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 I Don't Brag
Posts: 6960
    
| FlyingJT - 2016-02-09 9:54 AM
Depends on how you look at this.. Maybe selling out and focusing on yourself for a little while could be a great reset. Save the money you get from selling, save for a few more years, and then come back and buy a jam up 1D competitive horse that you know can take you far and restart. It takes lots of sacrifices to make it, in anything. It could be a small moment of sacrifice to get you where you ultimately want to be.....
I have been contemplating the same thing. I've got some nice horses; rope horses, ranch horses, prospect, but no finished barrel horse that can go out and win a big race(locally 1D all day). I've thought of selling out, taking that money and buying myself a really nice, proven winner but haven't been able to make myself do it. I'm afraid I'll sell out and then never regroup....
Frankly, selling everything and putting it in one basket would terrify me. I spent a lot of money (for me anyways) on a coming 4 yr old that had potential to the moon and was already running better than ANY of the finished horses that I had tried in her price range and above.
10 years later and untold amounts of money put in to her trying to keep her sound and going I had to take 25 cents on the dollar for what I had paid for her , and only two half summers of competing on her , to show for it. What I got for her did not quite cover expenses for the year of trying to get her sold for something closer to what I paid and NOTHING to go out and get any kind of capable prospect (let alone finished horse) with.
I don't see me spending anything close to that amount of cash on a horse again. This mare had been vetted and had no issues displayed when I got her, or for the year after. Ovaries, possible PSSM and about every kind of injury/illness known to man plagued her when I had her. When she got to the second "broker" try to sell her, we finally got her sound and she stayed sound. I can only hope that she continues to STAY sound and the girl that got a VERY nice horse cheap kicks butt for years on her.
It's a variation of the "don't put all your eggs in one basket " thing for me.
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| rodeoveteran - 2016-02-13 1:11 PM
FlyingJT - 2016-02-09 9:54 AM
Depends on how you look at this.. Maybe selling out and focusing on yourself for a little while could be a great reset. Save the money you get from selling, save for a few more years, and then come back and buy a jam up 1D competitive horse that you know can take you far and restart. It takes lots of sacrifices to make it, in anything. It could be a small moment of sacrifice to get you where you ultimately want to be.....
I have been contemplating the same thing. I've got some nice horses; rope horses, ranch horses, prospect, but no finished barrel horse that can go out and win a big race(locally 1D all day). I've thought of selling out, taking that money and buying myself a really nice, proven winner but haven't been able to make myself do it. I'm afraid I'll sell out and then never regroup....
Frankly, selling everything and putting it in one basket would terrify me. I spent a lot of money (for me anyways ) on a coming 4 yr old that had potential to the moon and was already running better than ANY of the finished horses that I had tried in her price range and above.
10 years later and untold amounts of money put in to her trying to keep her sound and going I had to take 25 cents on the dollar for what I had paid for her , and only two half summers of competing on her , to show for it. What I got for her did not quite cover expenses for the year of trying to get her sold for something closer to what I paid and NOTHING to go out and get any kind of capable prospect (let alone finished horse ) with.
I don't see me spending anything close to that amount of cash on a horse again. This mare had been vetted and had no issues displayed when I got her, or for the year after. Ovaries, possible PSSM and about every kind of injury/illness known to man plagued her when I had her. When she got to the second "broker" try to sell her, we finally got her sound and she stayed sound. I can only hope that she continues to STAY sound and the girl that got a VERY nice horse cheap kicks butt for years on her.
It's a variation of the "don't put all your eggs in one basket " thing for me.
I actually have another very good example of this. Not a barrel horse, but we bought a 3yo western pleasure prospect, who was JAM UP. He was bred to the max, gorgeous to look at, and could move. We had a lot of confidence in him.... then he turned 4, he still was immature and didn't do well at big indoor shows, so we waited for more maturity, his 5yo year came and went, and finally he turned 6 and was still just as stupid and immature as he was when he was 3 and we decided to cut our losses, and traded him for the mare in my profile picture just to get rid of him. A week before we were due to take him a few states away, he got caught in the fence and fileted his back leg. Luckily, the new owners still wanted him, so we did the trade. A year later, he died of colic.
Definitely "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". | |
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 Go For It!
Location: Texas |
I can certainly understand your dilemma. I read several of the responses and there is something that you must consider when reading them... What we do can easily be an addiction and not necessarily a hobby. When you start making bad financial decisions and skipping things with family to go to a barrel race, then maybe it's time to reevaluate your position. No one knows that better than me, ;). I work my behind off to do this and honestly, I wouldn't be happy if I was running way out on my finished horses. So in order for me to be successful, I have to do the work. I'm getting tired... I've been working at this a long time and I have missed plenty of things I shouldn't have missed and spent plenty of money that could have been better spent. I'm getting close to retirement and I can feel it coming. It certainly won't be because I'm a quitter. I just feel that I have nothing else to prove... to myself or to anyone else.
Do what you need to do for yourself, your family, and YOUR situation and don't let other people influence your decision. This is about you, your family, and your finances. Do what is right for you.
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Location: Texas | I know exactly where you are coming from. I was blessed with several top horses and being able to rodeo and win. I quit in 2008 and sold everything. During this time I traveled and took vacations. Built my career and did things horses never allowed me to do. I use to think the rodeo wouldn't start until I got there. I use to think how boring others lives must be that didn't rodeo every weekend. Then I did it. I lived life and realized that there is a life beyond horses. But I have loved horses all my life and love competition and I missed the bright lights of the arena. I missed the crowd cheering and yelling for people they didn't even know. I missed my horse family.
In 2013 I decided I would start over. Bought trucks, trailer, horse and everything else you can imagine. I started back with a 3 year old who is now 6. It's been up and down and hard at times. I guess I thought I could go right back to winning and I could get lucky with the first colt I bought LOL. However I love this mare and I am giving her this year to season and see what we can do. Due to my career she hasn't had a fair chance but has showed me she has the ability. I have even made the comment that I would happy to be in the 2-D but in reality I want to rodeo again. I want to hear the announcer say I just took the lead. I want people to make a point to watch me again because I have a nice horse and can change it all. But at the end of the day isn't that what most want. I have learned to count my blessings and thank God for the opportunity to do what I love.
Follow your heart. I guess my point is if you feel you need a break turn the horses out. Take a year off and go see what else the world offers. If you get the itch or the fever start legging your horse back up. If you don't miss it then you have your answer. From someone who sold everything I say wait before you sell out and quit. If after a year you still feel the same way then maybe it's time to do something else.
Good Luck. I know how you feel. | |
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10D Crack Champion
| mruggles - 2016-02-08 11:12 AM I will stop when im dead....m
Don't know why this made me laugh, but it did. LOL | |
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10D Crack Champion
| Vickie - 2016-02-08 2:27 PM The day you hear something you were planning to go to has been canceled, and you are relieved.
Good point! | |
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 To the Left
Posts: 1865
Location: Florida | I waited 2 years to sell my trailer, then later my saddles and all my tack. It physically hurt. I have rodeoed since 1978 and didn't know what else to do. I kept my horse because he is too cranky to sell and I kept my truck because I have never driven anything else and BTW it is paid for and a diesel so I hope it will be the last vehicle I ever buy in my life.
I threw myself into my work and it has worked, I am doing OK. Just not sure what to do when I retire in a few years but I know I will survive that too. | |
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 How freakish is that?
Posts: 3927
Location: Oregon | Same here Vickie, hurt more to get rid of my trailer and truck than the horses, I waited 2 years before I sold my trailer also. I kept my good horse who was 16 at the time and gave her to my friends for their 8 year old to use for a pee wee rodeo horse. Sold the rest. I still miss my friends but thanks to FB I get to live vicariously through them. My folks were old and I had to make the decision to stay home and take care of them. That was 8 years ago, my mom is the last of them and she is on hospice now and not expected to live much longer but she keeps surprising us! Amazing how my years of keeping horses alive in spite of themselves tranferred over to doing a pretty good job keeping my old people alive. Anyway now I'm facing dispersing of all the stuff I have left after 40 years of raising horses and barrel racing and selling my farm which seems like a formidable task. We bought a motor home, not sure what we will do now but I'm ready to hit the road again and see something of the world other than arenas and rodeo grounds.
Edited by crapshooter 2016-02-14 1:06 PM
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I stopped when it wasn't fun anymore. Same with roping at the amateur rodeos. I was stressed out, needing to win and wasn't drawing well. One weekend I opted to just pay my fees and turnout of a rodeo to avoid the potential heartbreak of missing another calf. I then moved to San Diego, no horses. 3 years later I'm now in AZ and working to get back into the game. I'm fine trail riding for now but I did a time only the other day when I was able to make it to a barrel race last minute and I really really miss it! Especially since my horses so stinking talented! | |
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 Thread Killer
Posts: 7543
| I stopped when the work and investment of time involved with owning horses became too stressful. It wasn't fun anymore; after a while I actually started to get really terrified. Terrified of them getting loose and killing someone, terrified of riding, terrified of anything having to do with them.
It's funny, really. When I was 10 years old, getting my first horse and learning as much as I could, I got a box of hand-me-down tack from an older girl in my 4-H club. She was getting out of horses. I couldn't believe it; how could someone want "out" of horses!? Her response was that they were "boring." What!? I couldn't fathom that. Of course, I could never imagine myself being done with horses. But, here I am, being so done and ready to move on.
My time with horses is something I'll not soon forget. I have so many great memories; some not so good ones too. I'll always keep up with what's happening in the industry because I really enjoy that aspect. However, I've moved on to other interests/passions and have found that there is, in fact, life after horses. | |
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How freakish is that?
Posts: 3927
Location: Oregon | I have to say I never got to the point where I didn't care if I won or not. Too expensive to me to be a hobby, plus I like to win and I like the money. | |
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Industrial Srength Barrel Racer
Posts: 7264
| MS2011 - 2016-02-10 10:56 AM
Frodo - 2016-02-10 10:52 AM When I spent long days at barrel races waiting to run one horse while barrel racers with trailerloads rolled in and got to carefully pick their positions "because" they had a trailerload, it was time to quit. They would usually have their horses bathed, cooled, and be headed home while I was still waiting. The rodeo days were fun. The 4D days not so much.
You might find it far different now. Many of the little weekend jackpots allow the option to pre-enter online (including exhibitions). It's great for those of us that have no desire or time to spend all day at a barrel race. I've always shown up and run at the end...and exhibitioned after the class if I needed to work on something. I can't hang out for 3+ hours to exhibition and run 1-2 head. I LOVE being able to pre-enter online and plan my wknd accordingly. My goal is to spend as little time at the jackpot as possible. LOL
I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this but no jackpots around here do that. | |
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| I never really decided to quit. Life and time has just caught up with me. I had a bad spill, then a move out-of-state for a new job, and then working too much to have time or energy for riding. My horse is now old and arthritic, and I've gotten old and fat. I would like to get another horse and just play around, but my job now involves quite a bit of traveling.
There were times it wasn't as much fun, but you can make that change if you want to. I also never thought I would quite riding, but here I am, have not been on a horse for 2-3 years. LOL Life sure has a way of changing things up. | |
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