The Breeding Tide Turns

The heyday of horse breeding is over--so over that it might surprise you to learn by how much, and which breeds are seeing the greatest impact.

Consider this: According to statistics gathered and published in the January 08 issue of Horse & Rider's sister publication, EQUUS, here's how registration numbers of various breeds differ between those recorded in 1997 and 2007:

* Appaloosa, down 45%
* Arabian, down 41%
* Tennessee Walking Horse, down 34%
* Paint, down 25%
* Half Arabian, down 23%
* Saddlebred, down 11%
* Morgan, down 6%
* Standardbred, down 3%

Of the breeds studied, only two--Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred, showed increase in registrations. Quarter Horse numbers were up 35%, Thoroughbred numbers were up 7%.

But what the EQUUS stats don't show is that the tide's turned even for Quarter Horses, which until recently appeared to be downturn-proof, with growth recorded every year since 1992. In 2005 and 2006, AQHA registered approximately 165,000 horses; its estimate for 2007 shows a decline of 15,000.

With the many forces buffeting the horse market, the culture, and the economy at large, this downturn isn't surprising. Instead, it's a necessary response to the supply-demand equation.

Because guess what? Transfer-of-ownership statistics are on a similar downward trend. That's a reality-based indicator of what most of us are seeing individually--horses just aren't selling like they were a decade or so ago.

I was an equine journalist in the last big downturn of 20 years ago. The change-causing factors were different then, but the end results were ones we can expect this time around as well.

This is a shakedown period. Some horse-world entities will adapt and survive, and others won't. And the whole horse economy will be different when all the dust gets settled.

Where are you placing your bets?

Thoughts About Stall-Bedding Choices

If you keep any horses in stalls, what's your preference on choice of bedding? How do you obtain and store it? Have you ever calculated what it costs you to bed a stall per month?

I just happened to be thinking about this while catching up on stall cleaning after the long holiday "weekend"
--when I admit, I wasn't as punctilious about it as I usually am, and thus had more time than usual to dwell on such a thing. Our primary bedding material is pine sawdust, obtained in bulk from a local mill. At times, we've also used baled pine shavings, bagged, pelleted bedding made from wood byproducts, and baled or chopped, bagged straw. Like wood-product bedding, byproduct of proximity to the forests north and west of here, straw is easy to come by, as we live at the eastern edge of a fast grain-growing area.

In other areas, I've also bedded horses on fir sawdust, cedar shavings, and sunflower hulls. I've been in barns that used shredded newspaper, and just this morning learned that it's possible to get animal bedding made from corn cobs.

I can't say that I've done a per-stall cost analysis lately, though I probably should. For us, and for many others, the issue isn't choosing on the basis of cost so much as it is availability--a lot of times, it seems you just have to suck it up and use what you can find at the time you need it.

For instance, during times when the local mill's not cutting pine, or when winter road conditions are really bad, we can't get our hands on a large truckload of delivered pine sawdust. Those are the instances when we're likely to switch over to bagged pelleted wood pellets. One nice thing about those is that they come in 40-lb. bags, making them easy to bring onto our property and easy to stack and store as well. But sometimes, when supplies are short or just not carried by local retailers, we can't get those, either. That's when we have to fall back on bagged shavings--EXPENSIVE to use on a regular basis--or that old horsekeeper's standby, baled straw.

Stall bedding--not the most exciting topic of conversation, unless you happen to be a horse person. For those of us who are, it's a fact of everyday life and regular expenditure. So I'm guessing you'll have something to say about it!

Report from the Recovery Stall

Today, two weeks after her stifle surgery, Tiffany got her bandages taken off and her stitches removed. She also got a spiff-up haircut in honor of the occasion--I figure there's no reason for her to stop looking like the barn's princess just because she's confined TO the barn during her recovery period.

So far, she's taking the stall confinement pretty well. She has plenty of hay to eat, horse toys, a daily supply of treat apple slices (fed in a bucket, not by hand--just too easy to spoil a confined horse the way it is), plus a south-facing window, and horse friends next door.

As I keep telling her, plenty of horses have it worse in the middle of a cold, wet winter.

Best Holiday Horse Memories!

We're in the holiday countdown mode, which in my view, gives us a valid reason to be sentimental for at least the next week. So I started thinking today about my all-time best holiday horse memory, and decided I would share it.

The scenario: It's December 24, 1992. In a fantastic stroke of luck, I have managed to convince the owner of Opies Ace High, my awesome all-around horse, to sell him back to me, for considerably less than her asking price. (Not that he wasn't worth what she was asking--far from it. Just that I didn't happen to have that much money on hand at the time.) I've driven from Portland, Oregon, across the border into Canada, to fetch Ace home, and am chatting with someone at the Canadian barn.

When...around the corner comes my beloved horse, dancing sideways, and sporting a big red bow and "Merry Christmas" sign around his neck. He spots me and lets out a "Hi, where have you BEEN?!" nicker. I take his lead rope in my hands, and say, "I am never letting go of this rope again!"

That memory was made 15 years ago, and I still get misty-eyed just pulling up the mental picture of what truly was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Feel free to be sentimental right back at me. 'Tis the season!

Last Chance to Send Horsey Wish List To Santa!

With Christmas only a week away, time's running out for you to get your horsey wish list to good ol' Santa. This is a little-known fact to most of you blogophiles, but the Great One's practically my neighbor--I happen to live within an easy drive of Santa, Idaho, where I figure he must do at least a stopover as he's driving that reindeer team all around the world.

So what I'm thinking is that if you'd like to post your wish list here, I could get it at least as far as ZIP code 83866. And, to be on the safe side, you might want to "accidentally" leave your computer open to the comments page for this post. Santa has those elves who are also known as Husbands, and a lot of those are solely in need of inspiration at this point of the holiday shopping cycle.

This may be outside Santa's ability to grant, but my Number 1 wish is for Tiffany to heal up from her surgery and be sound. Beyond that, Santa could choose between:

* A year's supply of Cowboy Magic detangler (which I go through like crazy, cuz it's such great stuff for manes and tails).

* An awning and small generator for the horse trailer.

* A few truckloads of new sand for the riding arena.

* A Bob's Western saddle (used would be fine...).

Earlier, in the December issue of Horse & Rider, I asked Santa for a pack trip for me and invited guests, with my favorite Idaho outfitter. And he delivered! For a tantalizing look at what the friends and I will be up to next September, visit www.tripleo-outfitters.com.

OK--let's see those Santa lists!

Wait a Minute--Didn't This Happen LAST December???

What is is about these December snowstorms that sends drivers careening through our pasture fence? Had an episode of it last year, right before Christmas, when two cars hurtled off the highway and took part of the fence down with them. Just this morning, it happened again.

Only this time, the driver was my husband, Ed, at the wheel of his beloved diesel dually. The fence was no match for the horsepower behind that baby. Ed made the turn into our driveway, tapped the brakes, and kept right on going as the wheels hit ice buried under a fresh blanket of snow.

Well, at least we know the drill: Juli wrangles the horses so they don't escape, Ed wrangles the tractor to extract the stricken vehicle, and we start in on fence repair in the midst of a snowfall.

"Manure occurs"--or something like that.

Tell Me About Your Experience With Trainers

Among the stories in Horse & Rider's near-future editorial lineup is one called "Is Your Trainer Making You Psycho?" The title alone indicates that the trainer/owner relationship isn't always a bed of the proverbial roses.

Which gets me to thinking: What kinds of experiences have you blogophiles had in sending your horses to trainers?

Were you satisfied with the results? With the care your horse received? With the communication you got from your trainer? With the whole experience?

Or...would you have anecdotes to contribute to the "Psycho" article instead?

Details, please--either way.

How Do You Stretch Those Hay-Buying Dollars?

In a report that came out last week, hay prices, nationwide, were said to be the highest on record. Reasons included the 30 states in drought conditions last year, the increased acreage given over to corn production (for ethanol purposes), the effects of higher fuel prices on hay growers' own costs, and export demands.

That leaves a lot of us to pinch our hay-buying pennies and to obsess over every stem--not to mention worry about where we'll get more when our stocked-up stashes run out.

For the good of the order, let's share our tips for stretching out the hay budget. Here are a few of mine:

* Feed the messy eaters--the ones who like to paw or fling their hay all over the place before they eat it--from canvas-style hay bags hung at eye height. The hay this saves really adds up over time.

* Recycle the stems left behind by the picky eaters to those who'll happily gobble up anything.

* Cut down on hay rations by supplementing with soaked beet pulp.

* Trade empty stall space for a boarder's extra hay.

* Send one horse out to training over the winter, where he's noshing on someone else's hay supply.

* Swallow hard, and cut the herd numbers--or at least hold back from adding to them.

Your tips?

Got Bucked Off, and Boy, Does It Hurt

You don't actually have to be on a horse to feel like you got bucked off hard. Bad news and dashed hopes can do it to you as well--which is why I spent the entire weekend, from Friday night on, trying to dust myself off and get up the nerve to "get back on."

Can't say that I'm quite there yet. This is one of those times in my life with horses when chucking it to become a condo dweller sounds like it could be a wiser move.

To the point: Tiffany's surgery (see previous post) revealed more extensive damage to her stifle's cartilage than was shown by the initial diagnostic radiographs, and her prognosis for soundness is poor. Or, to put it in vet-speak, "we are not optimistic about the patient's future in terms of an athletic career."

Pretty tough to take. Especially since I'd thought of her as being so close to perfect that I even gave her The Perfect Option as her registered name.

In hindsight, my second name choice would have been more appropriate:

No Absolutes.

The Baby Goes Back to the Horse Hospital

I just got home from taking Tiffany, our weanling, back to the veterinary teaching hospital that she visited the end of October. Her growth-related problem hasn't gotten any better with conservative care, so tomorrow we go to the next step--arthroscopic surgery on her right stifle, to plane off the rough edges of an OCD lesion on the joint.

Today, she gets bloodwork, an EKG, pre-op antibiotics, and her first lesson in being away from home overnight. Tomorrow morning, she goes under general anesthesia--something of a risk in itself where horses are concerned--and has her operation.

Naturally, I wish things hadn't come to this. It was hard to leave her there, and to hear her nicker after me as I walked away. I don't figure on sleeping real well tonight, and I don't see myself having a real productive writing day tomorrow.

But, whaddayagonna do? Can't just leave her to gimp around, and she's made it clear she's in pain from whatever teensy bit of something that's irritating her joint. Might as well bite the bullet, postpone a few other purchases, and see if we can't buy her way back to health and horsey happiness.

Got a spare rabbit's foot sitting around somewhere? Do me a favor: Get it out, and give it a few rubs on Tiffany's behalf. We'll take all the extra good luck we can get.

Abandoned Horses: Brace Yourself for More

When I saw a recent article in The Oregonian newspaper about the rising tide of abandoned horses (search for it on Google by typing the title, "They abandon horses, don't they?"--including the quotes--into the search function), I wasn't at all surprised. I think we'd better brace ourselves, because more and more of this is bound to occur as long as hay remains scarce, sale barns cut back on auctions due to slaughter-plant closures, and grain prices continue to rise. (Example: The pre-mixed feed that sold for $10.99 per 50-lb. bag last spring is now $18.99 at my area feed store.)

Think you need to be living out West, near BLM rangelands, for you to become the unwilling recipient of an abandoned horse? Think again. It's happened to me, and I even saw and shook hands with the abandoner, face to face. Here's how she pulled it off:

One stormy night, using the Yellow Pages number she got for our stable, a woman claiming to be on her way to a new job in a neighboring state called to ask if we had room to house two horses for a night or two, until the weather cleared up. We accommodated her; that's what you do when you board horses for other people. She unloaded the horses, paid in cash for two nights, and, charming as all get-out, left us with name-and-contact info that turned out to be false.

We never saw her again. Not only did we get stuck feeding and caring for them at our own expense, but we also had to jump through some maddening legal hoops before a state brand inspector came and took the horses off our hands.

Needless to say, we no longer accept horses from people we don't know well. But that doesn't mean I (or you) won't wake up one morning to find someone's discarded horse tied to the mailbox.

After the Deluge

We've just had a dose of my least-favorite horsekeeping weather: a heavy snow, followed by a heavy rain.

This round wasn't as bad as the 1996 one that flattened the roof of one of our buildings (and that taught us the lesson of how rain adds to the weight of snow). But it still made for a great big mess, ranging from the flooding that reached the shavings bin, to the slop that froze to blankets of ice after the sun went down.

Here's where one sees the wisdom of not buying or building horse property in a low-lying area, and of adding gutters and drainfields to agricultural buildings. And it's also where one learns that no matter how much thinking and good prep go into the get-ready-for-winter season, Mother Nature still has a few tricks she can play on a whim.

Riding With Health Problems--Sound Familiar?

I'm working on a topic from my Horse & Rider assignment list: "Riding With Health Problems." If this is something that's affecting you, I'd like to know a bit about your experiences.

Have you had a diagnosis that affects your ability to ride? What changes or compromises have you had to make? What about the general manual labor that goes into having horses--how have you had to adapt to that? Got any good coping tricks you'd like to share?

I think this is going to be a subject with growing interest, as those in the bulk of our horse-owning population continue to grow older.

I like the attitude of a reader from the U.K. whose hip replacement surgery left her with one leg shorter than the other. Her answer? Just ride with one stirrup shorter!

Santa Claus Comes to Town--on an Appaloosa!

I did a bit of volunteer work yesterday morning, on behalf of the Appaloosa Museum & Heritage Center in Moscow, idaho. The occasion was the museum's annual holiday open house, where the big drawing card is the appearance of Santa Claus riding right up to the building on a picture-perfect Appaloosa. Hundreds of area children--and I do mean hundreds--poured into the museum for the occasion, waiting for a turn to have their pictures taken atop the unbelievably patient horse, and to whisper their Christmas fantasies to Santa.

They also got to decorate horse-shaped cookies with frosting and colored sprinkles (an activity that produces Appaloosas of the edible kind) , and to play in the museum's children's area, try on kid-sized cowboy boots, color Appaloosa pictures, and so forth. The whole activity is one big smile fest for all concerned, and my task of keeping the cookie trays filled kept me busy, not to mention dietarily challenged. Beautiful snowflakes fell the whole time, putting everyone into the holiday mood.

If you'd like to glimpse a few photos of the event, hop over to www.appaloosablogspot.com.

What a day brightener!