The economy is in the pits & the average horse prices are tanked. So what do you do with that broodmare? 

Selling her will fall under the heading of "cutting losses" since, in the current market, you'll never realize your investment. Besides, you like her! If "bailing out" isn't your preference [& you don't qualify for a "bail out" lol] - then what? Invest more money, breed for a 2010 foal & hope the market will improve or leave her open?    

Let's face it, carrying a barren mare is the biggest loss of them all. There's not even the chance of making a penny & I doubt the IRS would see that as very "business-like".

In my mind, the horse market is down because of inflated fees and over breeding - in particular, over breeding bottom of the barrel stock. Breeding quality to quality is just one of the solutions. As a mare owner with a mare worthy of breeding, the next step is shopping around.

As soon as the sale prices dropped, stallion owners in the Thoroughbred industry dropped their stud fees. You have to give people the opportunity to realize a profit. All in all, I haven't seen the same in the Quarter Horse market. It's that kind of short sightedness that hurts the business. Get out the calculator. If the price of the stud fee, repro costs & 2 yrs maintenance for mare & foal don't [well] exceed what the foal will sell for as a yearling, then changes need to be made.    

I have a chocolate palomino AQHA mare who has over 100 PHBA points to her credit & has earned two Honor Roll titles as well as a PHBA World Show Top Ten. Wish us luck -we're going shopping! 

Well, we survived the 2009 Kentucky ice storm. There was a fair number of those who didn't. If Obama wants "public works", why not point some of that pork laden stimulus package at burying power lines? Guess Obama thinks screwing in environmentally friendly light bulbs is "greener" than digging ditches. Who cares if red state residents freeze to death in the 21st century? Bitterly clinging to our guns & religion will have to keep us warm.

No power, no lights but plenty of ice & frigid temps. The woods looked like a fairly tale, the ice encased branches gleaming like crystal in the sunlight. Walking on the grass was lots safer than the blacktop. Every step was accompanied by a crunch as the ice, coating each separate blade of grass, was crushed.  The nights, though, were the worst.

The wind drove the temps even further down and the black ice spelled disaster. Life goes on, though. You haven't lived until you've foaled out mares in the dark. Flashlights and frozen fingers! At least there weren't any frost bitten ears! [I mean on the foals - can't speak for the help...]

Heard on the radio that the woman who's the FEMA honcho came to KY to see the devastation for herself. During her tour she announced that emergency food packages, that had been distributed in the hardest hit western part of the state, quite probably contained salmonella infected peanut butter products.

If the storms don't kill ya, the government will!  

hoof beats in the night

full moon watches silently

destinies are made

~B

Once more, it's foaling season & has been for a few weeks. I may not see a blue sky again until  daylight savings time goes into effect! 

My life is revolving around the vagaries of broodmares and the erratic nature of maiden mares. Does she have wax, yet? How soft is the croup area? Geez, she's really turning into a witch! We're foaling how many mares this year??? What day is this, anyway?????

Hurry up and wait but then it's suddenly time for her to foal. Thank God, no red bag! Is the foal positioned OK? Hoping everything goes well... doing what you can but aware of the clock. Minutes can mean all the difference in the world.

Finally! Colt or filly? Treat the navel stump, foal enema... that's a big baby! ...don't get up yet, mare, just relax...

Eleven months of work, investment, hopes & dreams are lying in the straw. Legs too long to command - he'll figure it out in a while. A tiny nicker! Ya think he's wondering what in the world happened to his climate controlled room? January in central Kentucky can be wickedly cold! The mare returns the nicker. She's decided all is well.

Time to get out of the way.

He'll win.   

Long ago but not all that far away, my husband gave me an American Quarter Horse, palomino, yearling filly. This was in lieu of a wedding ring. Yes!!! - the perfect gift for a woman who had been [and still is] obsessed with the equine!

The filly was foundation bred & it showed in her solid build & intelligent eye. She was line-bred Wimpy, King, Leo & Bee Play while she also claimed the blood of Bill Cody, Joe Hancock and Three Bars [TB] through Sugar Bars & Three Jets. A pale to medium shade of palomino, she sported a solid white mane/tail, four whites & a broad blaze that aproned over her nose. Her head... short muzzled with a strong jaw but still obviously a filly. What can I say? She was a dream come true! 

The filly hadn't been registered yet but she came with the breeders certificate. No problem, all I had to do was pick a name, fill out the forms & send it all off to the AQHA office in Amarillo, TX.     

A name, a name... it's all in the name! Surely an animal of such beauty & fine breeding - not to mention one who represented such an important vow - deserved a  memorable name! I'd narrowed the possibilities down to a mere dozen when my husband intervened.

"Call her 'Golden Yobo' ", he said. "Huh???", was my reply.

He then pointed out that: A] her sire's name was "Richest Hobo" so it would rhyme; B] she was a palomino and therefore "golden" and C] "Yobo" was Korean for "little girl". Wasn't that apropos & downright sweet? What could be better? [Note: Said husband was in the last bunch ever to be drafted into the US Army. During his military years, serving as an M.P., he was stationed in Korea.]  

I was in a quandary. What could I say? He was benignly insistent. We had just [very] recently been married. I was in love. He gave me this wonderful filly. I still thought he was a nice guy... oh, hell!!! OK, I filled out the forms & a few weeks later the certificate arrived declaring her to officially be "Golden Yobo".      

It soon became obvious that "Yobo" was perhaps a little too smart. Despite that challenge, she matured into one heckuva nice mare & I learned to ask [not tell] her what I wanted. A few stumbling blocks later and everything was clicking! I work in the race horse industry but have always showed horses, too. It wasn't long before Yobo was making herself know in the local, central Kentucky show pens.

A few years after she'd come into my life, we were showing in the Louisville area. We'd just won a fairly big class & were coming out of the pen with that "damn, we're good!" feeling. Be very careful of such feelings... you never know what's going to come next.

In this case, it was a man standing by the gate. Not a horseman, he was at the show with mutual friends. He'd heard the announcer call her name & just had to ask, "Is your horse really named, 'Golden Yobo' "?

When I confirmed that it was, the man practically laughed himself into apoplexy. Not a good sign...

This fellow was a pilot & about my husband's age. He had not only been in the Army at the same time my husband was but was also in Korea at the same time. We needed to talk.

That's when I found out "Yobo" isn't exactly Korean for "little girl". Actually, it's not Korean at all. It was, however, G.I. slang in Korea for a "working girl". Holy Mother! I'd been showing the Yella Hussy!

What's really scary is said husband had kept this secret to himself for 5 years. When confronted, he grinned and said, "Well, it was fun for awhile." Yup, really scary!

Well, Yobo is now 25 years old. Between then & now she compiled a show record worthy enough to get anyone's notice. With fairly limited showing in AQHA & PHBA competition, she was an AQHA halter point earner and a PHBA National Honor Roll Champion timed event horse with 224 points in 14 events. Not only could she run a pattern or catch a judge's eye in a halter class, she could pack a baby around the pen for a walk/trot class or go out into the hinterlands on a wild cow hunt. Perhaps more important than the titles & the trophy buckles, though, were the sincere compliments she received from knowledgeable, been-there-done-that horsemen. You can't put a price on that kind of recognition.

Yobo has had foals who get noticed, too. One, JB Sky Hy Bailey, is a World Show Top Five & another, Lobo Amarillo, is my next show/stallion prospect. In all likelihood, Yobo will be making her presence know for many generations to come.    

Not bad for an old Yella Hussy. 

PS: I still have the same husband, too, but he's no longer allowed to name horses.