From the category archives:
by Cowgirl on January 23, 2013 · 0 comments
A common scenario in horse ownership goes something like this: “We were shopping for a horse for our teenage daughter and found the perfect gelding. A seasoned show horse with a willing attitude…his owner assured us he would fulfill all of our expectations. Two months after bringing him home, he became headstrong, barn sour, started balking, and eventually rearing.
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by Cowgirl on January 6, 2013 · 2 comments
I have said before—and been quoted as saying—that a horse is born with it’s disposition. Good or bad, that horse can only be one way the rest of its life, and any amount of training is merely a slight modification of the true nature of the horse. But I think I have to change that statement slightly by saying that a horse’s disposition is formed at a very early age (not exactly at birth) and once it has formed that initial, instinctive code of conduct, it is set—good or bad—and it’s very difficult to change it completely.
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by Cowgirl on June 5, 2012 · 3 comments
Ever since I was a little girl I recall wanting to be a cowgirl. I had this pair of cowboy boots that you would have thought were permanently attached to my feet. They were an old beat up pair of boots that were way too big, but no matter what the weather was like, I always had them on.
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by Cowgirl on April 19, 2012 · 0 comments
I’ve been going to a lot of cattle sales lately, at the local auction barn. Inevitably, there are two or three horses there every week, and I’m always curious at what they bring. I wonder why they were brought there, and where they are going after that final winning bid. It always makes me wish I had multiple pastures and unlimited funds so that I could take them home with me.
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by Cowgirl on October 4, 2011 · 1 comment
When we purchased our new horses a few weeks ago, we knew we would have some work to do to get the foal registered and the papers edited to show our ownership of the mare. Whenever you’re buying a horse, it’s important to understand the registration process and what the requirements are for registering a horse. Some horses just aren’t registerable, and it’s important to know the difference, because a horse that is registered has added value. If you’ve never owned an American Quarter Horse and if you’re unfamiliar with the application process, this blog post might be a help to you.
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by Cowgirl on September 22, 2011 · 0 comments
When we went to pick up the new horses last week, we took my mare Daisy along. Not as a travelling buddy, but because there was a horse sale going on in a town along the same route, and we decided to consign Daisy in it and just see what might happen. We have talked about selling her several times, and buying two more seemed a tad bit excessive, and the trailer was going that way anyhow, so we took her to the sale with a reserve price firmly established in our minds.
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by Cowgirl on September 13, 2011 · 0 comments
News flash! We have new horses! We saw a classified ad, made a phone call, took a road trip in the rain, wrote a check, went back with the horse trailer, and look what we got: a sweet little buckskin mare and her four month old stud colt! This should come as no surprise if you know us well—we have been looking for a buckskin horse for about four years, and have skimmed through countless horse classifieds in search of the perfect one. And in true horse-collector’s fashion, we bought not one, but two!
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by Cowgirl on September 1, 2011 · 0 comments
I share horse advice on the Yahoo! Answers website once in awhile, and the question I see listed in the Horse Section more than any other is: How do I convince my parents to let me have a horse of my own? While I hope this post doesn’t evolve into a rant, I do want to point out the benefits of buying your child a horse, or at least letting them lease one for their middle school through high school years.
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by Cowgirl on February 6, 2011 · 2 comments
I’m no expert on horse conformation. I sometimes look at a horse and think, “Wow—he’s beautiful!” and totally miss that his shoulder is too straight or his stifle is weak. For the average horse lover, conformation isn’t a big deal. We just love looking at horses. But for a serious rider, it’s one of the most important things to look for in a horse.
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by Cowgirl on January 18, 2011 · 1 comment
Selling a horse in a tough economy can be a difficult thing to accomplish. And selling a horse in the middle of a harsh winter in snow country can be downright impossible. I’ve been helping my folks advertise a few of their Quarter Horses for sale in Idaho, and have found some tips and ideas to help their chances of finding a buyer. I’ll share them here, so if you’re trying to sell a horse as well, you might find these tips helpful as well.
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by Cowgirl on January 11, 2011 · 1 comment
Certifiably crazy, that’s me. It’s the dead of winter, a foot of snow on the ground, I’ve got tank heaters running up an electric bill, just two round bales left before we have to buy more, and five horses out there eating. And I want to buy another horse.
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by Cowgirl on November 22, 2010 · 0 comments
I went to the cattle auction last Saturday. This isn’t a quality auction, it’s a ramshackle type of barn in our podunk county where the local farmers hang out on the weekend to watch stuff sell. You’ll see everything go through the ring—chickens, eggs, piglets, goats, sheep, and occasionally a horse, before the cattle start to sell. I only went because my husband had heard the sale report the day before and they’d listed a kid broke pony as well as eight other horses.
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by Cowgirl on October 13, 2010 · 0 comments
I talked to my sister on the phone today. She was excited to share her big news with me: she bought a stud colt and two fillies at a production sale last weekend! We had a good hour of “horse talk” and she told me all about every horse they looked at.
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by Cowgirl on October 6, 2010 · 0 comments
Sunday afternoon I drove the pickup and trailer over to my brother’s place to pick up two horses. He and his wife are selling their acreage and wanting to move out-of-state, and they think for all practical purposes they should pass on being horse owners right now. So the horses are coming to our farm for further training and evaluation of their potentials and hopefully find their ways on to bigger and brighter things than being pasture ornaments.
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by Cowgirl on June 29, 2010 · 0 comments
It’s a known fact that we horse people are a crazy bunch. But some of the stories I hear make me wonder if all of our common sense has been dropped in pursuit of gaining more horse sense, and the result is a bunch of daft idiots.
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by Cowgirl on June 24, 2010 · 0 comments
They say that it is easier for a woman to find the perfect husband than it is to find the perfect swimsuit. And I would say that’s about how hard it is to find the perfect horse. When you’re thinking of getting a horse, you need to know how important a “good fit” really is. So I’m sharing a few tips here to help a less experienced person find a horse that will be perfect for them.
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by Cowgirl on May 25, 2010 · 3 comments
What is it about color on a horse that makes it worth double the price? Right now, Cowboy Dad and I are looking at buying a really flashy buckskin mare. She is not registered or very well-trained, hasn’t been ridden in over a year and doesn’t neck-rein, and the owners can’t ride her anymore due to health reasons. But they’re set firm on her price, simply because of her color.
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by Cowgirl on May 22, 2010 · 3 comments
If you’ve been involved with horses for any length of time, you will find that the horse industry is much like the used car industry. There are a lot of scoundrels out to get your money and will do anything to make a buck. The term “horse dealer” does not carry a good connotation, since so many well-meaning buyers have been duped into buying a horse that didn’t work out for them.
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