Horses for Sale

My husband and I went to an estate horse auction a few weeks ago looking for a well broke ranch gelding. It was not what I was expecting, although I have never been to a sale like this. There were a lot of brood mares, most with babies at their side and bred back, a few studs and 3 riding horses. The catch with the mares is they were all turned out together with the stallions, so you didn't know what stud bred the mare. That's a real genius way of being in the horse business. One of the studs was a real pretty Hancock bred blue roan with a gorgeous, wavy black mane. I guess he hadn't been handled that much because he was pretty wild in the auction pen. Some of the broodmares sold for $200 with weanlings going for $75. We could've bought the entire herd for $2000. We came home with an empty trailer, but I can't get those images of the horses out of my mind and wondering what happened to them. It's a real pity in these kinds of situations; I wish I could've brought them all home. It seems like "horse breeders" would stop breeding these kinds of herds seeing they have no real goals in mind. I understand if you have a champion and you are in the real biz of competing or raising calm, well rounded riding horses. There's a real need for that, but this guy totally seemed to miss the mark. How do you stop people from breeding horses just for the sake of breeding a horse? Foals are cute for awhile until they nail you in the stomach with one of their sweet little hoofies and leave a bruise the size of a grapefruit. Now there's talk of reopening slaughter plants or creating new ones in the U.S. to help ease the horse population. The thought of horse slaughter makes me absolutely nauseous, and I don't feel there's one easy answer. I do think we must stop horses from going to Mexico regardless of what's done in the U.S. No matter what solution you think is the best, I think one thing we can do is write our Congress representatives and senators with a particular viewpoint. The squeaky wheel gets the grease...

Tour Guide

Last Friday the 13th we had the privilege of hosting a tour for the Texas A&M Chapter of the National Block & Bridle Club. Block & Bridle is a club that's dedicated to the promotion of agriculture on campus, encouraging higher scholastic standards among ag students, and enhancing professionalism of students who will one day be leaders in the ag industry. These students were part of over 650 undergrads that attended the National Convention for Block & Bridle in San Antonio. Students could choose from different tours and we were honored that over 80 students chose to come see Circle Y. We showed them all of our operation: tree making, leather cutting, saddle and tack assembly, and the shipping department.

The group seemed to be diversified with horse people and cattle people. Even some of the students with cattle backgrounds thought the tour was interesting so that was neat. The horsemen of the group asked some tough questions which was great because that meant they were actually thinking about what we were saying. There's so much that goes into making a saddle that I guess it really can't be appreciated until you've seen it first hand. Just because more than one person builds your saddle here and not one person from start to finish, it's still our daily pursuit for perfection to create the best saddles in the world for a variety of disciplines, riders, and horses. Photo: Mark Jemelka-General Manager of Circle Y, Texas A&M student hosts, and Yoakum mayor Annie Rodriguez.

Riding my gelding has steadily stayed on the back burner but with the days already getting longer, it will soon be time for the spring tune up. I am beginning to feel spring fever and ready to spend some time in the outdoors with my fuzzy, attention-deprived gelding. (I know for some of you this is still a long way off seeing most of the country is still covered up in snow!) I have set my riding goals high this season with having a much more broke trail horse by the end of summer. I plan to use a lot of Julie Goodnight’s DVDs to help me get a willing partner and become the leader with ‘ole Copper. We will continue to have our lessons with Anne, who works here and is my gaited horse instructor, who will continue to teach me and Copper the proper gaits of a good Walking horse. There are only a few more weeks until daylight savings time. I groan at the thought of losing an hour but at the same time, it’s more riding time in the evening. At that thought, the daylight will be a welcomed time to really ride and build a better relationship with my horse. Happy Trails.

The new Circle Y catalogs have arrived from the printer and we will begin mailing the end of this week. The catalog is being added to the Web site under BROWSE THE CATALOG. Please be patient with the site as we are correcting links and getting it all up for download. We hope you love what you see with the new designs. It seems a lot of the country is frozen and buried in snow and ice. Be safe and feed those horses some extra hay for warmth!

A Busy Start to the Year

It has been a very busy first few weeks of the new year! We have been getting ready for the Denver Market this weekend which is a huge event we work all year to prepare for. There have been some late nights trying to finish the last of projects and tying up the loose ends. We don't settle for less than perfection! This is where we unveil all the new saddle and tack designs for the year. We also have the annual sales meeting with all the salespeople who are able to attend. A lot of our major competitors are there as well so it's always interesting. I have finished the new 2009 Catalog and it's on the way from the printer. It will be available next week so be sure to request a catalog. We hope you'll find your perfect saddle! We will be updating the Web site soon too with some new features and of course with the new catalog. Be safe on the trails and stay warm!

Shopping Near To Home

The stalls still need to be done, hooves still need to be trimmed, hay put out, buckets scrubbed... Even when it seems the whole world is focused on the negative, we still can count on our fuzzy friends to bring us back to the real world. And, a nice world it is. Many horse families are just that, whole families involved in the horse owning lifestyle. Children are still wishing for a horse or pony, new saddles, new boots. Circle Y prepares for the upcoming spring season this time every year. Though some predictions for retail sales of all kinds are dismal, we are working hard to bring you fresh, new designs, and saddle styles. What hasn't changed is our dedication to make the highest quality saddles at a fair value. Please keep your local tack shop on your shopping list. They have been there at your convenience for saddles and tack, and day to day supplies. We want them to weather this economic storm, and your patronage will help them do so. All here at Circle Y Saddles wish your family, and horses, a very happy holiday, and a brighter new year. We hope your Christmas wishes are coming true.

Bring on the New

I have begun working on the new saddle and tack catalog. Doing the catalogs is one of my favorite projects and it's something that I, and the entire Design Team, put a lot of care into. Our Design department puts a lot of time and thought into the new models we are rolling out hoping that if a potential rider hasn't found exactly what they are looking for, they will this year. It's no secret that times are tough these days with a lot of households having a skinnier Christmas than last year. At Circle Y, we take very seriously offering saddles and tack that are the highest quality, made with the highest level of perfection humanly possible, and with features that are important to riders of many different disciplines. Buying a saddle is an investment so finding that perfect one that suits your riding needs, horse or mule, and price point is a lot to consider. We are here to stay despite the economic downturn, and hope you will order a new catalog mid-January when they are available. We are always open to suggestions and comments and take requests to the design board so e-mail us if you have a request in mind.