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Friday, July 27, 2012

It's been a HOT summer! Time to cool down with our 10% off sale!

Now there have probably been hotter summers over the years than the one we've had so far but the recent Heat Index of 113* makes us long for cooler weather! Hmmm, that gets me thinking...cool, chilly, cold, freezing, frozen... THAT's PERFECT!

We'll have a BEAT THE HEAT Frozen Semen Sale!

So here are the terms and available stallions:

Adamant
Waldaire
Again and Again
Showtime WF
Avebury WF
Wizard WF
Dressage Royal

- Sale begins Friday at noon 7/27/12 and payment must be received no later than noon on Friday 8/10/12 Eastern.
-10% discount applies to single dose purchases
- LFG contracts can be purchased for all of the above stallions for 10% off
- Our Super Saver, Early Bird and Deep Frozen Discounts do NOT apply in addition to this sale.
- Performance & Premium Mare, Return Customers, Multiple Mare and Elite Mare Discounts can be applied. Contact us for details.
- Paypal payments will incur a 3% fee. 
- All semen will be stored at SBS at purchaser's cost from the time payment clears. It can be transferred elsewhere at the buyer's expense and risk.
- No refunds.

For more information, offspring photos and pricing, please see the STALLIONS page of our website! So take a break from the heat! Shop our selection of Frozen Stallions and secure their genetics for your breeding program of the future!!! Buy now and SAVE $$$$!! 

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Photos! Hay cutting! Farm News!

Things are ticking along on this sultry July morning and here are a few of the updates...

Breeder Mary Barrett (Twin Lights Farm) sent us some lovely photographs of her Wizard WF filly at the June Windswept Farm Breed Show. Wicked TLF was Foal Champion!!!! Congratulations Mary and everyone at Twin Lights Farm!!!! She's a beauty!




Anne was busy yesterday cutting hay! Enjoy a few iPhone snapshots and then the short video -





We will be having an End of Season Sale on some of our Frozen Semen inventory. Keep an eye out for the big announcement as there will be a great opportunity to have access to our breeding program's finest in the future!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Schooling photos!

A busy day is waiting on me, so there are not going to be many details added beyond horse's names. All of them are for sale. Please contact Anne@watermark-farm.net for more information.
Wallace WF

Don William WF

As You Wish WF

Wylie WF

Wilona WF

Friday, July 20, 2012

Happy Waldaire Youngster Check In






Wanted to pass a picture along of Warrick. He's been great and couldn't ask for a better partner. We've been continuing to show him in both the hunters and jumpers. He thinks the jumpers are way too fun even though he is the slowest one out there! He is a true hunter at heart, but the jumpers has provided him great experience in getting him more broke. He's just starting to show in the 3ft divisions locally and schooling 3"3'-3"6' at home. He's smart, sometimes too smart and super athletic with great scope. He thoroughly enjoys jumping for sure. The picture below is him in the jumpers at Hunterdon County Horse Show, being ridden by Duncraven's Assistant Trainer, Troy Smith while I was unable to be ridding.
Thank you, yet again for my very special partner. Please give Wally a great big hug and kiss from me!!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

There is something about the best laid plans...

Around 3AM a few nights ago it occurred to me that I have not had video footage of the sales horses (Wendy, Lacey, Wilona, Wylie, Kitty, etc.) with me on them! Now there is plenty of video on the Farm Channel, but mostly with Junior riders or a professional.  Lots of those kinds of videos!

Hmmm. "Would people prefer video of me riding, rather than shooting?" I wonder. So, I've made arrangements to have a few friends rotate through and operate the handycam. Mom will shoot stills like usual but we are expected to have a nice cooling trend over the weekend! That means full on dressage tack and a real, bonafide DQ in the saddle! Now I'm not sure if this new endeavor will help to sell the horses but if they will put up with my injured self, it proves how tolerant they really are.

So check back over the weekend and early next week for the new videos!




So check back! Keep an eye on the You Tube Channel! Or Facebook!

Happy riding!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

It's all in the numbers...

This is going to be another 'think and do the homework' type of post. I won't apologize to anyone for actually laying the financial information out because it is a constant comment that I've heard a few times too often in the past year - "Your horses are priced too high." That in itself is not exactly true but not the point of this blog...





A few weeks ago this image popped up on my news feed on Facebook -

So if we tally that up, it comes to $9,005 per year for the most basic maintenance costs of owning a horse. Just a horse. Not a horse with any training beyond be nice to humans. Just a safe horse. Not necessarily a sound or competitive horse.

There are no lessons, no Coggins tests, no visits from the dentist or veterinarian, no chiropractor, no saddle, no bridle, no bit, no buckets, no board bill, no hourly wage, no insurance, no 'extras' to consider.






So I have another bit of math for you guys to chew on...


This VERY LARGE number is actually not that bad. It is leaving out all of the other 'extras' from the above list! Many, many trainers charge upwards of $2500 per month for training! This big scary amount of $$$ also omits the breeding fees (mare & stallion), lessons, clinics with BN professionals, clinic costs associated with breeding, bandages, fencing, plumbing, electricity - you know the basic 'overhead' of running a facility. There are still show fees, supplements, medications, maintenance (chiropractor/osteopath/body worker) costs for horse & human, membership fees, emergency vet calls, the dentist, DNA & Registration fees, fuel costs, tractor(s) & other implements and their upkeep to consider, plus the taxes and liability insurance. THAT still leaves out an hourly wage or hired help. :)

So while not every horse can be a maximum in profit and talent, this should shed some light on how 'pricing' is achieved. Horses in the most general sense are expensive. Yes indeed.

Now you might think that there are 'deals' to be had with a rescue or in rescuing a horse. You might be right! However, I am a snob and do not have enough hours in a day to 'hope' to make something out of someone else's cast off. Dealing with an animal that was purpose bred for an entirely different area of sport (i.e. racing)  is not my cup of tea and does not get me fired up to start each day. The rescue will still cost just as much to 'maintain' as the purpose-bred equine and could have been on all sorts of medications, unvaccinated, never wormed, unhandled, never trimmed as a young horse, injured in training, have mental quirks that make them unpredictable or downright dangerous. To each their own though.

Oh and hopefully this explains why I own 1 horse. :) And, no, he is not for sale, he is retired.

So crunch the numbers. Do the math. If you want to question how I arrived at some of the numbers - feel free to comment! If you disagree, hey, I'm all for hearing how to make it cheaper! :)

Happy riding!


Finally!

So I gritted my teeth, buckled down and did massive updates on the website yesterday!! Finally! Wizard's offspring page is updated, so is Waldaire's and I need to get some new photos of Avebury's kids - then his will be too! But the sales pages have been tweaked back into alignment - somehow I had had the brain child to have some of the horses listed on _3_ different pages (birth year, undersaddle & by sire)...what was I thinking???

In any case, if you are browsing through the website and typos, grammatical errors or other whoopsies show up - please send Ellie@watermark-farm.net a note and I'll fix them!

Which brings up the fun part of having worked on the website --- Be sure to use your refresh button while browsing!!!!

On the farm news front, the heat is supposed to break for this week, so we are back in full training mode with lots of educating the horses on tap! So that means loads of schooling photos and updates on the various sales horses that are undersaddle. :)

Our Page on FB cracked 10,500 Fans last night which is a total WOW number. Jordan, Argentina, Greece have our US based fans absolutely trumped by a landslide. Thank you's go out to each and every person who have taken the time to LIKE our page, comment on a photo or link and included our Farm in their daily lives. <3 <3

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Waldaire youngsters out competing!

So we have some updates going on for the website, Farm Page and here on the Blog...



I've been meaning to email you with updates on Welliengton's (Sammy) show season thus far. 

April 2012 - Spring Bay Horse Trials, Beginner Novice, 6th overall FODS
May 2012 - MayDaze Horse Trials, Novice, 19 out of 23, clean XC but one rail SJ, he had a couple of very green moments in dressage which led to a terrible score, but his XC was perfect and the rail in SJ very cheap
June 2012 - Majestic View II, Training Level 1 60% for 2nd place and Training Level 2 61.607% for 2nd place

This weekend we are competing in MidSouth Horse Trials at Novice and then it looks like we have a break until the beginning of August. 
Photo Courtesy of Xpress Foto www.xpressfoto.com 
Photo Courtesy of Xpress Foto www.xpressfoto.com

Photo Courtesy of Xpress Foto www.xpressfoto.com



My trainer and I have been so thrilled with him and have high hopes for his future. This is a link to my Facebook album from MayDaze   http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3205155203908.2126474.1116980909&type=3&l=aee8fff585 and I will be buying a couple pictures from Majestic View soon. Also an album from an earlier in the year XC school at the Kentucky Horse Park  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3135989074798.2125324.1116980909&type=3&l=74444433cd
~K.

His pedigree is HERE.

Warrick is off competing in the hunter/jumpers for his owner in NJ and they recently went to the Middlesex show - we're waiting on results.

Wayfarer is out competing and doing well in the Jumpers. His pedigree is HERE and we're hoping to get some updated images or a video to share with everyone. In the meantime, enjoy a cute baby photo!



Wolfgang WF and a bit of clarity...

So "Puck" was the cutest of cute babies when he was born. Flashy markings with tons of personality, sweet nature and very easy to work with...perfect sales prospect, right? Well, life didn't take it easy on him and he was injured by his pasture buddies. It was a situation where euthanizing would be the easy choice but he was so vibrant and SOUND, we opted for care and treatment. 


Photos from 1 year ago




Photos from the end of May 2012

So Puck is still sound and BIG!!! He is 17 hands and substantial in his build - think Waldaire-size but a bit bigger as he's not done filling out. He is ready to find a home with a rider who wants to do a little of everything at a low level. You might ask what 'low level' means...so I will elaborate as simply typing it does not seem to have been clear enough to the many people who have called & emailed to inquire about him. A low level horse in our program is one that is going to be suitable for 1st level dressage; he may also learn to jump over logs and such on the trail; he might enjoy going out with other horse friends on trail rides to see what the world holds beyond the arena. 

A low level horse is not one that is an FEI dressage prospect. A low level horse is not a jumper prospect - at any level. A low level horse is not a Preliminary (or higher) level event prospect. 

Puck is priced so that he might find an appropriate owner with low level aspirations. Any of our other sales horses could/would be more suitable for those who have higher level goals. If he does not sell, he will enjoy a fine life here on the farm - someday if we need a babysitter gelding - he could be "Uncle Puck" for the weanlings. So, hopefully that clears up why he is priced as he is, what the future holds for him and the difference in a youngster that is priced at $20,000 vs. $2500. There is a reason...

So if you have higher level goals and dreams, contact Anne to discuss which of the other horses might be suitable for your ambitions. There is room for negotiation with several of them that have not been injured and they have loads of talent...just not the fancy white markings that this guy totes around.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Happy Birthday to our little Firecracker!

Happy Birthday to our Tasker who was born on the 4th of July 1995!



Sunday, July 1, 2012

The Fan count keeps growing...

I know that Mom and Dad have a bazillion friends both in the horse and their respective business community networks. My personal friend count is actually quite small. Professionally, well, I'm their kid, so it's a bigger number.


But our Farm Page just rolled up over 10,300 Fans. That is a HUGE number!!! I am certain that I do not KNOW 10,000 people. But they know the name of our farm and have seen photos of our horses...pretty cool stuff, if you ask me!

So this is an extended THANK YOU to all of our friends, fans, supporters and those who just take the millisecond to tap their keyboard and mouse long enough to click LIKE! You guys are simply awesome and we really appreciate all the support! Comments and feedback are awesome too! ;) You guys are THE BEST!!! Thank you!!!