My $60 dollar colt -May walk away from this opinions PLS!!

[WIChookchick]

Well my cons out weigh the pros. I intended to do some local showing with this colt, in hand, and in harness, BUT I have to get my cart fixed, I have new shafts I have to get put on.
Basically get this colt out on the show circuit, and then sell him.
I weigh just over 200 pds, so if he is only suitable for a light rider, I can't ride him, and I don't know of any one that weighs less than I do who could ride him.
I would be boarding this horse, where I work. SO part of my earnings would be deducted to pay for his board.
That is a con.. I don't intend to keep him for another 2 yrs.

 

[michickenwrangler]

If I may be devil's advocate here ...

Do you really think this colt will do well enough on the show circuit to sell quickly in two years?
Will the market improve? What are show horses with 2 years of experience selling for in your area? Are they moving?
Is there a demand for driving horses where you are at?

If you cannot sell him, you may be "stuck" with a horse you are paying board on that may or may not be able to be ridden.

 

[WIChookchick]

I was not advocating keeping him for 2 yrs, I was going to do some local shows, and resell him later THIS summer...
If only paying 77 dollars, (the actual cost of the coggins in the breeders area), gelding...
My plan was to resell him for under 500 dollars, or there abouts.
I think I will email his breeder and pass. I have the time, I know how I want to do it.. but I think I will find a new project horse...
Carol

 

[EweSheep]

Smart move and MIchickenwrangler has a good point there. I would have a hard time selling good driving horses.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Quote:
Good idea to pass on this cull. And maybe put a note in there that she would do better to study her breeding and not keep on with the 'shotgun approach' or as my friend says, "spaghetti on the wall breeding tactic". She'll then have less culls to dump and be a more responsible breeder. I breed Arabians too, but I breed for sound conformation, not just paper to paper as so many do. This kind of breeding, exaggeration of show records and so on just really is one of my hot buttons.

Just a quick note on his back, given the length it probably will end up being a sway back, but I've had 1 & 2 year olds that got so butt high while growing I wondered if they'd ever straighten out. This colt has enough other issues that his back is probably the least of them.

Good luck on finding a project horse. Where you are if you particularly want an Arabian, there are several really good, reputable breeders who'd have something that would be a good fit. You won't get them for $60 though.

 

[EweSheep]

Never heard of the "spagetti on the wall" breeding tactic.......sounds funny! What does it mean anyway? I am learning new things everyday!

 

[babyblue]

Quote:
kinda means you throw everything you've got a together and hope something good comes out of it.

 

[dreamcatcherarabians]

Quote:
It's kind of like throwing spaghetti on the wall and you keep what sticks and doesn't fall off? So toss this stallion out there with every mare you can find and MAYBE you'll get a good nick. I think of it more like a shotgun approach, fire and and the shot is gonna hit SOMETHING. A lot of really big breeders do this in pursuit of the ONE foal that will bring them the next US National or Scottsdale championship ribbon. Then they dump the culls, the ones who have glaring faults or are not quite good enough to make it to the show ring. They give NO consideration for a performance carreer, just keep on breeding that 'yard art' and culling that which isn't quite the thing for the Main Ring Halter classes. I have a breeder withing 50 miles of me who routinely gives away 30-50 foals a YEAR! Or sends them to the meat auction. Of course, we don't want the public to know that our fabulous stallion doesn't throw perfection each and every time he's bred so we send those foals to the auction or give them away without papers. These breeders are simply playing the odds and hoping for the next "Flavor of the Month" horse and don't care what happens to the culls. They throw away more foals in a year than I'll breed in 20. It really infuriates me that they are so callous.

Sorry for the rant, I'll get off my soapbox now.

(steps down off the box trying not to trip over own feet).

 

[patandchickens]

Oh, I didn't realize you hadn't already bought him.

If you want him as a quick resale project (or really ANY kind of resale project) I would say ABSOLUTELY get a good vetting of that knee, because it is the first thing that any prospective buyer will turn him down because of, and therefore you need to be able to say "I have these xrays and this vet's assurance that it is merely <insert name of cosmetic-only problem here>, not somethint with soundness implications".

Otherwise, that plus the very weak back (in an Arab if it looks like that *now* it is a real problem) are likely to render him essentially unsaleable unless you can very rapidly get him SUPER well-trained with great aptitude to win in the showring. (edited to clarify: which I do not think is a realistic expectation)

Remember, the cost of the horse isn't just what you pay for him plus your board (etc) bill... it is ALSO the cost of his board (etc) beyond the point where you decide to sell him but are not able to do so right away. WIth him, that "carrying him against your will" period could potentially be reallllyyyyy long, like a lifetime. If you want him as a personal pet then sure, go with your heart, but as a RESALE project he is NOT a great bet I'm afraid.

Sorry, JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[welsummerchicks]

Look, OP, I'm going to tell you something, because I'm feeling very brave and frisky today, having just had surgery and used up all my vicodin. Well, not all of it, but enough of it. I feel like I'm a bear emerging from a cave in spring(performs tarzan yell).

First of all, focusing on the stallion's record vis a vis how it will make this colt more marketable, is totally and completely beside the point. There are thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of Arabian stallions at stud like him. The owner isn't any more irresponsible than any of a number of other breeders. They either know their stallion is inferior or they don't, be that as it may, the thing is procreating.

But discussing what the stallion is, or isn't, is pointless. This colt is not a resell project. Not a successful one, anyway. It wouldn't matter if this horse was by the greatest Arabian stallion and mare that ever lived.

This happens. It happens to the best breeders and to the worst. That is not even worth debating, it happens to people with good horses AND bad horses. What is in question is how is this most ethically handled. What is in the animal's best interests, I mean.

Look at the back on the stallion. That stallion is 18. He climbs up on mares or a phantom or both, he has probably been ridden at least part of those 18 years.

Now look at this colt's back.

At 2, without having been ridden, without having jumped any mares, that 2 year old colt's back is lower than the 18 year old stallion's back.

That colt's back is a whole different deal than the stallion's. This colt's back isn't about the length of back or the configuration of the loin, many other horses have same.

This is different; it is about bones that did not form normally, and are not holding the back up in a normal way just for the animal walking around and eating grass for the last 24 months. And those bones will never, ever be fixed. This is a skeletal deformity.

This is a whole different kettle of fish. The stallion is 18 and he's been jumping mares and being ridden for at least part of that time. Of course his back looks like he**.

And I disagree with everyone who has told you tickling that colt's belly, longeing him in sidereins, or anything else, will change that back. That back is going from where it is to more swayed than it is, and if anyone ever rides him, it is going to go WAY lower than it is now. That is the only place it is going. Lower.

You will never sell that colt - as a driving horse, or as a riding horse. Please don't kid yourself and don't listen to anyone who is trying to tell you any different.

There are no sixty dollar bargains around that you are going to fix and sell in a couple months at a tidy profit. A professional trainer or pinhooker with decades of experience doing so would not touch this colt with a ten foot pole. And those professionals who could talk an Eskimo into buying a refridgerator, they are having the very devil of a time trying to sell nice horses with nothing wrong with them these days, let alone something like this.

There are very few horses at ANY price that you're going to turn around like that in a short time at a profit.

And this one isn't one of them. He's got a big knee, and a back that would scare off all but the stupidest buyer, and is that the life you want for this animal? Being knocked around by that kind of person?

Get him because you want a pet, because your horses need a pasture pal, and be prepared for the possibility that he may have to be put down some day, but please, stop kidding yourself that you are going to turn around and sell this animal to anyone.

"Ok Wels, tell us how you really feel"

LOL.