Since bring my horses to my cousins place I've started to notice that my horses have been sticking to their own little herd out in the pasture, never mixing with Suzies other 13 horses... ever. Those 3 horses stick together like glue and will only be quite in the stalls when they are close to each other, especially if Katie is the one who is out of sight. I wouldn't call them herd bound, there is no crazy stalling weaving or frantic calls to each other but when stalled together with Katie in the middle they all look so calm and relaxed. Its like she is the glue for Daya and Ely. Whats weird to me is Katie is not the dominant mare, Daya is the head mare. I will never understand mares I guess.
Anyway, the point of this whole blog post was this. To me this has to be the worst/hardest part of selling horses. Spiting up the made for each other, happy herd. Its even made me second guess selling Katie. Sure I could use her this summer for anyone that wanted to come ride, or offer her to my Uncles kids for riding lessons and fun shows. They love to ride and soak up anything to do with horses like a sponge but know no one in the area with a kid safe horse. But on the other hand, do I really need this horse? Will she be anything else to me but a Thoroughbred wannabe that goes through feed and hay like a draft horse? lol Decisions, decisions. The horse crazy kid I used to be is screaming at me to keep her just for the horse crazy kids in my family who will probably never have their own horse but the adult side of me is telling me to do the smart thing and lower my feed bill! (Did I mention that 15.2 hh Katie eats more than 16.2hh Daya? lol) What would you do? Seems like the more I think about it, the more I leaning towards the horse crazy kids!
I do not have a history with horses. My guy is my first (and only) horse. We have been together almost two years, and I can honestly say that we have only really started bonding in the last 6 months. I asked a friend of mine, who has had horses since she was a child and is a serious reining competitor, about this. She believes that the first year is the getting to know each other stage, the second year is OK we can work together stage because trust and love have been established and the third year is when the real magic happens. I think she has a point. Perhaps Katie hasn't committed/clicked with you because she's still at the getting to know you stage? She knows her job and the fact that she gets along so well with your other horses means that she's got a good heart, IMO. Is leasing her on your property an option to help offset the cost? Can your uncle help if his kids are riding Katie? Really tough decision. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain on making selling decisions! I'm still unsure what I'm going to do with Kazi.
ReplyDeleteDaya is 16.2?! I thought she was closer to 14.2! Lol
She isn't hurting my checkbook that bad so selling her isn't a must. I've been around off the track horses like her before and I think you are right about a partnership take more time. Never thought of it that way. Its just weird to me... Daya and Ely clicked with me almost instantly.
ReplyDeleteJess-- Yep, Daya is 16.1-16.2 hh. I need to find some pics of her compared to one of my smaller guys.