Horse Update

So, a lot has happened with the horses over the summer. Here's a summary:

Penny:

After trying to sell my filly Penny, and getting almost no inquiries on her for a year, all of a sudden, four different buyers wanted her all at the same time. It got a little confusing for a while, but finally I decided to sell her to a very nice woman from British Columbia. So Penny's first trailer ride was a LOOOOONNNGG one!

Libby:


Libby went to live with her new owner, my trainer. I traded Libby in exchange for future training on my two Art Deco fillies. I really wanted Libby to go to someone who would truly appreciate her quality, and I know the trainer will do that, as she already owns Libby's full brother from this year.

Torchsong:

At the same time that Libby left here, the trainer also took Torchsong to start her training. I put up some "for sale" ads for her, and after a dry spell in serious horse inquiries through most of September, suddenly I have a flurry of potential buyers interested in Torchsong. I've lowered her price to only $3,500 in hopes of selling her soon.

After all those horses leaving the farm, we only have the two Art Deco fillies left here. I thought that was going to be enough of a herd reduction. But unfortunately, finances are still way too tight, and we're just tired of the constant worrying, so we reluctantly decided that we're going to sell the last two fillies as well, and get out of breeding horses altogether. I spent a couple of days giving the girls baths and taking new photos, but I haven't had a chance to put "for sale" ads up yet. That'll be next on the agenda. Meanwhile, here's a peek at what the girls look like now:

Glory: (click here to see more photos and video)

Grace: (click here to see more photos and video)


Their attitudes have improved a lot over the summer. Now, although they are still spirited, they are also very friendly towards me. They are easy to catch now, and not nearly so spooky about things. So, even though I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to work with them regularly, they still have made a ton of progress.

They will be going to the trainer's soon as well, to get the training that we agreed on, and then they'll be sold. So soon I'll have no horses here on the farm at all. It will be weird, but it will make everything---finances, chores, farm upkeep, etc.---much easier when we can just concentrate all our efforts on the sheep side of the business.