The Big Topic: (Change) and How It Looks From Here
Although any big topic deserves to be looked at in a big-picture way, I'm going to begin my contribution to the CHANGE subject the way most people do--by talking about the personal. I'll give you a partial rundown on how changing economy>changing priorities>changing spending>changing behaviors>sweepingly changing times of our day is affecting how Ed and I operate our horse life.* A year ago, before this summer/fall's worsening horse-market drop, we sold down from six head to three. Right off, that cut our basic horsekeeping costs/time-need expenditures in half.
* We hayed our 10-acre horse pasture for the first time, and put the resulting tons of hay into the barn ourselves instead of hiring a crew.
* Ed hired himself and his flatbed trailer out to make deliveries for an area hay grower. He took his compensation in the form of the remaining hay we'll need to get through the winter.
* I made the effort to sell seldom-used horse gear and clothing--and am still at it, now working my way through my massive stash of winter horse blankets.
* We turned all the horses, even the coddled/pampered one who'd been under a barn blanket most of his life, out onto pasture for the summer. Which has stretched into the fall. Even though we now have to feed hay every day to supplement the waning grass, we've saving bedding, electricity, and stall-cleaning time by leaving all horses outside the barn as far into fall as we can. Our current feeding/cleaning setup is the very basic one you see in the photo above. Hay gets fed from one cart; manure collected from the chowdown area goes into the other.
Yeah, I've had to say goodbye to a certain gelding's once-dazzling haircoat. Which means horse shows are out of the question right now as well. But when change gets big enough to change priorities as well, then changed behaviors are bound to be next.
And since I doubt that any of us knows anyone who isn't changing SOMETHING about how he runs his horse life, I'm thinking that the buildup of change velocity is bound to produce a pretty big wind, fixing to blow up against the horse world's barn door.
What impacts do you predict?
posted by Juli Thorson @ 2:43 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I always find the different views of the equine market interesting.
I have my own idea, like most people, but have to say it is the horse owners that will (or have the ability to, or willingness to) learn to do without or make do with what they can, that will adjust to the market trends. I believe this market is here for a while!
Like Julie, we too cut down on the number of horses. We were "lucky" in that we sold all the horses we had for sale and all at the asking price. But in the sense of a breeding business, cutting back stock doesn’t seems as sensible as one might think. If there is little stock, there’s little breeding and that means less foals/horses to sell the coming year. How can one stay in business if your not selling your “product”. Let me explain…
With the slow moving market and "exceptional only" horse being sold, it just makes sense to only breed for “exceptional” and less on the more gamble. It also created a good time for us to do some other "farm sense" things. Again, Like Julie, we bought hay equipment and put up our own hay. Three years ago we moved our farm 300+ miles so although we have put up our own hay before, it had been a few years. I have to say, it was very gratifying to know the quality of hay we were putting up and the money we were keeping in our wallets. We sold our second truck and purchased a Saturn car that gets 42 miles to the gal. We dog sit for our vet so she can go to shows in exchanges for some of her services here on the farm. We purchased wormer for 10 horses for 2 years when it was on sale (watching the expiration date). We attended a few equine health seminars and won some fed. (Dumb luck more then idea thought provoking) My husband did some welding in trade for some farrier trims.
These are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head. When it comes to keeping the farm running from what the farm makes, we are very careful not to dip into our full time job paychecks. This would, and has been, a very big gamble for many that we just aren’t willing to take that path. I cant imagine life without horses and it forces us all to look harder at how to keep them and doing what we love to do.
I try not to feed into the hullabaloo about the horse market. Since we're not in the horse business it doesn't affect our livelihood. I don't take showing seriously, I just go to the couple that are really important to me every year, and I'll continue to do that. I don't plan on selling any horses but I do know which ones I would sell if I had to. They'll still get their HorseGuard supplement every day. They'll still see the vet when they need to. I don't see it changing the way we do things much. I do want to try to fence more of our property so I can take advantage of the grass without over grazing, but that was something I had in the long term plan before all this started.
Americans are a resilient bunch. A lot of horse lovers will hunker down and find ways to deal with the economy. Others will give up horses, at least temporarily, until the economy is on the upswing.
At this point, I don't see a lot of impact to my horse situation...there are other life styles changes I would make before selling either of my horses.
I think people will stay closer to home and try to economize. Our area has a horse show circuit that allows a person to participate all day for a reasonable fee.
These type of shows have always been a favorite of mine. I have been working towards overnight camping at shows for a couple of years and I will use the economy for the incentive to accomplish this.
Glenda
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