This message is from: "Arthur Rivoire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hello from Carol Rivoire at Beaver Dam Farm in Nova Scotia -
I was SO HAPPY to read Janne's comments regarding buying a weanling or yearling, and I suspect most other breeders are as well. -- Janne said it, and she is absolutely correct. . . . . . > From: "Janne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> . WE all know that a well trained horse is totally > worth its' value, just like Carol said, BUT they are becoming few and far > between to find, and I am hoping people will start to have the will and > patience it takes to raise a foal from the get go. The rewards are > wonderful!! Some people cannot do this, but most can but are not willing to > try. Those of you who have said you cannot afford the finished off fjord, you > may have to look into a weanling or yearling that comes from a good reputation > breeder. It may be totally worth it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Believe me, buying a baby (weanling or yearling) and making him your "own" IS totally worth it! -- Everybody wants the made horse, but that made horse has been made by someone else, and may not be the ideal horse for the buyer! That's a very real possibility, and absolutely natural. Horse are not machines. -- If an owner has spent six years raising and training a horse, that horse has a lot invested in his owner/trainer. It can very well be that he will not be as willing to "put out" for a new owner. On the other hand, a high quality, well-bred baby coming from a good breeder who has given the baby the best possible care prenatally and before weaning is an excellent investment. People have the idea they want a horse to use NOW! They somehow think that by buying a weanling, they'll have 2 1/2 years just waiting before they can begin to use this horse. -- Nothing could be further from the truth. -- The owner of a weanling has at least 2 1/2 years to work with this horse. To become familiar with him, and he with you. To train him the way you want him trained, and for what you want him to do. -- It's not wasted time! It's invaluable time, and I would think that a lot of purchasers of mature horses just wished they'd had that horse as a baby and been able to influence him in the right way. Lots of our customers have bought Gjest weanlings and yearlings, and all of them have been successful with these horses. We have good quality, sane mares of quality bloodlines. -- Gjest produces good workers with wonderful work ethics. We take the best possible care of our mares making sure the resulting foal is born in optimum health. After birth, we handle and train the babies with regularity. When they're ready to go, they're healthy, conditioned, happy, vaccinated, wormed, trimmed, and trained to lead, tie, clip, load, pick up feet. -- Very frankly, people should be delighted to be able to get such high qulaity, well-started youngsters. Young horses without any problems whatsoever. They're a clean slate ready to be whatever their new owner wants them to be. -- In my opinion, a buyer will end up with an excellent horse by buying a well-bred weanling or yearling from a breeder who has done all the right things with that baby. -- If that youngster is, indeed, well-bred, then even an amateur owner should have no problem raising and training him. There are many books that teach you exactly how to do this step by step. And, of course, many wonderful videos. I stress "well-bred", and this is where the buyer has to be very vigilant. Because, if this youngster doesn't come from good stock, or is, for instance, too closely bred, the buyer could be in for problems that are not fixable! -- If the horse comes from a quality stallion with known off-spring and the same for the mare, then the odds are excellent for the trainability of the baby. Merry Christmas, Carol Rivoire
