... because this week I sold a horse and he was not even on the market!
A few weeks ago I was approached by a young woman who was looking to buy a nice young horse to tuck away for a couple of years on the family farm. Having admired Rory from afar for the last 18 months, she bit the bullet and asked me if I would consider selling him. To be honest I had not even thought about selling him and, had it not been such a nice home, I am still not sure I would have considered it. But, at the end of the day, I am a horse breeder and, much as we would love to, we just cannot keep them all and, realistically, as a gelding, he was really not going to be of a lot of use to me in the future. So I said that yes, I would consider selling him and it was arranged that she drive down (quite some considerable distance, from Auckland) to meet him and we would take it from there.
The visit went well (and I am sure she will agree that I went to some lengths to try and put her off the purchase!) and my darling, sweet, gorgeous little Rory (the owner of the eye in my blog header) will soon be heading to a new home. I won't lie, I am genuinely very sad to have sold him but it is a selfish sadness borne from knowing that I am going to miss out on having his adorable personality in my paddocks as he grows up.
As a breeder it is very rewarding to have your horses in great demand. Right now I have a queue of people interested in horses that I have not even bred yet!
I still have Ror's lovely Mum (Hooty - currently back in foal to Coalmans Touch for my friend Annika) and am going to have another go at breeding her to Coalmans Touch myself to see if I can breed myself that elusive filly foal.
With Rory sold, there is less pressure on me to sell Enya and I am beginning to consider removing her from the market and buying my breeding partner out and retaining her as a future broodmare. She is a superb type and, with her mum being 21 now, I cannot guarantee I will be able to breed a replacement filly from her in the next couple of years and Enya might be my only chance. Add to that the fact that her sire is now gelded and it seems an incredible shame to have to sell her. It would be very exciting to retain her and hand her to a rider in 3-4 years time for a few years of performance and then breed some future superstars from her. We'll see... I have one interested party at present but they have yet to commit to coming to meet her and had one other person arrange to come and see her and then not turn up (or reply to texts or emails, very frustrating and, to be honest, bloody rude!). This is the side of horse selling that I do not enjoy but fortunately it is not something I have to deal with very often considering most of my youngstock tend to sell nowadays in utero or through word of mouth.
I am beginning to make my decisions regarding next season's breeding so if anyone has any specific requests, do let me know. I am hoping to put my TB mare Bella to Brennan, and this foal will be for sale (cheaper if purchased in utero), Maude back to Hamish (have not yet decided whether this foal will be for sale), Hooty to Coalmans Touch (if a colt, will be for sale) and Twinkle to Hamish (this foal will be for sale). I was going to breed Meg and was considering John Brodie but four foals is plenty for us. That said, if I can make some more definite in-utero sales, I will still consider it...
In other news (ha, how silly does that sound?!), Robbie is leaving us tomorrow. I told Sheree to ring Majestic after the NI contact for the SI company she had organised to shift him completely messed us both around (Peter Scaife, sorry but you have lost any potential future business from me as well as any recommendations!) and Majestic have come to the party and will be collecting him tomorrow morning. I am going to be very sad to see him go but am thrilled with the home he is going to and I know that Sheree and I will maintain a regular contact which makes the good bye that little bit easier (well quite a lot easier really as I know I will be kept up to date with all of his adventures and that's really important to me).
Today's job is to start organising the new tack shed which I should really go and do now - just in for a bite to eat and a drink and it's back to it!
Photos to come later today ...
A few weeks ago I was approached by a young woman who was looking to buy a nice young horse to tuck away for a couple of years on the family farm. Having admired Rory from afar for the last 18 months, she bit the bullet and asked me if I would consider selling him. To be honest I had not even thought about selling him and, had it not been such a nice home, I am still not sure I would have considered it. But, at the end of the day, I am a horse breeder and, much as we would love to, we just cannot keep them all and, realistically, as a gelding, he was really not going to be of a lot of use to me in the future. So I said that yes, I would consider selling him and it was arranged that she drive down (quite some considerable distance, from Auckland) to meet him and we would take it from there.
The visit went well (and I am sure she will agree that I went to some lengths to try and put her off the purchase!) and my darling, sweet, gorgeous little Rory (the owner of the eye in my blog header) will soon be heading to a new home. I won't lie, I am genuinely very sad to have sold him but it is a selfish sadness borne from knowing that I am going to miss out on having his adorable personality in my paddocks as he grows up.
As a breeder it is very rewarding to have your horses in great demand. Right now I have a queue of people interested in horses that I have not even bred yet!
I still have Ror's lovely Mum (Hooty - currently back in foal to Coalmans Touch for my friend Annika) and am going to have another go at breeding her to Coalmans Touch myself to see if I can breed myself that elusive filly foal.
With Rory sold, there is less pressure on me to sell Enya and I am beginning to consider removing her from the market and buying my breeding partner out and retaining her as a future broodmare. She is a superb type and, with her mum being 21 now, I cannot guarantee I will be able to breed a replacement filly from her in the next couple of years and Enya might be my only chance. Add to that the fact that her sire is now gelded and it seems an incredible shame to have to sell her. It would be very exciting to retain her and hand her to a rider in 3-4 years time for a few years of performance and then breed some future superstars from her. We'll see... I have one interested party at present but they have yet to commit to coming to meet her and had one other person arrange to come and see her and then not turn up (or reply to texts or emails, very frustrating and, to be honest, bloody rude!). This is the side of horse selling that I do not enjoy but fortunately it is not something I have to deal with very often considering most of my youngstock tend to sell nowadays in utero or through word of mouth.
I am beginning to make my decisions regarding next season's breeding so if anyone has any specific requests, do let me know. I am hoping to put my TB mare Bella to Brennan, and this foal will be for sale (cheaper if purchased in utero), Maude back to Hamish (have not yet decided whether this foal will be for sale), Hooty to Coalmans Touch (if a colt, will be for sale) and Twinkle to Hamish (this foal will be for sale). I was going to breed Meg and was considering John Brodie but four foals is plenty for us. That said, if I can make some more definite in-utero sales, I will still consider it...
In other news (ha, how silly does that sound?!), Robbie is leaving us tomorrow. I told Sheree to ring Majestic after the NI contact for the SI company she had organised to shift him completely messed us both around (Peter Scaife, sorry but you have lost any potential future business from me as well as any recommendations!) and Majestic have come to the party and will be collecting him tomorrow morning. I am going to be very sad to see him go but am thrilled with the home he is going to and I know that Sheree and I will maintain a regular contact which makes the good bye that little bit easier (well quite a lot easier really as I know I will be kept up to date with all of his adventures and that's really important to me).
Today's job is to start organising the new tack shed which I should really go and do now - just in for a bite to eat and a drink and it's back to it!
Photos to come later today ...
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