Busy, Busy

My days are filled with emails and phone calls about potential horse sales. This is a very good thing, because we desperately need the money. But at the end of the day, it does leave me wondering, "Where did the day go? Did I actually accomplish anything?" because it's hard for me to believe that that's how my WHOLE day was spent.

I have several good possibilities of people who may buy horses, and the vet is scheduled to come out to do Coggins tests, shots, Bonnie's pregnancy check, and health certificates.

Yesterday, I spent a little time working with Penny, who has not been handled much lately. Usually in the paddock at feeding time or out in the pasture with the other fillies, she's pretty matter-of-fact and doesn't put on much of a show. But when I took her out into the yard by herself, I got to see her put that tail in the air and do a beautiful, big, powerful trot with tons of gorgeous suspension. Even Ken, who is not an experienced horse person, said, "Wow, I'd never noticed how beautiful she was before!"

She was a very good girl, though, and was very polite about yielding to pressure even when she was excited to be off by herself. All of Senter's foals seem to be extremely easy to work with (especially compared to the Art Deco fillies, who are much more challenging).

I did a second session with her later in the day, and she was just as calm and peaceful as she could be. What a good girl!

A Recipe for Me

My friend River occasionally posts links to entertaining quizzes on his blog, and sometimes if I have a minute, I take the quiz. This one, "What is your personality recipe?" from Quiz Galaxy came out particularly appropriate for my personality, so I thought I'd post it here, just for fun.

Nancy - 1/4 cup of crazy - a heaping teaspoon of intelligence - 1/4 cup of honesty Mix on high, and serve immediately.

'What is your personality recipe?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Silly, I know, but it's refreshing not to be serious all the time.

What's YOUR personality recipe?

Callisto's First Ride

There was a lot of activity today in Taj's "Sheep Mahal" sheep shelter that Ken built. Two of Taj's ewes (which represent a full 1/3 of his breeding group) were in heat today, so he was busy all day making sure they got as pregnant as possible.


Later, I went out to take some measurements of Bonnie (saddle, blanket, and halter sizes) for the people who are buying her, and I ended up spending a while out in the pasture just visiting all the mares.

I especially spent time cuddling with Callisto. She has turned out so nice, I really don't want to sell her. For two years, I've been looking forward to riding her, and now she's almost old enough. I really want the chance to be the one to teach her. But with our finances the way they are, if she sells, I have to let her go.

So, just to avoid missing my chance entirely, while I was standing out there with her, I tipped the water trough upside down to use as a mounting block, had Ken hold her halter for me, and got on her back for the first time.

She knows me, and she's calm about everything anyway, so she didn't much care. She was a little surprised, and looked around to touch her nose to my toes on each side of her back. But she was happy enough to have me there.

She's a nice size for me, I think, although she's not as wide as Char. Char is so broad and well-cushioned, riding her is like sitting on a big, comfy, rocket-powered couch. I didn't ride Callisto around at all today, just sat there for a minute and then got off.

I could start her under-saddle training now, but I'm not the lightest rider in the world, so I'd rather wait until her third birthday, just to give her joints a few more months to mature before I make her carry me around very much.

Still, it was fun to be up there on her back for the first time, if only for a couple of minutes!

Sold One!

The people who were thinking about buying Bonnie decided today that they would definitely buy her, as long as I get her vet checked to verify that she's pregnant. I've seen Bonnie's belly changing shape these past couple of months, so I have no doubt that's a test she can pass, no problem. So it looks like Bonnie will be going to live in Massachusetts pretty soon.


I also spent a very pleasant couple of hours this afternoon talking with a lovely woman from Charlottesville who has fallen in love with Icelandic sheep, and wanted to come visit the farm. She doesn't own a farm yet, so she wasn't actually sheep shopping, just coming to see the sheep in person and getting to ask lots of questions.

I had a lot of fun talking with her. It's strange to think that I was pretty much in her shoes only a few years ago, and now I have a farm and sheep and horses (and all the attendant bills and worries) and am the "expert" who can answer all her questions. I've learned so much in such a short time, it makes me proud of myself. And I really enjoyed encouraging someone who is just in the very beginning stages of thinking about starting a farm someday.

(I did tell her not to invest in horses though!)

I have at least two other people who sound like they're pretty seriously considering purchasing horses, plus a lot of others who have made initial inquiries. Gotta keep that momentum going, sell some more horses soon!

Turning Point

I was lying awake last night, as I often do, when all of a sudden I got the feeling that our farm's financial crisis has reached a turning point. I have no logical reason to think that yet, but the feeling came all the same.

I feel certain that some of the dozen or so people who have inquired about horses in the past few days will turn out to be the right future owners for some of the horses on my sales list. I feel certain that we will pay our bills, rebalance our farm plans into a more sustainable scale, and by spring perhaps be in a position to actually start enjoying owning the farm again, instead of just worrying all the time about how we're going to keep it.

Like I said, I have no logical reason to think this yet. And maybe I won't feel that way tomorrow. But it sure is a relief to feel that way today.

I got a few more new horse inquiries today. The people who made an offer on Bonnie are now considering my counter-offer. And I got to meet a couple of very nice local horse women who came out to meet the herd this afternoon. It was a busy day, but all in all, I feel pretty good.

For that, I'm very thankful.

Horse-Shopping Feeding Frenzy

So apparently I've discovered the secret to writing horse ads is to sound really, really desperate.

When I updated my ads recently, I didn't really change much of anything in the descriptions except to add an "Emergency Herd Reduction" statement at the top of each one.

I did this two days ago. Since then I have TEN different people interested in horses, including four who say they want to schedule a farm visit and one who has made an offer on Bonnie. Bonnie has become very popular. I have FIVE people interested in her.

This is so weird. I mean, I'm happy about it, of course, but where were all these people all spring, all summer, all fall, when they could have gotten a horse in time to do something with it while the weather was still good (and saved me from feeding them all for all these months)?

I've had more inquiries in the past two days than in the past 4 months combined.

Mystifying.

Still, it's good news, so I'm not going to complain. What I'm going to do is answer a lot of inquiry emails and phone calls and schedule a lot of farm visits. Which, with luck, will lead to selling a lot of horses and stopping some of the money that has been hemorrhaging out of this farm in the form of hay bills.

It will be nice to be able to pay all the people we owe money to. It will be nice to be able to sleep at night without having to lie awake wondering how to afford the next shipment of hay. It will be nice to have a shipment of hay last more than a week!

I just hope I am able to make the right judgments and find the RIGHT home for each of the sales horses. They're good girls, every last one of them, and they deserve good homes where they'll be loved and appreciated.

A Few Steps Forward

After so many depressing posts in a row, I finally have three good things to announce today:

1. After that sheep shelter ripped itself to shreds in the wind yesterday, Ken went out today and built the Sheep Mahal---a big, sturdy shelter that (we hope) will withstand the rest of our winter winds. Just in time, too, since we're supposed to get our first snow of the year tomorrow. Poor sheepies---I feel bad for them being sheared a whole month later than usual. Usually by this time of year they would have a nice little coat of warm wool started already. But this year they're still nearly bare. BRRRRR!

2. Sheep breeding season is progressing. So far, the sheep that I know for sure got bred (because I saw it happen) are Trouble, Paris, Poppy, Tansy, and Salem. Lots of lambs in the making. I can't wait for spring!

3. Now that my horse website is updated, and I spent the past two days adding or renewing my online horse-for-sale ads, FINALLY the inquiries are starting to come in again. Just today alone, I got inquiries from 5 new people. Obviously, inquiries are not the same as buyers (Heck, based on the last person, even "Yes I want to buy her, I'm putting the check in the mail today" people are not necessarily buyers!). Still, it does give me reason to hope!

Keep your fingers crossed for me, that some of these horses will find great homes, I'll earn enough money to buy hay for the rest of them, and we'll all live happily ever after!

Against the Wind

Senter's new house withstood the rain all night and---even more important---the tremendous onslaught of gusty wind all day today. It's getting to be the time of year when I don't appreciate living up here on the hill. The wind rips and rattles and crashes everything.

Our wind chimes, so soothing all summer, batter themselves to shreds. Anything we leave on the porch---lawn chairs, cat carriers, charcoal grills, you name it---get lifted, tossed, and sometimes tumbled to the other side of the yard. And unfortunately, the largest (and least sturdy) of the sheep shelters we built disassembled itself.

I knew it was going to happen, watching the way the wind was lifting it. I told Ken we needed to reinforce it before it tore itself to pieces. But by the time he finished Senter's shelter, it was getting dark and he was tired. And during the night the wind came.

So now, tomorrow we have to make a new shelter with a somewhat more permanent design, to withstand the wind.

I worked until midnight last night getting my horse website updated, and finally managed to post it online this morning. Today I've begun updating my online horse for sale ads, which ends up being ridiculously time consuming for how simple a task it is.

There's always something more to be done. It just seems weird that being a farmer ends up meaning I spend 90% of my time trying to market my items or livestock, and only 10% of my time actually working with them. And considering how much time I spend on marketing, you'd think I'd have a few more sales to show for it.

Senter's New House (Part 3)

There's a cold, cold rain coming in tonight, and Ken got Senter's house finished just in time!

Poor Senter, he doesn't grow a thick, fuzzy coat like all the other horses, so he needs some shelter from the elements even in our mild Virginia winters. But, being a stallion, he also likes to be able to see everything that's going on everywhere. So this shelter is perfect---it protects him from the wind and rain, but doesn't block his view.

Ken did a great job with building this, even though he's not super experienced at carpentry. I had a lot of input on the design, but Ken pretty much did all the building himself. It's just a simple frame of pressure-treated lumber with a heavy-duty tarp roof. All told, the whole thing cost us less than $300.

Senter already appreciates his new house. Here he is supervising while Ken gets ready to put the roof on:


And here he is enjoying his first meal in the newly completed digs:


Home, sweet home:

Insomnia Again

This whole insomnia thing is getting out of control. Last night I went to bed at 11:00 p.m., didn't fall asleep until after 4:00 a.m., and woke up again at 8:00 a.m. That's been happening a lot lately. Four hours of sleep a night is not enough for me, but a lot of nights, that's the best I can do.

The trouble is the wheels of my brain go into overdrive as soon as I try to go to sleep. I'll lie on the couch watching a video and find myself getting sleepy, so I'll head up to bed. I've never been one to just drop right off the instant my head touches the pillow, so I'll crack a book and read for half an hour or so, until I can't keep my eyes open any more.

I'll put away the book, turn off the light, and roll over to sleep. But at that moment, my busy, busy brain, freed at last from the distraction of work and videos and books, starts whirring faster and faster.

What can I do to earn more money? How are we going to pay our bills? How can I sell these horses faster? I didn't get as much accomplished on the computer today as I'd hoped. I forgot to make that phone call again. When will so-and-so finally respond to my emails? Is it raining outside? We didn't finish Senter's shelter yet. I hope he's not getting cold and wet. Are the hay people going to deliver more hay tomorrow?

My busy, busy brain goes on like this, literally for hours without slowing down. Sometimes I turn the light back on and read some more in my book, which lulls me into being sleepy once more, but as soon as I stop and turn out the light, my worrying starts up again.

It's not totally without merit. For instance, I was able to figure out some decisions I needed to make regarding the horses. But what gets me is the waste of time and energy. Every night, I'm too sleepy to keep actually working and getting anything useful done, but too wound up to get any actual rest. Then, with only four hours of sleep a night, I'm not worth much during the day either.

Ultimately, of course, the solution for this problem is the same as the solution for the majority of our other problems. I need to sell the horses. If I can reduce the herd enough, our money problems will subside and I won't have to worry as much.

Easier said than done, of course.