Many Updates

Every morning I start with a mug of coffee and go through emails from friends, neighbors, and the vet with digital copies of the Coggins tests while the print copies are on their way. I then take those digital versions and add them to the horses' farm record keeping system. I make a second mug of coffee and head out to the Somali barn where Pat has set up an office to leave me messages if needed. Every day I dread looking to see what is there. With Indio well over 30 I do not want to see a note that he has passed away.

In other news our two project stallions, both Standardbreds are improving nicely. Dolton has recovered fully and been given a "back to work" approval from the vet. With a couple of attempts to sell him in pasture condition I took him up to the show horse barn and am going to have him refreshed in ground manners. Stibb Cross is almost 100% again he's going up to the barn and going back to work too. If no one wants these nice boys they might as well earn their keep!

I've missed a few months of entering shows, someone remind me to never do that again? As I've been typing the English events for the late month shows have been texted in. Pearl, our color custom import Fjord mare, has earned her BCh with a win in the Pleasure class!

All of the custom imports on the farm have had the photographer out to see them. All that I have requested anyway, I think Siri does not have a special picture.

It is hard deciding who to sell and who to keep when you have several unproven horses of similar fitness and training. Unproven either in the ring or in the breeding barn or both. Some horses I know are just not show horses and no attempts to cajole them or coerce them will work. Those horses may or may not do well in the show ring. So as the days to fall wound down I made some last minute breedings, since the girls were in full heat. I'll add a post another day with the list of expecting pairings.

With so few of my Somalis active in the show ring and with the success of my ancestor with them in English competition I've brought Harvy out of retirement and back into training. His Dressage foundation will surely help him in the Hunter and Pleasure classes. After this month's Draft show Conqueror will be making the change too. He is just too agile to be allowed to get ring sour because he isn't as strong or flashy as the rest of the drafts out there. 

Many changes taking place

Well much has been going on here at MDA. We found room for several of Hayden's Fjords as you may have seen. We are very pleased to have them here, but that means some adjustments need to be made here. So the easiest and simplest for me to do is sell off the Standardbreds as they were really not up to the level I'd like to seem them at. All but my custom boy that is. I also put up a bunch of horses that were just not performing to the level that I was hoping to see them at. Too much going on at work for me to work with the horses so the training costs are killing me. I've parred down on the show string quite a bit and have a couple of Hayden's Fjord's entered in their first shows GM 2363. Very very excited about the young horses on the property, lots of potential there. I'm back under 100 horses in active training and maintenance exercise. Of those 46 are show string. The rest are heading for the show string when they are ready.
I'll be revamping the ranch page over the next couple of months using Bita's layout as a base. She gets full credit of course!