Saturday, March 31, 2012

Serendipity

I Carry Your Heart With Me...
(E. E. Cummings)

I Carry Your Heart With Me (I Carry It In My Heart)
I Am Never Without It
(Anywhere I Go You Go, My Dear; And Whatever Is Done
By Only Me Is Your Doing, My Darling)
I Fear No Fate (For You Are My Fate, My Sweet)
I Want No World (For Beautiful You Are My World, My True)
And It's You Are Whatever A Moon Has Always Meant
And Whatever A Sun Will Always Sing Is You
Here Is The Deepest Secret Nobody Knows
(Here Is The Root Of The Root
And The Bud Of The Bud
And The Sky Of The Sky Of A Tree Called Life;
Which Grows Higher Than Soul Can Hope Or Mind Can Hide)
And This Is The Wonder That's Keeping The Stars Apart
I Carry Your Heart
(I Carry It In My Heart)

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Joan Ranquet, Animal Communicator

Welcome Joan! 
Joan is an Animal Communicator and author of Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator (Hay House).  She is the founder of Communication with all Life University. Through private sessions, workshops, teleseminars and speaking events, Joan facilitates a deepening of the human/animal connection. Joan was chosen by MSN as one of the “Top 25 People Who Do What They Love” and has been featured on Dateline, The Today Show, Good Morning America, and Animal Planet to name a few.  Her healing CD, Animal Alchemy Energy Work for Animals and Their Humans, will be out in 2012, along with her newest book, Energy Healing for Animals.  

Where are you located?

I grew up outside the Seattle, Washington, USA, area in an place that was once rural and is now quite suburban!  I look at people’s homes now and remember ripping through what is now their living room at about 35 mph bareback on my horse - Honeyhorse! 

Tell me about your writing and your book releases....

My first book is Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator, published by Hay House.  I should really back up and tell the whole story at this point.  When I was seven years old I wrote plays to perform with the neighbors, the proceeds were to go to buying a horse.  Thankfully that year I won a horse and the world was spared my bad singing.  I always kept a diary, then a journal.  I wrote poems, short stories, and plays in college (I was a theatre major). One of my plays was in my college's Literary Magazine Harbinger; all the other [plays] were produced.  I wrote performance pieces in New York City and Los Angeles.  I won Critics Choice at the Edinburgh Theatre Fringe Festival for a play that I co-wrote, co-performed and co-produced called “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, a Two Woman Show”, with Karen Loftus.  I then wrote screenplays and in 1996, when I had an about-face turn of careers, I became an animal communicator. I started writing about my experiences.  I knew Hay House would publish my first Animal Communication book and I wrote that on a post-it-note in 1998.  They finally found me about six years later and published my first book.  My new book will be out in 2012 called Energy Healing for Animals, Techniques to Enhance the Health, Longevity and Wellness of the Animals We Love, published by Sounds True. 

Where do you like to write?

I love to write in my office which has a view right into the pasture where my horses are.  Across the pasture the ravens have a big nest and are always up to something., and I watch other wildlife float through.

Do you write everyday?

In a perfect world, yes. Sometimes that doesn’t look as romantic as writing great philosophical pieces or poems about the animals.  . . . . sometimes writing is reminding a client to keep the hope up in an e-mail or thanking someone for a profound experience.  I like to write in my journal if I haven’t carved out time to write or rewrite a current piece.  Thankfully when you do write everyday – it isn’t something you have to stop and think about.

How do you maintain ideas and thoughts?

I keep a journal for starters.  A lot of ideas get flushed out in that.  If I’m driving, I’ll write on a bank statement if I have to something like “forgiveness piece, Michael Vick’s dogs….” And then thankfully, I have an excellent memory for the imagery I created in the daydream.  I also have notes in computers for each months newsletter.  So I already have next months and the following months newsletter etched out for my clients and readers.  Where my memory fails me sometimes is what [file name] I’ve saved my brilliant idea under in the computer!!!!!  So I have learned to keep a list of ideas.

What/who is your niche market?

While on the one hand my market is anyone with an animal, I have a couple of niche markets.  One is anyone with an animal – I have something helpful to say about creating connection whether you believe in Animal Communication or not.  After 16 years of being an Animal Communicator, I have 16 years worth of working with behavior and wellness, so I have a lot to offer anyone with an animal.  Anyone with an animal with a challenge is definitely my niche market!!  I have a healing background – so people interested in alternative health. I also have had a lot of high level competitors as clients –horses in the Olympics, dogs at Westminster and of course I love helping the kid in 4-H that wants a better connection with their barrel racing partner.  I love to get the horse and rider or the dog and handler truly connected on the same page and moving forward as one in competition.  And in general – my goal is always household or barnyard harmony!!

Do you have a favorite author?

As an Actress and writer in the theater, I love Chekhov, Gurney, Tennessee Williams, William Inge to name a few.  And of animal books – J. Allen Boone – Kinship with all Life (he was a screenwriter and basically an animal communicator of the 1950’s – 1960’s.  Machelle Small Wright – Behaving as if the God in All Life Matters – I love this because she had so much trauma in her life and really turned it around for a spiritual relationship with animals.  I love books like Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand did an amazing job of recalling the period in history and why the world needed a horse like Seabiscuit.  Healing books – my favorite is still Anatomy of the Spirit by Caroline Myss – I was lucky enough to study with her for a few years about 13 years ago.  My favorite Spiritual book is Living Buddha, Living Christ by Tich Nhat Hanh.  Authors of novels range from the Brontes to Salinger. 

What are your writing goals for future endeavors?

I have 2 or 3 books in general I want to write, and two documentaries I want to write and direct.  I have some self-published healing CD/workbooks coming out immediately and hopefully a DVD!!  I also blog – not regularly enough – partly because I’m currently in a rewrite for the new book.

Do you have suggestions for newbie writers?

Just keep writing, edit later.  Get it down on paper, you can always make it pretty later!!  Try to write everyday – that way it isn’t something that becomes overwhelming so you just don’t do it.  Find a quiet time in the day to connect with yourself and write.  Also, if you are a horse or animal person, have some outings each day – sometimes your best material comes on a dog walk or grooming a horse!!
An excerpt from Communication with all Life, Revelations of an Animal Communicator published by Hay House.  
From the Chapter: Setting the Tone
Thoughts, Memories, and Deep-Seated Belief Systems
   "So many times horse trainers tell you 'This is too much horse for you'. As long as your safety isn’t jeopardized, rather than look for another horse, look for a different trainer. Dog trainers may say, 'Oh, you’re never going to accomplish this'.  Get a different trainer. Get a trainer that supports your belief system: you have a right to love and to dream big.
      Cindy called me because her horse just wasn’t cutting it. She had a barn full of great barrel racers and she had convinced herself that this one horse just didn’t want to do it. He liked barrel racing, he told me, but I got a sense he was truly a late bloomer. Work was fun, but why did he have to do it all of the time?
      He was naturally talented, so if she could just take her mind out of it and make it more fun, this would be a breeze for him. She had a tough time getting her mind out of it as many of the horses followed her mental track. Because she had a knack for finding competitive horses that loved this sport, she had a lot at stake. Yet this one horse was providing her with a sense of failure so strong that she couldn’t get her belief out of the way that this horse could not do it. So she’d get out there with him and he’d fulfill that negative prophecy.
      When we had our session, we talked a lot about her belief system about him and that she had to get her mind out of the way. So the next barrel race, she spent her time in the warmup ring and even in the box saying out loud: 'La, la, la, la, la, la….' Like a little kid, reminding her mind that she couldn’t hear it. They had their best time ever!"
Connect with Joan 
www.joanranquet.com                                                                                                                                          
www.joanranquet.wordpress.com                      

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Ann Stockstill, Equestrian

Welcome, Ann!  

Rancher and horse breeder, Ann is internationally known for her 
Homozygous Paint Horses....

Where is Coyote Creek Ranch?

Coyote Creek Ranch is located in Winona, Texas, USA, which is a small country town in East Texas centrally located between Tyler, Longview, Gladewater and Kilgore.  I am approximately 100 miles from Dallas and Shreveport, Louisiana. I have 165 acres of rolling land with 110 acres of pasture, 5 ponds and a spring fed lake that is 7 acres and stocked with catfish and perch. The remainder is in timber (a mix of Pine trees and hardwood).

Tell me about your life as a rancher and your horses…

I lived in the city all my life and taught middle school and junior high English and Science along with other subject areas for Pine Tree ISD in Longview for 29 years and later for Winona ISD for 7 years.   I had no aspirations to be a rancher but it rather fell in my lap when I married my second husband in 1993.  He owned cattle and liked living in the country so we sold my house in town and moved to the present location.  I bought my first horse, a Palomino gelding, about that time.  I had always wanted horses but never had a place to put them or the opportunity to own one.  My first horse, Skipper, was a sweet natured horse that had been ridden by kids and then put out to pasture.  He was about 13 years old and gentle enough to ride bareback.

About 6 or 8 months later, we went to Idabel, Oklahoma and bought Peps Last Lady (AQHA own daughter of Mr San Peppy) to keep Skipper company and allow both of us to ride around the ranch and check cattle. About the time I bought Lady, I started noticing black/white paint horses and thought they were absolutely beautiful.  There were not many available so I started looking for one to buy and found a man in the Gladewater area that had a black and white stallion for breeding services.  I had never heard of a homozygous horse but found out that it meant they only threw paint offspring regardless of what they were bred to.  I decided to bred Lady to Sparky and the resulting foal was a black and white filly which I named Stormy. Not very original but she was born in February on a freezing night in the rain.  Lady was quite confused to have a black/white baby since all of her previous foals had been sorrel quarter horses.  It was really odd to see a sorrel quarter horse with a beautiful black/white filly.  I still have them both.  Lady is about 20 years old and Stormy is close to 14 years old.

In the next few years I began to look for other black and white paints and go to auctions in Shawnee, Oklahoma and Lufkin.  I bought several black/white paints including Color By Chick which had been bred to a double homozygous stallion, Summers Half Moon, owned by Dana James in Gladewater. The resulting foal was my multiple APHA/PtHA World and Reserve World stallion, Summers Chico Bandito.  Chico was the horse of my dreams.  Not only was he black/white but also homozygous for tobiano and the black gene.  He was splashy colored with one blue eye and one brown. Chico has such a sweet nature and athletic ability that I decided to send him to a trainer when he was two.

Summers Chico Bandito has won World in steer stopping, heading and heeling and top honors and superiors along with thousands of points in heading, heeling, steer stopping, tie down roping and a few pts shy of superior in working cow horse. He has produced numerous offspring that have also won APHA World and PtHA World Championships in cattle events.  His foals have been sold internationally to Brazil, Columbia, Venezuela, Ireland, Sweden, Belguim, Canada and Mexico.  I ship cooled and frozen semen and hope to start exporting frozen semen to Australia in the near future.

Out of the offspring winning World championships, I have Chicos Bandelero being shown in cattle events and standing at stud in Sanger, Texas. I have also owned World and Reserve World champions Chicos True To TexasChicos Delta Flyer Gold Bar, and Chicos Blonde at the BarChico's offspring are also being shown in reining, working cow horse, barrels, trail and other events.

I chose broodmares to bred to Chico that had World Class pedigrees and many have points and winnings of their own.  I look for own daughters of World Champions to get the best chance of getting athletic, good looking horses.  Chico's offspring have been blessed with his good nature and willingness to learn and perform.  Everyone is surprised to find that even with 100 horses at my ranch that they come to you wanting to be petted and groomed and we have no problem catching any of them.  They have been easy to train and even have been able to put as many as 10 stallions together with no problems.

I have also started breeding Chico to quarter horses with great pedigrees, such as, Shining Spark, Grays Starlight, Peppy San Badger, Hollywood Dun It, and Nu Chex to Cash to name a few.  I have a 8 month old filly out of a Chico filly that has World Champions top an bottom including Shining Spark and Nu Chex To Cash and she is already athletic and is has been a joy to start training.  She is bay and white with one blue eye and one brown like her grandsire.

Chico has also been bred to Holsteiners to produce splashy colored dressage horses and hunter jumpers.  They are show stoppers in a ring with solid brown or gray horses.

In your opinion, do paints have a different disposition than other quarter horses?

In my opinion, paints have a better disposition than most of my quarter horses.  Their foals will come to you wanting attention where the quarter horse foals tend to be a more reserved and they take more time to come around wanting to be handled.  I think it is ridiculous for many cowboys and ropers to state that paints aren't as athletic or fast as quarter horses.  You can’t find a single paint horse that doesn’t have quarter horses and or TB on their pedigree.  The major difference is color.  I love to look at a pasture full of loud colored black/white or bay/white horses.  Their color adds so much to a parade or rodeo events than looking at sorrel or bay solid horses.  I think more should be used for mounted police work to help stand out in a crowd and they are great in movies; Hidalgo being one of the great paints in movies.

Where is your favorite place to ride?

My favorite place to ride is along a beach or a wooded trail.  Love to hear the sound of waves splashing against the shore or the quiet of a forest with only the sound of occasional birds chirping and the sounds that your horse makes as you move along the trail.

Where do you show?

My horses are usually shown in shows in Texas (Ft Worth, Lufkin, Waco, Athens, Stephenville, Royse City, Katy, Houston) but we have shown in Monroe, Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi, which also have some good paint shows.  Now that APHA requires paints to qualify for World there may be a bigger interest in showing than since our economy took turn for the worse.   We show at the World Show in Ft. Worth along with the Stockshows in Houston and Ft. Worth.

What are your goals as an equestrian? 

It has been my goal to produce the best black and white horses that I can.  I breed not only for color but performance and disposition. I specialize in black/white double homozygous horses.  Many people do not understand what a homozygous horse is but they are horses that have been tested genetically and shown to only throw the paint gene so their offspring are paints.  Horses that are not homozygous have about a 50% chance of throwing color and 50% chance of throwing a solid colored foal.  Horses that are homozygous for the black gene can throw black, bay, grulla, and buckskin but do not have the sorrel or chestnut gene.

My international clients are mainly interested in black/white homozygous and preferably double homozygous horses.  They look at performance ability and the ability to throw color.

I really wish that our government was interested in helping ranchers with our drought situation.  Many horses are being starved, abandoned and sold for slaughter due to the expense of feeding and caring for them.  Horses have been a part of our heritage and culture for hundreds of years.  They are powerful, majestic creatures and need to be protected and given the dignity they deserve.  Lady ranchers could also use some help and respect these days to make ranching a profitable business to be in. 

Update July 5, 2013
Ann's Book Releases....

Painted Dreams

"This wonderful collection of 45 poems provides true insight into the reflections, dreams, feelings and vivid imagination of a remarkable talent."    
http://www.blurb.com/b/3975403-painted-dreams?pid=new

Out of the Dark into the Light
This book is dedicated to all the people who have touched my life. Some people simply passed through my life like an ocean tide washing against the shore and then out to sea again. Others stayed through the passing of time until they had other places to be. There were those people that brought happiness and light and others bringing darkness and sorrow. Together they brought experiences along with my own life's journey that inspired the poetry I have written. The poems in this book express both the evil thoughts of man and the light of salvation through trusting our Lord; my simple reflections on the world.


Follow Ann


Friday, March 23, 2012

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Call me Ishmael

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation.

Opening line of Moby Dick, Herman Melville, 1851

Serendipity

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Heaven

Discovering in the darkness
the fate of newborn stars,
gathering dewy cobwebs
from the midnight hour

To solemnly lay down at night
our head upon the sheets,
to grasp an understanding
of deep love, folded and neat

Of loves immortal solitude
amongst sultry hearts,
of nights and days and how
they spin; the heavens near and far

Of violets, lace and silky things
that gather and then mate,
of iodized thoughts and letters lost
that lead to heaven’s gate

@gmcknight'11


Monday, March 12, 2012

The Road to Awe

the Mayan believed that
the dead live on;
plant a seed over the grave,
the seed becomes a tree,
the dead become
part of the tree; 
grows into the wood,
into the bloom,
into the fruit,
and when a sparrow
eat's the fruit, 
they fly with the birds..

The Fountain


Saturday, March 10, 2012

Your Poem

I'd fight dragons
sidesaddle
pricking each scale
after a manicure
glove-less
in Sunday dress
all neatly pressed
wielding no reins
forfeiting my massage
forgoing all others
skipping tea...
fire won’t stop me
fear non-exists
coiffure in a mess
defying hazards right, no left
relieve me, my quest
defeating the beast
….only for you

@gmcknight'12


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Jack SpyWriter King

Welcome Jack! 

Tell me about your beginnings....
I was a rebellious kid, and left my parents' home early, to travel, working along the way, and enrolling in a university (mostly for the free dormitory lodging that it offered). One of the jobs I picked up was a government gig that turned into nearly everything a young man ever wants to be. It allowed me to witness the behind-the-scenes of political maneuvering, to see the human beings behind the public personas of some of the highest officials. That experience inspired my writing.

Where are you in the world?
I spend most of my time in the pristine Kawarthas [Ontario, Canada], a remote region where writing meets no distractions.

A former top-secret government courier (wow!); is it the inspiration for your novels?
Is it not true for most creators that we draw from personal experiences? From what we know? From what we are? If I were the world's greatest lover (not that I lack in that respect), I'd write tales of seduction.

Writing fiction is a way to camouflage ourselves. Some people choose writing to express all those feelings or experiences, which, for whatever reasons, they are forced to conceal, whereas others pour out for the sheer exhibitionist's thrill.

Whatever the case may be we write what moves us, whether these be unfulfilled dreams, or overwhelming experiences that must be unloaded to keep us sane.

Your novels are spy-thrillers. Tell me about your writing...
Writing thrillers is not an easy task. As any genre, it has its devoted readers who have certain expectations. Meeting those expectations, while maintaining some level of originality, which distinguishes one writer from another, is perhaps the biggest challenge.

Writing spy fiction provides additional challenges, in that much of what true espionage is about is... not very exciting. It's more of an analytical work than James Bond would have it. For this reason most espionage novels are pure fiction, with little connection to the real world of spies. Spying generally involves the retrieval of information that is hidden, or otherwise not available. The shootings, stabbing in the back, or poisoning, etc, while it certainly happens to spies, is mostly the work of a whole other department, and has little to do with actual espionage.

So, there you go, for the benefit of the reader, and to find a publisher, a writer of espionage fiction must maintain the illusion and perpetuate fiction. That brings me to the crucial question: Why do I write at all? And the answer is: The run-of-the-mill espionage novels are not satisfying to me as a reader. I write what I seek as a reader, but cannot find. The reality of the world of espionage is what I miss in spy novels, and thus I strive to fill that void.

How do you maintain thoughts and ideas?
I write nothing down. I do not make notes. You will find nothing in my house that would indicate where my ideas come from. Drawing from personal experiences I am a firm believer in the old maxim, well expressed by Maxim Gorky, that that which we cannot remember is simply not worth remembering, little else writing down.

Where do the ideas come from? Again, this goes back to our experiences, to that which moves us, and which we need to come to terms with, to why do writers write at all? Beyond the simple need to satisfy our ego, many of us write not because we know the answer to what moves us, but because we seek the answer to the unanswerable, or where the answer is suppressed. Espionage is all about the illusion. Everything we think we know about it is either wrong, or planted by the services involved in it. I write with the aim to straighten that, which is purposely obscured. It is my guiding thought.

Where do you like to write?
Being surrounded by tranquil wilderness and the simplicity of living in a wooden hut is the best way to put aside all that which presses on us in everyday life, from work, to regular household chores, to the unavoidable hustle and bustle of a neighborhood, whether a large urban area, or a hamlet, where a simple grocery shopping distracts and affects the creative process in, well, a negative way.

Do you write everyday?
Writing is not a matter of choice; it's not something you switch on, and off. I feel guilty when I don't write. Days seem wasted when, for whatever reason, I am unable to sit down at the keyboard. If I were writing a diary I'd have to put down "Nothing" under a day when I wrote nothing. It would be a day wasted. However, it is important to note that not all writing involves putting together letters, and words, and sentences. As I mentioned - I write no notes, but I do plot, and plan in my head. So, even when I'm seemingly doing nothing, as it may appear to an outsider who sees me on a park bench, I may in fact be deeply involved in the process of creation.

What are you currently working on?
I'm in the final stages of two novels. Both require the last re-writes. They are a part of a trilogy of change, books challenging the established world and social order. As in all my books, these too are inspired by actual events. One draws on a true story of a plot orchestrated by wealthy industrialists to oust a US president who chose to stand by his citizens during economically devastating times, and the other one deals with a certain religious Order that goes beyond a prayer, as an ineffective way to rid the world of evil, and picks up arms instead.

Who is your favorite author?
I would sooner mention numerous favorite authors, than a single one. The list of authors would be quite long, but their writing boils down to something that is seldom practiced these days (and is not necessarily the writers' fault) - a message.

I like to read to learn about how others see us - about world affairs, about the human condition - all seen from varied perspectives. For this reason I prefer to turn to writers from outside of the English language sphere. In fact some of these writers were responsible for my desire to learn foreign languages, to read what was (and often still is) not available in the English language. Writers with a social conscience are particularly dear to me.

Do you have suggestions for novice writers?
In these times when anyone can publish a book, and in essence become an author, it is ever more important to stay clear from conformity with "established" trends. These produce a plethora of forgettable books. The current fluidity in the publishing industry allows one, at last, to write and to publish what one wants, what one feels passionate about, without relying on what the publishers want. It's important to remember that it isn't the publishers who set the trends - they only cash in on them. You, the writer, are in the driver's seat.

Follow Jack

Monday, March 5, 2012

Michael Forester, Equestrian



Chief Executive Officer of 
Equi-Earth, a division of New World Equine, an aspiring company pursuing excellence in equine care as well as state-of-the-art global equine acquisitions.  Currently surrounded by Arabian horses, Michael is an all-around equestrian.  He is also involved in networking kids with horses, an honorable vocation….

Where do you live?

I am originally from Western Wisconsin, USA, just across the State border from Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota. My official current residence is Las Vegas Nevada. I am currently looking for farms in both California and Kentucky.

When did you meet your first horse?

Before I could walk. I was introduced to horses through a local friend / local who had horses and showed them in parade with his authentic stagecoach, which is currently in a museum.

How long have you been an equestrian?

I have had and worked with horses since I was 9 years old.  I currently represent top quality Arabian horses all over the world. I am putting together a new way to market Arabian horses that will be a game changer, reduce the cost of both selling as well as searching for purchases of Arabian horses (other breeds to eventually follow), the best part is that it would add, not subtract from, what others are already doing ... I am also putting together a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) to purchase LARGE equine related proprieties. I am talking about more than just a farm, taking advantage of the opportunities in the market with respect to value of acquisition which could pay for the acquisition in double quick time.

Who is your favorite horse trainer/method?

I have many that I like Bob Battaglia, a true horse-person's horseman; Shelia Varian, even though she does not show any more I love the way she never forgets that you need to make room for a horse to be a horse and that includes all of the champions she has bred throughout the decades; Michael Byatt, for the horseman he has become as well as an ambassador around the world that he is for the breed; Jay Allen, for the thoroughness in the job that he does in preparing a horse along with what he has done as the president of the Arabian Horse Association of Arizona. I think Jeff & Jerry Schall do a good job, as well as Sandro Pinha.  Jenna Ball is someone people should consider as she is an up-in-comer in the industry (and I can certainly vouch for her family’s character personally)... so many more...

What is your favorite horse breed? Why?

The Arabian horse, for it's beauty, purity of blood, it's soulfulness that you can see in the eyes. They raise your spirits, inspire your creativity, and they help people raise their children, making them responsible for an animal they respect and helps them to create a positive identity for themselves in the show ring.

Do you spend long hours in the horse barn?

Yes, I am helping a friend take care of 35 Straight Egyptian (Al Khamsa) Arabians, plus one Polish bred Arabian. They were severely neglected for ten months.  They are all healthy now with some of them selling half way around the world.

Do you have a favorite horse quotation?  

“For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the king was lost; for the lack of a king the battle was lost; for the battle being lost the kingdom was lost and all for the want of a nail.”

What are your future goals as an equestrian and horse-lover?
  • The REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)
  • ™The Charity (working with kids and horses).
  • Get involved with the Arabian Horseman's Distressed Fund (horse people need to stick together) http://www.horsemensdistressfund.com/
  • ™Connect buyers and sellers in a way never thought of before.
  • ™Buy, sell, breed and show some of the finest horses in the world.
What advice do you have for those who would like to own a horse?
  • Buy or breed for what you like not what is the flavor of the month. Quality is always in fashion and fads are 15 minutes away from being 5 minutes ago.
  • Buy the best mare/mares you can find; the foal is at least 60% of the mare, and invest in old bloodlines.
  • Remember that no matter how much you pay for the horse, the purchase will be the cheapest part of ownership, so the purchase price should not be the primary limiting factor.
  • Have a plan for each horse (show horse, sale horse, broodmare, etc.)
  • Set a limit to how many horses you can handle - in expenses, time and attention. Don't buy more until you have sold one or more. Stay under your limit; if more people did this the market would be much healthier for all breeds.
  • If it were to ever come down to feeding the horse or yourself, the horse eats first, or you should not own.
  • Make time for your horse to be a horse, and not just work to a stall and back again (necessary if you want to maintain the horse’s mental health).
  • ™Most of all, own them because you like what we have in the breed, not because you think you can make a profit, or as a tax shelter.

Connect with Michael:

Milliron Monday: Letters Home Oct 10 1960

          Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.:   June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 Virginia Joyann "Jody" Haley Smith: April 2, 1...