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Thanks for spending the time with Us last Thursday. We have a few follow-up questions:
Thank you for coming over enjoyed the visit. It has always amazed me how many people don't bother to check out the a farm before sending their horses.
We noticed that you have limited stall space considering the number of horses on your property. In the event of severe weather such as an ice storm, how do you plan to protect the horses?
We have 24 stalls at the moment. And will have 26 by the time winter hits. We will be remodeling the lower barn were the yearlings were. There is room for several more 12x12 stalls when the space is better utilized. Though we have more horses then stalls at the moment that will change. 4 yearlings are being sold, hopefully and so are some others. Several others are here on R& R and will be leaving in the next month or two. In short every horse on the farm will have a stall when needed.
Our two mares are scheduled to foal in January. Will the mares and foals have stall space for the month following parturition?
As I stated above every horse on the farm will have a stall when needed. We do not believe in keeping mares and foal confined any more then necessary. They do not like it, is not good for the foals, they can be more prone sickness no matter how clean one keeps the barn. After birth we keep them in for one day unless there were problems with birth or the weather is bad. We put foal halters on them lead them out to small porta-paddocks outside the foaling stalls for a couple of days and then introduced to the heard. We use porta-paddocks so they can be moved around every mare and foal has decent winter grass and does not grazing on another mares manure. This arrangement has served us well.
Your foaling stalls appear annexed to the main barn. Do you ever foal in the better protected main barn?
One has to be careful not to humanize the process. They are horses after all and what pleases them is completely different then what pleases humans. The stalls are very well protected come winter, i.e., windows put back in, heat lamps installed, foaling cams etc. The face towards the south-east so they get the morning sun and warm quickly, they are quite and away from other horses that maybe in the main barn and separated from any commotion and or work activities going on in the main barn. The other 3 outside stalls that face in the same direction towards our house are being enlarged and made into foaling stalls for the same reason. Less is more when it comes to foaling. The biggest mistake that people make when it comes to foaling mares is being way too interactive. A lot of complications arise from peoples good intentions. We are very good at knowing when a mare is getting ready to foal. We watch the mares on TV from the our tack room, after they break water and it appears that the foals legs are starting to exit, I check to make sure the foal is being presented correctly and then leave and monitor the event on TV until the mare has the foal, rests and gets up. The standard checks are done quickly and leave them be again. We continue to monitor them until well after the foal nurses. With in 8 hours or so our Vet comes and does the standard foal check. 8 hours being the norm which is the length of time it takes so that the Vet can check colostrum level, if low there is still a window of opportunity to bottle feed more. Heat, lungs, eyes, etc are checked and standard shots are given. All mares and foals have blankets when needed.
In the winter when the work load is most intense, what additional staff, if any, do you have?
Our work load is much greater in the spring and summer actually. We staff according to needs. We have one full time person and one part time. All foal monitoring and foaling are done by myself and my wife. We are very hands on and would not have it any other way. Bear in mind that unlike Kentucky farms our horse population goes up and down because of the PA program. People only want to keep their mares here until they qualify so it is not financially possible to hire top full time help to ease some of the load. Yes we have a fair amount of horse on the property but none of our paddocks are over grazed. We have plenty of property that can be utilized and we could take in far more boarders if we built another barn. But until such time that we get a commitment from clients to board year round it is not financially feasible. For that matter it does not make fiscal since to only charge $25 per day for seasonal boarders. Hopefully in the near future we will have 20 year round boarders and we will close our doors and be able to hire a couple of full time employees to take some of the work load off of us.
With approximately how many foalings have you had hands-on experience?
At this farm off the top of my head around 30+, knock on wood, with only a few minor complications that did not require a Vet. Because we know what we are doing. I was born into a horse family and have been doing this all of my life, as was my family before me and theirs before them and theirs before them. One of my sisters in Maryland has managed a private high end breeding farm for years. There are people that would be on pare with my horsemanship but one would be hard pressed to find a better horsemen. It comes naturally.
Sorry for all the questions, but we are small-scale breeders who plan to board and foal our two best mares in Pennsylvania. Thanks.
No apologies necessary they are fair questions and the same questions I would ask. Our facility maybe a little rough around the edges but it is safe and horse friendly with excellent grass, trust me and is always being upgraded when money is available. We have 12 mares of our own with partners, in foal to the likes of Johannesburg down to Domestic Dispute. We make our living, or rather try and make our living raising horses and nothing is over looked. I am not a doctor, lawyer and certainly not a saint and horse are not my hobby. It is what I do and I am very good at it. If our horses could speak and I think they do by the way the look and act they would tell you they are very happy here. I can tell you that this area is a much better place to raise horses then Kentucky, better weather, better grass and all around better horsemen. Nothing against Kentucky I lived there for almost 20 years so I know. The only reason I send a horse to Kentucky is because that is were the seamen is and I can't wait to get them back. We treat all of the horses here like they are our own. If you have any other questions please feel free to call or write. Many thanks for your consideration.
Question; We noticed that you consign horses we're concerned if you and Laura attend the Fasig December, Keeneland January, and Fasig February, who will be tending your farm during the foaling season? Our mares are due to foal in January.
Answer; First of all I did not mean to imply that we will be taking horses to all of these sales. That if we had sufficient enough entries to justify the time and expense of selling horses in Kentucky over the winter and the market warranted the exercise yes I would consign some. BUT that does not mean the farm and the mares would be left to amateurs. We have 2 mares of our own foaling in January also. One in foal to Johannesburg and the other Latent Heat, very nice mares. Right now we have one mare we are thinking of sending to the Keeneland January sale and unless we are asked to consign several more with values of $50-100,000 that mare will sell with Denali. In the event that I had to go my sister who managed a very high end private farm for 15 years and foaled at least 30+ mares a year and who's expertise is on par with any broodmare manager in the world would fill in for me the few days that I would be away. For which she is well paid. Laura does not go to any of the out of town sales with me. We plan on selling some mares, or should I say hope to sell, at the December Maryland sale. This is a one day sale the horses ship in 2 days before they go through the ring. I do not stay in Maryland it is only 1 1/2 hours away. I go down and back. We pay a night watchman to keep an eye on them. Peter, as I have said before this is not a hobby farm this is how we make our living. I would like to believe that we are totally professional. That every horse and I mean every horse, be it a $100 horse or a $100,000 horse gets our undivided attention. If something goes wrong it will not be from lack of experience or attention to detail. One has to understand that nature plays a roll also. I have checked out the local competition so to speak and if you think that they can do a better job then we can with the high number of horses they board and the availability of competent help you are being BS'd. It can't be done, the number don't work. Say a farm takes in 20-30+ seasonal mares that are there for 5-6 months. How can they afford to keep the necessary competent help on the payroll for the other 6-7 months? We have the property to be able to board 40 to 50 mares by building another barn. But it was never our intention to be a Kentucky style commercial farm. Our business plan is to top out at 20 mares owned by quality people who appreciate attention to detail and a high level of hands on professionalism. We also Vet potential clients and have turned down quite of few requests for boarding even though we are not really in a financial position to do so. If I did not think you were the type of owners we would like to work for after meeting you I would have found a polite way sending you to another farm.
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