For the first time in my life I do not have a personal horse to call my own. That isn’t to say I do not own any horses, but the ones I currently have are all strictly classified as “business horses”. Sure, I ride them, love on them, and greatly enjoy my time with them but I tend to self-impose a strict mental boundary of not “falling in love” or planning long-term future goals with them.
Sigh…. I know…. Funny story.
My recent sale horse “Salamanca”, barn name Tuco (where are my Breaking Bad fans?!?), really put this imposition to the test. He is sweet, well bred, sound barefoot, willing to please, a gorgeous mover and very easy on the eyes. He is certainly one that checks all the boxes for keeper status under different circumstances. I seriously considered making him “mine” the entire time I had him. I'm sure my close friends got reeeeaaaaalllly tired of hearing about him.
hubba hubba....
However, this is exactly the type of horse I want to build a business model around. I only want to bring in and sell the horses I would want to keep for myself. It would be very foolish of me to keep the first horse I had specifically for this purpose. He went to a great home with a repeat client and I’m confident he is going to go on to do wonderful things. When he does, hopefully his new owner passes along where she bought him from and I’ll have another just as nice to show interested parties.
In other news my guy Percy recently found a new home as well. He went to a local rider named Claire. They make a really cool team. He is a horse that needs a tactful ride and from the moment she hopped on him I knew it was a great match. It will be really fun seeing them out competing this spring! Check out her vlog here if you're interested. It is a fun watch!
Claire and Percy. Don't they make a gorgeous pair!
As part of my business model I am sending along a small gift box with each horse sold. Contents may change over time but for now it will include a leather halter, a bag of treats, a Starstruck Eventing 1/4 zip shirt and, for clients 21+, a bottle of TX Whiskey. The cork top on the whiskey is embossed with the Starstruck logo (because how cool is that!). If the client doesn’t drink a non-alcoholic gift is sent instead.
p.s. for any people buying horses from me, if that horse makes it to Rolex Kentucky, errr... I mean Land Rover Kentucky, I expect a toast to be made with this!
So my goal for the year is to focus on growing my business and strengthening my brand. Eventually I do plan on owning a personal horse and (hopefully) taking it up the levels, but for now it just isn't my main priority as much as I would love for it to be. I dooo have a baby coming this spring and we all know how much I love babies.... ahem, where was I? Ah yes, all business everything. I am stronger than my emotions.
To add some flavor to the bleak existence prospect of a year without showing I applied as a trainer to the Retired Racehorse Project Makeover. As some of you probably recently saw on personal Facebook page I was accepted. Makes me kind of regret letting go of Tuco (did I mention how nice he was?) but I do have a backup plan.
Meet Gorum:
Ohhhhh boy. This isn't quite the horse I had in mind when I applied, but man, what a feel good story it would be if she even makes it to the competition. We have a long road ahead of us before I consider putting a saddle on her, but she is sound, sweet, and judging by her war-horse race record (recorded 50 starts and raced until she was 8), she is a hell of a trier. Since I have had her (about a month as of this posting) she has had her feet trimmed, teeth floated, a repro exam done (to make sure she isn't pregnant and the constant dripping down her backside isn't due to an infection), been Powerpac dewormed and had a coggins test pulled. When the vet saw her she rated as a 2/5 on the Henneke body condition scale. She has since put on about 100 pounds and is well on her way to looking less like a starved yak and more like the $60,000+ money earner she really is. I gave her the barn name Ellie (named after Nobel Peace Prize winning writer, teacher and activist Elie Wiesel) and I'm sure she will appear in future blogs. Here are a few more recent pictures of her. Still a loooooonnnng way to go, but we are getting there.
I'm excited to see her blossom. I'm happy I am able to give her a shot at a decent future. Remember last month when I said letting go of Capri opened up some new opportunities for me? This was one of them.