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Hmm, decisions...decisions LOL

13K views 92 replies 43 participants last post by  smrobs  
#1 ·
Okay, so here is the complicated story....erm....novel:lol:. There was an old friend of the family named Perry who owned a few sections of land just outside of town. He had horses. Not super good quality horses, but not terrible either. He was basically the epitome of a backyard breeder. He just left these horses on the land and let them run feral so they are really inbred. He passed away quite a few years ago and my Dad was named executor of his will. Neither of Perry's daughters can agree on what they want to do with the land or the animals on it. Both of them want it for no other reason than just to keep the other from having it (gotta love family drama after a death).

Anyway, a couple of years after Perry died, another guy in town who had horses (again, not super good horses, but not terrible) leased the property from the girls and turned his herd of horses out there with the ones already present:?. So, all his mares ended up pregnant by Perry's mediocre stud. After a handful of years, Poncho (the leaser) vacated the premises and just gathered up about half the herd. Nothing crooked or greedy about it, but there was simply no real way to separate what horses had been his and what had been theirs and keep it all straight. The girls couldn't care less what he took.

Now, the horses that were left have just been running feral for 10 years or more, breeding and inbreeding and inbreeding some more. There is 2 mare/stud herds and at least one bachelor herd running the property...I'd say 40 animals in all. How in the world they've survived out there is beyond me. The girls don't care what happens to them but can't decide whether they want Dad and I to herd them up and haul them off or not. We were already told years ago that if we saw one we liked to just take it.

I happened to be riding out by there the other day and the bigger of the 2 herds was right up by the fence. Since I was on a horse, they didn't scatter the second they saw me like they do with a vehicle so I was able to get a good look at them. Most of them looked about like what they are, mediocre inbred horses:lol:. The stud for this herd didn't have stellar conformation, but he wasn't the worst I've ever seen. His legs were straight and strong and the only things I could really pick at were a slight ewe neck and a slightly high tail set.

There was a bay mare in there that, I thought, was actually very attractive. Her back was just a touch long but that's all I could really see about her that was bad. She had a soft eye and a petite head, good straight legs and decent muscle for having never done much more than wander the pasture with no care whatsoever.

Now, to my dilemma. She has the most gorgeous little filly on her side. I'd say 3-4 months old, brown, 3 high white stockings, a big blaze face, a belly splash, and 1 blue eye. She's just stunning and her conformation looks really good (like good enough that you could put her in a herd of well bred QH weanlings and wouldn't be able to tell the difference in quality).

After I saw her, I'd wished I had my camera and had gotten some pictures, but I didn't. Maybe in the next couple of days I can get out that way again. The way I figure it, she wouldn't really be that much different than what Dobe is, an inbred mongrel, but he's still one of the best horses I've ever had. Not terribly talented, of course, but all heart and personality so a good horse nonetheless.

I can't decide if I want to try to catch her and bring her home and try to turn her into a decent riding horse or just leave her be. She'd likely never be good for much more than just using, but she'd end up broke no matter what. I know there'd be no hope of making any sort of real money on her even if I did decide to sell her. Or, do I just leave her out there to live out her short life like the rest of them have been left to do. :?

What do you guys think? Ideas? Concerns? Suggestions?
 
#2 ·
Doooooo eeeeeet.

Since she's pretty, she'll probably be easy to resell down the road if that becomes necessary, and since mama is pretty, she has at least a 50% chance of staying pretty as she grows! :lol:
And you can never have too many good using horses...right?


And if it doesn't work out, ship her to me! LOL!


*enabler*
 
#3 · (Edited)
Well, if you want to do it, and can afford it then I say go ahead.
I would check her out a couple more times before you make a decision.
If nothing else, you'll put a solid foundation on her, and some one will want her.
 
#9 ·
Considering that you train horses for a living... go get her! It's not like you're going to get her home, spend a fortune on a trainer and then discover she's a dud. All it will cost you to find out about her is time and feed and you could find a true gem of a working horse, trail horse or even a kid horse. Does it *really* matter if she's not "show-quality"? How many people would practically give their right arm to have a sound, sane, well-trained horse?

If she's a complete and utter inbred nightmare, I'm sure you could just put her back where she came from!
 
#12 ·
smrobs, 40 horses is nothing. My paint came from the place with 80+ horses running feral (2 studs, mares, and of course bunch of babies every year)! :D

Since you are very experienced, in particularly with untrained ones, I'd say go for her if you like her so much. If she has a good confo and good mind I'm sure you can also always sell her down the road if you have/want to.
 
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#14 ·
Jen, I'm another vote for do it! You've got the skills, why not? I'm assuming the filly on her side would be a personal prospect? I'd go for it, work the mare, sell her on, keep the filly for yourself. Worst case scenario, the filly doesn't grow into the mare you hoped she'd become, you could always start her and sell her on. If you've got the hay & the room, I'd say go for it.
 
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#16 ·
I'd say do it. You already have permission from the landowners. I would probably ask the landowners again and maybe get something down in writing so they can't call the cops on you if you show up with a trailer.

Good luck catching her though. How do you plan on that? Looking forward to that adventure!
 
#22 ·
:rofl: Gee, thanks you guys LOL. Ya'll are a bunch of enablers!

MHFQ, I wasn't planning on taking the momma, since I have no idea how old she is. I wouldn't want to go to the trouble of rounding her up only to find out she was 15-20 years old. IMHO, that's just too old to try to mess with something unhandled. I was just debating about the filly.

Copperhead, I would certainly double check with the girls again, though they don't live on the property. One of them is somewhere down south in TX and I have no idea where the other one is...Colorado somewhere I think.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how I'd catch her. I'd certainly have to ask Dad to help me out with that one. There are some old corrals out there but they are completely falling apart to the point that they couldn't keep our cows in 20 years ago. I can't imagine that they are in better shape now LOL. The only option may end up being to rope her...though I'm not sure that would be entirely safe between her momma and the herd stud. Good news is, Dad's got a lot of experience with stuff like that.

We'll see, I'll talk to Dad and see what he says. Heck, it may end up being next spring before I can actually get her so that I don't have to worry about feeding her all winter...especially since I'm not sure what hay prices will do. Plus, another few months of feral life won't hurt her, all the customer horses I'm dealing with right now came to me at 3 and 4 years old with never a hand laid on them, she couldn't be much different.

I will try to get out there here in the next couple of days and get a couple of pictures though, she really is gorgeous.

And ya'll are right, it's not like I really have anything to lose. She will probably make a decent little horse either for me or someone else...and if she turns out to be a nutjob or something, I can just take her back out there, no harm no foul LOL.
 
#27 ·
:rofl: Gee, thanks you guys LOL. Ya'll are a bunch of enablers!
Did you expect any less? :lol:

I guess my reading comprehension sucks, don't blame you for not wanting the mare - didn't even think about age. We definitely need pics of this filly! I've no doubt your dad will have a good plan on how to get her.
 
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#26 ·
i cant believe ive read through 3 pages and not 1 picture of this baby project-to-be! goodness!

now you owe us a VIDEO of the roundup to get baby! haha cant wait to see her!
OH, OH (runs to get popcorn and front row seat!) Yes Please!!!!!!!!
 
#29 ·
My thinking is...when you go get this filly (because i know you really want to...;-)) bringing a friend with her will make it much easier of the pretty little girl. So grab another one too! :lol:
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