West 12 Ranch

Sales Prep

We take conditioning and preparing your horse for sale very seriously.  Good nutrition and proper exercise are the keystones of our program, along with the most important element of all... elbow grease!  A sparkling coat comes from excellent feed with the right ingredients and a lot of currying.  To start, all broodmares, weanlings and yearlings here at West 12 are on a supplement called Platinum Performance.  For more information on Platinum, you may go to http://www.platinumperformance.com/.  We have found that mares on this exceptional product foal easier, look better and feel younger than they are!

YEARLING SALES: 

If you have a foal that will be sold as a yearling, rest easy knowing that from before he is born until he leaves for the sale, he will receive everything he needs to grow strong and healthy.  Besides the Platinum they share with their dams when young, each foal is started on two key products when they are weaned.  Northwest is a pelleted feed supplement that helps horses fully digest and use everything they get, and also helps prevent epyphysitis.  We also feed a powdered probiotic yeast that keeps the horse's digestive system happy and running right.  At weaning, each baby will be started on their own Platinum, which will continue throughout their yearling year.  I sincerely believe that the sooner we start on Platinum and the longer the babies are on it, the better they will look at sales time.  In January, when your weanlings turn to yearlings, each baby will be evaluated.  We look at conformation, feet and body condition.  We will also set up a short survey of x-rays to see if your sales horse needs any additional help to be his best for the sales.  At this time, an individualized program will be set up for your horse, taking care of any special needs he may have.  If he has foot problems, for example, we may shoe him at this time, setting up a schedule to help make his feet look their best.

60 days out from sale, your yearling will be brought in to a covered pen to protect his coat from the sun.  He will have an intensive preparation for his sales ring debut.  If he hasn't received shoes yet, he will get his first pair up front.  Daily activities will include intensive grooming, exercise on the eurocizer, bathing and walking in hand to have that sales horse "strut."  After he has settled into his routine, your yearling will be turned out at night to buck and play, sometimes with a friend.  If he is too rambunctious though, he will have to settle for solitary play.  As we draw closer to the sale, your yearling will begin spending more time in to prepare for more extensive confinement.  We also get him used to being in a stall and having a sheet on at night, as they all wear "pajamas" at the sale to keep them cleaner.  Work with the trailer is a constant, so that loading is smooth and trauma free by sale time.  The week before the sale, all final shoeing is done, as well as getting the manes pulled and ears, nose and bridle path clipped.   A well sales-prepped yearling should gleam, with just enough weight on his frame.

MIXED SALES:

For the mixed sales, your broodmare or weanling will have a slightly different program.  To start, theirs is not such an intensive exercise program.  Your broodmare would not take it kindly to be put on the eurocizer while pregnant!  The mares wear blankets at night, especially for the January sale, and have lights on them at night to help keep their haircoat short.  We groom the mares daily and spend time walking them.  They get plenty of turnout time and as much grass and hay as we can get into them.  The weanlings will have similar treatment, though they get much more daily handling and care.  Special attention is paid to picking up feet and touching the weanlings all over their bodies, as well as taking them on long walks around the ranch to get them used to different scenarios and desensitize them to noise and various action.  Our main focus for the mixed sales is glossy coats, excellent weight and good behavior.  On the off chance that they will be going to Canada or another cold climate from the sale, we try not to get their coats too slick.

If your racehorse is injured or just needs some time off to "be a horse," let us help you.  We have a wonderful vet in Dr. Muller of Los Caballos Veterinary Clinic.  With exceptional diagnostics and great surgeon Dr. Tom Yarborough on hand, Los Caballos can offer you quality care for your horse.  Dr. Muller combines cutting edge technology with a holistic approach, taking advantage of acupressure and other Eastern medicine to treat each horse as an individual. 

Here at the ranch, we do our part by providing excellent nutrition and working closely with the vet to come up with an individual rehabilitation program for your horse.  We have a Eurocizer here at the ranch that is integral in bringing a horse back to peak fitness.  The Eurocizer has many different settings, with walk, trot and canter all possible. 

We also have a variety of different environments for your horse; he may need stall rest, but if it's possible, we like to have them out in a covered pen.  This lets your horse look around, see other horses, feel the wind and really helps them keep their spirits up.  When he's ready, your horse can graduate to a larger pen, then slowly be worked up to a  large individual paddock.  If he's going to be here with us for some time, we will slowly integrate him into a pasture with a few other horses of the same sex and age.  It's amazing how much some time spent playing with his friends and relaxing and eating all day can do for your horse's wellbeing!  If your horse just isn't performing to his best ability, seems lackluster and quiet, maybe he needs a vacation. 

We take great pride in the job we do with your broodmares and babies here at W12.  The girls are treated like princesses, each separated into large pastures with no more than four mares to a pasture.  This keeps down fighting, allows the grass to stay lush and makes sure that the shy, quiet mare gets her proper amount of food, too.  Sometimes the larger farms have to fight overcrowding, and this often means that despite their best efforts, the submissive mares just aren't getting enough to eat.  They often come home thin and in poor shape from their trip to be bred.  Another problem can be that the foals are little wild rabbits, having had very little handling while at the farms. 

As your mare's due date approaches, she is watched carefully.  Any odd behavior is noted, and approximately two weeks out, a daily check is started.  The mares get very used to having Tori and the staff check them, looking for the various signs that their time is approaching.  If the mare starts to look close, a milk test will be done.  This involves testing for the colostrum levels in a mare's milk; if the test says her colostrum is in, then she typically will foal within the next few days.  At this time, a FoalAlert is sutured onto the mare.  This sets off an alarm when the foal's feet begin their exit. 

At that time, the "midwife" will come quietly into the stall and remove the FoalAlert.  The mare's tail is wrapped for cleanliness, and then she is left alone in the stall to decide where she wishes to lay down.  Sometimes the mares just plop down, and sometimes they circle for what feels like hours!  After she lays down, a helper will ease back into the stall and check to make sure everything is going right.  We assist all of our mares in foaling.  It's true that they do it alone out in the wild all the time, but keep in mind that many mares and foals don't make it out in the wild.  This is why we are always on hand to ease the delivery and make sure that everything is on track.

Once your mare has foaled, we give mom and baby a little bit of time to bond.  There is nothing better than the soft, low mutterings of a mare and her brand new foal.  At this time, we begin imprinting.  This involves touching your foal repeatedly, all over their body, including their nose and mouth!  This is done because your foal is extremely impressionable in his first 12 hours, and the more handling he gets, the more likely he is to realize that people are not coyotes coming to eat him.  Although sometimes I think the mares tell them stories...

The first ten days of your foal's life are very busy!  Your baby will have a series of shots to help him fight any nasty bugs in the environment.  He will also receive Gastro-gard (an ulcer medication).  This is because almost every foal born has ulcers, and this helps him fight them off so he can be healthy and feel better.  As we are handling your foal during these 10 days, we diligently pick up his feet every day, to help him prepare for his first trim later down the road.  Of course, the added handling never hurts, and many of the foals really need it!    Their first week or so is spent alone with their dam, and weather permitting, much of that is outside in an individual grassy paddock.  Then they graduate to being with one other pair.   We slowly start introducing other mares and babies until we have four sets to a pasture.

Whenever your mare is vet checked,  someone will lead your baby alongside to help him get used to the idea of leading.  It also helps keep them with mama, as sometimes a bush or post is very interesting and needs serious examination unless they are gently encouraged to check it out later.  We begin coaxing the foal to be the leader once he gets the self confidence, and have mom follow behind, as this really makes everything easier for weaning.

If your mare will be leaving to be bred elsewhere, have no worries.  We will foal her out, and between days five and seven, she will be checked by our vets.  If they feel she is a candidate to be a foal heat breed or short cycled, we will make the arrangements for your mare and foal to be safely transported to the farm in question.  The mare and baby will travel in style in a box stall with deep shavings.  The foal typically sleeps most of the journey and arrives none the worse for his first trip.  If your mare needs some time to bounce back from foaling, she will have excellent reproductive care to help her in every way possible, and we will then have her shipped a few days before she is due to come back into her 30 day heat.

After the breeding season, your mare and foal have a wonderful time getting to laze around, graze, roll, play and enjoy their friends.  The babies especially enjoy playing with their new pasture mates.   It's amazing to see the babies shooting up over the months, they grow so fast!  We typically wean your foal at five months of age, though some will be weaned sooner or later depending on personality, size, and the mare's ability to stay at a good weight and have the foal nursing.  We try to wean the older mares sooner if the baby can handle it. 

Weaning is a stressful time for your foal, but we try to do everything possible to ease the transition.  For starters, your baby will have a weaning "partner."  We strongly believe in the Buddy System, it really helps.    If we can, we try to use what we call a "slow wean," which is when we put the pairs in adjoining open air pens.  This way, the foal is separate but he can no longer nurse.  Mom is still close by for comfort but they get the idea of eating grain and hay alone.  Over a period of three days, we will move the mares one pen down from the foal, and if all goes well, the mares are brought back out to pasture after the morning feeding.  Often the new weanling is so engrossed in his morning grain that he doesn't even know mom has left!  There are the occasional pairs that simply can't handle the separation, and will pace and neigh frantically for days if left in such a situation.  In these cases, we will sedate the mare and foal, then bring the mare out with her friend to a far away pasture.  The foal is left in his pen with his friend nearby.  Typically, there is some whinnying for the first day, but the mares especially settle down very quickly.  Usually she will be grazing with her friend by dinner time.

Then begins the Weanling Boot Camp.  Your foal will be given a day or two to settle in, then we start working with him every day for two weeks (or longer, if you have one of the "lucky" ones!)  The weanling is brushed and has his feet picked out, with special attention the first day to see if he has any sticky spots.  Some foals don't like having their manes untangled, or their head touched, or their flanks being brushed .  We will focus on working through these issues.  Each day they are taken out of their pen and walked.  The walks will get longer as the lessons progress, and new things like the washrack and the trailer will be introduced.  Before your foal is deemed ready to graduate, he must be able to go on a long walk quietly and with no fuss, have his feet picked up, go into the trailer, go into the washrack, go into a stall and be able to stand with some degree of patience with his handler.  We will work two or three times a day with a foal that needs some extra encouragement and understanding.  Often a certain personality will emerge with the daily handling, and the wild eyed foal that wanted nothing to do with people on day one realizes that we have fingers for scratching and grain that is REALLY GOOD.

At this time, your weanling gets to go out with his friends.  The fillies will be separated from the colts, and it is typically the fall when the first phone calls are made involving certain procedures... gelding is nice to do in the fall or spring, there are fewer flies and no mud, so if you intend to geld your colt, keep the following in mind.  Not only is the weather nicer, but studies have shown that gelding at an early age actually encourages growth.  The testosterone levels even out, meaning that your colt won't get so front heavy, with less of a cresty neck.  The other bonus?  Lower testosterone means the play isn't quite so rough, and less capacity for serious injury.  There are few horses out there that have the pedigree and conformation to be a stallion prospect, and even less that have the mental capacity to be able to train and stay a stud.  If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask us!