Oh Cowboy,
you got it. My biggest joy came from taking a horse that no one wanted, teach
it to travel in frame, watch it finish Tevis in 22nd place, and eventually
sell it to Seichi Hasume who cherishes him on his ranch near Tokyo. Casey even
has a fan club of young girls there. He put Mr. Hasume on the map in Japan and
is in magazines and a book about Tevis. When I met that horse, the owner had
not ridden the horse in 2 yrs because he did not know what to do about the way
he traveled. He had him in a horrific bit that he had learned all kinds of
avoidance techniques to become reasonably comfortable. He was the most nervous,
spooky horse I had ever seen in a mature horse. The first day I rode the horse, I said to his owner, “If you
ever want to do something about the way this horse travels, let me know”. The
guy basically turned the horse over to me, and he developed into a fabulous
horse! Now, that is joy! He was 12 when I met him, 13
when he did Tevis, and has finished top ten since then numerous times. The
owner had tried to sell him several times, with no luck. I shudder to think
what would have happened to him if I had not had the good fortune of meeting
that horse. There is no way the
guy would have paid for what I did out of pure love for horses and their
possibilities.
I am now
about ½ way through re-habbing a mare that was headed to auction. She had been
screwed up by a cowboy with big spurs and an even bigger ego. He was so proud
of himself that he could ride this “spirited arab”. He had her all bunched up
and wild-eyed. She is now a relaxed, happy horse. The big difference is she is
MINE, and a wonderful mare. She is the first mare I have ever owned. She is the
sweetest, most affectionate mare I have ever seen. She did not come to me that
way. Somehow she KNOWS.
Ranelle Rubin
-----Original
Message----- From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On
Behalf Of Ed Kilpatrick Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2005
5:06 AM To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [RC] selling horses
one thing for
sure, dont even consider getting back what you put into a horse when it comes
to money. if you are interested in making a lot of money, there are many
other ways that are much more productive in that regard. i might
sell a horse that i raised for $1500 and recoup part of my investment, but i
got to use and enjoy that horse for awhile, and didnt have to buy one to use
and enjoy. something that many of you might not have considered
though, is that you get something intangible out of working with a young
horse, getting it ready to ride, then selling it and watching someone else ride
it, enjoy it, and maybe even make the highlight film a time or two. put a
price on that. cowboy ed
