To Breed Or Not To Breed

To breed or not to breed Ebony... that is the question that is driving me crazy...

I'm reading that horse breeding has dropped significantly over the years and that horse breeders are now only breeding the best mares to the best stallions. Why? Because of the economy.

That being said, what is going to happen to our "horse pool" in the next few years? Will we end up with a shortage of horses (doubtful)

So I am faced with the dilema... do I breed Ebony now or wait for another year? Do I breed her to another Thoroughbred or breed her to a Paint and hope for a colorful flashy foal?

Where I live here in Arizona, Thoroughbreds are used mainly for horse racing. I'm not a big fan of horse racing, so I'm not sure I want to go that route. And there doesn't seem to be a shortage of Paint horses here either.

Hmm... what to do... my husband is afraid that if I have a foal, I will want to keep it and since he's not anxious to feed another horse (we are down to a manageable size of 3 horses) he's not encouraging me one way or the other.

And here it is nearly the middle of March already...time is marching on and I still haven't made a decision about this......

I'm feeling human again

My February bronchitis turned into March pnuemonia... ugh.... not pleasant at all.

But I'm happy to say after significant doses of antibiotics, I am back to feeling human again and actually able to get out of bed!

I am grateful that I have been blessed with such good health. This was my first visit to the doctor in 6 years and for an old 58 year old like me, I'd say that is a good thing.

Abandoned Horses On The Rise In Arizona

I've been hearing about more domestic horses being abandoned here in Arizona. This trend started at least a year ago but is now once again on the rise with most of the blame placed on the bad economy.

The horses are being turned loose to fend for themselves, but since the domestic horses lack of survival skills they often end up being killed by predators, hit by cars or die of starvation.

Abandoned domestic horses have little chance of being adopted by wild bands of horses and often are attacked by them. It's not very often that you find a domestic horse that haas not been torn up or kicked out of the herd.

I just read in the March 10, 2009 edition of the Deming Headlight, the infamous Baxter Black says the solution to this problem is to bring back horse slaughter in this country. He says I am a well-intentioned but irresponsible animal lover....Personally I think he's crazy!

You can read his story here: http://www.demingheadlight.com/deming-opinion/ci_11874917

What's your views on abandoned horses... should they go to slaughter?

Ugh... I've been so sick

The month of February was horrendous for me and my husband. After what started out to be a beautiful month turned into one of us being sick. Bronchitis turned into pneumonia and that has required medical treatment with antibiotics and cough syrup. Ugh... still feel under the weather and it's been 3 weeks now! However my doctor reminded me that this is the first time I've been sick enough to require medical attention ... 6 years ago I had the same crud! So I guess I'm happy about that. Looking forward to warmer days and getting back in the saddle again.

My quarter horse filly Surenuff turned 3 years old on Valentine's Day. Old Zac is doing good and Ebony will be 6 years old in April. I'm thinking about breeding her... what do you think? Thoroughbred or Paint?

Well I need to get busy and make some plans.