So who has mares scanned infoal for next year?

[LB]

This has been a busy year for us. We have:
Tricky Bird in foal to Empire Maker
Shriek in foal to Dixie Union
Classic West in foal to More Than Ready
Raffles Light in foal to Yes It's True
Timeless Forest in foal to Candy Ride
History in foal to Langfuhr
Hot Weekend in foal to Yes It's True.

whew.

[HeadlessHorseman]

WOW LB that is so awesome.....SO MANY MEN....

I can't wait to see all of them running around next year...

HH

[TrueColours]

Hot Weekend in foal to Yes It's True.

THAT is going to be one fun foal to name!!!

[LB]

Hot Weekend in foal to Yes It's True.

THAT is going to be one fun foal to name!!!

LOL, I hadn't even thought about that!

Thanks Headless Horseman. I'll take plenty of pictures.

[TrueColours]

"Knocked Up" or "In the Family Way" all come to mind for a filly ...

[Truly]

Hi Truecolours, don't be cruel lol
There was hay imported from Canada a couple of years ago, they little bales about 3 foot long, is that the standard size to bale over there? I didn't see them, someone told me.
I wish I had enough land tobe able to allocate a spare field for hay.
It's awful at the moment spending every penny on hay.

LB Great news too, have fun naming them lol

[reedhill]

Hi Truly,

We have 18 confirmed in foal for 11'.

3 due in Feb, 11 due in March, 2 in April, and so far 3 due in May.

6 we are currently covering or checking,

and 2 yet to foal in August..........so if we get

lucky, we will have 26 next year!

Oh my word! Lol

Congrats tho'

Do you have staff to help? I see your son helps alot.
Do your horses live out unless they're foaling? I know it's hotter down there.
Mine are in at night apart from some months in the Summer.
We've had an unusually snowy cold Winter and a dry hot Spring and Summer so far.
Our hay prices have rocketed and won't get any better as the hay just cut is half to what was produced last year.

Yes, ours live out except for foaling. The stallions are out at night and in during they day and reversed in winter. We are very blessed to cut our own hay. We bush-hog our pastures because they grow so much. Matt
helps in the barn a good bit in summer and when he can during the school year.

[TrueColours]

Truly - yes the bales are 3-4 feet long and about 50-60 lbs each and we are selling them now - out of the field - for CAD $3.75, so that would equate to about GBP 2.10 with today's exchange rate. You can fit about 260-275 bales per container and I would think once all is said and done, you'd pay about $2200.00 - $2500.00 to get that container from our door to yours so about CAD $9.60 per bale or about GBP 5.46 added on to the hay cost of GBP 2.10 = GBP 7.56 per bale

Out of curiosity - what are you paying for the small squares in the UK?

I know when we hear horrific hay costs in Florida and California of $15.00 - $25.00 per small square bale we CRINGE and thank our lucky stars that we are in an area that produces an abundant amount of terrific hay at low costs. And since I planted about 40-42 acres and we have a lot of cheap, available labour in our area, it makes for very affordable hay all the way 'round ...

[Derby Lyn]

We are still on our first cutting of hay here. Some farmers cut hay last week and it all got rained on. Not sure what they were thinking there... But it runs about $3 bale and $5 for alfalfa. This is my first year with a REAL pasture, about 14 acres of it. I use to spend a TON of money on hay. I would sell a horse and it seems like it would all go to the hay bill. What a relief this year to actually have some grass.

None of my mares are checked in foal yet. They are all foaling late this year, except for one that was in March. That broodmare is sold, but I have 2 more expecting yet.

[HeadlessHorseman]

Right now I have 3 hay guys...my cheapest is 4.00 in the field....55ish lbs bales....Next...but farther away...5.50 in the barn and SUPER HUGE bales..maybe 65lbs...and Lastly....6.00 from a heavily fertilized irrigated pasture that are 50lbs....that man has it down to a science...My husband brings the flat bed up to his deer lease and brings me back 65 a pop...

this is for what you'd call CRAPPY hay..... coastal Bermuda.....

My round bales are awesome....60 bucks for horse quality 4X5 bale....that weigh 900-1000lbs....

HH

[Maureen]

I'm paying $25 for a 600 - 700# round bale of really nice timothy/alfalfa hay. I feel really sorry for you folks!

My husband (the farm boy that he used to be) says that you should never buy small squares by the bale-it should be by the ton.

[Truly]

I'm paying £50 for a large round bale..I think that's about 9/10 small bales.. our small bales are about 4ft long and I can't really afford to buy small bales ..I've heard they are selling for about £7 now!
I haven't got a clue how much they weigh..I buy it weekly and it comes from different suppliers to the guy I buy it from.
I was paying £63 a couple of weeks ago for a really large and heavy round bale but it's case of whatever is available will do!

My hay bill is over £2500 a month..I hate having to feed hay out in the fields this time of year...but there's no grass ..it's heartbreaking and really worrying

[HeadlessHorseman]

OH WOW Truly...that is NOT GOOD..

I am so lucky that I have a well...I have watered my back pasture and side and the neighbor's..that he lets me use...for 3 weeks solid...I have put down fertlilizer as well on all three... mine are small...1.75, 1.5 and .5 acres....but they sure are green...

We got 4 inches of rain in the past few days....so the sprinklers are turned off for a week or so...

I hope you get some grass soon...

HH

[TrueColours]

Truly - if your calculations are correct (and you must have soft core rather than hard core bales over there ...) that about $88.00 for a small round (our round bales are hard core here and equate to about 20-25 small squares and they are about 1200 lbs ...) and you could buy them for about $35.00 - $60.00 depending on the area you are in, so if you divide them by the number of small squares they contain, they'd run about $2.50 - $2.75 for a small square equivalent

But - something seems off. If it is GBP 50.00 for a round bale that contains 10 small squares, thats GBP 5.00 per small square or $8.80. At that stage, it would be cheaper and less wasteful to buy small squares!

So ... I am trying to get a handle on this ... you are paying GBP 2500 a month or approximately $4400.00 a month in hay for how many horses??? With those numbers - I think I'd raise dilute sabino guinea pigs or something! Thats horrifying!

If someone had to buy hay around here from the local farms, it would cost them approximately $100.00 - 115.00 a month per horse or approximately GBP 60.00 and thats allowing a 50-60 lb bale a day for each horse.

I wont even tell you what my actual hay costs are per horse per month ... but I also have to accrue my upfront cost to seed my pastures ($5600.00), the cost to fertilize them this year (unknown as it will be the first time we are doing so) and the hay rake we just bought ($5300.00) and the cost we need to look at to construct a hay storage building as well as buying a haybine and baler, plus a hay wagon or two and eventually a 60hp tractor to run everything with. Right now we trade having the hay cut and baled for the fellow taking as much as he needs for his horses, so its win/win for both of us ...

I am hoping we can sell off all 1000-1200 bales off the next cutting and then we'll each pocket about $1700.00 - $1800.00 split 2 ways and that will then basically pay my fertilizing costs and buying some new equipment and it will be gone as fast as it arrived ...

I am really curious to hear what it is costing you in hay per month per horse ...

[Shannon]

Last year I paid $25.00 for a 95-100lb small square bale of 90% alfalfa, and $11-$15 small square for local grass hay. I've moved, and can now buy straight alfalfa for about $8/bale. Craziness evrywhere!