Circle H Farm

Rusted, Broke & Busted
Life on a Horse Farm

We are not alone here in Sumner County on the edge of the state line....meaning many of you can feel my pain.  Every month we sit and look at the "balance sheet" on what we had to spend for the horses and wonder "WHAT ARE WE THINKING" then we go trail ride, get a nudge of appreciation or just spend time in the stall with one of these beauties and it is all worth it.  Why we labor and toil like we do to have these 32 legs that take every minute and dollar we have I don't know... but we do.

We get up at 5 to feed the young ones and the elder... who need a little extra these days.  We make sure the water is clean and fresh while the other 5 come over to the door to see "just in case" we might invite them in also.  They know better, its morning feed time and its not their time... but they come to see if maybe there is a treat or anything for saying hey.  By 4:30 pm they are on their way to the front lot knowing its about "that time" and most days they routinely pick their stall and go in... patiently awaiting the mixing we do for each one who has a special supplement we "think" might help them.

We don't cut corners on feed or hay, but we buy generic waffles and syrup for us so they can have the best.  We drive a 99 Dodge but they ride in a 2014 Sundowner... and every precaution is taken with them all.  Yep, like many of you we wonder where the savings went because we ran out of hay and Bermuda is not cheap.  We wonder why we spend on the vet when we doctor ourselves over the counter.  We are true horse people and it shows. We started up this for fun to trail ride and it grew into showing again by buying a couple of young ones and now we are talking breeding mares. We wont get anymore (we said after we were at 4) but there's that horse that just needed a home as he had been tossed to and fro and he is sweet and needs a good place to stay... and now we have 8. 

The last 4 to come I take all the blame for.  It started with "Silver" who was about 5, a big Sabino TWH Gelding that had no papers... hmmmm... but was a little nervy.  I rode him and loved him.  He had that loosey goping backend I liked.  He was flashy and easy to ride.  Did not need him but he needed us.  He ended up getting a leg hung in a gate and 6 months of daily doctoring and $1500 of vet bills and surgery later he is back to himself... but he is down the riding list since we have others. Still love him.  Then came the "babies" we got so we had some "fou8ndation blood" Spotted Horses.  BOth are beautiful Bay/White and both are making a splash in the show ring.  We were done.  Well almost.  We ran across this 14 yr old Spotted Alen bred stallion that was tucked away in a barn and he needed a home.  We took him in.

His feet were way long, he had rain rot all over his feet but he was stunning.  Black and white, 15.2 and never ridden nor bred to a mare.  He was gentle under halter, smart and attentive.  Probably never had a bath as he was terrified of the hose and sprayer... we are working on it... and we will probably geld him but first he can settle in and learn to trust us.  He has a home for life and I think he likes it here.  SO that's it and no more until one has a foal next year. We do plan to breed our "unknown" mare to the father of our Stallion we bought this year.  After that, who knows?  Will we EVER be able to let one go?!?

That is why we are broke and busted?