More on the Fugly Morgans and their crazy owner, also: Pictures!
Here is a link to the original post: http://community.livejournal.com/equestrian/4932036.html
So first off, thankyou to everyone who replied to my first post. I found all of your input very helpful.
I was especially interested in what some of you had to say about Parelli as a selling point. Here Parelli is a big trend, so I plan to play into that...but it was really interesting to hear why a person might skip over an ad that advertised a horse as "Parelli trained." I will keep this in mind when making the ads, so thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I also really enjoyed hearing the experiences of other people (
appolonia,
penella22).
candysgirl and others, thank-you for your suggestions. It helps to know we are on the right track, and we have (as candysgirl suggested) picked up an extra horse-and-a-half each to help deal with the sheer volume of horses.
Some of you asked about the future of the horses and the ranch:
Yes, he will probably continue to breed although he is recieving pressure from the community to moderate his breeding so hopefully he will listen. I think he learned his lesson after the last couple of years' continual failures. He is a little bit desperate, and hopefully that means he won't put himself into this situation again.
He has three very nice stallions who could continue to bring in revenue through stud-fees, since they are not as badly in-bred as some of the others on the property and two of them have proven to throw good babies when bred to the right mare (unfortunately he breeds them to the fugliest mares you've ever seen in your life, so spring-time birthing is a bit like playing the lottery. Some babies are nice, others are hideous).
Horses that are not sold will continue to rot away on his property. If they're lucky they'll die of old age, but its more likely they will founder (he feeds straight alfalfa) colic (they have chewed his wooden fences to shreds), or die for some other reason before they reach their teens. All except the really ugly ones he thinks are worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately he somehow doesn't feel the need to provide decent fencing or proper feed for these "excellent" animals. The ugly ones will likely go to meat, since he mostly just wants them off the property. I'm starting to come off rather bitter, aren't I? :P
The good news is that we have worked out a deal with him to bring the price down, and the horses have thus-far proved amiable and highly trainable.
Under the cut are some pictures of three of the horses we have started under saddle: Dante, Cinnebar, and Survivor. There is also some images of the horse with the jaw defect, Ice Man.
For those who skipped the top bit, a bit of a disclaimer: Not my horses, not my property. The fencing is terrible, the barbed wire is an accident waiting to happen, and a good 90% of the horses need foot work, tooth work, and weight loss/gain. We're doing the best we can with what we've got.
Pics are of Dante, Island Cinnebar (needs a barn name), and Island Surivior (also needs a barn name).
Here is Dante getting tacked up before we head out to the ring. One thing about these horses is that they all have SERIOUS personality. The little chestnut ("Charmer") is literally into everything.
Dante is 5 years old. Purebred Morgan. This was his 3rd time undersaddle with me, and his fifth session total.
This is what Dante thinks about being constantly harassed by younglings.
Here is Dante in the ring, under saddle (3rd ride) learning to give to the bit. Yes, that's me on him.....I put on a bit of weight from sitting around behind a desk all winter. Riding 4 horses a day will soon change that!
Giving like a good boy.
These are actually from the day before (ride 2), where we just walked.
This is why I called him fatty.
At ride 3 we were ready to trot. Excuse me looking like a complete greenie and pulling on his mouth. I tend to flail uncontrolabley on green horses because it is so stop-and-go, plus really unbalanced and rough (excuses excuses).
Here is a head shot of Dante. He's not a bad looking horse, and very smart. The one thing that needs to go before he is ready to be sold is his tendancy to work himself up. He needs to learn to stop and think first, and to not be as reactionary. He'll make a good all-around horse for someone once he's finished.
Next up is "Island Cinnebar," also known occasionally as "nutbar." She's also 5, and has been under saddle for about a month, but started out completely spastic so she has come a long, looooong way. Now she is learning to give to the bit, balance, and carry herself properly. She's being shown to potential buyers, but we wouldn't mind bringing her along a little further before making the sale. She is being ridden by my friend Celia in these pictures.
She's got a lovely colour.
I love this picture because she and Celia have the exact same expression on their faces...
And last but not Least: "Island Survivor," lovingly nickenamed "The Flailer." He is the only gaited Morgan on the property. He is a lovely boy, but very easily over-faced, so we've had to take more time with him than many of the others. It took 18 hours (1 hour sessions) to get on his back. Now he is going walk trot and canter, but we would not sell him at this point. He needs to become more confident under saddle and safer over all. He will make a great trail horse (big demand for trail horses around here) because of his smooth gaits and good temperment. Working with this horse is a real pleasure because he is so trusting and tries so hard. After getting him to accept the saddle he seems to have decided that humans actually CAN be trusted and has a very "If YOU think it's not going to eat me, I'll try my heart out to be good" kind of attitude. He is a VERY big boy compared to the rest of the group (16.3 or so).
I love this series:
Walking along...
Uh oh what's that!?!?!?!
Okay, I'll go by it...but I'm keeping my eye on it!
Being wierd.
Nice boy..
Okay, and finally some randoms..
One of this year's babies behind some of the property's choice fencing:
For the curious, some images of the jaw defect. This young gelding has it the worst. His registered name is Island Ice Man. We are open to suggestions for barn names. He is about 4 years old, 14hh, about 5 rides on him. The owner wants $5000 for him. HA.
Side view.
On the way back to the ranch from the ring we pass by the place where my horse is kept. His pasture buddy was out on a ride, and he cried and cried for us. Poor boy.
So first off, thankyou to everyone who replied to my first post. I found all of your input very helpful.
I was especially interested in what some of you had to say about Parelli as a selling point. Here Parelli is a big trend, so I plan to play into that...but it was really interesting to hear why a person might skip over an ad that advertised a horse as "Parelli trained." I will keep this in mind when making the ads, so thanks for bringing that to my attention.
I also really enjoyed hearing the experiences of other people (
appolonia,
penella22).
candysgirl and others, thank-you for your suggestions. It helps to know we are on the right track, and we have (as candysgirl suggested) picked up an extra horse-and-a-half each to help deal with the sheer volume of horses.
Some of you asked about the future of the horses and the ranch:
Yes, he will probably continue to breed although he is recieving pressure from the community to moderate his breeding so hopefully he will listen. I think he learned his lesson after the last couple of years' continual failures. He is a little bit desperate, and hopefully that means he won't put himself into this situation again.
He has three very nice stallions who could continue to bring in revenue through stud-fees, since they are not as badly in-bred as some of the others on the property and two of them have proven to throw good babies when bred to the right mare (unfortunately he breeds them to the fugliest mares you've ever seen in your life, so spring-time birthing is a bit like playing the lottery. Some babies are nice, others are hideous).
Horses that are not sold will continue to rot away on his property. If they're lucky they'll die of old age, but its more likely they will founder (he feeds straight alfalfa) colic (they have chewed his wooden fences to shreds), or die for some other reason before they reach their teens. All except the really ugly ones he thinks are worth their weight in gold. Unfortunately he somehow doesn't feel the need to provide decent fencing or proper feed for these "excellent" animals. The ugly ones will likely go to meat, since he mostly just wants them off the property. I'm starting to come off rather bitter, aren't I? :P
The good news is that we have worked out a deal with him to bring the price down, and the horses have thus-far proved amiable and highly trainable.
Under the cut are some pictures of three of the horses we have started under saddle: Dante, Cinnebar, and Survivor. There is also some images of the horse with the jaw defect, Ice Man.
For those who skipped the top bit, a bit of a disclaimer: Not my horses, not my property. The fencing is terrible, the barbed wire is an accident waiting to happen, and a good 90% of the horses need foot work, tooth work, and weight loss/gain. We're doing the best we can with what we've got.
Pics are of Dante, Island Cinnebar (needs a barn name), and Island Surivior (also needs a barn name).
Here is Dante getting tacked up before we head out to the ring. One thing about these horses is that they all have SERIOUS personality. The little chestnut ("Charmer") is literally into everything.
Dante is 5 years old. Purebred Morgan. This was his 3rd time undersaddle with me, and his fifth session total.
This is what Dante thinks about being constantly harassed by younglings.
Here is Dante in the ring, under saddle (3rd ride) learning to give to the bit. Yes, that's me on him.....I put on a bit of weight from sitting around behind a desk all winter. Riding 4 horses a day will soon change that!
Giving like a good boy.
These are actually from the day before (ride 2), where we just walked.
This is why I called him fatty.
At ride 3 we were ready to trot. Excuse me looking like a complete greenie and pulling on his mouth. I tend to flail uncontrolabley on green horses because it is so stop-and-go, plus really unbalanced and rough (excuses excuses).
Here is a head shot of Dante. He's not a bad looking horse, and very smart. The one thing that needs to go before he is ready to be sold is his tendancy to work himself up. He needs to learn to stop and think first, and to not be as reactionary. He'll make a good all-around horse for someone once he's finished.
Next up is "Island Cinnebar," also known occasionally as "nutbar." She's also 5, and has been under saddle for about a month, but started out completely spastic so she has come a long, looooong way. Now she is learning to give to the bit, balance, and carry herself properly. She's being shown to potential buyers, but we wouldn't mind bringing her along a little further before making the sale. She is being ridden by my friend Celia in these pictures.
She's got a lovely colour.
I love this picture because she and Celia have the exact same expression on their faces...
And last but not Least: "Island Survivor," lovingly nickenamed "The Flailer." He is the only gaited Morgan on the property. He is a lovely boy, but very easily over-faced, so we've had to take more time with him than many of the others. It took 18 hours (1 hour sessions) to get on his back. Now he is going walk trot and canter, but we would not sell him at this point. He needs to become more confident under saddle and safer over all. He will make a great trail horse (big demand for trail horses around here) because of his smooth gaits and good temperment. Working with this horse is a real pleasure because he is so trusting and tries so hard. After getting him to accept the saddle he seems to have decided that humans actually CAN be trusted and has a very "If YOU think it's not going to eat me, I'll try my heart out to be good" kind of attitude. He is a VERY big boy compared to the rest of the group (16.3 or so).
I love this series:
Walking along...
Uh oh what's that!?!?!?!
Okay, I'll go by it...but I'm keeping my eye on it!
Being wierd.
Nice boy..
Okay, and finally some randoms..
One of this year's babies behind some of the property's choice fencing:
For the curious, some images of the jaw defect. This young gelding has it the worst. His registered name is Island Ice Man. We are open to suggestions for barn names. He is about 4 years old, 14hh, about 5 rides on him. The owner wants $5000 for him. HA.
Side view.
On the way back to the ranch from the ring we pass by the place where my horse is kept. His pasture buddy was out on a ride, and he cried and cried for us. Poor boy.