HC Minis - new pics pg 172

[chandab]

OH! That could be dangerous! Let us know how she "goes" -- we're really hoping she is pregnant and we can see her fabulous little one arrive!\

I know. And, I'll keep you informed. I'm just having a bit of a pity party with no foals this year; just fat healthy horses.

 

[chandab]

Diane, I know I've shared with you, so you know that I do truly appreciate my healthy horses. And, right now, I'm even appreciating my difficult horses; Honey is doing well on her prescription change, and Jasper is having a little bit of trouble with seasonal weight loss (I've adjusted his diet), but he's getting along well with the yearlings (seems to be tolerating them quite well).

 

[chandab]

Here's hoping.

Perhaps I'll see about new pictures today, but this morning is skunk removal duty... I was feeding last night, I didn't see the skunk til I was practically dumping the cats' food in their dishes (we have lots of black cats), he was sharing with the cats (actually the cats were watching from a distance), I tried to shoo him away but he just got mad at the cats (no spraying just stomping - it was getting late, so pretty normal time for them to start coming out to forage) and then hid behind the dead ATV in the barn, I got Shayne and he shot the skunk (hopefully without shooting the ATV, it was still hiding under the front axle), so this morning, I get to scoop him up and haul him out of the barn. (I have a bucket, a shovel and a working ATV so I can haul him out of the yard - then I'll disinfect the bucket and de-skunk the barn area if needed). Then, I'll do regular chores.

 

[chandab]

Ok, not great, but I got a couple pics of Baybe and Caddy today.

First, Caddy; and I'm thinking just fat, since she is a year and a week past the last known possible covering date (unless they did something I'm unaware of and they'd have to be pretty darn sneaky).



And, here is Baybe; I had help with the pictures, so probably not quite the angles we need:

 

[chandab]

Boy! A skunk! Never a dull moment at your place, is there?

I like what I see in Baybe. She looks nicely rounded and a bit lop-sided. Crossing fingers and toes that she's hiding a little one for us to wait on !!

Nope, never dull around here.

I sure hope Baybe still has a little one in there that she'll soon share with the world, but some days I have my doubts. If she does come up open, next year we'll go with hand breeding if she'll be agreeable (Che` had trouble reaching the taller mares pasture or hand breeding, so I got him a mare his size in hopes he could do it on his own, but he still might need help to get the job done). [Dolly is his 4 year old daughter, so 5 years ago, he was fertile. I hope he still is.]

 

[AnnaC]

UGH!! Soooooooooooo glad that we dont have skunks here in the UK!!

Thanks for the new pictures - I dont think Caddy is going to produce anything for you now, which is a shame. But I agree with Diane that Baybe looks 'hopeful' - when exactly is she due (sorry cant remember!)?

Love the ears in that last photo LOL!! - who do they belong to?

 

[chandab]

The ears belong to miss Tilly, of course; she's always right there when there's work to be done. I don't have any current pics, guess I should fix that, and get more than just her ears.

Your guess is still as good as mine for when Baybe is due, I thought she would have gone long before now. I turned Che` out with the mares June 27 and he was out with them til I brought Tilly home in Oct or Nov (can't remember which). Che` had a hard time covering my tall mares, pasture or hand breeding, so I got him a mare his size and so hoped he could do it on his own, but its starting to look like he'll need to go with hand breeding. He was fertile 5 years ago, as Dolly is his 4 year old daughter; he was hand bred to Caddy and needed a hole for her and a hill for him. [Che` is 31"; my tall mares are 35-38" (Caddy is around 35.5"); Baybe is 32.5".] Che` seems to have trouble with aim to be as PC as possible.

 

[chandab]

Guess perhaps I didn't mention it here... I got hit my a donkey fly-by last week, she got me right in the knee and put me to the ground. I thought I was going to have a donkey hoof bruise, but didn't. It sure did hurt and my knee was stiff and sore for nearly a week. It still hurts just a bit if I touch the right spot. Guess, I shouldn't forget them in their barn when its time to go out and "graze"; their pasture is about bare, so I've been spreading some hay around. I got their late for turn-out, was spreading hay when Tilly ran by donkeying around.

 

[chandab]

Ok, so what am I doing wrong? I've advertised and rarely if ever even get an inquiry on my boys. Does my ad suck that bad? Here's my LB sale board ad, all my ads are about the same: http://www.lilbeginnings.com/saleboard/adsDetails.php?page=1&catid=&keyword=&adid=62830 Is it my location? Not that I can really do anything about it. I know my pictures aren't great, but I have no help. [i can get help, but its not easy.] Thinking about sending a new offer to the people that inquired if they want them before I spend money on gelding, then I can reduce their price a bit more. Hubby might be more agreeable to Monte staying if the other two were sold. Just doing some thinking. I know, that's dangerous; just wait til you start smelling smoke...

 

[chandab]

Offer sent...

 

[chandab]

Thank you.

I'm having my doubts about Baybe still being pregnant (if she was at all), she's starting to just look fat and the edema in front of her udder has gone down a little bit with out her udder going up. Che` has problems getting the deed done without help, so perhaps pasture breeding won't work for him (I was hoping a mare his size would help, but its not looking promising and back to hand breeding next summer we will be). I know he was fertile 5 years ago, as he has a 4 year old daughter; but he's older so perhaps he's not any more (hopefully just getting back to hand breeding will work, if Baybe is cooperative). I just don't know; but since they were out together til I brought Tilly home in Oct or Nov, there is still some time for hope.

 

[paintponylvr]

Smile... Yep, like Dianne's answer.

What kind of offer did you send? Of course we can wait until you hear back...

 

[chandab]

Probably not as good of an offer as they would want, but about $250 less for both, than last discussed; if they want to come almost all the way to get them (I'll meet them in town, so they don't have to drive our bad gravel roads, we have about 30 miles of gravel). [slightly higher price to cover gas, if they want me to meet them part way. They are clear across the state, so probably still not interested due to all that travel expense.]

If they don't sell, its time to start thinking about gelding the boys. Being they are taller, gelding them is probably best. Junior and Manny have two down, no problem; Monte I can only feel one, but it was a pretty quick feel on all of them, they weren't thrilled with the invasion of privacy.

 

[paintponylvr]

Wow, that sounds pretty darn good to me! But I've had the same problem!

I've got some others that I lowered prices OR will work deals on. I need to re-list ads though. Haven't done any since March... I also will need to decide if I want to keep my fillies (have 5 daughters of Iggy) and sell some of the mares or keep unrelated mares and sell some of the fillies. I'm leaning towards keeping my fillies. One is built different than I really want but has a great personality/disposition, but would still work and I'm leaning towards breeding her to Oly and seeing if I don't get more of what I'm looking for in build... I can put a price on her, though. I've been "itching" to start her in harness this past week - she's 30 months old now, so old enough to start not only ground driving but also pulling the single tree etc...

None of our mares are bred for next year and no "accidents" either (so far!)

 

[chandab]

Part of me would rather just keep them, but hubby thinks I have way too many horses, so selling two would keep the peace. I'm sure he'd be more agreeable to them staying if they did more than look pretty, but it seems that's all I get done with my horses is looking at them. I really should get off my behind and get them trained to drive, and then actually get out and drive them.

 

[AnnaC]

Any news from from your potential buyers Chanda? Still keeping my fingers crossed for you.

 

[chandab]

No news yet, but they don't have computer, so I had to snail mail my letter; not sure how long it will take to get there, but I only mailed it about a week ago and today was a holiday, so no mail service. And, like so many, they may not even respond if they are not interested. [i really hate that, when you answer some one and they don't let you know they got your e-mail, message, whatever.]

 

[chandab]

Any news from from your potential buyers Chanda? Still keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Got a letter in the mail today. No go at this time. She sent back a really low offer, like less than half of my original asking price. I can understand somewhat with the cost of travel/transport, but still find it somewhat insulting to receive that low of an offer. Perhaps I'm asking too much for the boys in today's market with my location (smack dab in the middle of nowhere); but at this time, I don't have to give them away to find them a new home, so for now they stay. Perhaps I'd feel differently on the low price if I could meet them in person first; they might be the perfect home, but if they are going to quibble on the moderate asking price, do they have the funds to take care of them properly? We all know the purchase is the least expensive part of horse ownership, especially with moderately priced horses. I'm sure Shayne would just say go for it, as he thinks I have too many; but right now I'm handling my numbers just fine, so I guess they get to stay for now. Now, that means we have a gelding party in our future, some time; we preg-check cows in December, so if its not too cold that might be a good time; or after the first of the year when we Bangs vaccinate the heifers, as the mileage charge will already be covered (or at least my share won't be so high).

On a better note, the little boys are really coming around now that they spend time with the grumpy old men. they seem to like their scritches and daily pats. I still don't catch them any more than before, but now that they go in a stall for meals in the new barn, they are getting friendlier and actually look forward to me coming. They all go out on pasture every day, and are on dry lot at night.

 

[Wings]

Sorry I haven't poked my head in... not that I'd be much help with all the selling stuff, you know we both went to the same school of "hopeless at selling our foals".... I think I graduated with high honours

My perspective on prices is that if you don't have to sell and they aren't costing you much to look after then don't drop any further then you are comfortable. I could have sold Red 100 times over if I'd been willing to halve his price but I've refused to budge. Maybe if the perfect person came along and met him but couldn't quite afford him I'd do a deal but only then.

Like you've just experienced every time someone asks about him I feel sick and I'm realising I don't want him to go... it's just the need to be sensible about my herd size that's kept him on the market this long. So go with your gut

 

[chandab]

Got a call tonight from a hard of hearing grandpa inquiring about the boys, so he said he'd have his grandson call so he could get the information. Grandson called and I gave him the information, and we'll see if anything comes of it. They are in the Casper, WY area, so quite a ways from me; at least a days drive one-way (probably).

No foals, so it looks like my only baby this year is this little guy:



Momma barn kitty abandoned a litter of 3 black kittens. I found them, the weaker two didn't make it and I'm left with "squawky". I've been making do with what I have on hand, which hasn't been working out too well; but UPS came early and I now have two cans of KMR (kitten milk replacer), and he loves it. Now if I can keep him doing his bathroom duties and eating we'll have a healthy, big kitten in no time. We already have 3 house cats, so no more house cats here; so when he's big enough he'll either go back out to the barn or I'll find him a house cat home. I'm hopefully going to town this upcoming week and I'll get some more supplies, I think the one vet has KMR, and I can pick up some canned kitten food (or canned cat food). [My MIL picked up a couple cans, but she ended up with Special Diet that says for adults only, so I'll have to see what I can find. The store has been out of the pate' style in most flavors the last couple times I was in town.]