Project pony wanted!

The Joe Moyle's Sale is an annual event to pick up bargain basement ponies and horses. Most are youngstock, hairy cobs or trotter types, some with issues, others pregnant, others with foals at foot. Colts there are often ungelded and a few are truly wild. But we went to the sale because of the garuantee of a cheap deal.

Peter from Tregurtha was taking the lorry and I was allowed to come along on the condition that I shut my mouth and listened to him if he said a horse wasn't worth it. That's peter all over. He was there to sell a kitten, chickens and various bits and bobs that accumulate around livery yards like old bikes and hutches.

There were a couple of high quality horses there; in specific a huge leopard appaloosa stallion and a fresian stallion as well, both of which were just being advertised rathter than sold. Then their was the dun gelding in the barn who was also very nice. He was a real dun with a dorsal stripe and a lovely honest face. The other horses were not so correct conformationally but a few still worthy of catching my eye. The first was a 3 yr old pinto but on closer inspection it appeared to have a cataract and the girl selling it put me off completely when she bulldozed through the crowd shouting and waving her arms around at it for no reason. There was a small haffie mare with a foal a crossbred foal at foot and possibly pregnant again. another possibly pregnant 2yr old coloured cob caught my eye but we didn't really want anything that may or may not surprise us with a foal. There was a black 2yr old filly cob who although hairy and a bit ugly would have been ideal if it weren't for the price tag of £850. As it was I only took £300 with me. There was a pretty clydesdale bay sabino mare of 13yrs but she was too old for what I wanted. We nearly bought a 3yr old coloured filly to make 14hh but Peter said £275 was too much for such a small horse so we left her.

So we are still searching. We heard a rumour that Penhalwyn are selling youngstock off very cheaply so we might go have a look there. Stay tuned, I may be back soon with my first youngster!

Sitting on the fence...

Extremism is everywhere. There are always people who refuse to believe any other way is better that theirs and there are those who are utterly opposed. Sometimes it becomes a war. I realised this when I stumbled across an anti-fuglyhorseoftheday blog. And it surprised me.
I am certainly not a loyal and devout follower, although I do enjoy reading the blog, but neither am I for calling her a complete hypocrite either. The anti-fuglies bash on her mainly for her hypocritical view on her own average, nothing fancy stallion, who they think should be gelded - something Fugly has always preached. No-one there likes how her followers prey on anyone who opposes her views. For the most part both sides are well spoken, educated voices so there is no divide between their ability to dish dirt.
However someone mentioned there something about which side of the fence you choose. So which side do I stand on?
Neither. I sit on the fence.
I believe that in every walk of life, every aspect of a situation needs to be addressed. Not everything is black and white, wrong or right. If you do not tread carefully you can end up in the firing line. Saying something wrong to the wrong person at the wrong time and in the wrong place could easily leave you humiliated. If you choose a side, stay with them. Do not seek out the opposite end of the spectrum just for the bravado because you will be burned. Otherwise, if you don't want problems from either party, stay out of the way. Keep comments light if you must share your oppinion and never agree completely with either side.

In other news, Nell and Lucy were moved down to Kestel on thursday so they are all in one place now. Hip Horray!

A note on the ecomomic crisis

As the credit crunch bites and the economy gets worse, isn't it time to start thinking about the demand for horses here in the UK? I normally leave this stuff for Fugs, but she just posted a statement from the BHS. Being a brit myself it sort of dawned on me. The things Fugs worries about over in America are spreading to our green and pleasent land.

Things are changing. A heavy fog of worry for horse owners is hanging in the air. And yet as I look around, breeders are continuing as normal.

But they shouldn't be. It erks me that people insist on bringing more horses into the world when there are so many good, family safe, ridable and even fantastic competition horses out there who have no home to go to. We have a long haul ahead of us all and even people who are just breeding a one-off foal - hold off until the economy is better. Think for a moment what would happen if money problems got worse and all you could do to keep food on the table was sell your horse. Where would it go?

A friend bought a pony for her daughter in october for £1500. Her daughter lost interest so the pony was sold. The problem being, the economy got worse. In the end she managed to sell him for £500 in January. No difference in the horse - only the economy.

If you are considering breeding this year go here. http://www.fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/
Read all the posts you have time to, and change your mind. Foals may be cute but they are expensive and there really is a poor market at the moment. If you are still unwavered, you need to be strapped to a chair and made to watch hour upon hour of slaughter videos - Because lets face it - that's reality for many horses who don't sell, and reality bites.