A friend offered me a free mare, had to thin out his remuda a tad. Last thing I needed was a mare to feed. Well, I ended up with a gelding on the place. The horse will come to you when you call him, is the friendliest sonofagun you ever saw. He just has this problem with other male horses. He takes them down by the throat and trys to kill them. One more torn up horse and he was going to kill this gelding. So I let him put the gelding on my back 20. He'l have to hay it but I'm letting him have the pasture for free.
I ain't never figured horses out. How this animal could be so people friendly, come when called, and yet be a horse killer at the same time, beats the hell out of me!

That's cool though.

I'd love to get my daughter a horse one of these days. We have the space, but know absolutely zilch about them.

Quoted: That's cool though. I'd love to get my daughter a horse one of these days. We have the space, but know absolutely zilch about them.

I don't know much about horses, but I know one thing...THEIR VERY EXPENSIVE TO KEEP!

Quoted: That's cool though. I'd love to get my daughter a horse one of these days. We have the space, but know absolutely zilch about them.

Like Wingman says, even if someone gives you one for free, you're gonna pay for it!
This gelding got hold of a cutting horse, took it down, and cut ligaments in the cutting horse's neck. Vet bill was over $500 and the cutting horse may still be ruined!
Sister, my brother had someone give him a small mule. That was the sharpest and friendliest equine I ever saw. He let it run around the yard loose and unhobbled. It would come up to the screen door at the kitchen waiting for the kids to come out. The kids would take it to the fence and climb on its back. He would trot them around the yard, then take them back to the fence to climb off. Even his 5 yo son could ride that mule. It was better than a watch dog in the yard!
He used it coon hunting. Take your jacket off, lay it on a fence, and the mule would jump the fence over the jacket. It never stumbled or threw him and he was worthless on a horse.
The a**hole sold it to an elk hunter to take to Colorado! I could have killed him for that.
I think he had a total of $125 spent over two years in that mule. He sold it for $2000.
That is the luckiest story I know of having a hores/mule/donkey given to anybody. The other stories I have heard of involve several hundreds of dollars being spent within weeks of someone receiving a free animal.
That is why I didn't take the mare!
Wingman gave you great advice

speaking of horses reminded me that I need to buy some glue tomarrow.



you know what made that horse mean don't you?

Dan, have a vet check the gelding.  The gelding may be only "part" gelding, and the parts that are left may make him act like a stud horse.  What I'm sayin' is the person who cut him may only of got one testicle, not both.

Also, with any new horses to a farm, pen him up and let the others come to him for a few days to get the "newness" out of their systems. Make sure the pen is a pole pen and not barbwire.  I saw a friends horse get spooked and run right through a fence.  Yep, the two cuts on the chest, you could lay your hand flat across them.

Man, livin' in Houston and being an urban cowboy is makin' me homesick for Oklahoma.
I do miss team roping, and working with cattle.  I DON"T miss the cold weather, choppin ice in the pond, pulling calves, icy and muddy roads with big chuncks of gravel knocking paint off the bottom of my truck.  I do miss all of the hunting, from coon hunting with the old blueticks, to watching the flocks of turkeys, and seeing a few bobcats.  Fishing in my own ponds, and steppin off the back porch to shoot a new gun.

Quoted: Dan, have a vet check the gelding.  .

Dave, the gelding was proud gelded and like you said, still had one up inside. It got cut out a hear and a half ago. He's by himself in the pasture and seems pretty content. I went out to check him this afternoon and he came up to me when I called him. Only been around him once before!
Scratched a little bit, he followed me around wanting some more pettin'.
He's a good horse, with a mare or two, but not around other males. The only cure for him is a bullet between his ears and we are not gonna do that. I'll take a halter out some time this week and lead him around, get acquainted more. I've got a 4 yo niece that loves being around horses so he's worth keepin' out there if he is as good as I think he is and we get real acquainted.
Told Old Bud about the horse and he ate my ass out. "Get rid of him before he gets out and kills somebody else's horse." He's in the back 20 with nothin' but deer, grass, and two water holes. He isn't gonna get out and Steve, the guy that owns the horse, may put a mare out there with him.
About 30 acres of his pasture got burnt out a month or so ago, so he's hurtin' for pasture. That's cool with me! He'll hay 'em, watch the place for me.
I'll tell Bud you said hello. He'll grin, and tell me to thank you for the Rock&Rye. Then he'll make a comment like "how come a turd head like you knows such good people?"
Dave, you  gotta an open invitation to come shootin' or fishin' on my place or Bud's anytime you want!

Quoted: daughter

You have a daughter huh? How old?

Thanks Dan!!!!  When I get back to Chandler and Lincoln County I try to exercise my rights as a spotrsman.   I just might take you up on the offer though.

Funny thing about the horse business.  The ones you don't care about, you can't kill  with TNT.  The ones you love get hurt or killed.   Had a buckskin mare over at a friends house to breed to his stud.  Dang if lightning didn't hit one horse and jump to two others....mine was the third horse.  They fell over like a stack of dominoes.   Had one of my best geldings(roping horse) stolen, and another roping horse that I got $10,000 for it.  Yep thats right $10,000.  All of my dads farms had oil and gas wells on them...naturally the had cattle guards with a gate.  The oil pumpers would cross over these gates and forget to close them..even though I had signs"CLOSE THE GATE,HORSES.".  Cows wont usually try to jump a guard,but dang if horses won't.

You guessed it, a new purchased roping horse.  Three days new to me, in the back pasture.  Pumper left the gate open and the horse tried to walk across.  First time I saw a compound break on an animal.  Shot the horse and left him in the cattleguard.  Next day the pumper asked me how much to settle out of court.

Quoted: Quoted: daughter You have a daughter huh? How old?

Elementary school, Rat, you dirty old bastard.



All three of my kids are under 10.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: daughter You have a daughter huh? How old? Elementary school, Rat, you dirty old bastard. All three of my kids are under 10.

Geld him sister, geld him good.

Rat, Sister's husband is 6'7" tall, 290 lb ex weight lifter, became a preacher in prison. From what I've been told, he still gets a little riled when sinners make comments toward his family or folks.
I'm sure he can convince you of the error of your ways, right after he fits your left foot in your right ear. He'll save you all right - just short of putting your  lights out permanently!
Of course that will all happen after Sister gelds you with a dull butter knife!
Of course, if you apologized and said you were just joking, you might be able to "sin" some more in the future, IF they believe you! IF they don't believe you, you might be singing in a little boy's choir till you get to be an old man.

Quoted: Thanks Dan!!!! ......   Had one of my best geldings(roping horse) stolen, and another roping horse that I got $10,000 for it.  Yep thats right $10,000.  All of my dads farms had oil and gas wells on them...naturally the had cattle guards with a gate.  The oil pumpers would cross over these gates and forget to close them..even though I had signs"CLOSE THE GATE,HORSES.".  Cows wont usually try to jump a guard,but dang if horses won't. You guessed it, a new purchased roping horse.  Three days new to me, in the back pasture.  Pumper left the gate open and the horse tried to walk across.  First time I saw a compound break on an animal.  Shot the horse and left him in the cattleguard.  Next day the pumper asked me how much to settle out of court.

Dave, I learned a long time ago about horses. The more they cost, the more likely you are to lose 'em. If I paid $10K for a roping horse, it would twist a gut in the trailer on the way home!
Horses are dirt cheap right now! Stever tried to con me into buying this gelding from him. If I like him and he works out well with the nephews and nieces, I might buy it from him. But it's gonna be cheap or I ain't bitin'.

Only paid $2,500 for the horse.  It was the  most regretted $10,00.  I know, how can you regret that??  I missed the horse AND had to shoot it.  The money was a reminder to the oil pumpers to close the #%&* gate.  It worked.

I've never had a problem getting the gas well guys to close the gate. 'Round here, they most likely have horses and cattle of their own, so they are very mindful that gates are meant to be closed.

Quoted: I've never had a problem getting the gas well guys to close the gate. 'Round here, they most likely have horses and cattle of their own, so they are very mindful that gates are meant to be closed.

I had trouble with one pumper on some land we hunted. He gave us hell about being on the land and he knew damn well we had sole permission to hunt it .He changed the locks out twice. I kept bolt cutters in the truck and got around that problem. His like to hunt too and was real good about killing deer from his truck when checking the wells.
I got him straightened out with a visit to his boss. We did get to be good friends after that when I caught him after deer season and gave him some jerky.
Dave, the only way to mess with horses is makin' money off of them. That was a hell of a way to collect though. I get attached to animals if they show any affection or are exceptionally smart.
If I get this gelding, I'm going to have not let Steve I know I want him. Or he'll hold me up against the wall and get every dime he can. Which is cool if I LET him! I'll just wait till he gets tired of hauling hay out there and has to buy more. He's got 8 horses in his remuda and only 5 bales left.
With about 8 acres out of 40 that aren't burnt!
If the kids like the horse a lot, especially the 4 yo, my BIL may end up buying the horse from me for a few hundred more than I get it from Steve!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: daughter You have a daughter huh? How old? Elementary school, Rat, you dirty old bastard. All three of my kids are under 10.

AHH! Okay....glad I asked the all important "how old" question instead of saying something like...."hook me up!"

Quoted: Rat, Sister's husband is 6'7" tall, 290 lb ex weight lifter, became a preacher in prison. From what I've been told, he still gets a little riled when sinners make comments toward his family or folks. I'm sure he can convince you of the error of your ways, right after he fits your left foot in your right ear. He'll save you all right - just short of putting your  lights out permanently! Of course that will all happen after Sister gelds you with a dull butter knife! Of course, if you apologized and said you were just joking, you might be able to "sin" some more in the future, IF they believe you! IF they don't believe you, you might be singing in a little boy's choir till you get to be an old man.

Dan, put a sock in knee boy, notice I just inquired on the age....if they're not of legal voting age they're too young. Legal drinking age is better but at this point in time I'm not gonna let those 3 years hold me back...hahaha  I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer but c'mon knee boy, give me some credit!

Took Old Bud from the nursing home this afternoon out to his place to check his dog, drink a little Rock&Rye (Thanks, CowboyDave!), then back to my place to look at Newton, the gelding.
Old Bud was telling me to get rid of him because of the liability of him hurting someone else's horse.
I pulled down in the pasture and called Newton up. He trotted up, let me scratch him a bit. I gave him a apple, threw a halter/lead rope on him and led him over and tied him to a tree.
Old Bud is watching all this so I asked him what he thought.  He says "Looks like a nice horse but I wouldn't give you $10 for the SOB." I told Bud that is the first time I ever threw a halter on him or led him around. Old Bud replies "He still ain't worth a sh*t!"
What a hard headed ol' fart!
I untied Newton, took off the halter, gave him part of another apple, then he followed me back to the truck.  So I put the halter back on him, led him around the pasture some more., fed him some more apple. etc. This went on for about 30 minutes so me and the horse could get fairly comfortable with each other.
We leave, and go talk to Steve, the partner that owns Newton. First crack out of the box, Bud asks Steve - "How much you want for that gelding?" The almost 104 yo hard headed turd tried to cut a deal on the horse!
Old horse traders never quit!