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Posted on 01/02/2007 9:57:39 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
Lots of nice pictures posted! Horses, dogs, cats and kids...lol
Lots of sunshine, but a little breezy. The daffodils are blooming and my crab apple looks like it is ready to open up. A new farrier is coming tomorrow to put shoes on PJ and trim the rest.
Too bad you all are too far away to come to the hunt club training days! All my advice is secondhand!
I wanted to post some of the things that I learned at the seminar we went to Sat night. A few things I found interesting.
This from the marketing guy, who by the way is an agent that helps people buy and sell their horses. He said an agent should get between 10-20% of the selling price. Factor in if he keeps the horse at his place, how far he has to haul the horse to show it. He hauls horses from Mo. to Ca. (where the market value is higher), at a cost of $2800 per head.
He said, on average, you should not breed to sale yearlings unless you know you can get at least 3X the stud fee for a yearling and 2X for a weanling. Brood mares he prices at 3X the price of what that mares foals are selling for. (that one seemed a bit high to me)
This guy also has a high end auction sale at his place. He holds auctions several times a year, and it costs $250 to run your horses thru his barn. He recommends that people do not go thru his barn if they are going to be asking less then $2500 for their horse.
He is also an appraiser of a horse, helps people set a proper price for their horse. He was interesting.
The guy from Purina basically stuck to how Purina runs their Horse feed mills. There were a few things he told us I found interesting.
There is an ingredient called Ionophore (and that is spelled correctly altho my spell check has underlined it:), that is used in cattle feed but is toxic to horses and it doesn't take very much at all to affect a horse. Purina horse mills, according to this guy, are the only mills of horse feed that are Ionophore FREE. The other makers of horse feed are Ionophore SAFE. Which means, they do produce cattle feed at the same mill as their horse feed, but they have a flushing system to the equipment that cleans well enough that it is not a problem. At the Purina Horse Feed mills cattle feed is not made. I'd be interested to know how true his "Purina is the only Ionophore free horse mills".
He also said that Purina is the only horse feed mill that competes in the same Oat buying field as Quaker Oats and General Mills.
Anyway, I found all this interesting.
Becky
It sounds interesting.... Horses are hard to figure out a price for, it's interesting to hear how he arrives at a figure.
So - what is this Ionophore stuff for?
I'm not sure but I think it aids in digestion for cattle. They digest better, which means they absorb nutrition better, so they grow better:) I think.
Becky
Well, it's interesting because I knew someone who fed their horses dairy feed, to fatten them up. We told her it was a bad idea, that she should use horse feed, but not sure if she really listened.
Oh, I love that picture of him being pulled out :) He's wishing serious harm on someone isn't he?
Good morning - spring is here :) All the trees are blossoming.
Hey, the second hand advice is working just great so don't knock it :)
I've known a lot of people who feed cattle feed to horses...and I've thought the same thing, it can't be that good for them. Cattle digest their food so differently...anyway, I don't know that ALL cattle feed has this ingredient, maybe some don't.
Becky
The prices sound right to me, at least that's what I've always based things on.
There were a lot of other safety procedures he told us about that I found interesting.
They have a way of taking a sample of grain from every truck load, run it thru some type of test to make sure it meets their standard in just 15 minutes.
He gave us the stats of how often a load is rejected. In 2004 they rejected .3% of loads. But in 2003, just the year before they rejected 2.4%.
He made the comment..."So what do you think happened to that grain...did it go to the dump?"....
I've been a big fan of Purina also. I don't think I could buy anything else.
Something else he told us that was interesting on a few levels was, about the use of supplements. He recommends NOT supplementing except on vets advise. He said a horses system is very fragile, and things need to stay balanced. That when you supplement you upset that balance that is in all Purina feeds. If you don't know enough the inbalance can be more of a problem then what ever you are trying to fix with the supplement. I that that interesting because Purina has soooooo many supplements...LOL...they don't recommend it much, but they sure will cash in on it.
Becky
So, where did he said it went? I like and use Purina products also.
He never really said, he just implied it probably went to the other feed mills. IOW, if you don't use Purina the grain quality is not as good.
Becky
Just got in from riding. The trails are sooooo soft and muddy. Some places we were sinking pretty bad.
I came in and poor Harley was so dirty, I thought of you and hosed him off:). He is standing and drying now.I don't think he will look cleaner, because he is so stained, but I did see lots of dirt wash off him. He had mud caked where the sweat ran from under the pad.
Becky
Careful you don't pull them shoes off in the mud :~\
I'm still looking forward to the day I can hose Bay off... just not quite warm enough... I like a clean horse, but I'm not mean enough to freeze him with a cold hose... usually ;~)
We may ride here today... I at least want to lunge him and get him moving... with our rain, he's just been standing around too much. He's laying down right now, so I won't disturb that. ;~)
We've got obstacles in the way of going out on trail early this week (they opened yesterday). We're out of the pony's Quietex, which I don't know if we really need or not, but why change something that makes us feel better... I ordered it from Country Supply with our gift certificate. It'll probably be here in a day or two. I'm taking the truck up to be serviced on Wednesday, and Thursday the shoer comes.
Friday's looking good, if the weather holds :~)
I thought about his shoes a few times today. But they all held, and the farrier comes back a week from this Fri. so they are holding up great even going into the 5th week.
Well I hope the weather does hold for you and you get to go:)
Becky
It'll likely be a bit muddy in place when we do go, but I'm excited to go ... we'll see. It's weird weather, pretty typical this time of year, every time we look outside it's doing something different... lots of sun, then rain two minutes later.
Well, we wimped out.... We went for a walk during one of the sunny spells, and even in the sun... there’s no warmth, there’s a chill wind and it just isn’t that nice out. Plus my horse rolled in the mud on one side and his hair is falling off him in clumps with every step... I curried him a little and ‘ugh’... I don’t want my tack near him right now ;~)
Doggies got to go out in the back forty to run and find horse sh__ so the day isn’t completely wasted ;~).
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