Me, My Mouth and I

Ever since I was little, my mouth has been talk, talk, talking.  My Mom had to put cotton in her ears a time or two and it didn't stop there.  I was always full of questions, "how does that work?", "when will we get there?" "why is the sky blue?"   In grade school, my conferences went something like this: "Marcy is an intelligent girl, but her mouth never stops moving!"  Along with that mouth, came my very special "gift" from God, the gift of honesty AND the fact that everything to me is black and white, NO GRAY!  In grade school, this was NOT a good combination.  If someone's hair looked funny or their pants were to short, I thought the best and most honest thing to do was to tell them about it.  This did not go over well with my classmates.  They didn't see this as a nice thing, but something crititcal, I of course, never meant to be mean, but was only being honest.

Buckskin Colt born here at McBride Quarter Horses-Stallion prospect or Gelding? 

 I would say geld him!

As I've gotten older, this curse of being honest, has not gone away.  However, I have found that people now call this "wisdom" and seem to appreciate my honesty.  Where were all of you when I was in grade school?!  I get emails and phone calls from friends wanting to know this or that about a horse.  They want to know who they should breed to who, or if they should buy or sell or keep a horse.  I find myself trying to be careful just exactly how honest I am, but every now and then, something inappropriate just flies out. I've even gotten to the point of asking "are you SURE you want to hear what I have to say?" I don't want to say that their beloved Blaze is useless and needs to go down the road, unless I'm SURE I've cleared my own way.


My intentions are always good, just wanting to save my good friends and customers from making some previous mistake I have made, and yes, it's true, at times, I try to just knock some sense into them!  My husband made the comment the other day that I was raining on someones parade.  I said to him "Isn't it my duty to let them know they're making a mistake?"  He doesn't quite see things my way, but after 10 years of marraige, he's FINALLY coming to understand my honest point of view. 

The same colt as a yearling.  Stallion or Gelding?  I'm still sayng, he's cute, but GELD HIM!

I try very hard to be honest about my own horses, being sure to geld colts that aren't stallion material, or tell someone whether or not I think one of our prospects will be a reiner, a cowhorse or in some cases, neither.   Yes people, it's true, with all the hard work, planning, bloodline research, and hand picking both sire and dam, sometimes we get one that just doesn't come out the way we planned.  It might have a head like a moose, or be crooked or just plain have no talent.   The best thing you can do is BE HONEST with yourself about what you have, price it appropriately and send it down the road to a home where  you think the horse will have the best fit with it's new owners.

The same colt as a long yearling....Minus a TON of hair?  Stallion or Gelding?  Hum.....could I be wrong?

The same colt as a five year old.   Boy, was I ever wrong on this one!

I do like to remind myself of the old saying that everyone has their own opinon, and all of this "honesty really boils down to just that, my opinon.   So...to all my good friends and customers, know that you will ALWAYS get an honest answer from me, but also know that I am working on remembering that there are also gray areas! Oh, and yes, I am very wrong from time to time.....but it's very hard to admit!

Another shot of Durachex, and yes, he is still a stallion!