its Funny How Things Come Together

The last few days I have been moping around here, not able to get focused on who to start with or what to do with them when I get them going. I mean a person can only ride so many horses in a day, haul so many and finish them, blah, blah, blah. So what would be the last thing on this earth you would think I would want to do? Go to a horse sale. But that is exactly what mom and I did yesterday. The biggest reason was to see what this particular breeder's foals looked like and how much they brought. Mom has always liked the senior stallion these people have, named Sierras Notion. Here is the link to their place if you are interested. Weller Ranch. These are the type of breeders I hate to see go out of business during this depressed horse market. They have nice mares, a nice stallion and nice foals. I was impressed by how gentle all of the mares and foals were at the sale. I can't say that I am impressed with their newest addition, the perlino stallion. I didn't particularly like the pictures they had of him-but ohhh boy, he will throw 100% Buckskin. Big freakin' deal!! Their old gray stud is 10X better. But, I guess since the old stud is 18 this year, they are having to start looking for a replacement for him.
Basically, I wanted to compare their foals to my own. I might think Shooter is the nicest thing ever, but you still gotta get out there and compare. I think he stood up pretty good to their foals. He may be heavier muscled than anything they had, but their mares are on pasture and Shooter and his momma are grained twice day. That will make a difference.
Sadly, I am pretty sure that these people ended up taking most of their foals home. Almost all of them were bought by the same number for $300 a piece. That tells me that no one was bidding on them. One did go for $550 and another for $1,100.
There were around a hundred head of saddle horses up for sale too. I was really surprised at the prices they brought. There were a lot that I wouldn't have given $1,500 for that sold(legitimately) for between $2,500-$4,500. That made me feel better. Saddle horses are still selling well.
And the best thing about horse sales, to me...the socializing!! Mom and I got to visit with several good friends that we don't see to often. One of them is a horse trader and I just love visiting with him. This guy can tell you more about a horse in 5 minutes of watching him than most of the people who have been riding these horses for months. He can also tell you some interesting tidbits about nearly every person who had a horse at that sale. He is a very important person to know. Of course he is the same guy we got Megan's paint horse from and because Megan has done such a fantastic job with that horse-he just loves her to death. He was very disappointed that she wasn't with us, but I did get to show him the pictures of her at 4-H State. He beamed like a grandpa. He said that of the thousands of horses he has traded in his life, not many got as lucky as that little paint horse.

We also ran into the guy that was supposed to take a couple of our geldings this spring. I got them up, trimmed their feet, bathed and clipped them...and he never showed up to get them. Not a word from him. Come to find out, he had taken in a couple of colts to pasture ride for a bit before he was supposed to come get ours and one of those colts bucked him off and broke some of his ribs. He is in his late 50's. That set him back a bit this year(Ya think??). Tough old cowboy that he is, he just kept riding them until he thought this guy could get along with them. But, he wanted to come look at the horses mom wanted him to ride, so he followed us home. After walking around looking at this horse and that horse, he said he would be up in the morning to get those geldings. Yayyayyyy!!!!
There are not a lot of people that we would ever let take any of our horses, especially to rope on, but this guy is absolutely fantastic at starting rope horses, so we are particularly thrilled that he not only wants to ride these two gelding, but wants to take a couple others on down the road. Double yayayayy!!!!!!!

This morning Megan and I headed to mom's to get the two geldings bathed and clipped up. I didn't trim feet, because he is going to have them shod. Besides pasture riding and roping on them, he uses them in a sale barn. So they will need shoes on that cement. I couldn't resist taking some before pictures, because I guarantee when these boys come home, they will be in shape and looking good.

This is Sandy...
And this is Blue...

This guy was also particularly taken with Smoke, the 8y/o that I am starting. I told him that his ground work is good, I am just not particularly looking forward to having to step onto that little powerhouse for the first time. Lo and behold, he recommended a guy that is willing to ride anything you pay him too. And he is good!! When this guy says someone is good, they are good. He is going to call mom with this kid's number(I say kid-he is 27-LOL) and let him know that we have some nice horses that we need some rides on. I am about jumping up and down for joy. Suddenly, doing all of the ground work on these older horses has a purpose. I can do what I enjoy-getting them very gentle, saddling, handling, let this kid put the first 10-20 rides on them and then I can go on with them. I am ecstatic, as is my mom. By the end of this year, ALL of our horses will be broke to ride. Some will even be finished!!

And as if that wasn't enough good news....this guy...who just happens to hold the SDRA fast time record for Old Man's Breakaway(1.7 seconds)...offered to get Megan and I breakaway roping again. How cool is that??

I tell ya...sometimes you just gotta get out and network a little. It's all sunshine and rainbows again!!