The first week with our two new horses (Buckweiser and "Duey") is over and we've loved every minute of it! What fabulous horses. I feel fortunate to have them. "Buck" is practically flawless. I bought him from Martha Hickham without ever seeing him. With a lot of farms, that is a HUGE risk. You have an image in your head of the horse you saw in the professional pictures, but that's rarely what steps out of the horse trailer. In this case, however, Buck and Duey are both the exact horses I saw in the pictures. I'll put in a plug right now for ERL--absolutely fabulous people with incredible horses. Two thumbs way up!

Buck is so dainty and refined--he's going to produce awesome foals. In addition to that, though, he's incredibly sweet. That, for me, is a must with any horse I purchase. Because I'm in a wheelchair, I'm only a little taller than my horses. It can put you in a rather vulnerable position. That's why I have selected horses that not only typify the ideal physical qualities sought after in the modern mini, but also have the personality to match. All of my horses are as sweet as can be, including Buck our future herd sire. No stud chain is necessary! He comes right up to the fence whenever anyone comes to visit!

Duey is also extremely sweet. We've had a little harder time with her though. She immediately bonded with two of my other mares I put her in with, which was great. She didn't seem all that interested in us though. Finally last night we had a break through! She seems to like me much more than the rest of my finally. Most horses do, I think, because I'm their size and less threatening in that way. She stood with me without being on a lead rope and just let me pet her for about 20 minutes. I actually was the one to leave first because it had gotten too dark outside. She was fascinated by my wheelchair and sniffed at it for quite some time. They never know quite what to think at first--Am I a horse? Am I a machine? Am I a human? Who knows!

All in all, the first week was fantastic. We have been so lucky to work with such great people and find such beautiful horses. I'm leaving tomorrow for Virginia and will be gone for quite a while. The rest of my family will be taking care of the horses while I'm gone... but I don't know how I'm going to survive without them! Nothing soothes the soul like a loving nuzzle from a sweet horse. I hope you and all your horses are well!

I've just updated the website to include new pictures that were taken of some of my horses. Thanks to my good friend Jolin Mahoney of Evoke Emotion who took the pictures, the website looks even better than ever. If you have a minute, I recommend checking out her website at www.evokeemotion.net.

For those of you that are interested in either taking your own pictures or in hiring someone to take them for you, I recommend checking out this article: http://www.theminiaturehorse.com/article/marketingmini.htm. It has some really good information about lighting, props, etc.

It's interesting how you can learn or discover something new about miniature horses every day. I've been checking out the sale boards recently, just seeing what people post, and I've noticed something that I thought might be helpful to think about. For the new miniature horse buyer, it can be very easy to get confused when you go on a sale board. For example, compare the two ads:

Ad 1-- Great, easy stallion with Buckeroo and Rowdy bloodlines. Champions on both sides of his bloodlines. $750 OBO.
Ad 2-- Great stallion. Sired by Buck Echo and NFC Rowdy daughter. Champions on both sides of his bloodlines. $6,000.

Can you see the difference? In the first ad, you might think, "hey, Buckeroo and Rowdy are both great bloodlines AND as a bonus the horse is cheap! Why is the second horse so much more expensive?" People are not giving away fabulous horses out of the goodness of their hearts--horses are cheap for a reason. Yes, their great-great-great grandfather might have been Buckeroo, but that fact likely won't effect the quality of your horse. Even if Buckeroo is his grandsire, remember even great horses can have a dud once in a while.

At the same time, quality doesn't necessarily have to cost you the big bucks. I've been looking at stallions lately and have seen $25,000 horses that I would NEVER breed to my mares. Sure they have a great name on their pedigree, but that doesn't mean they're going to be the best horse in the world. I've also found awesome stallions with great confirmation, national show wins, and with good solid bloodlines for under $10,000.

Keep these things in mind when you're looking around. A pet quality miniature (one with a big overbite or under-bite or a mare that is barron) runs about $500. Compare that price with what you see on the sale boards and it'll make you think twice about the supposed cheap show horse for a good deal. If all you want is to breed pets, that's absolutely fine! But unfortunately, quality and good immediate pedigrees cost a bit more.