We tried that breed, but the shearing was no fun. The sheep seemed suspicious and unfriendly towards people. These St Augustine sheep have the sweetest disposition. They’re developed from Dorper, Katahdin, and St Crouix breeds. They’re shedding now. It makes them look messy through the spring, and sometimes we clip off chunks when it gets hot and the yearlings still have a little wool, but no actual shearing.
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Sounds like a nice breed. The GCN are not terribly friendly ime either. The ones born at the farm are better and the bottle lambs end up real friendly. Finding a shearer though is crazy.
I’ve run into multiple people who are investing piles of money into vet work on their 6 year old horse because he’s being an ass, and he was such an angel at 4, that something MUST be physically wrong. Now, that could be the case, and certainly it’s good to rule things out, but when I tell them horses become complete twats around 6 for a little while they act completely flabbergasted. They filled out, gained muscle, they’ve started to do real work and maybe they don’t want to… Twats. All of them.
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Oh yes. Sadly, the hair breeds are meat breeds, rather than wool breeds. Sometimes that’s a big deterrent for people who would rather not send off lambs to auction.
What we need down here are better rescues to adopt from. It seems like whenever I have tried to adopt from one, they were always weird borderline hoarder types. Since the pandemic, they have mostly disappeared.
There is one place that takes in untrained or problem horses and resells them. They are dealers, but I have seen very sad animals on CL at bottom prices turned around and sold a few months laters at market prices looking sleek and sane under saddle. They do a good job. They post an ad saying they are a safe home for horses. I’m glad they exist.
There is also a place in Citra that are bad dealers. They always have ads with bad fencing in the background and their kids on the horses. I think they do trail rides and a mini roadside zoo thing now as well. Yikes.
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I might be concerned too, if this was my first time going through the young attitude stage. Some days he’s a star, others he’s too cocky for his own good! He is a PONY, after all. With a little more mental maturity I can turn that cockiness into ring presence, I just hope the battle doesn’t last ALL year 
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I agree. I’ve noticed people who take riding lessons, then buy a horse, or those who board a horse then bring it home are good for about 2 years. Then reality sets in. I think if you can wait a year prices will come down.
Unfortunately some of those horses will end up at auctions because people will want to get rid of them fast.
For what it’s worth, those looking for horses with good minds that have had a lot of handling might want to try a standard-bred off the trotting/pacing track, probably from a rescue. Will this be your next competitive show hunter or dressage horse - probably not. Your next fun trail horse or lower level competitor - worth a shot. I’ve started many of these gems undersaddle for a rescue. They have all been SO easy to retrain for riding. Of course you chose a suitable sound candidate. Their musculature will change with good riding so try not to be put off by stiff necks etc.
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I’d love a standie if I wouldn’t have to ship it half way across the nation. We just don’t have too many in my area.
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I’m beyond thrilled to hear that you’d consider one! I do live in an area with several tracks and a big county/state fair circuit. I wish it was as easy to move horses needing homes as it is dogs needing homes.
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I wanted an OTSB, but no rescues where I am, and the big one wouldn’t adopt to me because of the distance. They were nice about it, though.
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All price levels are moving here for inflated prices on the east coast. Even the under 5k.
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One of the local-ish rescues got over 3 dozen new horses in the last week 
3/4 were from a single surrender. It appears most will find homes fairly quickly, but man the people who run the rescue are saints. Unfortunately I think it’s just the beginning of a tidal wave of horses that owners can’t hold onto for any longer… I hope they can all find soft landings. Meanwhile the local high-end sport horse market has jumped 10-30k.
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My friend is going through this right now with her 5 year old. Bolting and bucking was his go-to, more than once during one ride. He’ll be going along just fine then, Wham! She sent him to a cowboy trainer and he’s making progress.
Me too. I’ve worked with them in the past and most were the biggest love bugs and real people pleasers. I’d love to have one.
LilRanger,
I hate to hear that somebody who could provide an awesome home kind get connected. I understand why rescues try and keep adoptions local but it is a shame with so many OTSB that need homes.
My mind is working on this - if only I won the big lottery.
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I agree completely. Most are just so sweet and willing to please. I know we say that about all breeds but most of these guys are just amazing.
I know, I was very sad to hear I was too remote (New Mexico). I don’t know any OTSTB rescues/connections in Cali, and Texas is just random. I don’t want to go through a kill pen rescue either.
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You may consider checking out Bluebonnet, that a COTH poster, cowgirljen runs.
They cover a large area by referrals.
They may know some horse as you prefer somewhere near to you that needs rehoming:
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Thanks, I"ll check them out!
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Oh! I forgot. If you go to NFLM, you don’t have to wait for hog sale. Just the sheep and goats. You can go out on the walkways overlooking the pens to see what’s there before the sale. You can also track how far they are with the sheep and goats. The hogs…oh my…you almost need hearing protection.
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A friend of mine was at New Holland last week and keeping an eye out for prospects for me, and said that there were a ton of draft crosses but apparently “has four legs” was worth $3000 and prices only went up from there.
I’m guessing there’s a little bit of hyperbole there but certainly around here the market is hot.
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