Apache Back To Health and Ready

[SQUEAKS]

Well, Apache is back to normal :D and he is up to date on all shots and has new coggins and teeth floated as well as his hooves look good now. His weight is back to normal also and he looks good. If anyone is interested in him pm me or send an e-mail. Was thinking on holding an auction on BBS for 30 days or selling tickets in a raffle for him. Anyone got any suggestions? Just trying to find him a good home.

Bob

[Jane Hurl]

Bob, I'd worry about what kind of home he'd get if you raffled him. As the old saying goes, "that's a crap shoot".

[SQUEAKS]

Jane---you are probably correct.

Bob

[Buffy111_99]

I might be out of my mind but have you considered giving him away? Keep in mind that I don't know anything about this horse or it's training or it's personality etc. It would be an idea to maybe find a family that CAN afford to care for a horse but can't afford to put up the money to purchase one. Maybe you could do a search in your area for some
"needy" families and check them out to see who would be a good home.

[Jane Hurl]

The problem with that, Buffy, is that the actual PURCHASE PRICE of a horse is not the big expense. It's the owning. The vaccinations, the wormings, the farrier work, the feed etc ad nauseum. If someone can't afford to buy the horse, it's unlikely they will be able to afford the upkeep.

Nice thought though!

[Buffy111_99]

My thought was that sometimes it is hard for people to come up with a large sum at once. Feed etc is usually split up in a weekly (or whatever) expense. I know that yearly shots etc are in 'bulk price' form but sometimes vets will take payments and it is a known event that people can save up for. There may be some family out there that could give a horse a good home but struggle to save the extra required to buy him. There may not be one too! I am not saying that this is the BEST option - just an option if Bob requires a good home for a nice horse and is having trouble selling him.

Edited because poor Jane thought she upset me but it was more a case of me being smart a$$ed with my reply! Sorry Jane.

[PasoJoy]

I have to agree with Buffy....if I had to spend thousands of dollars a whack for shots, or every time I had to worm, or trim feet or, etc, etc. I would never be able to afford a horse...
as it is right now, I cannot afford to 'buy' a horse....or, to put it another way, I cannot afford to dish out thousands of dollars right now in one-lump-sum, for another horse...BUT....I could afford another horse if someone 'gave' me one....(if I wanted one that is)..
so what Buffy said makes sense to ME in my own situation....

[SQUEAKS]

Buffy while I agree with you on some points giving him away is not an option. I tried to do that with another horse I had and then had to go get the horse and have him put down because he was being starved to death and had multiple medical issues that were not resolvable.

Unfortunately I now feel if they cannot afford to buy a horse they cannot afford maintenance of a horse. I have in the ad that I am running in my paper that a lease purchase is an option with little down payment. If I get a signed contract that will stand up legally in court I can always take the horse back if it is not being cared for.

When I had to go get Apache he had lost about 300 pounds, his hooves were about 6 inches longer than they should be and they had not gotten him his shots or new coggins. He is healthy once more and I do not want to go through that again or do I want Apache abused once more.

Thanks anyway for the suggestion

Bob

[Abejita]

well I could never afford to buy a horse ( at least a Paso) but even if I had to pay board , I could easily pay expenses on one..I agree with Buffy. And just because you CAN afford to buy one doesnt mean you're gonna spend the money on upkeep anyway...some people just want to be able to say they have one..the only way you can be sure the horse is taken care of is to keep it.Now in a lease like Bob is doing he can get the horse back .But I would bet even a signed contract stating you had rights to come get him if he wasnt kept to your standards wouldnt hold up if the horse was 'sold' and paid in full. And no one in their right mind would sign that because everyones standards are different..

[Buffy111_99]

I agree with the others - you can't have any guarantees on any horse you don't keep on your property!

[motorgypsy]

The problem with "giving" or selling at a really low price to people who say they can pay the monthly board, feed and vet bills is that they have no financial cushion. If some medical emergency arises in their family they can't pay for it and the horse's upkeep so the horse is either neglected, given away or goes to the auction.

Owning a horse takes planning. Before we bought our first horse we went all over the area we were in looking at boarding barns. We still board with one of these and to this day she says we were the FIRST and only people she ever dealt with that came looking for a place to board a horse before they actually owned one. Think about that. People actually will buy a horse when they have no place to keep it.

If you really want a horse you will take the money you would pay for board and vet and put it in the bank each month. When you have DOUBLE the amount you plan to spend on the horse purchase you are ready to go horse shopping. If you can then find a bargain - that's great - your financial cushion will be even larger. You also make sure your credit is in great shape because good credit is far better than being rich and many vets will not treat your horse for anything serious without a credit card.

If your credit is bad what do you do??? You take some of that cushion you've saved and buy a "prepaid credit card". This is a credit card that you put say $1000 cash into before you ever use it. You use this card and pay it off each month and little by little you get that line of credit raised. You NEVER buy that new TV with that card or anything else that you can't pay off at the end of the month because that credit card could save your or your horse's life in an emergency. Now you're ready to own and care for that horse.

[pnalley]

I'm the complete oposite of Motorgypsies I guess. It seems like when I am lowest on ready cash, a "good deal" horse lands on my doorstep. My last purchase I wasn't even looking for a horse, but the owner kept calling me and lowering the price then when I said I didn't have any money she agreed to take payments. It took me 8 months to pay for the mare & foal, but what a great horse I got.

I really hope Apache winds up in a forever home. I guess because he's an App I just like him

[Terry Wallace]

Great advice MG's... I do keep a credit card for "horses" and have done so for 8 years....

On the subject of finding good homes for "life".... Sounds great and you can put it on a contract and if somebody will sign it..then maybe you could *guarantee* a good home for life...but the bottom line here is no one can see the future... what may work well for them today may not be so "tomorrow".

Once you sell that horse... you have no control over what happens to it.
Plenty of people buy horses that promise to give them a good home and later find they "lose interest", fall on hard times, thought it would be cheaper than it turned out to be to keep the horse, etc, etc...

About all you can do...is "hope for the best".
If feed prices would have stayed low, and fuel hadn't gone sky high I'd venture to say that more people would have KEPT their horses.
The fact is... I see more and more empty corrals all the time where horses used to be. Last evening, returning from evaluating a gelding, I drove through a small neighborhod where there were three signs on fences that said "Horses for Sale". In my own neighborhood ( a horse community)... there are hardly any horses left. In the past two years I have seen more leave than come in.

At the horse auction this last Saturday...horses were averaging $180 to $210 each... the highest price horse was $1050 for a roping horse that appeared sound & fit. The second highest sold for $950. After that they dropped to $485.00 and went down, down from there... the lowest price that sold was $95.00 for a mini Sicillian Donkey....

I think there are big changes coming for the horse industry...JMO

[Pam M]

I'm weighing in with Abejita on this one. I can easily afford board, upkeep, have a good relationship with vets and farrier and plenty of good credit but I rarely pay much, if anything, for a horse. Not that I can't but I'm not willing to unless I'm looking for something very specific and very well-trained. In my opinion, if a horse needs a good home then I'm doing the seller a favor by giving it one and there are so many good free horses out there that I can pretty much pick and choose. In fact, I just got word on another free Arab this morning - with papers!

And I don't at all believe that just because someone can afford the purchase price means they're better prepared for ownership. I own a boarding barn and see evidence that contradicts that thought all the time. I also see people that can't come up with a purchase price but that will do whatever it takes to make sure their horse is cared for.

Now, that said, I'm currently in the process of purchasing a horse but I've been leasing that horse for nearly 5 years now and am pretty certain that she's one that I want to keep!

[Terry Wallace]

In my opinion, if a horse needs a good home then I'm doing the seller a favor by giving it one and there are so many good free horses out there that I can pretty much pick and choose.

That is so true Pam... I agree whole-heart-idly.....
I have turned down some free ones this year also... I have one more of my own to sell and then I'm done... Too many horses and not enough homes for them...

[lalecl]

I am not trying to agree or disagree with anyone here. I will say I could not afford the initial purchase of a horse as we are on a limited budget but I WILL do what it takes to the best of my love and ability to to make sure that horse has ALL the love an NECESSARY care I can give.

[SQUEAKS]

When we first got into having horses about 12 years ago we set up a bank account for the horses and pets. We started by putting 10 % of our annual income in that account and it has worked out great.

Our average vet bill for 4 cats, 1 dog and 3 horses and a turtle is about $700 per vet visit twice a year and then anything that comes up in between scheduled visits we are prepared for. The farrier services is on a contract at $45.00 per month also for 3 horses.

Since we own our own farm we do not have boarding fees to pay out and our feed and hay costs get paid out of that account.

Also since Grace and I are both retired law enforcement we have the resources to do a background check on a prospective buyer. We now also request references from at least one vet and one farrier the customer has used in the past.

I didn't do any checking on the guy who bought Apache the first time and I will not make that mistake again of taking someone at face value. When you apply for credit everyone makes you fill out an application. So we do that also.

Bob

[Jane Hurl]

I think that is a great way to go, Bob.

And wouldn't it be nice if every horse seller (or dog seller or cat seller or pot bellied pig seller etc) had the resources to do a check the way you do!