tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20565712394296612692024-03-13T05:42:38.618-07:00Trinity Appaloosa FarmTrinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-81506173279191132152020-05-15T12:00:00.000-07:002020-05-15T12:00:02.244-07:00Knowing when to quit.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L_VSzDeQKf0/XlsIkNPw9hI/AAAAAAAACZo/_Fk2zk54hhcta0m-2EIEmnRaAZIvvTeGACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DSCN4869.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L_VSzDeQKf0/XlsIkNPw9hI/AAAAAAAACZo/_Fk2zk54hhcta0m-2EIEmnRaAZIvvTeGACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/DSCN4869.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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We love our older horses and most of them have enjoyed very long and successful show careers. We make sure we don’t start our horses too early, (3.5 years is the earliest we ever start a horse under saddle) we avoid repetitive exercise like excessive lunging and round penning and we monitor our horses’ knees and hocks and watch for stiffness and movement that is off. Even with all of these considerations some horses just need to retire earlier than others.<br />
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It’s ironic that in an industry that considers 3 and 4 year old racehorses being retired the norm, that the other end of the spectrum falls to people trying to wring the last bit of glory and status out of their horses. Call it ego, greed or foolishness, the simple fact is that it happens way more than it should. It’s all well and good to keep an older horse over the age of 15 working, but when they already have an established show career and have retired a champion it’s a bit redundant to keep piling the work on, especially when they’ve had several years off with no work at all.<br />
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We’re not talking about taking a horse out for an easy quiet trail ride, or saddling him up to lead the kids around on, or even something fun like a photo or video show. Even use as a beginner level lesson horses isn’t too big a strain. And older horses are the exact ones from which beginners need to be learning. Going to breed expos is also another good use for older retired horses, as it allows them to show off their skills with light riding and to also interact with hordes of horse adoring people. ( We’re looking at you Stonewall Rascal, you attention hound!) However, the work level needs to match not only the age level, but the fitness level. Just like with people, the older you are, the harder it is to get back into shape after a long time off. Not only is it harder, but it can create damage that will then alter a quiet, pain free retirement into a stressful, pain filled, forced retirement when joints and muscle strains flare up, as well as bone damage that results in calcium spurs and osteoarthritis. We’ve also noticed a prevalence of serious ulcer flare ups and fatal colics with horses that are not very carefully brought back up to peak competition fitness.<br />
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So how does this happen? It happens when people get greedy or need their ego stroked, or they are so desperate for recognition they want to tag along on their horse’s previous fame. Because after a horse has earned their retirement and deserves to be treated kindly and fairly, or to enjoy their down time with foals or stud services, it’s bonkers to pull them back out of for the sake of a ribbon. No ribbon is worth the health of your horse. Again, we’re not talking about horses that have kept working and maintained a high level of fitness into their teens, we’re talking about horses that have been full on retired and then get pulled out in their late teens and put back into strenuous show training such as dressage, reining or jumping. We’ve seen it happens at all levels, from retired ponies that then get dragged back out so the next generation of grand kids can run the crap out of it at a local play day, or a retired stallion that isn’t attracting the breedings as much as anticipated, so the owner thinks they can create more hype by sending the horse to a trainer to try to get some points in a new discipline. Both are unethical and wrong to do to the horse. It serves no purpose but to make the owner look foolish. The level of physical fitness required to be restarted is immense, and in the case of dressage, with its focus on bending, core work and extension it can be detrimental.<br />
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It's a cheap win to take a retired champion out and continue putting them through their paces as well. Why continue milking ribbons out of an older established horse while leaving your young stock and blank record horses to sit? Only showing one horse out of an entire program makes us nervous as prospective buyers. Are the other horses not up to snuff? Or is the owner too ignorant or afraid of bringing up a horse that isn't ready-made?<br />
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So who would take on such a horse for training and fitting? It would be someone that is unethical and just wants a check, while they add further damage to an older musculoskeletal system. They have neither a conscience nor an understanding of horse anatomy. We’ve been asked in the past to train horses past their level of ability and the answer is always NO. We would never do it with our own horses and we absolutely will not do it with someone else’s. This is another one of those areas that can send up the red flags as to whether a breeder or trainer is ethical. If they are trying to squeeze a few more ego stroking wins out of a previously retired horse then the answer is that they aren’t. If they are subjecting an older horse to strenuous training to try to sell breedings or market foals then it’s clear the checkbook, not compassion, guides their moral compass. Horses deserve better, we owe it to them.<br /><br />Copyrighted<br />Tracy Meisenbach<br />February 2020<br />Trinity Appaloosa FarmTrinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-65159082706642743762020-05-08T23:39:00.000-07:002020-05-08T23:39:03.567-07:00Breeding for Versatility - A Brighter Future For Your Foals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bnzIwCkBFvo/Xkzl9uT4UsI/AAAAAAAACZQ/D9S8HGoyA2Ipz7EtBRtC1-Hs47KS4BPwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/lace2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="600" height="235" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bnzIwCkBFvo/Xkzl9uT4UsI/AAAAAAAACZQ/D9S8HGoyA2Ipz7EtBRtC1-Hs47KS4BPwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/lace2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Colida Twisted Lace and her 2018 filly Secretly Laced Up</div>
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The versatile horse is coming back into style! There's no doubt that taking home that big high point or versatility award has a lot of appeal when showing, but versatility can also be applied to working horses and hobby riding horses as well. A horse that can wear many hats is a valuable one, and it often starts in the breeding shed.</div>
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As the horse market continues to evolve, breeders looking to stay abreast of the current trends will do well to look towards breeding for versatility. These days, most horse owners will have one or two personal horses - that's as much as most hobby horse owners can comfortably afford and still take the utmost care of their equine best friends. Having one or two horses means that the horses they DO have need to be able to roll with their evolving interests, or they have to sell a horse unsuited for any new directions in their horse interests in order to buy a more discipline appropriate horse. But, when their horse has the ability to move disciplines, that saves them the hassle!</div>
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The first and most important thing you'll need for a versatile horse is a good BRAIN. A horse capable of learning and evolving with each new thing you throw at them is downright necessary for those who want true versatility. Intelligence and adaptability can be bred for, so can stubbornness and nervousness - so make your choices with the utmost care. You will want to select horses that are versatile themselves, fast learners, and problem solvers for the best chance at a foal with a mind for versatility.</div>
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In a close second is good working conformation. Trends are temporary, but balance is unchanging. Creating a horse with the ability to do many things well takes much more than crossing two horses who excel in vastly different things- do that and you're more than likely to get a hodge podge of traits ill suited for any discipline besides pasture pet. Horses at the top of their respective disciplines often have an extreme conformation that makes them ill-suited for any level of competition in other arenas, which means if they flunk out of their born and bred intention, they rarely have a soft landing. Avoid the extremes, as they are ever evolving anyway, and stick to good balance. You'll want a horse with a good pillar of support, uphill build, good angles and good gaits. The more natural balance your foal has, the more opportunities they have available to them!</div>
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If you're looking to use an outside stallion to produce your versatile foal, examine them critically. A lot of championships are awarded on less than true versatility and more on excelling in one thing and cobbling together points in everything else. If the stallion is a world champion cattle horse and then scrounged together a few pleasure and halter points, they aren't really versatile - their owner could just afford entry fees. Likewise, look at their production record! If they have 90% of their foals in one particular discipline (or unshown) and one or two out there competing across the board, you may want to attribute those accolades to the dam's influence instead!</div>
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Look for a broad range of accomplishments across the foals produced! An example is our senior stallion, Colida SkipNTwist. He has foals with wins in halter/conformation, western pleasure, saddleseat, jumping, hunter, dressage, speed events and more - and many of those horses compete in multiple disciplines and are produced from different dams. We know when we have foals on the ground by him, or his offspring, that there are a wide range of possibilities for their future - because he stamps them with his good working conformation and his good mind.</div>
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Pedigree can tell you a lot when looking at your foal's future. A family tree full of versatile horses is a good nod to potential! Study it carefully - a pedigree can be used for much more than searching up good traits, it can also ferret out potential problems to be aware of. If there are several horses that were 'retired early/unshown due to injury', that is a red flag for the possibility of lurking soundness issues. A sound horse is required for versatility!</div>
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Your foal's overall health is also key if you have a wish for a competitive or working all around horse. Using a horse that carries defects that will effect soundness or quality of life will work directly against that. Chronic pain or discomfort later in life will make all of your investment that much harder to see a return on, or even completely worthless. Stop it at the door by only breeding to horses tested for any worrying defects found in your breeds. Avoid using horses from lines known to break down early or have soundness issues as they age, as training the versatile horse will mean finishing them in multiple disciplines and years of hard work!</div>
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You'll often know if you have a candidate for versatility early. Good conformation and good care are evident early on, and a good handler will be able to recognize the mind of a prospect from the very early days (they're commonly too smart for their own good). By raising, training, and showing or working successful, versatile foals from your program, you place yourself in a market with a growing demand and not enough supply! The days of having 10 show horses to cover all of your interests are coming to a close.</div>
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It's about time the one trick pony was a relic of days gone by.</div>
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Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</span></span>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-5055591673406968102020-05-01T23:32:00.000-07:002020-05-01T23:32:03.811-07:00Some Thoughts On The Pinto Association and Appaloosas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Twisted as Heck, 2017 ApHC grulla stallion</div>
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As some of you are aware, The Pinto Horse Association has now opened their doors to the registration and showing of regular registry Appaloosas (and POAs) in their Solid Color classification (which is now a bit mis-named, but that's hardly an issue right now). It's a lot to think about.</div>
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Even 20 years ago, the idea of registering an Appaloosa with Pinto was ludicrous. Insulting, even. It was a place for that solid gelding with high whites to go show and conveniently never be referred to as an appaloosa. But these days, it's more complicated. The reason why we think this will be a successful move on Pinto's part is that, ultimately, ApHC has not been doing their part as custodians of our great breed.</div>
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There's little point going to ApHC shows anymore if you don't run in the judge/trainer circles. You can show just about anywhere else and have more fun, get better prizes, get more recognition, and spend half the money (or less!). The World Show and Nationals are shadows of their former selves. Show and point fees are so high, and politics so heavy, that it's pretty much the same people that have been competing and winning the last decade. We breed for the open circuit, and our horses do quite well there, so we don't feel the hurt as bad, but we do miss the breed community- seeing an apaloosa at a show besides us is like spotting a unicorn!</div>
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The ApHC has also driven away members year after year by taking away beneficial programs (the payouts the performance permit were supposed to fund, for starters), being difficult about upgrading papers, even with test results RIGHT in front of them, and not caring if horses continue to fall through the cracks. After working with breed associations that do EVERYTHING to try and keep track of horses and keep owners motivated and included in the community, the ApHC feels like poorly drawn imposter of what it once was.</div>
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So that brings us back to Pinto. If ApHC won't pick up the slack and give back to the community, someone's gonna step in and fill that niche. That someone is apparently Pinto. We've heard rave reviews about their show systems, their community, their show prizes, how much fun they are. The hard truth is that there's no point looking a gift horse in the mouth. We want our foals to do well wherever they go. And if they ended up dual registered with Pinto, we'll support them all the way! Some of the old guard may be rankled, and it certainly is a bit of an initial gut punch to those of us that have been around a while.</div>
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But, more places to take your Appaloosa bloodstock increases their value. Access to fun shows with good prizes may mean that folks that left the breed for greener pastures may return. People may buy your ApHC foals to put Pinto papers on them and never look back. Anything that allows them to keep their breed identity SOMEWHERE and still have value is a blessing.</div>
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The breed sadly needs a boost like this. The owners and breeders need another market. They need an expanded community. They need access to the kind of stuff that Pinto can provide. If you're upset about it, don't point the finger at Pinto, who are welcoming us in the door and giving us a place to find more value in our horses. Point the finger at the people who should be at the forefront of innovation, community, marketing, and preservation of our breed and have failed the majority. The past 13 years under abysmal leadership and corruption at the highest levels has hurt our breed. Maybe if they feel the heat enough, we'll get some of what Pinto is offering brought back home to us. If they don't, we can at least take our toys and go play in Pinto's sandbox.<br />
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Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-34192877946402204002020-04-24T23:20:00.000-07:002020-04-24T23:20:03.997-07:00Breeding and Planned Obsolescence<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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HexenNacht, 2016 ASHDA foal<br />
When we look at a lot of the horse industry, it's easy to see the positive changes. Feed, vet care, hoof care, and safe breeding practices have come a long way, even in just the last decade. But, it seems like more and more horses are requiring maintenance than ever before.</div>
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Planned Obsolescence is the production of a product that will need to be replaced in a set amount of time. It's common in electronics and appliances in particular, so much so that we're conditioned to start looking at upgrades before we even need them. It keeps the money rolling in to big companies on the regular, instead of selling a single product that lasts a lifetime, they can sell to the same customer over and over again like clockwork.</div>
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The horse industry has become riddled with it! Breeding horses with unsound, fad conformation and gaits creates an animal that won't be sound for 20 years, probably not even 10. How many top show horses are retired by 12? Mares and stallions retire to the breeding pen to keep churning out brittle replacements. If a gelding is lucky, he may be kept for sentimental reasons or found a home where they don't mind paying for additional maintenance, but a lot of them vanish through the cracks. The show horses of today need hock injections, specialty shoes, buckets of numbing poultices, and more expansive drug rules by the year. And for what? To amble through a few classes at congress? Long gone are the days when pleasure classes were a stepping stone for young horses on the way to a hard working career in a tougher sport. These days, they're the end goal, and too many don't even make the cut for that much.</div>
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Those horses retire after a few years and are replaced by a newer horse, and the cycle goes on and on. We've seen horses under ten years of age with a maintenance routine that would scare my 93 year old grandma! And this is okay with their breeders because they won a trophy. People new to horses don't know about this tough cycle of breaking down and buying anew, which often results in a huge financial investment they aren't prepared for, or a horse with debilitating issues going untreated. The rare, exceedingly lucky, horse in those circumstances may eventually find a soft landing with someone that has a big heart and a big wallet, but a lot will be dumped off to make room for the next unsound horse.</div>
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The furthering of these horses is just NOT ethical. Young, and even middle aged horses that can't hardly handle a six or seven minute pleasure class without drugs, injections, piles of supplements, and tubs of numbing ointments aren't the best example of anything- except shady marketing. Our thirty year old horses can still be ridden. Our twenty year old horses can go out and work HARD. Any of the riding horses in our breeding herd can show all day and go on a ten mile ride when they're done. They aren't bred to break down so you'll come back and buy a younger, newer model in a few years. We want you to have one of our horses for twenty years or more and ride them the whole time (or have the option to- Iife does get between your butt and the saddle sometimes!). We have no interest in selling you a vet bill or a maintenance case that's good for one or two classes and then has to be put away and wrapped back up like a porcelain doll.</div>
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More breeders need to step up and take action. By producing these horses, they are committing to the fact that their horses will have to survive on luck or compassion alone once they have outlived their usefulness, and that that usefulness will be short lived. These horses fill kill pens. They choke rescues. They stand in backwoods auction lots with no papers and no prospects.</div>
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Buyers, do your research. Look past the silver saddles, the professional advertising, the futurity money. Are these horses still sound enough for hard riding when they're knocking on 20? Do they need specialty farrier work, supplements, and painkillers just to putter around? Ask the hard questions, and don't let people talk you into seeing the exception as the rule.</div>
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A horse should be a hard working partner for decades, not something that needs replacing every few years. Don't saddle yourself with a walking vet bill. Don't buy into the disposable market.<br />
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Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-62283231395223298032020-04-17T13:48:00.000-07:002020-04-17T13:48:04.796-07:00Pledging to do better.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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HexenHammer with a young fan at Breyerfest Photo by Morgan Reeves.<br />
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We've been around a while, and we see a lot of folks that want to try their hand at raising horses. We'd like to see more people doing it right, so, we've created a pledge for Ethical Breeding, and we'd like to see who is willing to commit to putting horses on the ground the right way!</div>
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I pledge:</div>
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To always breed for the betterment of the horse. To not willfully breed forward animals with a low quality of life.</div>
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To not put a poor quality foal on the ground for the sake of a check- whether it is out of my mare or someone else's.</div>
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To register every foal I produce that can be registered somewhere reputable, as those papers may earn them a soft landing in an uncertain future where I cannot reach them.</div>
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To take care of my breeding animals, giving them all the same care and respect, not neglecting their maintenance because they are out of the show ring or "just" a broodmare.</div>
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To retire the old when they are no longer useful, and care for them until it is time to say goodbye, not to turn out an elderly animal that has given me the best years of their life for a few hundred bucks.</div>
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To not compromise ethics in the face of fashion, ignoring show ring trends and designer fads that work against the production of sound animals and training practices.</div>
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To put well rounded, good minded horses out into the world, not just produce foals and throw them, ill-mannered and unsocialized, out into the world.</div>
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To have a home where my foals can return to if they have fallen through the cracks, and if I cannot take them, I will do everything I can to see them otherwise safe.</div>
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To not be color, hair, or rarity blind, as none of those things make a good horse, and cannot stand on their own (or even in concert) as the only reason to breed an animal.</div>
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And finally, to always be learning and changing based on new information, as we never stop having opportunities to improve!</div>
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If you'd like to make the pledge along with us, go ahead and share our post.</div>
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<br />
Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-33349305105419650852020-04-10T19:25:00.000-07:002020-04-10T19:25:06.883-07:00Registration Papers - A Ticket Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TuFh9eeftrY/Xkyp8QzyAfI/AAAAAAAACYU/v6gXG1-qtf4NbKIbItCNinWz0jyh72yTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ParisArya.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TuFh9eeftrY/Xkyp8QzyAfI/AAAAAAAACYU/v6gXG1-qtf4NbKIbItCNinWz0jyh72yTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ParisArya.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Twisted Heiress, ApHC, CRHA, ASHDA AC and her filly Psuperstious Twist, ApHC, AHA, CRHA</div>
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We hear it a lot. "You can't ride papers. Papers don't make the horse. Papers don't matter. I don't need to paper my foal, it's just for me. I don't need to transfer a horse, I'm not gonna show it." Well, guess what? You are part of a cycle that allows good horses to fall through the cracks.</div>
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We get a lot of messages, phone calls, and emails (as do other popular farms, I'm sure) about Appaloosas in kill pens, on craigslist, at auction or in need of rescue. There's a lot of reasons a horse can end up in a bad situation, which means that sometimes a good quality animal turns up in a Kill Pen. The problem? Most of them don't have papers. For whatever reason, either they were born grade, breeder was too cheap or lazy to register them, or a buyer didn't feel like keeping track of them, or even the person selling didn't want their name associated with a horse in a bad situation. Horses without papers have a harder time getting out of these places, it's just a fact. Papers tell you the horses' history and accurate information, they tell you pedigree (which can be researched for points both good and bad), they tell you who has owned the horse before, they allow you to find out more information such as if the horse has any foals on the ground, their breeder, if they have show points.</div>
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All of these points from a horse's papers can be lifelines, extending out all over the place. A breeder who doesn't know a foal from their program is in a bad spot may want to take them back (we certainly would!), a previous owner may want them back, someone who leased them or even just knew them for a time, even someone who owns a horse related to them. Show points attached to their name prove at least some ability in a discipline. The horse may have genetic testing you can gain access to. All of that and more from one set of papers.</div>
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This is why we are sure to paper EVERY foal. It's why we push buyers to transfer them so they have a paper trail if they are ever sold again. It's why we never produce grade foals, and don't cover outside mares that can't produce papered foals. Because we've been the person, sitting on the other side of the screen going, "I just can't take that sort of risk on a horse with no papers". And there is a lot of risk in getting a horse out of a bad situation: health issues, mishandling, genetic defects, not to mention the kind of stress and sickness that just comes from setting foot in a kill pen. How many hundreds, even thousands, of people might have also clicked that back button?</div>
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We're a breeding farm and every horse here works double and triple duty to promote our breeds, even the geldings. An unpapered horse, even a super nice one, just isn't useful to us. We won't breed an unpapered horse. We can't take them to breed shows or enroll them in breed-specific programs. And it's an economically poor decision to invest money in a horse that can't help promote your program. Which means those horses in the kill pen or at the auction yard that can cost as much as a good papered horse from a private seller are horses we have to just pass on by, even if visually, they check all the boxes.</div>
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Don't get us wrong, the kill pen industry is a scam, pure and simple. Horses are bought for a song and their prices are jacked and threatened with slaughter to prey on the panic response of the public. It's a broken and messed up system. But, it isn't going away anytime soon. And because it isn't, every breeder and owner needs to take every precaution they have that if one of their horses is ever posted on a kill pen page, they won't be passed over because they don't have papers. There's a lot more you can do to take preventative measures, but papers are a solid first step. We also freeze brand all of our personal stock and any foals we retain after around 18mos-2 years, so that even if their physical papers get lost, they have a line back to us. Microchipping is also becoming popular. And, of course, simply breeding high quality horses on a small scale so you don't have to dump off your excess at horse sales helps too.</div>
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As owners and breeders, it's our job to send our foals out there with as many lifelines as possible. Breed for the best foal you can and do your dang paperwork.<br />
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<br />
Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2020<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-53448020278473386192020-04-03T18:03:00.000-07:002020-04-03T18:03:05.619-07:00Stallion Fees - Nickel and Diming Your Business Away<div style="color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
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R Secrets R Gold Dun, Bronze Medallion ApHC and CRHA Stallion<br />
Photo by Marion Berg<br />
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We don't use a lot of outside stallions, preferring to buy mares and breed to our own boys. But, sometimes you gotta have outside blood to keep your gene pool diverse. So, for the first time in a VERY long time, we're actively stallion shopping. And it is a real pain in the butt.</div>
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Our own stallion fees are straight forward. Stud fee plus mare care for onsite breeding, stud fee plus flat rate collection fee and shipping for chilled semen. We do have a booking fee, but it is applied to the stud fee, not in addition to it (a Time Waster's fee, we call it), and it's not required for mare owners to pay it early if they want to chance a spot still being available later in the season. We also offer a plethora of discounts that owners of proven mares can get in on, giving you your nickels and dimes back instead of adding up fees day in and day out.</div>
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We've been there, getting nickeled and dimed, and boy does it ever make us mad. Especially when the extra fees are hidden in the fine print or not brought up at all. We've had to walk away from the money we spent on a stallion auction stud fee because the added fees JUST from the stallion owner (chute fees and collection fees and fees for hauling to the vet) added another several THOUSAND dollars to the stud fee, not to mention the fees on this end to have the mare inseminated by a vet. Needless to say, that stallion, despite being good enough for us to buy a breeding to, doesn't get recommended to anyone by us and we haven't added any of his blood to our program later on.</div>
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The thing about stud fees is, they are a return investment for both the mare owner, and the stallion owner. If someone intending to raise and show their foal comes to you, pays a fee, and puts a championship on the foal, that's a success the stallion owner is party to and can capitalize on further as proof their stallion produces well. The mare owner invests in a stud fee to produce their next champion, and it pays for both sides to be picky- no one likes do-overs (but repeat business is excellent).</div>
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When it comes to a lot of these superfluous fees though, you lose business- and in losing that business you lose your future investment. One person might be okay with adding an extra thousand dollars to their bill, but the people with champion producing mares and breeding programs will get offers from business-savvy stallion owners who are more worried about their stallion's production record than a few hundred more bucks. If one person pays that thousand dollar chute fee, and ten people decide to take their good mares to better pastures, you've lost money- and a LOT of it, meanwhile a lower cost, but not lower quality, stallion has progeny in the ring helping him get more stud fees.</div>
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Now, we're not saying give stud fees away, if your stallion has value, you should get paid for it. However, unproven stallions asking stud fees higher than proven World Champions is ridiculous. If your stallion has no foal crops then he should not be asking top prices. If he has limited foal crops he still doesn't meet the criteria for top stud fees. Until he has foals old enough to be competing and winning under saddle then he needs to stay at mid range or below. When we see stallions who have less competition records than our Bronze Medallion stallion asking twice the fees, no proven foals and all kinds of add ons it tells us that either you don't want our business or you have NO idea how this business works. We don't ask for discounts, we just want the honest answers when it comes to fees. If you have extra fees, be up front and don't spend hours talking up your stallion only to disclose the fees much later on. Then, we don't waste each other's time. We've gotten to the point where we want to hear about fees first and everything else second. Sure, he's a perfect angel and sires unicorns, but are you gonna charge me to put a halter on him? Am I paying for his farrier visit while I'm at it? I just want a syringe of Thunder Concentrate, I'm not buying part ownership here.</div>
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The other thing is, a lot of mare owners are viciously monogamous. We are too! If we breed to a stallion once and like the result, we'll be back, even if it takes a few years. And we'll tell our friends about him too. We LOVE our repeat clients- so much so that they get discounts for coming back to us! The stallion industry is highly competitive and good programs that will elevate your stallion's reputation are needed to pad out his production record. Don't scare folks off for a few extra dollars!</div>
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To hear about our no-frills and no-nonsense stud fees (and our discounts!), shoot us a message<br />
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Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2020<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm<br />
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-1001973928077766542020-03-27T17:45:00.000-07:002020-03-27T17:45:07.381-07:00Building a Breeding Program the Right Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sd1raedpDuk/XkyeGjbSowI/AAAAAAAACXw/apznUGZWbOUJz0ghqA25OMY06FOp_2H0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Munchen%2Band%2BDolly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="957" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sd1raedpDuk/XkyeGjbSowI/AAAAAAAACXw/apznUGZWbOUJz0ghqA25OMY06FOp_2H0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Munchen%2Band%2BDolly.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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HexenHammer (ASHDA) and Colida Skip A Spot (ApHC)<br />
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If you've decided to join the world of horse breeding, make sure you do it the right way. Horse breeding is difficult, costly, and competitive. To put your best foot forward takes time, education, and ethics. Doing things wrong can not only mean a huge loss of money, but unnecessary suffering for your animals. Don't be a cheapskate who puts low quality fo</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">als out into the world. Here's how to do it right!<br />
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Research, research, research! Years of it! Take equine reproduction courses, learn as much about horse husbandry as possible. Read up on your breed(s) of choice, and deep dive into the health issues, the myths, and every other negative things surrounding them. Don't buy into dismissing health problems or perpetuating falsehoods. Learn first hand from breed historians, researchers, and more. Study conformation, riding disciplines, genetics, bloodlines and more to have an edge when you get started.<br />
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Start with high quality, papered stock. Even if you're breeding for a niche crossbred market or just for yourself. You never know when catastrophe could strike and you need your horses to have a soft landing. There's nothing wrong with sourcing from horse sales, craigslist, and other similar marketplaces, but don't let a cheap price tag be your reason to purchase. Sometimes you can find an incredible deal from someone who doesn't realize what they have or just wants to get out of horses fast, but always look at each horse critically. If you wouldn't buy the same horse with a zero tacked on the end of their price, keep walking. Start out with the best you can get, and you won't have to spend the next few generations trying to improve your stock! If you plan to show (and can prove it), approach breeders you admire with your plans. You might just get yourself a deal, but be sure to hold up your end of it so you don't get a bad reputation. The horse industry is a constant game of who-knows-who and word travels fast, even when it isn't shouted to the sky.<br />
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Don't breed junk. Horses with defects, low quality animals, whatever. Don't breed them. Don't buy them for yourself and don't stand your stallion to them. Even if you ARE producing high quality foals at the same time, those low value foals will hurt you. We certainly don't want to spend the money promoting a program putting PSSM1 or bad quality foals on the ground, even if they produce something else that would suit our program and a lot of people hold the same opinion, especially in breeds where testing is the norm, you can alienate a wide swath of buyers with one bad foal.<br />
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Don't breed just for the trail horse market and don't use 'not breeding for the show ring' as an excuse. A top quality horse can still be a family or hobby horse, but a low quality horse rarely makes the jump to the show ring. You will need the show crowd to survive, and even avoiding problematic disciplines that promote poor conformation and training practices, there is still a wide variety of disciplines your foals can excel in if bred right. Eventually you will run out of hobby owners to sell to and if all of your foals are going to non-show homes, you won't see any return promotion.<br />
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Don't spend all your money on a stallion and then skimp on your mares. Even if your stallion consistently improves mares he is bred to, breeding is still a crapshoot and you greatly decrease your odds of producing a good foal when one of the parents is low quality. By doing this, you're also hinging your program's success solely on your stallion. What if he dies? What if he develops fertility problems? Then you're stuck with a pasture full of junk mares and have to write a big check to replace him. If you have high quality mares, your program can take such an unfortunate hit, and you may be lucky enough to have a son of equal quality to fill his shoes.<br />
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Make connections in your breed and take a stand for ethics. A lot of doors will open behind the scenes when people like what you produce and what you stand for. This can result in special purchase prices, reduced stud fees, and even being able to purchase or lease horses not offered to the open market. We have several programs we are very close with, and as such we help each other in ways that can greatly improve both farms. Don't be a lone wolf, the horse community has some great people and there are a lot of ways to make exchanges that are mutually beneficial. If you feel you aren't ready to show and promote your stock, partnering with a program that is willing to help with that in exchange for stud fees or young stock is a great way to get your foot in the door.<br />
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And, of course, take care of your stock. Paper your foals, handle them and give them a solid foundation. Your horses are producing a commodity for you to profit from. Make sure they have quality feed, hoof care, a nice place to live. They don't need to live in a palatial barn and eat fifty dollar bags of grain, but they do deserve care. When we see skinny, long toed broodmares in mud-and-barbwire pens, we walk away. Not everyone can afford a Kentucky Horse Park set up, but there's a wide range of acceptable set ups and care and then there's outright neglect.<br />
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<br />
Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</span>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-73815280458178805952020-03-20T18:56:00.000-07:002020-03-20T18:56:05.026-07:00Unfair relationships and how humans really are the bad guy.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pictured is Colida Twisted Lace aka Bijoux</div>
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Most people profess to love their horses and that their horse loves them. We usually try not to anthropomorphize animal emotions, but there is no doubt they grieve, form attachments, and have fears and likes. We often attach our emotional responses to our horses, usually very unrealistic ones. Horses are not spouses, boyfriends/girlfriends or children, but we clearly form attachments to them that are just as strong. We grieve their loss, worry about their injuries, and prefer certain horses over others. We love them deeply, obsessively, and sometimes that love comes with a heavy price.</div>
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Most good, healthy relationships are a partnership. A partnership requires each participant to put forth effort to help make it work. Despite media assertions all partnerships are not equal at all times. They usually exist in a state of constant flux with one partner at any given time doing more than the other partner. This ebb and flow usually works out to fairly equal in the end. Our partnership with our horses also has these ebb and flow periods. We feed, vet and farrier them, they allow us to ride and compete, possibly winning money and prestige. Sometimes they reproduce for us and give us a foal to sell or to raise to continue on competing. Many hours of our time with the daily drudgery vs a few hours of their time carrying us around and making us happy. It’s a relationship that works, until it doesn’t.</div>
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Now think about human relationships and how they affect the emotional and physical health of the people engaged in them. If your partner beat the crap out of you for a little mistake, or poked and whipped when you were working your hardest, you’d consider that relationship abusive and get out of it. Yet people constantly do this to horses and then wonder why a horse blows up one day, or starts to require a more severe bit in order to stop. And once that step is taken, when pain is added to the mix, it escalates the anxiety and adverse responses. It’s a very vicious cycle and people can’t seem to understand that the horse that nickers to get his food and enjoys being brushed is not the same horse you get once you use spurs and a nasty bit. Because once you choose to be unfair you’ve changed the rules of the relationship. You’re the domestic abuser that can behave in public or in front of your partner’s friends, but becomes a tyrant where you think others won’t be allowed to judge you. Most often this is the show ring, where every other trainer is using too much spur, too heavy a bit and promoting their dominance over their partner just to win a class. It’s an unbalanced relationship. Because in your mind the horse OWES you a good ride for all the other things you do for him. But in his mind you are the herd member that brings him food, brushes him, sometimes holds him while other people handle his feet or stick needles in him, and now you’re a brute causing him pain and making him do things he clearly doesn’t want to do. He’s not thinking in terms of what he owes you, because horses don’t understand the barter system. Because of this it’s an unfair system. It would be the equivalent of you demanding your toddler child pay rent or contribute to the groceries before you’d take care of him, even though you love him, you just can’t let him leech off of you. He’s got to owe you something, right?</div>
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I realize that a lot of you are going to jump up and talk about how competing is a business, and how if the horse can’t produce it might end up on a truck to slaughter. This is true, sadly it happens a lot. It’s an absolutely horrible aspect of the horse industry. In order to stay viable a trainer or breeder has to garner wins and in order to do that the horse has to produce. However, we all know that even after winning horses still fall through the cracks and end up slaughtered, just remember Ferdinand. I am 100% in favor of humane showing, breeding and industry practices. I am 100% against the deliberate blindness to abusive equipment, training practices and wholescale dumping of horses if they can’t compete. And the main propagators of all of these things are the trainer/judges that reward performances that can only be achieved through abuse and an industry that will NOT speak up and police its own. The fact that PRCA, NBHA, WPRA, NFR and others have no equipment rules that demand humane equipment and won’t ban things like twisted wire gag bits, brain chains, segunda and correction port mouthpieces, shows you how little they care about the partnership with the horse, and how much they condone abuse. I love to watch a good rodeo, I love to compete, but I can’t stand to see horse after horse getting its mouth ripped up by crappy equipment and heavy handed riding because their rider has decided to be the equivalent of the drunk guy in the wife beater and show them who’s boss. It’s ridiculous to watch a horse getting his ass beat as he enters an arena, around a pattern then whipped and spurred home and still hear people talk about it being a partnership and how much they LOVE their horse. It’s not a partnership; it’s a master/slave situation. If your partner did that to you the police would be called. If your boss treated you even a tiny smidge like you treat your horse you’d have HR all over him and a lawsuit to boot.</div>
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I’m sure several people will deliberately misunderstand me and accuse me of being for PETA or against riding, which is absolutely not the case. I love riding, love competing, love breeding, raising, training and promoting my horses. What I don’t love is the thought that one day one of my beautiful babies would end up in the hands of someone that thinks an unfair partnership is okay. It would be like watching my child be subjected to the violence of a spouse. I can’t promise that someone wouldn’t be feeding the fishes at the bottom of my pond.</div>
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I also understand the need for discipline and that some horses run a little hot or have some aggressive tendencies. It still doesn’t excuse abuse. You can discipline fairly. You may even need to use extreme measures during an emergency to restrain a horse. A breeding stallion can require a mouth or chin chain to keep him respectful of his handlers when his hormones are going crazy. However, we recognize that these are specific cases, we aren’t patting ourselves on the back and trying to pretend the horse likes it and simply tolerates it because he loves to get ribbons too. He doesn’t care about ribbons. He cares about food, being able to exercise, his herd mates, sex if applicable and being able to live his life without someone abusing him. So stop pretending you have an equal partnership if any part of it means your horse has to tolerate severe bits and abusive riding in order to earn his feed and care. Stop pretending your hands are soft enough for severe bits. Stop pretending your spurs are gentle cues when you’re flogging the sides of your horse every stride. Stop pretending your horse gets the same satisfaction from the relationship that you do, he cares nothing for checks, ribbons or bragging rights. Start working on communicating instead of subjugating. Improving yourself will absolutely improve your horse. Be fair, be just and be ready to take it to the next level by communicating without pain.<br />
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Copyrighted<br />
Tracy Meisenbach<br />
2020</div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-29205845361245300722020-03-13T17:47:00.000-07:002020-03-13T17:47:03.010-07:00Colida SkipNTwist, part of a lasting legacy<div style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
STALLION STATS for Colida SkipNTwist!</div>
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Registrations: ApHC, SSB, ASHDA AC<br />
Proven In: Halter, Hunter in Hand, HUS, Western Pleasure, Speed Events<br />
Color Testing: Ee aa Dd LPlp<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br />
5panel Status: N/N for HERDA, PSSM1, HYPP, MH, and GBED</span></div>
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Foal Stats:<br />
63% BLACK BASED<br />
56% FILLIES<br />
44% DUN FACTOR<br />
92% LP ('appaloosa' color)</div>
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Stud Fee for 2020 is PRIVATE TREATY. We are standing to an extremely limited number of registered ApHC, JC, AQHA, AHA, ASHDA, and Stonewall mares that meet our requirements for breeding. Shipped semen available. Book now for $150 to reserve your spot! (Booking fee is applied to stud fee). Located in VA. Our breeding season starts in February. Money back is offered for foals successfully dual (or more) registered ApHC, ASHDA, SSB, ABRA (buckskin bred), CRHA, and/or Half-Arabian. Discounts available for proven mares, veterans, repeat clients. Improves the mares he is bred to without fail. All foals to date have good minds and are very people oriented. Sire of champions in Conformation, Western Pleasure, Jumping, Speed Events, Dressage, Saddleseat, Halter, Showmanship, English Suitability, and more across 4 registries.</div>
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Copyrighted</div>
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm<br />
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-52255981075580169532020-03-06T17:40:00.000-08:002020-03-06T17:40:04.561-08:00The Vicious Color Cycle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfYbEk5gXsg/XkyRJfkTOaI/AAAAAAAACXQ/j2D1-IefA1onffIV7cfdo2aMmi9lgd0wQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Ripley%2Bat%2BPruittPlantation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="829" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IfYbEk5gXsg/XkyRJfkTOaI/AAAAAAAACXQ/j2D1-IefA1onffIV7cfdo2aMmi9lgd0wQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ripley%2Bat%2BPruittPlantation.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</span> <span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The horse industry has a love/hate relationship with color. It certainly draws the eye, making a horse stand out in a herd of plain browns, but it also is sneered down upon by many aspects of the industry. It means that in some ways, a colored horse has MORE value to the market than an equivalent (or even better) plain colored horse. But, because of stigma surrounding colo</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">r horses, competing in rings dominated by quarter horses, TBs, and WBs, a colored horse not only has to be better than his competition, but has to be absolutely the top horse by a large margin to win- and sometimes, he still won't.<br />
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So where does the stigma arise? A few places, in fact. The first is one not a lot of people want to hear, but in established color breeds, a lot of fault goes to the breeders themselves. By striving for color over any other trait, low quality horses often flood the market. Some breeders even go so far as to cull solids from their bloodlines- even excellent quality ones, rather keeping a poorly made leopard than a good using solid to breed forward. When this happens, color blind buyers purchase these lower quality horses, which end up performing poorly against their non-color-bred counterparts. This feeds the idea that color horses are inferior as a whole, that ALL color breed horses are low quality. And as a result, many people who grow up on this adage will not purchase one, even if it is ultimately a better animal for the job they want.<br />
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The second place stigma comes in is 'Tradition'. Tradition in a lot of realms of competition calls for solid colors of bay, black, chestnut and grey and anything beyond that is viewed as less fitting for the job on color alone. Even a blue eye can knock you down a few placings if the judge is a stickler. But, we must call into question tradition. Tradition for whom? There's a whole wide world out there. Is it tradition for a dressage horse to only be solid? Tell that to the Spanish Riding School, often touted as the end all be all of dressage, where loudly leopard and blanketed horses once were, before the fad for greys only arose. Spotted horses were once synonymous with wealth and status among many cultures. Tradition in the horse world is a narrow avenue, and mostly kept in check by a few elitists who would rather not broaden their own horizons.<br />
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We've dealt with it plenty. People will come to our farm and proudly tell us they hate Appaloosas. Okay, then leave! We've heard judges make snide remarks about our spotted horses, noticeably scoring them lower than equivalent, or worse, competitors. Judges like this keep the uniquely patterned horse in a self-fulfilling cycle, where they have a hard time being taken seriously except in a group of their own peers. Biased judges place a colored horse unfairly, then that animal is devalued by their loss, then the solid-preference market has proof that colored horses are lower quality by default. Because if the best colored horse on the market places under your average chestnut plodder, that means every other colored horse is worth even LESS. Even showing in your own color breed shows is not always the best judge of quality or skill, as judges with backgrounds in non-color breeds bring their bias into color-breed show rings.<br />
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The only thing you can do is simply keep going. Keep putting high quality horses out there. Strive to separate your horses from color only programs. Get acclaim in arenas where color can't effect your score. Get your stock in jobs where ribbons don't matter, but a hard working and high caliber animal is worth their weight in gold. Get your solid and minimal foals into top arenas and boggle a few minds when you say, "No- he's actually a...." after walking out with a blue ribbon. Eventually, you'll get someplace, even if you have to work hard to overcome breed stereotypes and breed biases.<br />
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And the best way to make change: don't contribute to stereotypes by breeding for color first! You can always add color in one generation of breeding to the right horse, but undoing poor conformation, attitude, and genetic faults can take many generations, and sometimes those poor traits stick like glue. Better to start with a high quality solid than a poor quality horse of any color or pattern! The second best way is to throw your hat into the ring and become a judge, a competitor, a journalist, or someone else that helps spotlight less popular breeds when they deserve to win.<br />
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Help promote the idea that the best horse for the job can't be a bad color!<br />
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Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</span>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-73529126965118305622020-02-28T17:30:00.000-08:002020-02-29T16:21:35.474-08:00Letting go, it's hard, but kind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Sometimes horse owning comes with hard decisions. One of them is letting your old stock tell you when it's their time. At the beginning of 2019, we knew it might be this year. Chica was starting to have trouble getting back up from naps, and as the year wore on, began to be visibly tired and distant, choosing the quiet shade of her stall over even the unchallenged round bale. Peso was already deaf as a post, but her eyesight was clearly starting to go as she approached 35, an<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">d she spent long hours resting, more time down than up and took longer and longer to come back up to the barn at night. When the cold weather really socked in, their discomfort became less of a sometimes thing and more of an every day thing, the pair of them making the slow walk down the fenceline to their preferred napping tree each day to stay away from the hubbub of the weanlings playing.</span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">When you have older stock, you have a responsibility. You have to listen to them. A good, well-bred, and well-taken care of horse will keep ticking along, even as their body starts to fall down around them until a catastrophic injury, illness, or act of God happens. And we don't believe in keeping them around when they have no quality of life, when they're in pain, when they'd rather sleep through their days than experience them. There's no honor in making an old horse keep living in pain so you can hit a milestone, or because you simply won't do them a final kindness.</span></div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="956" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aJtfKdy1zDU/XkyNcV02YuI/AAAAAAAACXI/zx69_Oi08iYk8uFnqvZFc0e-qz2FE7shACEwYBhgL/s200/Chica%2Bspring%2B2019.jpg" width="198" /> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cVb3Qwp-wIE/XkyNnY3wWBI/AAAAAAAACXE/6gQ00wI7bWoLR0Q-81pwRbK-AISb62mtwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Peso%2BSpring%2B2019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="737" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cVb3Qwp-wIE/XkyNnY3wWBI/AAAAAAAACXE/6gQ00wI7bWoLR0Q-81pwRbK-AISb62mtwCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/Peso%2BSpring%2B2019.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Chick O'Lena aka Chica Skip's Sierra Gold aka Peso</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Pictured earlier this year, enjoying their retirement</span><br />
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These two old girls have given us everything. They've brought our foals into the world, and now they've both got grandcolts, even great grandcolts in Peso's case, out there carrying on their legacy. They've brought home ribbons, trophies, national titles, saddles, and more between them. They've taught countless friends, family, clients, and students to ride and to love horses. They've been ambassadors, not just for our farm, but for the Appaloosa as a whole. And we've made sure to repay them as much as we can. They've both been done having foals a good many years, both been done showing about that long as well. These last several years, for the most part, they've just been horses. They've done the occasional trail ride. They've nannied our foals each year when it suits them. They've had warm stalls, a grass paddock, other friends when they want them, and each other's constant company when they don't. We've made sure they have never wanted for feed, for hoof care, for treats and petting, for anything else to keep them as comfortable as two elderly ladies who've worked a hard 60+ years between them could be.</div>
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And today, after we made sure they had a good several years of practice for the green pastures on the other side, we brushed them and fed them one last time. And we said goodbye.</div>
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RIP</div>
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Chick Olena, "Chica"<br />
2/27/1990 - 12/23/2019</div>
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Skips Sierra Gold, "Peso"<br />
3/8/1986 - 12/23/2019<br />
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Copyrighted to<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-12115052622246541782020-02-21T17:43:00.000-08:002020-02-29T16:23:12.636-08:00Heza Docolida- One Sexy Beast!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
STALLION STATS for Heza Docolida!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Registrations: ApHC, SSB, ASHDA AC<br />
Proven in: Conformation, Liberty, Western Pleasure, Trail, Dressage, Western Performance<br />
Color Testing: Ee aa LPLP nd1/nd1<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br />
5panel Status: N/N For HERDA, HYPP, PSSM1, GBED, and MH</span></div><div class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px;">Foal Stats:<br />
70% BLACK BASED<br />
50% FILLIES<br />
50% COLTS<br />
100% LP ('appaloosa' color)</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">Stud fee for 2020 is $600. We are standing to a limited number of registered ApHC, JC, AQHA, AHA, ASHDA, and Stonewall mares that meet our requirements for breeding. Shipped semen available. Book now for $150 to reserve your spot! (Booking fee is applied to stud fee). Located in VA. Our breeding season starts in February. Money back is offered for foals successfully dual (or more) registered ApHC, ASHDA, SSB, ABRA (buckskin bred), CRHA, and/or Half-Arabian. Discounts available for proven mares, veterans, repeat clients. Improves the mares he is bred to without fail. All foals to date have good minds and are very people oriented.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">Photo by Marion Berg.</div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qB5Ko3RSQAc/XkySsxcE5rI/AAAAAAAACXc/nGReLNyfFfQkNItt4u9anbm2jk1tXtSTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Ripley%2Bby%2BMarion%2BBerg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="750" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qB5Ko3RSQAc/XkySsxcE5rI/AAAAAAAACXc/nGReLNyfFfQkNItt4u9anbm2jk1tXtSTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Ripley%2Bby%2BMarion%2BBerg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;"><br />
<br />
Copyrighted<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm</div></div>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-67536345992779823492020-02-20T07:35:00.000-08:002020-02-29T16:26:30.859-08:00We have swag!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span>Our Roaring 20's logo on various T shirt colors, plus our popular Twister artwork design. Available through our Red Bubble store. T-shirts, tote bags, cups, posters and more!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Get your own here: </span><a data-lynx-mode="asynclazy" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redbubble.com%2Fpeople%2Fstarkhorse%2Fworks%2F42742168-trinity-appaloosa-farm-art-deco-logo%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1EfEPGyhvPZCotWvckUBHbf6qBwyLiKKe8IU-JrzMRSBWXMY0YpwIB2qk&h=AT1i9sTCCepIornakCe7LTghnS1QV_OWQzBIz6KOje5hdw5UL4YlYWBJHbm9y_MSJl3cYCHg_SW9JrEX8ZnoYOnmqMLyxnR0xQYNk4-ipBbQq5JVaB8S_K9IVmoMxIW430jb2g" href="https://www.redbubble.com/people/starkhorse/works/42742168-trinity-appaloosa-farm-art-deco-logo?fbclid=IwAR1EfEPGyhvPZCotWvckUBHbf6qBwyLiKKe8IU-JrzMRSBWXMY0YpwIB2qk" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: white; color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">https://www.redbubble.com/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">people/starkhorse/works/</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">42742168-trinity-appaloosa-</span><wbr></wbr><span class="word_break" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit;"></span>farm-art-deco-logo</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEGWb66uZIE/XkyszHRpH8I/AAAAAAAACYg/mUIxFDDEW44vNLpByRgkS528VREA3vuSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/tshirts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="960" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XEGWb66uZIE/XkyszHRpH8I/AAAAAAAACYg/mUIxFDDEW44vNLpByRgkS528VREA3vuSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/tshirts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-76612303979378147862020-02-18T17:16:00.003-08:002020-02-29T16:13:44.481-08:00Being prepared, it takes more than few pool noodles.<div class="clearfix fbPhotoSnowliftAuthorInfo _xlu" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; padding: 16px; position: relative; zoom: 1;"><div class="clearfix _8u _42ef" style="font-family: inherit; overflow: hidden; zoom: 1;"><div class="_6a" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit;"><div class="_6a _6b" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: middle;"><span class="mrs fsm fwn fcg" style="color: #90949c; font-family: inherit; margin-right: 5px;"><span id="fbPhotoSnowliftTimestampAudienceContainer" style="font-family: inherit;"><div id="fbPhotoSnowliftAudienceSelector" style="display: inline-block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: -1px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: -2px; position: relative; top: -1px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTtzjzu4zX4/XkyMRNTfwVI/AAAAAAAACW0/Zyg4AZ_nXb4cMuuDl162GAJq3vczPS3HwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2018%2BCherryBlossom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="851" data-original-width="517" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jTtzjzu4zX4/XkyMRNTfwVI/AAAAAAAACW0/Zyg4AZ_nXb4cMuuDl162GAJq3vczPS3HwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/2018%2BCherryBlossom.jpg" width="194" /></a></div><div class="mbs fbPhotosAudienceContainerNotEditable" style="font-family: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-top: 1px;"><span style="color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: 14px;">We try to trai our horse for most things, but there are some things you can't train for, so you have to breed for the mindset that will take things in stride instead! When we agreed to do the Cherry Blossom parade in Washington D.C. with Miss Rodeo Virginia in 2018, we had no idea we'd have a balloon right over our two horses the whole ride. But, Heza Docolida and Stonewall Rascal took it (and the dozen other balloons, the marching bands, the flag twirlers, floats, beauty queens, cars, acapella groups, and everything else!) in stride. If you can't train for a scary situation, breed for a brain that will see you through it safely!<br />
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<br />
Copyright by<br />
Bron Stark<br />
2019<br />
Trinity Appaloosa Farm<br />
Please do not use without permission.<br />
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</span></div></div></span></span></div></div></div></div>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-16676955108876880932018-11-07T20:40:00.000-08:002018-11-07T20:40:55.858-08:00Tracy Meisenbach: Mister, you just lost a sale.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /><br /> <b><u> Mister, you just lost a sale.<br /></u></b><br />
If you’re like me, even when your barn is full of horses you’re still looking at horse ads. I have no need to buy another one, but I’m still trolling craigslist, dream horse, equine now and all the facebook groups that offer horses for sale, trade or free, it’s an addiction, don’t judge me. Sometimes I return several times to one ad and think “hmmmmmm maybe just one more.” Thankfully common sense applies and no more hairy eating machines arrive at my door<br />
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While browsing the various sites I am always amazed to see ads that clearly show the horse, and its owner, in a bad light. You’re trying to sell this animal, why are you making him look terrible? If people tried to sell cars the same way they try to sell horses it would be impossible to make a sale. The cars would be dirty, in the middle of an overgrown field, with wire inches from the tires, a nasty rope dragging from the bumper, and in all probability some form of half-naked human standing on top of the car to prove it was safe. This is not marketing! These things are huge warning signs that the horse is going to come with baggage. Bad first impressions have cost many a sale, and the sad thing is that they are so easy to avoid with just a little time, thought and effort. So here’s a list of things that automatically make me decide to not even think about contacting you to look at your horse.<br />
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<b>In print:</b><br />
1) If your ad has any words relating to horses that are misspelled such a philly, gilding, studded, breaded, or the breed name is wrong I’m not contacting you.<br /><br />
2) If the first thing you tout is Man O’War in your horse’s pedigree I’m already done. Unless the famous horse is the sire or dam, or at most the grandparent, I really don’t care.<br />
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3) If you cite a rare color, and then don’t really know how it was created. Hint: Line back bays are not rare. That’s countershading and it’s common. There is nothing remotely rare about black, any shade of chestnut, bay, dun, cremello or pretty much anything else found on American horses. Unless your horse is a purple and pink brindle with green eyes he’s not rare.<br />
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4) If your horse’s list of accomplishments ends with being friendly, he’s not worth my time. In fact, he’s a good candidate for the free ads.<br />
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5) If your horse has no other merit than a set of papers. I really don’t care who his ancestors are, if he’s not trained to do a job (with the exception of horses two and under) then he’s not worth anything to me.<br />
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6) Stallions that are not genetically tested and free of defects and that have never left the property. If he isn’t an excellent specimen and can’t perform then he doesn’t need to be reproducing. Color and pedigree are NOT reasons to breed a stallion. The same holds true for mares. When I ask about testing you need to have an educated answer, not “huh?”<br />
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<b>In a photo</b>:<br />
1) Ribs. If your horse is ribby, with his spine standing up I’m not only not calling you, I’m calling the sheriff. Feed your horse before you try to sell it. If it gets in that condition give it to a good home before letting it starve while you wait to make money off of it.<br />
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2) If your horse is in a nasty cluttered area with wire fences and old cars, count me out. I’m not planning on dealing with old wire cuts, ingested shrapnel or embedded splinters. Your horse doesn’t have to stay in a pristine barn, but reasonable safety applies.<br />
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3) If there is a photo of you standing on the horse, it’s over. You’re already showing me you aren’t smart enough to practice reasonable safety and husbandry. Standing in the saddle proves that for that second your horse tolerated your stupidity. It doesn’t prove you’re a great trainer or horseman. It doesn’t prove your horse is always safe. The only thing is does prove is that you’re not a smart trainer.<br />
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4) If there are people in the ad with open toed shoes, especially children, I’m not even picking up the phone. There is no point trying to carry on a conversation with someone that has that little sense.<br />
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5) If the horse is dirty. Seriously, you’re trying to sell this animal, give him every shot at making a good impression. I can handle a little dust, but knee deep dried mud, tangled manes, burrs in the tail and bots on the legs are NOT working in your favor. I can buy a clean well cared for horse for the same price.<br />
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6) If your tack is broken, abusive, used incorrectly etc. Again, another sign that the horse is coming with baggage and you aren’t sensible enough to deal with.<br />
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7) Children with no helmets. Again, a sure sign that safety is not practiced and if you’re not going to care about your children’s safety then I’m sure your horse isn’t kept in a safe manner either.<br />
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It’s easy to sell a good, well trained, well bred horse. People are begging for them. Trying to sell a horse with any of the strikes above on it is going to be next to impossible. So don’t blame the market, look at what you are offering people and ask yourself if you would go look at a car or house or any item that is in the same condition and environment your horse is in. The same holds true for trainer ads. If you’ve got any of the above in your ad you’re going to get passed by, because you are showing that you are not educated, not safe, and not capable of handling horses or students. So give your horse, and yourself, the best chance at a good sale.<br />
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Tracy Meisenbach<br />
Copyright December 2nd, 2013<br />
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All rights reserved by foreign and domestic<br />
Do not share or copy without written permissionTrinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-45142289124702440122018-02-23T22:06:00.002-08:002018-02-23T22:23:10.968-08:00Makin' bacon and horse'n around<div style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<b><span style="color: white;">Makin' bacon and horse'n around</span></b><br />
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I’m a planner. I’m the kind of person that will plot out a route at a museum or amusement park so you end up seeing everything. It can be obsessive. I’m also an avoider. I avoid crap I don’t like, such as cooking. I hate to cook. I hate to cook, hate to clean up and hate to deal with leftover food. I eat out a lot for this reason. This aversion to cooking has led me into a few sticky situations, one quite recently.<br />
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The group of antique dealers I hang out with meets once a month to discuss better ways to run the store, sales, promotions etc. We usually have a potluck dinner and then a meeting afterwards.<br />
This meeting had a theme of Breakfast for Dinner, so we all signed up to bring different items. I usually bring beverages, to prevent any cooking mischief. However, this time one of the items to bring was bacon, and since we help market awesome Ossabaw hog bacon I volunteered to bring drinks and the bacon IF someone else would cook it. I was assured someone would indeed cook the bacon. The best laid plans…..<br />
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A few things happened to render my plans moot.<br />
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1) Bron went to Texas and was unavailable to help. ( although in reality she has no more clue to cook bacon then I did)<br />
2) After delivering the baptismal pool ( A whole other weird story) I forgot to pick up the fricking bacon out at the other farm<br />
3) I had a doctor’s appointment the day of the meeting, which ran late, and so I couldn’t get the bacon over to the lady that agreed to cook it in time for it to get done.<br />
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I leave the doctor’s appointment with an hour and a half before the meeting. I’m 45 minutes from home. I speed over to the Food Lion and discover I don’t know shit about buying bacon. I thought there was just one kind. NOPE, there are all kinds of bacon; all different lengths and shapes and flavors. It was like walking up to the bit wall at Dennards, every shape, size and color. WTF? I grab two packs of thick cut bacon, which I later found out was 6 pounds of bacon, seriously too fricking much bacon for my purposes! My purpose was not to cause cholesterol comas in a bunch of little old ladies.<br />
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I leave the store and bolt home. It was there that I realized how truly unprepared I was for this endeavor. Despite being 51 years old I have literally cooked bacon MAYBE 3 times in my life and every time was under adult supervision. I was standing here googling “how do you cook bacon?” It was then I discovered that you could bake bacon. Who knew? I grab some baking sheets, lined them with foil and started laying how huge strips of bacon. I fill two sheets, load them in the oven and then fill a third and stick it in the little bread oven. (Which I discovered had been housing several pans that I had no idea were even missing) Set the alarm for 20 minutes and pray this doesn’t fail.<br />
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A few moments later I realize that I have ½ a slab of bacon left and it’s not going to cook itself. I break down, and google “How do you fry bacon?” and run to the pantry to grab my mom’s big black cast iron skillet. I spray it with Pam ( a step I found out later was completely unnecessary) load it with bacon strips, turn on the heat and wait for it to fry. I then remembered that Perry will occasionally microwave bacon. So I grabbed a plate, put a paper towel on it and added strips of bacon; into the microwave for 1 minute.<br />
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At that point I realized that every available cooking apparatus except the coffee maker was making bacon. I have no idea how to even begin to work a coffee maker so it was safe for the time being; overwhelming to say the least.<br />
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I turned back to the frying bacon, noticed it looked kinda like the stuff that I’ve seen in photos, ventured a taste and, when I didn’t immediately die, I decided it was ready. Removed it from the heat and got the stuff out of the microwave and threw it in the pan to finish off. Pulled it out and the timer on the oven went off. Now all the bacon was needing attention and I was rapidly running out of space. I grabbed a long cake pan, loaded it with papertowels and started shoveling bacon onto it. Then turned off the ovens, pulled out the pans and realized that the bottom one had that nasty really crispy bacon I won’t eat, but sometimes other people do. So rather than trash it I separated the bacon into bacon boundaries in the cake pan. Crispy in one corner, microwaved in another and baked in the middle. 3 pounds of cooked meat that was either a triumph or a failure, I had no idea at that point. I also had no more time. My kitchen smelled like a Waffle House at 2:00 AM, after the deadbeats have stuffed themselves with calories and are napping in the booths. Every surface was liberally splattered with bacon grease. I had no time to clean it up, and knew that it was not going to get better after I left. I grabbed my lidded cake pan, sodas, orange juice and bolted out the door, praying that this wasn’t going to end in humiliation.<br />
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Thankfully the gals said it was great and actually ate it! Even the nasty crispy stuff, which two of them declared they loved. I was amazed! I had succeeded!<br />
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A few days later I pondered that me cooking bacon was a lot like most people training horses.<br />
I had NO idea what I was getting into, despite having eaten bacon my entire life. People can ride for decades and still not understand how to train.<br />
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1) I went into the market with NO idea what I needed. I knew what I wanted, which was tasty cooked bacon, I just didn’t know how to get there. The best option would have been for me to buy already cooked bacon from someone else. However, that would have probably limited me to either all crispy or all soft. When you buy something you have to rely on what the other bacon trainer thought was important and it may not be the same thing you think is important.<br />
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2) I didn’t use the ONE thing that would have made all of this easier: TIME. If I had planned better I could have gotten someone else to cook the fricking bacon in time. If I hadn’t been rushed when I dropped off the baptismal pool I wouldn’t have forgotten the farm raised bacon. If my doctor’s appointment hadn’t run late I wouldn’t have had to rush through fixing the bacon. Everything that happened after the point I agreed to bring the bacon was the result of me not managing my time well and rushing through stuff. I was being the trainer that starts a horse and goes from saddling to loping patterns in 30 days because they want to cycle through clients and collect checks. Do that shit and you’re going to burn a lot of bacon and screw up a lot of horses.<br />
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3) I had to look up info on the fly because I was too lazy over the past 51 years to learn how to cook bacon. So when I needed the skill I had to rely on google to fix this problem for me. This is not optimum. Far better to practice, do better research and actually know what the hell you’re doing. I could have dug up one of mom’s cook books. I’m sure there is a bacon whisperer somewhere, with a magic nonstick spatula to keep your pig parts in line, but I’m not much for meat mystics, so never followed their call. I also know that not all cooks, or trainers, are equal. Some people are better bakers, some are great fry cooks, some people make party food etc. It’s the same with horse trainers. You can be the best trick horse trainer ever, but if you can’t teach a lead change then you are not capable enough to finish out a horse. If all you can do is get a horse over a fence, but can’t create an light animal that stops then you aren’t really a trainer, you’re a rider. I’m that way with food. I’m an eater, not a chef. I know what tastes good and bad and can tell you what food group it belongs to, but ask me how to create meringue and you’re outta luck.<br />
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4) Once I started I realized I needed more, and better, equipment and that I was using some seriously backwards methods to achieve my goals. There is never any reason to attack a breakfast food with an oven, stove and microwave all at once. Kinda like asking your horse to raise his head, lower his head, round his back, hollow his back etc all at once. I equated lack of time as an excuse to go all out, because I didn’t want to disappoint the other people, while I was doing everything possible to create a bad situation that could end in disaster.<br />
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5) And guess what? I WON! They liked the bacon. This makes me an expert right? I can claim to be the best bacon chef ever, right? People should cue up for my cooking advice now. I could start selling a line of pans and endorse brands of bacon, even the ones that clog your arteries when you just look at them. Yeah, sounds stupid to me too, but people use this argument to endorse celebrity trainers, just because they win.<br />
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6) Returning home (back to the barn so to speak) revealed to me all the problems and issues I had ridden off and forgotten. I had a big mess to deal with. It took me an hour to clean up all the pans, drain bacon grease, clean the stove, re-season the cast iron ( I did know how to do that from watching my mom for years), wipe out the microwave and finally discovered I had used just about every paper towel I had owned. It basically proved to me I knew enough to be dangerous. I could read enough to cook bacon one time, didn’t kill anyone with food poisoning, didn’t set the house on fire and miraculously ended up with a good result, DESPITE all my wrong doing. I could be happy I succeeded, and still acknowledge I got there by grace and luck, not skill, like a lot of horse trainers do.<br />
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Sorry to be long winded, but I think sometimes the everyday things give us insight into horses that we might not correlate while standing in a barn. Analogies sometimes help us grasp things a little better. And of course if you can read this while eating some bacon, it makes it ever more meaningful</div>
Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-33291022552364023792018-01-21T13:21:00.002-08:002020-02-25T11:44:14.159-08:00 Because My Daughter Grew Up With the Internet<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oI2NebTA_iA/WmUEDcpmzlI/AAAAAAAAB38/HMdi92_8szwiJbq7FNcKbZVAbGqhIOubgCLcBGAs/s1600/ZaAmy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="779" data-original-width="752" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oI2NebTA_iA/WmUEDcpmzlI/AAAAAAAAB38/HMdi92_8szwiJbq7FNcKbZVAbGqhIOubgCLcBGAs/s320/ZaAmy.JPG" width="308" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Two years old, riding Shah Zahr</div><b><u><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><u> Because My Daughter Grew Up With the Internet </u></b></div><u style="font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></u></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">Ten years ago today, in fact pretty close to this very hour, I was sitting across from my daughter on her 16th birthday. I was thinking about how far we had come and what she had accomplished and I was inspired to write an article about what she had learned and why she had turned out the way she had. I knew it wasn’t just the lessons I had taught her, or the influence of her teachers or the other adults in her life. She had learned valuable lessons from the horses and other animals she had grown up with. She had learned to understand their silent language and the great happiness and sadness they could bring.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">So I typed up an article about her called “Because My Daughter Grew Up With Horses” and (stupidly) because I was so proud of her I shared it on ONE Appaloosa based Yahoo list. People loved it. And then the shit hit the fan. They loved it so much they shared it to other lists. And those people loved it. And they shared it. And in all this sharing some people removed both the title and the author, and then they shared it and claimed they wrote it.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">Imagine my surprise 5 days after writing it when I get a copy sent back to me, by someone claiming they wrote it. I was flabbergasted. WTF was going on? So I googled it and sure enough, now my article is listed all over the internet, sometimes under the real name and sometimes under a fake name “A Father’s Explanation For Why His Daughter Has Horses”. What the hell? No father wrote it. Some jerk had stolen my article and renamed it. I was enraged. I owned the copyright and had in fact filed the documents to make sure I retained ownership. This doesn’t seem to matter on the internet. People stupidly think that if something is posted that means it is free. They don’t understand that copyright exists from the moment of creation until 70 years AFTER the creator’s death. So I started tracking it down and asking for it to be removed. It was at this point that I realized what a bunch of thieving, lying, self-centered assholes the horse community was. Evidently because I didn't want my work stolen I was the bad guy. I should have been flattered that someone took my article and was using it to promote their business. Oh yeah, I found it on 100s of horse business pages as people tried to pimp their lesson programs, luring parents into buying their junk horses. I found it posted on forums, such as Chronicle of the Horse, where the viperous members were clear that their thievery was acceptable to them, because “once it’s on the internet, it’s free”, the irony that a publication that copyrights all its own articles, was fine with people stealing my work and posting it on their forums. When I pointed out that their theft of my work was the equivalent of someone stealing their horse or tack they blew up, called me names and made out like I was crazy. Yep, the writer of the piece is the villain. The fact that the article was about teaching values and morals was completely over their heads, because theft was excusable in their minds. That instant self gratification was the ruling law, not a writer's ownership of their work.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">Then there was the absolute bitch lawyer that tried to say she had seen the article BEFORE I posted it and that someone else wrote it, which gave her the right to use it. She was lying, you can search the internet with any search engine you have and you will never find a copy of Because My Daughter Grew Up With Horses posted before January 21st, 2008. It simply did not exist prior to that date. She created a huge page to blast me, and then an interesting thing happened, I was contacted by a group of people that had also dealt with this bitch and found out she had done similar things to other people. A group was formed to discuss her. Well she’s not a lawyer now. <o:p style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Ironically her husband is an attorney and writes legal thriller crime books, I bet he’d be shocked to see all the emails and defamatory things his bitch wife has printed about people, and how she used her position as a lawyer to bully and harass anyone that disagreed with her. He’s on Amazon if anyone is interested.</span></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">I’m going tell the truth here. If I had known about the absolute hell that people would put us through I would have never shared it. While I am happy that people were inspired and that it touched a nerve with parents and children alike I would not want the hatred, harassment, stupidity and bigotry that was thrown at my daughter and me done to anyone else. It really showed me how awful people can be, how self-centered and immoral people will be out of greed or self-entitlement. The fact anyone would steal such a personal article and try to claim it shows a lack of character which the article was supposed to refute. Even ten years later I STILL have to get after people who try to SELL posters and items with my article on it, who still lack the moral compass that would tell them stealing an article about values is the height of hypocrisy. It is the most frustrating and maddening thing I have ever dealt with. Because of this I have authorized its use to only a few entities, one is Breyer Horse Creations and the others have been private readings or videos made for youth oriented groups. To date it has been published in 17 major horse magazines (those are with my permission) thousands of horse organization newsletters ( those are without my permission) and on over a million websites. Some jerks have even stolen it and changed the theme from Horses to Livestock or German Shepherds or whatever it is that they want to say taught their kids values, while also showing that they have no values of their own while plagiarizing my article. It boggles the mind, and it explains why the horse industry is so completely screwed up. Plagiarizing is still STEALING. how can these moronic parents think to teach their children to be better people while exhibiting immoral behavior.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">Even now, ten years later, it’s clear some people miss the point of the article and want to take offense at things. The heading talks about teens who dye their hair and get tattoos or end up pregnant, as they seek surface identities, instead of developing their own. I stand by my statement. I’m not saying dyed hair or tattoos are bad, heck I’ve colored my hair and both my daughter and I have tattoos. I’m saying that using these things as a shield to hide the fact you haven’t found the real you is wrong. You have to make choices based on YOUR character, not what your peers say, or some celebrity does. Self-esteem is at the base of who we become as adults, a child can’t develop it without confidence and security. But, some people just want to be offended about everything and crap on someone else’s viewpoint.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">If you’d like to read the original article it can be found here:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div> <a href="http://trinityapp.blogspot.com/2013/12/tracy-meisenbach-because-my-daughter.html">Because My Daughter Grew Up With Horses</a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-55bpZ-ZoheQ/WmUC1jZAB0I/AAAAAAAAAGk/uQsm6IOzhMA1HQi5SWqxCEvjodw44XOFwCLcBGAs/s1600/amytwisttrot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="435" height="297" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-55bpZ-ZoheQ/WmUC1jZAB0I/AAAAAAAAAGk/uQsm6IOzhMA1HQi5SWqxCEvjodw44XOFwCLcBGAs/s320/amytwisttrot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Riding Colida SkipNTwist, our senior stallion</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"> If I were to write an article today, in the same vein, I would have to retitle it to “Because My Daughter Grew Up With the Internet” and it would have a different theme. It would be about what I DON'T want my daughter to become and how even the horse industry spawns the cruel, immoral, unjust and unkind. How scammers and those two lazy to work at life will steal from others.<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p><b><u>“Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet”</u></b></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned that people will steal anything published, repost it, claim it has their own and then attack the original author when caught.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned that even lawyers will lie and steal copyrighted articles, because they are too stupid to understand copyright law.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned that horse forums like Chronicle of the Horse, Horse City, Horsetopia are the meeting place of people who have no values or knowledge of how ownership works, they are nothing but cesspools here those that can't do congregate to gripe about those that can.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned that people will think private messaging a minor and using the most vile language is okay, just because they are mad that they got called out for stealing. Because an adult screaming cuss words at a child is acceptable when they get told they can't use a copyrighted article.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned not to open emails from people she doesn’t know.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned not to share personal articles because even the people you think you can trust will share crap all over so it becomes a huge headache to control.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned that even industry professionals will steal your stuff and use it to pimp their own businesses, and then thrown tantrums when you tell them they can’t.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">Because My Daughter Grew Up With The Internet she learned people will steal your stuff and sell goods with it printed on them, making a profit from your hard work. Because people are jerks.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNoSpacing"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-40GG7_teBC4/WmUDUsJS0jI/AAAAAAAAAGs/yImG25AVLv44RnwpPAvmFDysBYKeui0TQCLcBGAs/s1600/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="535" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-40GG7_teBC4/WmUDUsJS0jI/AAAAAAAAAGs/yImG25AVLv44RnwpPAvmFDysBYKeui0TQCLcBGAs/s320/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Riding Stonewall Rascal as the Ringmaster at Breyerfest</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNoSpacing">It’s been ten years, I’m still proud of my daughter, she has matured into a wonderful adult. She runs her own businesses, is still riding, training, showing and carrying on our horse business. She’s avoided many of the pitfalls that happen to young people today, through foresight and caution. And despite the heaps of crap thrown at her by the scum that has tried to steal my article, she’s still the best example of why it is so true, especially now, a decade from when I first gave it to her.</div>Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-12789030476885542102017-03-13T23:10:00.004-07:002017-03-14T18:05:14.277-07:00Branded!!!!!!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
We decided to freeze brand our horses after reading, and
hearing, so many sad stories about stolen horses being killed or abused, with
little hope of being reclaimed. Bron and I knew we wanted a very unique brand
that symbolized our farm, as well as being hard to alter, so thieves couldn’t
change it. She had already designed our farm logo and built our brand based on
it. It’s a large brand, easily visible and very unique.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B0dazQX9ST4/WMd2W0COW8I/AAAAAAAABcA/URhfo09ERzML-9UBgcnHxqI8IloVxcbyACLcB/s1600/TAFlogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B0dazQX9ST4/WMd2W0COW8I/AAAAAAAABcA/URhfo09ERzML-9UBgcnHxqI8IloVxcbyACLcB/s320/TAFlogo.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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The brand represents the two spotted breeds we own, Appaloosa and American Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts. The one spotted butt belongs to either and then each head shows either draft or sporthorse horse traits. The three “points” of the brand, as well as the crown, represent our farm name, which is Trinity. On the logo the spot that looks like a snowman is modeled after our senior stallion, Colida SkipNTwist, he has a grulla spot just like it on his left hip.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nBY1S8VmqK8/WMd2rgd2VMI/AAAAAAAABcE/gr-TmuKU77QiGNoB6BVlFu2LnPCUEtoLgCLcB/s1600/brandTAF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nBY1S8VmqK8/WMd2rgd2VMI/AAAAAAAABcE/gr-TmuKU77QiGNoB6BVlFu2LnPCUEtoLgCLcB/s320/brandTAF.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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We contacted <a href="http://www.brandingironsrc.com/" target="_blank">Branding Irons RC</a> on facebook and sent them a brand design. We got our custom iron back very quickly and we were delighted with it.<br />
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Freeze branding is not something to undertake lightly. It’s less painful than
hot branding, but takes twice the prep work. And prep work is important when
you planning to put a permanent mark on your horse. Whether you have your vet
do it, a freeze branding expert or do it yourself you need to make sure that
everything is ready by the time your horse is ready to brand. Hunting around for
tools or materials can just make it more stressful and difficult. We had 17
head to brand, so we decided to do all the prep work the night before. This
allowed us to work slowly and precisely, without worrying that our liquid nitrogen
was running out. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzGyrvhQgts/WMd61kygZPI/AAAAAAAABdA/3Tv1ULlsbMQnEa7a3AY0iChDjkxO5KwMgCLcB/s1600/1tools.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SzGyrvhQgts/WMd61kygZPI/AAAAAAAABdA/3Tv1ULlsbMQnEa7a3AY0iChDjkxO5KwMgCLcB/s320/1tools.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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First we gathered our tools. We branded in early March
because we wanted the brands healed up by show season and breeding season. We
also didn’t want a bunch of bugs around to bother healing brands or make the
horses itchy so they would rub against stuff. It also meant we had to clip
through a lot of hair. We have a big brand and it was going to take a lot of
clipping.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->With 17 head to clip we knew we need to keep the
clipper blade clean and lubed. However, you can’t use something that will leave
a heavy residue on the skin, so we opted for WD40 instead of greasier clipper oil.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Hairy horses need a good stiff body brush to get
the dirt out of the coat. The cleaner the coat the better your blades will
work. As cold as it was bathing was not an option.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->3)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Shedding blade to get loose surface hair off.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->4)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Flashlight to make sure there are no cuts,
abrasions or skin problems. You need to closely examine the area you are going
to brand. Putting a freezing brand over an injury is not a great idea. The
flashlight also allows you to work indoors or in a dim area.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->5)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Toothbrush, to clean out your clipper blades.
You will be using a very fine #40 surgical blade and it will gum up quickly.
After 17 head of horses my blade was pretty unhappy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->6)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Black Sharpie to mark your template area onto
the horse. This works on light horses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->7)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chalk, also for marking template, on dark
horses.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->8)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Square level, taped to template, to make sure
design is level.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->9)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Plastic template. Our design was big and kite
shaped. So just clipping a big square on the horse was not going to work. We
need something that would help guide the brand head, because you only get one
shot to get it on perfectly straight.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]-->10)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--> Clippers, don’t use crappy ones. You need ones
strong enough to power through heavy <o:p></o:p></div>
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hair and stay cool. These are Oster A-5s with
a Buttercut brand #40 blade. Do NOT <o:p></o:p></div>
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skimp on the clipping, it is the difference
between a good clear brand and a blurry one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->11)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--> Brand, get a good one with a proper built in
hand hold and wood handle. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->12)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--> Not pictured: heavy insulated gloves, paint
pen for marker dots, several liters of <o:p></o:p></div>
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Isopropyl Alcohol, at least 90 %, buy more than you think you will need. Stainless steel bucket for holding alcohol, sponge to apply it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The night before freeze branding
we clipped and examined each horse to make sure each branding site was clean,
and clear of scratches or injuries. We opted to brand on the shoulder instead
of the hip because our Appaloosas and Sugarbushes usually have white butts with
spots, and we didn’t want to have to deal with the brand being interrupted by
spotting. We branded the horses we had bred on the left shoulder and the horses
we had bought on the right shoulder. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We first brushed and cleaned the
area.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then ran a slicker over the area
to remove more dead hair and skin flakes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k5cVDT_k3Ms/WMd7fMsIXpI/AAAAAAAABd4/MI9_bh0KV68OYQy3dSmMCiMFnh0TSFzSACEw/s1600/4sleekez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k5cVDT_k3Ms/WMd7fMsIXpI/AAAAAAAABd4/MI9_bh0KV68OYQy3dSmMCiMFnh0TSFzSACEw/s320/4sleekez.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We worked out where to place the
template<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then traced the template with
our Sharpie, because it’s a lighter colored horse<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5LcOfR8ULw/WMd7m-BBc9I/AAAAAAAABd4/a2MHa_appXo3zzXabHCHDthZCjCM4DUlwCEw/s1600/6template.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-g5LcOfR8ULw/WMd7m-BBc9I/AAAAAAAABd4/a2MHa_appXo3zzXabHCHDthZCjCM4DUlwCEw/s320/6template.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The marked area shows up nice
and clear and gives us a good guideline for placing our brand<o:p></o:p></div>
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Before you start make sure your
clippers are lubed so the blade will clip smoothly. Spray before the first clip pass, but NOT the second. The blades will still be oiled enough, but spraying before the second pass clip through will leave oil residue on the skin surface and you do not want that.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p> </o:p>After lubing, brush the blade to make sure it gets between the teeth and is spread evenly. You do not want big drops of oil getting on your clipped patch. </div>
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In order to make crisp edges and
to get a good idea of what your pattern will look like, I recommend clipping
down with the grain of the hair first. This lets your clipper blade edge create
a nice straight line at the top of your pattern. Clip all the way down and
across to clear the area.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This will leave a short layer of
hair which will need a second clipping, but will clearly show your work area<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WOlUoc6GhTo/WMd36MnM7wI/AAAAAAAABcs/C55tHcoUCB8litbDtzmvYpGd4n71vO5YQCEw/s1600/11withgrain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WOlUoc6GhTo/WMd36MnM7wI/AAAAAAAABcs/C55tHcoUCB8litbDtzmvYpGd4n71vO5YQCEw/s320/11withgrain.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next clip up against the grain
and create as hairless an area as possible. You may have to go back over it a
few times to get all the hair. Your flashlight comes in handy here as you can
shine it up against the grain and spot stray hairs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A nicely clipped clean area,
ready for branding.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Measure the brand against the
clipped area to be sure it fits in well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Dot your brand points with a
paint pen so you don’t have to second guess exactly where to place your brand. Use
a paint pen, because the alcohol you will use to cover the area prior to
branding will clean off any ink or chalk. You can see that the back of the brand is about a 1/4 inch bigger all the way around, so the end brand area is smaller than it looks.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCysBa6JSAg/WMd4cV0f07I/AAAAAAAABcs/2kyN9cyNbIYiY3g4jRl997XkEjAzhN9_wCEw/s1600/15paintmarker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mCysBa6JSAg/WMd4cV0f07I/AAAAAAAABcs/2kyN9cyNbIYiY3g4jRl997XkEjAzhN9_wCEw/s320/15paintmarker.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>
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Ready to brand, marker dots in
place, clipped and clean. This amount of prep work will pay off so much when
you finally get ready to place your brand.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuT6b7_PNvQ/WMd61Ou4-lI/AAAAAAAABdU/WTJGJ5H2o30b3v7p2qBKDTXhOqRId8wtACEw/s1600/16paintdots.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IuT6b7_PNvQ/WMd61Ou4-lI/AAAAAAAABdU/WTJGJ5H2o30b3v7p2qBKDTXhOqRId8wtACEw/s320/16paintdots.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The next day we made sure
everyone was still in good shape, shoulder patches clean and brushed. I picked
up the liquid nitrogen and parked next to our stocks. The nitrogen will chill
the brand to -320 degrees, so it’s not something to mess around with, handle it
carefully and be aware that even a small splash can cause scarring. When you place
your brand down into the liquid nitrogen it will smoke and bubble a lot. Leave
the brand in until the handle starts to frost up really good and the boiling
stops. At the point the surface is calm and the bubbles are not bigger than
pencil tips it’s ready to go. You can plan on the first chilling taking about
15 minutes. Once it’s been well chilled it will take less time between brands
to re-chill it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We used our stocks to hold the
horses because we wanted them to remain as still as possible. This worked for
all of them except our big 17.2 hand <a href="http://www.sugarbushharlequindraft.com/" target="_blank">Sugarbush Harlequin Draft</a> mare, as she
doesn’t fit in the <a href="https://www.priefert.com/" target="_blank">Priefert Stocks</a> and the draft stocks have a cross bar at
just the wrong height to block branding her shoulder. So we branded her in the wash rack and thankfully she was calm enough to stand. We brought each horse up and once in the stocks we
each had a job and focused on it. Bron was in charge of holding the horses and
timing the brand and I sponged on the alcohol and then branded them. I recommend wearing a plastic or latex glove when handling the alcohol, because if you have any cuts, scratches or hangnails you're going to get a painful reminder each time you pick up the sponge. We ended up using two full liters for 17 head. We opted to also twitch the horses with a
humane twitch to keep them still. It’s simply too much trouble to sedate 17
head, and the wake up time would slow things down. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The prep work certainly paid
off. From the time the first horse entered the stocks, to the last horse took
us 2.5 hours, so about 8.5 minutes per horse. Most of the time was taken up by re-chilling the brand. For the
white horses we left the brand on for 50-55 seconds, so the hair would fall out
and the skin would show through. For the darker horses we left it on 30 seconds
so the hair would come back white and show the brand in the horse’s coat. Once Bron called time I removed the brand and
we snapped a photo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bay Varnish Roan mare<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L2yIM-yPmDk/WMd6pTz-ChI/AAAAAAAABdU/ltdXgPGhWRYrCwAbgPppFNp3_uGl7PLDwCEw/s1600/17Bijoux.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L2yIM-yPmDk/WMd6pTz-ChI/AAAAAAAABdU/ltdXgPGhWRYrCwAbgPppFNp3_uGl7PLDwCEw/s320/17Bijoux.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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Dun Leopard Mare<o:p></o:p></div>
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Solid Dun Mare<o:p></o:p></div>
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When the brand is first removed
the skin is indented. But just a short time later the area swells and the brand
site becomes raised.<br />
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Older Snowflaked Dun Mare<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-308rBAOfDSw/WMd7O_-enGI/AAAAAAAABd0/XJuDOOvBoKgq-f7nvMIEGg-1izdpjvXuwCEw/s1600/20Peso.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-308rBAOfDSw/WMd7O_-enGI/AAAAAAAABd0/XJuDOOvBoKgq-f7nvMIEGg-1izdpjvXuwCEw/s320/20Peso.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
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A week later we have a nice
clear brand and the hair is starting to slough off. We’ll post more photos as
the brands come in either dark or white.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We're very pleased with how our brands turned out and proud to have our horses exhibit our farm logo and history on their shoulders.<br />
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<br />
Tracy Meisenbach<br />
All photos and writing copyrighted and cannot be used with express written permission<br />
3-14-2017</div>
Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-27532533719162954272016-04-06T18:26:00.001-07:002016-04-06T18:26:48.711-07:00Tracy Meisenbach- PVC Blanket RackHorse people are usually a thrifty bunch. We like to reuse and wear things out before buying new. And often what we want or need can't be bought unless it is custom made, which gets substantial. My biggest problem besides being a massive bit hoarder is I collect saddle blankets. All kinds; English, Western, Saddle Seat, Navajo, therapeutic, plain, colored, natural and artificial files. It's an addiction, there is no treatment.<br />
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Unfortunately the photo I found on Pinterist had no explanation or project list, so I had to wing it. So this is my composition to fit in the corner of my tack room.<br />
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24 feet of 1.5 inch PVC pipe, anything else will bend the stalk or the arms.<br />1- 1.5 inch PVC drain/trap<br />8- 1.5 inch PVC T's<br />
2 inch wood screws about 12<br />
4- 2 inch Lag bolts<br />
1 Can PVC primer<br />1 Can PVC Rubber Cement<br />8- 1.5 inch PVC end caps ( trust me, during wasp and spider season you will want these)<br />
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Drill with screw head and bit to put in lag bolts<br />
Wrench for lag bolts.<br />
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(This is pre gluing and screws)</div>
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Measure your area, you may need more or less pipe. Mine has an 18 inch base stem, 6 inches between T's and 13 inch top stem. You can increase the width between T's, or add more arms if your area is higher. The arms are 26 inches due to space requirements. It is long enough for even big pads, but leaves the aisle way clear.<br /><br /> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qmPXp8evX8/VwW0VVIcbyI/AAAAAAAAAfk/ML9By8hOz40BabbbM6U17_AWI4NtOv67w/s1600/20160405_181625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9qmPXp8evX8/VwW0VVIcbyI/AAAAAAAAAfk/ML9By8hOz40BabbbM6U17_AWI4NtOv67w/s400/20160405_181625.jpg" width="235" /></a><br /><br />Pop the middle out, you might use it later!!!!! :) Pre-drill holes to fit your lag bolts and then carefully screw them in. Be careful not to crack the plastic.<br /><br />Coat your base socket and the pipe with primer and glue and let it set. Now you can do the next part one of two ways. You can glue each fitting and create a bit long stalk, or you can screw each connecting piece into the T with the wood screws. I have this morbid horror of things I can't take apart so I used screws except for the base. So connect each 6 inch piece to your T's and make your stalk. Some people want the arms to move, I did not. I want them to stay in a perfect line so they don't hang on anything or take up more space. Once the stalk is created check your base, if it's dry sink a screw in it for stability. Now connect your stalk with the T's.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DqHFK2COpCA/VwW16YUsPpI/AAAAAAAAAfw/DkiUNRTtj5YUNXGduaykUlMcb-DJMySTw/s1600/20160405_183254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DqHFK2COpCA/VwW16YUsPpI/AAAAAAAAAfw/DkiUNRTtj5YUNXGduaykUlMcb-DJMySTw/s320/20160405_183254.jpg" width="173" /></a><br /><br />The higher the stalk and the more arms, the more bracing it will need. I added two screws to the middle sections and then screw in the top with a big long wood screw, as it had to attach to a rafter that was at an angle.<br /><br />Once your stalk is secure the glue in your 26 inch arms. Let them dry over night. If you're going to be pulling pads off and on a lot then I'd add a wood screw to each base.<br /><br />Add your caps with the primer and glue and then you are done. Cheap, efficient blanket rack. </div>
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Copyright 4-2016 to present<br />Tracy Meisenbach</div>
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Do not copy, distribute or publish without permission.</div>
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<br />Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-37453803984704186952016-03-07T18:35:00.001-08:002016-03-07T18:36:59.722-08:00Tracy Meisenbach- You, your horse and the bit, an unhappy threesome.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7HbTTPlTQI/Vt458D-DI3I/AAAAAAAAAeM/132JZCwMKTs/s1600/bits.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="309" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W7HbTTPlTQI/Vt458D-DI3I/AAAAAAAAAeM/132JZCwMKTs/s320/bits.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>
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There seems to be a prevailing thought that how much you love your horse, or he loves you, determines how your equipment works. It doesn’t. Nothing determines how your equipment works except how it is meant to function. If it’s a snaffle it functions like a snaffle. If it’s a tiedown it functions like a tiedown. Nothing about you or your horse alters that UNLESS you actually alter the piece of equipment by adding or subtracting something to it.</div>
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Riders/trainers should also und<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">erstand that nothing about the horse (barring an actual physical deformity) changes how the equipment works. Different horses may REACT differently, just like some people can pick up spiders and some people run screaming from the room, but the equipment, like the spider, is a constant. Reaction is NOT mechanical. Reaction is not based on a specific forumula. Reaction is based on pain, fear, emotion. So don’t confuse reaction with the mechanics of the bit. Some horses ignore pain, some are hypersensitive. Some tolerate poll pressure, some hate it. Just because your horse doesn’t react adversely does not mean he’s not in pain or anxious. Looking at the mechanics of the bit, plus the horse’s anatomy, can give you clues that his response may be hiding. Because at some point common sense has to kick in and say that X pounds of pressure on anything’s tongue is painful. I’ve bitten my tongue before, and it wasn’t with anywhere near the pressure that most people put on the reins and it hurt like hell. So imagine how the horse feels. And while it is true that a finished horse will react differently to a bit than a green horse it still does not change the way the bit works. A finished horse has a conditioned response to the bit's actions. A green horse is listening to his nerve endings telling him what to do UNTIL he finally connects that the rider is trying to tell him something and if he does it there is a reward of some kind. However, neither reaction changes the mechanics of the bit.</span></div>
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So when you assess your horse, and the bits you use, repeat these things to yourself, because honesty is the best policy when dealing with horses. And stop confusing emotional reaction with bitting mechanics.</div>
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<b><u>Things that DO NOT alter how the bit works:</u></b><br />
How much you love your horse<br />
How much your horse loves you<br />
Your relationship is not special, unique or rare. It’s simply a relationship with an animal you like, that likes you back and hopefully will last a long pain free time.<br />
Horse’s breed<br />
Horse’s age<br />
Horse’s color<br />
Horse’s training level<br />
Weather<br />
Political party<br />
Gender<br />
Sexual preferences<br />
Favorite TV show<br />
Favorite horse event<br />
How much you pay for the bit<br />
How much you win while using it<br />
Celebrity using it<br />
Advertising used to promote the bit<br />
Where you live<br />
How old you are<br />
Whether all your tack matches</div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Drugs, they alter reaction, not mechanics</span></div>
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<b><u>Things that will alter how a bit works</u></b>;<br />
A welder<br />
A hack saw<br />
Blow torch<br />
Draw reins<br />
Martingale<br />
Gag pulley<br />
The bit breaking<br />
Adding a curbstrap or taking one off</div>
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Tracy Meisenbach<br />
Copyright 3-2016<br />
Do not copy, republish or use without permission.</div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-61921999881320076172016-03-03T16:05:00.005-08:002016-03-03T16:07:27.264-08:00Tracy Meisenbach- Pedigrees and generational influences<div class="" data-block="true" data-offset-key="6pp70-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="cr7mm-0-0">Those of us that love pedigree research regard it as a never ending treasure hunt for information, validation and piecing together the history of horse breeds. It can give us clues to color, genetic traits, breeding trends, even world events, such as the remount program created to mount the cavalry.We love to find the famous, the infamous, the rare and the building blocks. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9b0cg-0-0">Pedigrees can be a source of pride, or concern, depending on who is up close or far back. It's amazing how traits which seem minuscule can travel through the ages, carried by one horse in each generations. There are several Appaloosas that carry a literal trickle of Appaloosa blood, 1/32 or 1/64 and still come out wildly colored. When you consider how much each generation influences the horse in front of you it makes you think about the "strength" or "weakness" of some genes. Some seem to hide for awhile, recessives that only pop up when both parents have it, and then only in the right conditions, such as two chestnut agouti carriers that will not exhibit their hidden genes, yet their foal can produce a bay when bred to a black. Or dominant genes that always appear when present ( although sometimes you have to look really close!), manifesting in homozygous or heterozygous form. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="681f2-0-0">We all get to read sale ads or hear brags about horses that go back to some great champion. I can't blame people that like to talk about their horse going back to Man O'War, he's an American hero. However, it is disturbing when they use a horse more than 4 generations back as a huge selling point. It's not. Unless that horse carries a unique genetic trait that can really affect the value of your horse ( and it's usually adversely) then more than 4 generations does not affect the horse in front of you. </span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AJvFiOCttB8/VtjQkxURhKI/AAAAAAAAAdg/kpztAiBX6ks/s1600/ManOWar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AJvFiOCttB8/VtjQkxURhKI/AAAAAAAAAdg/kpztAiBX6ks/s1600/ManOWar.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7tup5-0-0"> Man O'War</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="esoqk-0-0">So how much does each generation affect your horse? This chart shows how much and how little each succeeding generation contributes to the genetic makeup for your horse. So remember when you cite a famous horse, if he's more than 4 generations back he's not offering much, and if that's your value baseline you might want to rethink your prices and marketability. The average equine generation is 8 years, so from present to Man O'War is about 12 generations. He would be contributing .0244% to your horse's genetic make-up. That's not going to get you in the Derby and doesn't increase your horse's value one iota. </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="486gl-0-0">Your Horse </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="81ja2-0-0">1) 2 Ancestors= 50% sire and dam</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7ld01-0-0">2) 4 Ancestors= 25% grandparents</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="d343j-0-0">3) 8 Ancestors= 12.5% great grandparents</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="2r8fl-0-0">4) 16 Ancestors= 6.25% great great grandparents</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="278q6-0-0">5) 32 Ancestors=3.125%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="3epd0-0-0">6) 64 Ancestors=1.5625%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="fgqnm-0-0">7) 128 Ancestors=.7812%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="dr70i-0-0">8) 256 Ancestors= .3906%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="8ffti-0-0">9) 512 Ancestors =0.1952%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="c4f13-0-0">10) 1024 Ancestors=.09762%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="6hds5-0-0">11) 2048 Ancestors= .0488%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="eotj5-0-0">12) 4096 Ancestors=.0244%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="bn0p1-0-0">13) 8192 Ancestors= .0122%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="d11bm-0-0">14) 16384 Ancestors=.0061%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="bi87o-0-0">15) 32768 Ancestors = .0030%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="erqug-0-0">16) 65536 Ancestors= .0015%</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="erqug-0-0"> Colida ApHC, Hall of Fame</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9f8vj-0-0">So enjoy your horse's pedigree, and admire the horses in it. It's the history of mankind's development of the amazing animals we love. Be realistic about the value of distant ancestors when marketing your horse and be sure to check for lines that carry genetic defects.</span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="816fn-0-0">copyright 2016
Tracy Meisenbach </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="bf7ll-0-0">please do not share or copy</span></div>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-37192624829839887722016-02-19T16:34:00.002-08:002016-02-19T16:34:41.016-08:00Stark Naked Bits, clinics and expos coming up, Appaloosas and American Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts.<b>Stark Naked Bits will be hosting two clinics in Virginia in the next few months!!!!!! </b><br />
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<br />The first will be during the <b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1493442437631091/" target="_blank">Virginia-North Carolina Horse Festival</a> </b>March 5th, 2016 at the Old Dominion Agriculture Center in Chatham Virginia. We will be conducting a bitting clinic in the main arena and also have a booth in the vendors' hall to sell bits and take orders.<br />
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We will also be doing the breed demonstrations for the Appaloosa and the American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Horse. Stop by our stalls and visit our Appaloosa stallions Heza Docolida and Colida TwistOLena and Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts, Stonewall Rascal and Sugarbush Harley's Classic O<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KY8DaaHfHeA/VsexPkLLrhI/AAAAAAAAAcg/KMiF_BEJYkQ/s1600/ripleybanner2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KY8DaaHfHeA/VsexPkLLrhI/AAAAAAAAAcg/KMiF_BEJYkQ/s320/ripleybanner2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>Heza Docolida</b><br />
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<b> Colida TwistOLena</b><br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6UMBZYhnA8/Vsexi_0HWsI/AAAAAAAAAck/NR_9Ltbqv6c/s1600/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q6UMBZYhnA8/Vsexi_0HWsI/AAAAAAAAAck/NR_9Ltbqv6c/s320/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
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<b>Stonewall Rascal</b></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o74Wz2uualU/Vsex3XZ7c-I/AAAAAAAAAcs/bdnNbtPFHQ4/s1600/O11-15-2015A.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o74Wz2uualU/Vsex3XZ7c-I/AAAAAAAAAcs/bdnNbtPFHQ4/s320/O11-15-2015A.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Sugarbush Harley's Classic O</b></div>
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The second will be during the<b> <a href="http://www.virginiahorsefestival.com/" target="_blank">Virginia Horse Festival</a></b> in Doswell at The Meadows Fairground on April 1st, 2nd and 3rd. We will also have a booth.<br />
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Our clinic schedule is:<br />
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Friday, April 1st, 2016<br />
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in the Horse Industry Board Arena<br />
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Saturday, April 2nd, 2016<br />
1:00 PM to 2:30 PM in the Virginia Horse Council Foundation Classroom<br />
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Sunday, April 3rd, 2016<br />
3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in the Virginia Horse Council Foundation Classroom<br />
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The American Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts and Appaloosas will also be featured breeds at Breyerfest and our lovely group will be representing these breeds. <a href="https://www.breyerhorses.com/breyerfest-home-2016" target="_blank"><b>Breyerfest Carnival 2016</b></a><br />
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As soon as we get scheduling and stalling information we will post it. Stop by and see us, we'd love to introduce you to our wonderful horses and fun bits!<br />
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<br />Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-34406043083984917082016-02-05T16:05:00.001-08:002016-03-03T16:07:57.321-08:00Tracy Meisenbach-Horse Training Cliches and other lies<div>
<span style="color: #141823; font-family: "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">I've been in this business a long, long time. So long that I can't remember life before having my own horses and can't imagine life when the day comes I can't have them anymore. During this long span I've seen and heard some amazing things and some outright stupid things. It reached the point that when I see and hear certain things the person involved gets relegated to either the cool or stupid column. The stupid column is longer and sadly contains some people that are respected in the industry because they win a lot. Winning does not mean you know everything, especially if you're being judged by idiots that do the same thing you do. Because of all of the misinformation and crap that gets said I decided to compile a list of stupid sayings that automatically relegate you to the stupid column. If you spout one of these cliches as a "training" justification you're stupid. You're stupid, covered in stupid with stupid flavored filling.</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #141823;">Any bit is gentle in the right hands </span><span style="color: red;">(no, some bits cause pain without rein pressure)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"I need this bit because he's a ________ horse. You've never ridden a _____ horse of any real calibre or you'd know they need strong bits!" </span><span style="color: red;">(I've trained and shown horses to top levels)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">It's like a hand brake, so I don't have to worry about losing control - he's got a naturally hard mouth. It doesn't stop him with pain, it just gets him to stop. </span><span style="color: red;"> (Pain stops him, nothing else)</span></li>
<li style="color: #141823;">"He was born hard-mouthed." <span style="color: red;">( No horse is born hard mouthed)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"I don't really need it to ride him. I can ride him in a halter." </span><span style="color: red;">( Then do so, overkill isn't needed)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You just don't know how it works." </span><span style="color: red;">( I do know, that's why I don't use it)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"It has a snaffle (broken) mouthpiece, so it's super gentle" </span><span style="color: red;">(Usually in reference to a Tom Thumb)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">“Oh, it's a shanked snaffle, so it's really mild. </span><span style="color: red;">( Snaffles never have shanks. NEVER)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You can't ride X type of horse in a loose ring snaffle." </span><span style="color: red;">( You can if you know how to train)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"He's a walking horse, so he has to have a walker bit" </span><span style="color: red;">( The breed of horse does not dictate the bit)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Walkers have to have a walking horse bit to gait." </span><span style="color: red;">( Horses gait whether they are bridled or not)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"The correction port is a port so it still offers tongue relief." </span><span style="color: red;">(Trapping the tongue is not relief)</span></li>
<li style="color: #141823;">"I use it because its what so-and-so uses and THEY made the NFR. So it has to be good." </li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"It makes his mouth more sensitive" </span><span style="color: red;">( Yes, pain does that.)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"That's what my trainer said to use" </span><span style="color: red;">( Then get a new trainer)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Because it LIFTS THE SHOULDERS" </span><span style="color: red;">(Nothing lifts the horse's shoulder unless you pick up his foot)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Cavalry shanks are more gentle than regular shanks." </span><span style="color: red;">( depends on the mouthpiece.)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"But the hackamore part engages FIRST, so he responds before the twisted mouthpiece engages. That means the twisted wire mouthpiece is only there for emergencies." </span><span style="color: red;">(nosebands always engage last.)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"But the edges of the twist are smooth, so it's gentle! It's just enough to get his attention!" </span><span style="color: red;">(if it was gentle it wouldn't hurt enough to "get his attention")</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You have no idea how this bit works, you're just close minded"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Close minded would be not admitting it's a shitty bit.)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You have to bit them up and get that mouth sore so they will listen to a milder bit." </span><span style="color: red;">( You can't train through pain)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"He's a barrel horse so he needs X bit to stop when we run because he gets too hyped up. At home I ride in a D ring." </span><span style="color: red;">( If he was trained he'd work in the milder bit)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Have you ever ridden X discipline or X kind of horse? Then you can't judge!"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( I know shitty riding when I see it)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"What the hell are YOUR credentials?" </span><span style="color: red;">( The list is longer than this blog. All done without drugs, abusive bits, being suspended etc)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You've never ridden a grand prix horse, so you don't know how hard you need to be with bits to control them.</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Right, so all the winners who didn't use that shit bit were just flukes?)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">The Tom Thumb bit is needed so she could stop the horse if it decided to bolt. </span><span style="color: red;">( A TT won't stop anything that is serious about running off)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"They gait by pivoting on the mouthpiece," from a trainer that specializes in MFT's. "See how holding the reins tighter collects 'em?"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Stupidity and anatomy collide once again)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"He has a really soft mouth" </span><span style="color: red;">(when even a moderately well educated observer can see that he's desperately trying to avoid yanks and punishment")</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"They have to balance on the bit to hold a gait. Tighten the reins a little bit" </span><span style="color: red;">( A horse does not balance of his mouth)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">Lady who rode a very pacey, long-toed TWH around the neighborhood, upon observing Paddy's feet and headgear>>> "Oh, wow. You're riding him in a snaffle. He was trained in a curb, though, wasn't he?" </span><span style="color: red;">(not the 'question' kind of 'wasn't he'.. but the 'of course he was trained in a curb' kind of wasn't he')</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">How long has he been barefoot?</span><span style="color: red;"> (all his life, idiot. TWH's don't need heavy shoes any more than a fish needs a bicycle)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">How do you control him without a bit in his mouth? </span><span style="color: red;">(With your seat and legs)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">But he's a western horse, he needs a western bit.</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Get him the hat too, it's a set. Cowboy up!)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You can't run barrels without a tie down and in a snaffle! How are you going to stop her?" </span><span style="color: red;">( With my seat and legs, saying whoa works too)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Your horses are too light mouthed- they'll drive better if you bit 'em down, shorten their checks, and spank 'em into your hand. They gotta brace on the bit to keep their front ends up." </span><span style="color: red;">( Stupidity on parade, look how high it can prance!)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"A horse with his head up is ALWAYS hollow in the back!" </span><span style="color: red;">( Then why use a gag bit?)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"If he didn't like his bit, he wouldn't let me put it in his mouth!" </span><span style="color: red;">( How's he going to stop you?)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Physics don't apply to MY bit!"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Because your bit gets a free pass?)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"My Snookums LOVES his double twisted wire ten inch shank bit. See how well he behaves!?" </span><span style="color: red;">(He's afraid to move.)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"He runs through anything else, so I HAVE to ride him in my chainsaw mouthed hackagag!" </span><span style="color: red;">(Because you're too stupid to train him to stop)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"It doesn't cause pain if you know how to use it right."</span><span style="color: red;"> (If you knew how to use it, you wouldn't)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;"> "He's gotten sour, so we HAVE to bit him up more so he'll be safe."</span><span style="color: red;"> (Sourness is created by pain, adding pain just increases the sour)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"How do you manage him- there nothing there to hurt him?!"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Respect)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">“A twisted wire snaffle will teach them to be soft in the mouth because it makes little sores that will make them sensitive.” </span><span style="color: red;">( Good thing you're not a teacher)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;"> "Just tie his head around by the bit. It'll teach him to bend!"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( It will teach him to be stiff and resistant because there is no reward)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Just tie his bit to a railroad tie. They learn real quick to be soft then!" </span><span style="color: red;">(? How did this person survive childhood?)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Of course the horse is giving you trouble, you are not using a bit!!" </span><span style="color: red;">(A bit was the problem in the first place)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You can't judge a bit until you use it!"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Sure I can, I can look at the mechanics and know it's shit)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"I'm so lighthanded, the bit doesn't matter" </span><span style="color: red;">( You're deluding yourself)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Snaffles are only starting bits. You can't ride in one after the horse is broke." </span><span style="color: red;">( Said no Olympic rider EVER)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">After explaining Tom Thumbs to several people, without fail: "Yeah, but aren't they also called a shanked snaffle? They're gentle." </span><span style="color: red;">( Snaffles never have shanks, see #8)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"English is for prisses. You shouldn't be riding in an English bit. They don't work for western horses." </span><span style="color: red;">( Bits don't know they belong to a discipline, they are nonpartisan)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"It releases endorphins"</span><span style="color: red;"> ( So do twitches and lip chains, both are not good)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;"> Tie downs=better balance </span><span style="color: red;">( You cannot balance with your head tied down)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;"> "This is what the horse is trained in and he goes well in it."</span><span style="color: red;"> ( Because he was trained by an asshole)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"I can't ride him in a milder bit, he will run away with me."</span><span style="color: red;"> (Go back to basics and put a stop on him)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">You’re just jealous couch jockeys who know nothing! </span><span style="color: red;">( I've never been jealous of bad riders or trainers)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"Well every discipline has bad bits/techniques/riders/trainers etc" </span><span style="color: red;">( The bad in one, doesn't excuse the bad in another when used as a way to justify the bits/techniques/riders/trainers of their particular discipline. )</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"I was raised riding horses and we always used " X" bit too start them." </span><span style="color: red;">(Evolve)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"You don't know much about horses do you? You gotta make'm bleed some so they respect the bit. "</span><span style="color: red;"> ( You need to be in jail)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">"It is jointed, so it is still a snaffle." </span><span style="color: red;">( See #8)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;">“You can make a curb bit into a snaffle, just don't put on the curb chain.” </span><span style="color: red;">( Removing the curb chain makes the bit worse, not better)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #141823;"> "My old horse went in it just fine, I don't need to spend money on a new bit for this one." </span><span style="color: red;">( Evolve)</span><br /><br />Yes people do say things that are this stupid, these are taken from actual posts and articles. And even worse, they MEAN it. They truly believe that if they say these tired old cliches that some barn fairy will show up, smack them with a trainer wand and impart the wisdom of the ages. It's not true. Being stuck in the cliche rut prevents you from evolving as a horseman. You stop learning. you stop listening to the horse. I have no idea why people got hung up on whispering to horses when we should have been listening to them. Listening doesn't take joining up, or carrot sticks or any special bit. Listening takes paying attention, acting ethically and putting the horse first. There is no ribbon or trophy in the world worth your integrity or his well being. And until people reach the point they will ignore the award in order to work with the horse then abuse, and stupidity, will continue to happen.<br /><br />So don't repeat these cliches, they show how limited you are and how far you have to go. Instead of speaking them, shut your mouth, open your mind and eyes and EVOLVE!<br /><br /><br />Tracy Meisenbach<br />Copyright 2-2016<br />Do not publish, repost, or copy without permission</li>
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2056571239429661269.post-49672535057159948902015-08-12T19:31:00.001-07:002015-08-12T21:54:15.183-07:00Tracy Meisenbach: The American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Horse<div class="MsoNormal">
We've been in Appaloosas a long, long time. My grandfather bought his first spotted horse in 1942, by the time I came along some 24 years later he'd had several more. His farm was in north eastern Oklahoma, not far from where Bill Cass stood Colida. My mom used to play high school basketball against Bill's sister Carol. With this close proximity to one of the greatest Appaloosas of all time you can guess what my first love was. </div>
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Bill Cass and me in OKC<br />
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I grew up around Colida horses and we competed in everything you can imagine. There are very few events we didn't do, whether english or western. We even ventured in to driving and saddleseat. An Appaloosa can do anything his rider can imagine, so they were the perfect horse for us, because we liked to do everything. Along the way we also had other breeds; Arabians, Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, miniatures etc, but always had Appaloosas around.</div>
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Colida</div>
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In the Mid 80s Bill Cass got disgusted with the ApHC and got into draft horses. He liked Belgians and he had some nice ones. He kept his Appaloosas, but he sure liked competing his drafts at the pulls. I remember driving out to his pasture with him at feeding time and he called up his herd of broodmares and the ground rumbled as 14 huge chestnuts galloped up for their evening meal. It was amazing how powerful and quick they were. I could see their appeal. At this time I was competing in speed events pretty heavily, as well as cross country and 3 day eventing, and to me the drafts were more of a hobby horse, not something a serious competitor would use.</div>
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Bandit, Twister, Cochise, Rogue and Cochise</div>
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Fast forward to 2011 and through strange circumstances I found myself with 4 Percherons. 3 blacks and 1 grey. 2 geldings and 2 mares. The mares were papered and very well bred. I sold the geldings and the grey mare ( something I now seriously regret) and kept the big black mare. She's a 17.2 hand Jaeger bred mare. What the heck does an Appaloosa breeder need with one of those? </div>
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Jaeger's Abby's Gaby<br />
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By now I've grown out of going balls to the wall in speed events, I like to mosey a lot and I want a nice big easy going horse. I also wanted a spotted draft horse. Simple solution, breed my gorgeous Percheron mare to my Colida bred stallion. I think Bill Cass would have heartily agreed, especially after he saw the result. This was not some random"backyard" breeding. My Appaloosa stallion had halter, hunter in hand, speed event points and was 4th in the nation in games. His sire and dam were both pointed show horses. His grandfathers, Colida, Bright Eyes Brother and Top Hat H, were in the Hall of Fame. The Percheron mare was the daughter of the Canadian Reserve National Champion Stallion and her dam was the daughter of another National Champion. </div>
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Colida SkipNTwist</div>
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The result of this cross was amazing. 5 panel genetically clean, homozygous black, dun factor and a conformation to die for. Tyrion Twist is an amazing sport horse and has already made his public debut, wowing crowds at Breyerfest as a weanling and winning second in open stallions at the Virginia State Fair Draft Horse Show. We expect great things from this young stallion.</div>
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Tyrion Twist, ASHDA #-00013</div>
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About the time I decided to cross my two horses, (visions of spotted sporthorses dancing in my head) I met up with some other people that were promoting a breed of spotted drafts. Fortuitous in some ways. Not so much in others. The Sugarbush Harlequin Draft had been started by Everett Smith as a spotted draft. Unfortunately the person that had taken over the registry was just not doing the breed any good, creating an entirely false history that she uses to give her private business validity. Despite this problem, several of us persevered with our horses and helped preserve and grow this really amazing breed.</div>
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Stonewall Rascal, SSB-F2 #9606, ASHDA #E-00001</div>
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This leads us to the oft asked question; “What is a Sugarbush
Harlequin Draft?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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The answers to that question are
really simple. A Sugarbush Harlequin Draft is a horse bred from the original
stock owned by Everett Smith or a horse registered in the original Sugarbush
Harlequin Draft Horse Registry (SHDHR) or a horse registered in the American
Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Association (ASHDA). That’s it. If the horse does not
meet one of those parameters it’s not a Sugarbush Harlequin Draft. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You can’t get a Sugarbush Harlequin Draft just by crossing an Appaloosa on a Draft horse, or a Draft horse on any other spotted breed. Those are just crossbred drafts. A Sugarbush Harlequin Draft has to meet either the pedigree criteria of parents registered with the original SHDHR or ASHDA or be approved with ASHDA by meeting the conformational and genetic testing requirements of the breed. A Sugarbush Harlequin Draft horse isn’t just a mix, and it’s not a name that can be applied to any spotted draft. ASHDA's standards are high and their approval process is rigorous, requiring conformational analysis, genetic testing and pedigree assessment. We want only the best. So don’t be fooled, if the horse isn’t registered with ASHDA or the original SHDHR, then it’s not a Sugarbush Harlequin Draft. This breed was started by Everett Smith and ASHDA is the only registry endorsed by him to continue on his beloved breed. We follow his guidelines for conformation, clean genetics and stellar pedigrees. ASHDA is currently producing a documentary video of Everett Smith and his horses in which he answers questions about the breed, his program, and his views on genetic testing, ASHDA and the future of the breed.</div>
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<span style="text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;"> Apache Double, ApHC Stallion</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start; text-indent: 48px;"> So where do they come from? Their story actually starts way back in the 70s when a young man named Michael Hanna (Muir) bought an Appaloosa stallion called Apache Double from Iola Hatley. He paid a record price for him, $100,000.00. ( he was the second horse sold for this amount, the first being Flying Star, a Colida son) Apache Double is the first and only Appaloosa to go over the $2 million mark in winnings of his get. He’s a great-grandson of Reigh Count who won the Kentucky Derby and a maternal grandson of ApHC Hall of Fame horse Apache</span><br />
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Charlie Degas, Percheron Stallion<br />
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Along with
breeding Appaloosa race horses at his Stonewall Stud Farm Michael Hanna took an
interest in drafts and driving. He purchased Charlie Degas, the purebred
Percheron stallion foaled in 1973, who became the foundation stallion of the
Stonewall Studbook and an important influence in the development of the
Stonewall Sporthorse.<br />
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Michael
bred Charlie Degas to a daughter of Apache Double called Stonewall Baby Jane.
She was out of a Poco Arbol bred mare called Stonewall Dottie West. Stonewall
Baby Jane, 23 as of this writing, is a big bay leopard mare, she was later bred
to Stonewall Showmaster, another purebred Percheron Stallion and produced Stonewall
Rascal, who is the founding stallion of the Sugarbush Harlequin Draft breed.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zN-bMn7HZWk/Vcv-OVrXTwI/AAAAAAAAAak/LJUB-x7FHyQ/s1600/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zN-bMn7HZWk/Vcv-OVrXTwI/AAAAAAAAAak/LJUB-x7FHyQ/s320/rascal%2Band%2BbronBF2015.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>
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Stonewall Rascal and Bron Stark at Breyerfest 2015</div>
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About this time Michael Hanna had
some serious life changes. He changed his last name to Muir in honor of his
grandfather’s name, because it was going to die out, and he discovered he had
MS. He sold his racehorses ( Ocala Flight went to Australia) and started
focusing more and more on driving. In an effort to bring awareness to MS he
decided to drive across America with his trio of Stonewall Sport Horse mares,
Stonewall Stella, Stonewall Blanche and Stonewall Scarlett. They drove from
California to Florida as a unicorn hitch. It was an amazing feat and showed how
truly outstanding these spotted draft crosses are.<br />
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Everett Smith also owned a
carriage company and had taken up driving as a pastime and part time job. His
Sugarbush Hitch Company in Willow Wood, Ohio was using his breed of choice,
Percherons. In 1998 he saw an article about Michael Muir and his spotted team
and contacted him. The two men discussed their goals and what each wanted in an
elegant spotted driving horse and the Sugarbush Harlequin Draft Horse and
Stonewall Sport Horse Registry was born. Everett bred his percheron mare,
Sugarbush Felina Del Noche to Stonewall Rascal and she produced Sugarbush
Harley Quinne, a loud spotted black and white leopard. Harley, as he was known,
was Everett’s ideal horse; a ¾ draft with loud color, traceable pedigree and
good conformation and temperament.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EA2bW_uTGCo/Vcv_QHa-ZNI/AAAAAAAAAa0/6y2IBG-Su_M/s1600/Baby%2BHarley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EA2bW_uTGCo/Vcv_QHa-ZNI/AAAAAAAAAa0/6y2IBG-Su_M/s320/Baby%2BHarley.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sugarbush Felina Del Noche and Sugarbush Harley Quinne</div>
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Sugarbush Harley Quinne gained
the Sugarbush Hitch Company a lot of attention and people started seeking out
Sugarbushes! Spotted drafts were getting noticed and whether it was the heavier
¾ draft Sugarbush or the lighter ½ draft Stonewall Sporthorses both names had
gone into the equestrian vernacular to denote LP marked heavy horses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Sadly a twofold tragedy struck.
Sugarbush Harley Quinne died leaving only one intact son, Sugarbush Harley’s
Classic O. It was then that Everett discovered that Stonewall Rascal had been
sold and gelded, so he could not repeat the breeding that produced Harley
Quinne. Everett was also facing health issues and after a discussion with
Michael Muir they decided to separate out the registry for each breed. The
Stonewall Sporthorse Studbook is now in California. Everett took a chance and
let another person take over the Sugarbush registry, but that resulted in
almost destroying the breed. It was run as a private business and breeding to
anything was allowed. In an effort to save the breed a group of dedicated
Sugarbush Harlequin draft lovers got together and with Everett Smith’s blessing
they have rebuilt the breed using his original lines and making requirements
for genetic testing, conformation and other factors. Today the American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft
is a growing breed and gaining international notice. They are invited to appear
at Breyerfest every year where they are a crowd and artist favorite. ASHDA has
been to the International Horse Fair in Beijing, China and featured at other
expos throughout the USA. Articles covering the history of the breed have been
featured in the Draft Horse Journal, on various websites and forums.<br />
The American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft is one of only two draft breeds created specifically in America, the other is the American Cream Draft. It's a breed with a bright future as both a riding horse and a driving horse. The sweet temperament and versatility of the breed make it easily trainable. They are visually eye catching and unlike a lot of draft breeds that are hitch gaited they have gaits more like a good saddle horse. ASHDA does not encourage docking tails, liking a horse to be able to switch flies. ASHDA also does not condone scotch bottom shoes or the extreme squared toes found in many breeds. It's not a "mutt", "grade" or "backyard breed" as some people claim. Most ASHDA horses have pedigrees that can trace back to the 1800s on both sides, unlike a lot of Quarter Horses and other breeds today. There is a demand for them and breeders are usually contacted by people interested in riding age horses, many of which are simply not for sale as they are used as breeding stock. So don't believe the disgruntled rantings of people that have never actually met one of these amazing horses. Sour grapes are extremely bitter, unlike American Sugarbush Harlequin Drafts, which are sweet enough for everyone.<br />
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Trinity Appaloosa Farmhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02620290210181308128noreply@blogger.com0