Don't judge a horse by it's color.

It's everything PETA hates, a trail barn, an auction/consignment stable... heaven forbid, a summer horse camp. This is also the job I love (and love to bitch about) with some of the kindest, craziest people on the planet. We see every side of the equestrian and stock world, from the gritty cowboy, the Amish, Dressage arena-weenies and everything in between. Some of it is heartbreaking, some of it is amazingly wonderful... all of it is exciting and a huge part of the equestrian world.

Every business has it's asshole customers, you can't escape them and they are always right. Yesterday I recieved a horse request submission form. It's a really simple form- you tell us what your looking for in a horse, we do our best to match you with one of ours, or find the horse via one of our dealers. Majority of the time, there truly is a horse for everyone. Yesterday however, I got a toughy. Marjorie of the Back Yard Riders Guild (hereby... BYRG) is looking for a horse. In short, she wants a 2-3yr old chestnut arabian mare. She must be 'show quality', she must neck rein, she must ride english and western, jump in hunter paces and be able to work a cow. Also she must be child friendly, for a 9 year old 'advanced' rider. How many cattle cutting, hunter pace jumping, english western 3 yr old arabs do you know? Never mind how many 9 years old advanced enough to manage one in all of the pbove mention events. The specificity of the request, and the mild outrageousness of the request are nothing to what followes though... Marjorie also wants this horse to be $1,000 or under because 'the economic times are tough, however everything listes is a requirment for the requested horse, my daughter only wants an arab and it must be chestnut or at least brown.'

Every request is dignified with a response, and a search for the horse on our end. I know we don't have anything remotley like that here, and cutting horses are rarely consigned at auction. Our dealers have never brought us anything close to that- so I decided on doing a little research. As it turns out, Arabs can, and do cut. I found a video on youtube of Khemander Kody cutting... acording to the title he's a champion, and regardless he looks pretty cool. I bet he doesnt jump.. and I bet he's more than a thousand too.

I completey grasp the concept of hard economic times- but that isn't a good reason for us to give you a deal, economic times, believe it or not... have had an impact on the equestrian business industry too. What I really don't understand is people choosing a horse based on color- and still expecting it to do everything and be kid safe. Choose one- buy a horse on color and get what you get- or buy a horse on skill and understand that color does not, in anyway impact the temperment or trainability of a horse. You cannot judge a book by it's cover, or a horse by it's color. Common sense, please people.