← Katie Van Slyke - Katching Up With Katie
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome back to catching up with Katie. Today's a little bit different. We have a guest, we have Ms. Stephanie Bean here to just chat and answer some of Yalls questions because I mean I haven't meant to like hide you or anything. I mean I've had you in all these videos and everyone's like, when are we gonna get to actually like meet your new trainer? And so this is that video. This is that video. Because Running Springs has now hired its own in house trainer to start our 2 year olds and keep our mares legged up and yada yada yada, all those things. We're going to get into that. But this is that get to know Stephanie video. She has so graciously joined us. So Stephanie, hello. Would you like to give us just like a little rundown? Well, hold on. I've got questions written down in my handy dandy Moose on the loose notebook that you can find in katievanslike.net store. So anyway, I've got some questions written down so if you want to just give us like a little bit of like about you and then we'll get into horse stuff like I don't know, where are you from?
- [01:04]
B
I'm originally from Clarkston, Michigan. So it's kind of like an hour north of Detroit. So definitely cold compared to here. Here's nice.
- [01:12]
A
The beauty of like your first week here, it was. How cold was it when you left?
- [01:17]
B
I think it was like negative 17.
- [01:21]
A
No, no.
- [01:22]
B
And there was like a whole month of like negative 20s. It was rough.
- [01:26]
A
Can you even ride in that?
- [01:28]
B
It depends on what your indoors. Like, like if it's insulated, it's heated. A lot of places are heated up
- [01:34]
A
there because I mean at some point that becomes like lung damage.
- [01:36]
B
Yes. Yeah, they, I think they say like below like 20 degrees or something like that is lung damage. But I mean we'd ride if it was 20.
- [01:44]
A
Right, right.
- [01:45]
B
So.
- [01:46]
A
Well, when you got here, I think there was like this little blissful week of like 60s and like sun and then we went back to cold for like a week and then we went to warm and now we're back to cold. So. Yep, we're just kind of yo yoing. But it's still not as cold as.
- [02:00]
B
No, it's. It's refreshing. It's very nice.
- [02:03]
A
Awesome. Well, okay, let's just get into the horse stuff, which I have again questions from Facebook. I kind of put like a little post up. I was like, what do you want to know about Stephanie? And y' all are nosy. So a Lot of your personal questions, we're not asking, this is horse questions. So I guess just let's start. Let's not get into training necessarily yet. Just what's like your start with horses and your personal riding background prior to going pro.
- [02:30]
B
So basically I started riding when I was nine. I started in the hunter jumpers mainly because my mom trail rode horses and my cousin was in the hunter jumpers as well. So we kind of rode together at the same barn. It was, it was fun. I did that until I was 12, 13, something like that. And then I had a horse in my backyard at that point. So I quit the hunter jumper stuff. And then from there I did a lot of 4H, a lot of open shows.
- [02:58]
A
Always in like the hunter stuff or.
- [03:00]
B
No, I kind of switch. I kind of just dabbled in everything when I was really young. Like I tried like barrels. I did like stay in the hunter jumper field for the most part, but then I kind of got sucked into. It's probably where I got sucked into like the all around horses, like the pleasure stuff. The hunter under.
- [03:18]
A
Gotcha. So, so did you ride in like a lesson barn or did you have your own horse at that point?
- [03:23]
B
I had my own horse at that point in my backyard. So I basically would just come home from school and just get on and ride. It was just kind of what, what you did, was it a quarter horse? No, it was an Appaloosa. I know.
- [03:38]
A
I also grew up with Appaloosas.
- [03:41]
B
Did you?
- [03:42]
A
I did. I grew up with. But poas.
- [03:44]
B
Okay, so basically the same thing.
- [03:45]
A
But like, it's like, okay, take crazy Appaloosa, make it a pony. Make it a mayor. That's what.
- [03:52]
B
Yeah, I, I wish I had a poa. I wish I had a pony. But I had like a full, like a regular sized app.
- [03:57]
A
Well, the poa is, it's like, hey, so we're gonna start the morning with halter and showmanship. We're gonna go to western, then we're gonna go to English, going to jump, Then we're going to do costume. Well, actually costume was more in the morning. And then we're going to do barrels and poles and keyhole and all those things. And you're done by like 11 o' clock at night. We're doing everything in one day. So that's what I grew up.
- [04:19]
B
When you're young, that's easy to do. But can you imagine doing that now? No. Thank you.
- [04:23]
A
No. So, okay, so you grew up kind of just like 4h, doing a little bit of everything and then when did you. Did you show at all prior to going pro?
- [04:35]
B
Not necessarily, no. I just kind of knew, like, my situation. I. I wasn't in the. In the place to be able to afford to show a lot, so I just knew. And I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a horse trainer, so I just went and started working for someone.
- [04:49]
A
Yeah. Okay. So. So when was that? Like, what. How old were you when you started going, I guess, going pro? But when did you start swap over from, hey, I'm not going to show for myself. I'm going to start training?
- [04:59]
B
I would say. I want to say it was, like, maybe 20, 21. I think I had, like, a brief stint of. Let me work with racehorses before that. So, like, maybe, like, I skipped over. I'm. I'm really sorry.
- [05:14]
A
You skipped over a whole. I just dabbled in racehorses. Go back.
- [05:19]
B
Go back to the racehorses. I want to say I was, like, 19, 20 when I did the racehorse thing, and I was just kind of, like, brought into it. I knew a lady who exercised racehorses at the. There's, like, a tiny little track in, like, Northern Michigan in Mount Pleasant.
- [05:37]
A
Okay.
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B
And I was like, wow. Like, she kind of makes, like, good money. You know, I was just like, a poor, like, teenager. She makes really good money. She rides, like, 20 horses. It takes her, like, three hours, and she makes a ton of money and doesn't have to work the rest of the day.
- [05:49]
A
Yeah.
- [05:50]
B
Um, so I started doing that a little bit. I started on the. On the backside of it mostly, like, saddling, bridling, like, putting the riders up. Um, and then I didn't ride at that track. Um, it was a little terrifying to, like, learn how to ride a racehorse on the track.
- [06:07]
A
I would imagine it's.
- [06:08]
B
Yeah, it's a lot. But I ended up working for, like, a private farm with racehorses after that, and they had, like, their own little track, so I started the babies. It was thoroughbreds. Okay. It was thoroughbreds at the Mount Pleasant track. They did race quarters and Arabs and Appaloosas.
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A
Okay.
- [06:29]
B
It was a little backyardy, but it was. It was cool. It was cool at the time. So I basically, I rode thoroughbreds at a home track, not, like, at the racetrack, which I feel like is a huge difference in, like, the actual racetrack is very crazy.
- [06:48]
A
So it was me, Matt, Nate, Abigail. We came back from a horse show. The. We came back from the premiere last year, and we went to Keeneland for a day. Yeah. And we stopped at the racetrack, and they let us go down and like, be right as the horses entered. And I mean, it's 40 freaking horses entering at once and going every which way. And there's like, that track is so wide and there's different. Whatever part of the track you're in, you're doing something different. It's so wild.
- [07:15]
B
It's wild. And I think, I think the racehorses is why I was like, no, no, like, I have to go do show horses. Like, there's no way. There's no way. It's one of those things where, like, when you, when you take one to the track, you basically just like, we'll back it up half a mile or however, and then you just turn around and it just goes like. They kind of are trained. Like. Like, this is the. The routine. This is what we do. And they kind of just stop when they want to stop. Like, some of them you can pull up, and sometimes they don't pull up and they just.
- [07:47]
A
Oh, no. Did you have any, like, accidents?
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B
I probably came off like, once a day in the beginning of doing it.
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A
Yeah. Oh, no. That's why you had to start when you were 19.
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B
Yes.
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A
I would not bounce like that.
- [07:59]
B
Yes. Well, to be fair, when you wear those vests, though, it's way easier to just kind of like you bounce back up, like landing on the cloud.
- [08:08]
A
I mean, I. I guess I see people wear like, the vest. Are they that padded?
- [08:12]
B
They don't feel that padded. Really. I think everybody switched to, like, the air vest now, but the old school, like a Ventur vest, the air vests.
- [08:22]
A
Because, I mean, I've talked about this with my best friend Rebecca, because her little girl jumps, so she's been looking into them. Yeah, they're like where you clip them on and then when you fall off, they inflate. Yeah, but it's like $400 a vest.
- [08:33]
B
That's wild.
- [08:34]
A
Like, it's like every time it inflates, you have to go get it re. Like, I guess it doesn't just go back to normal and inflate a million times. Like, you have to get it rechar. Reloaded. I don't know.
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B
I don't know.
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A
Fixed.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And it's like $400.
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B
That's crazy. So.
- [08:51]
A
Yeah, that's a lot. Okay, so we moved past the racehorse. So then you went pro and so did you go straight into, like, quarter horse all arounders or.
- [09:02]
B
Yes, I did. So I worked for a lady in Wisconsin who did like, the buckskin and the quarters over there. It's kind of big.
- [09:08]
A
That's when you saw Soapy?
- [09:09]
B
Yes. Well, actually, no, it was later. It was later. But she had a really nice farm in, like, central Wisconsin that I worked at and kind of got hooked on the buckskin stuff. But, I mean, that was the start of it, I guess.
- [09:25]
A
I never realized how big, like, the color breed associations are within AQHA and within apha. So, like, you know, there's aqha, which is the American Court Horse Association. Well, they are also have, like, Buckskin Horse association and Palomino Horse association, and now they have their own horse association. And so it's interesting because I just didn't realize how big those were at some points.
- [09:49]
B
I mean, and I think it's, like, in different parts of the country, they're, like, bigger. So, like, up where I'm from, like, the bucks skin stuff is pretty big. I feel like the palomino's kind of fallen off a little bit, but the buckskin has, like, two different associations. Okay. So it was kind of cool. You could go to, like, two different world shows. You can kind of play around, and you could show your horse a lot and get him pretty broke and then still be, like, rookie Green eligible in the AQ stuff and then go dabble in that. So that was pretty fun.
- [10:16]
A
Yeah, that is one way to look at it. Okay, so that was, like, you know, beginning part of your training career. So did you show as a trainer in that way, or were you more of, like, a coach behind the scenes, like, what. What have you?
- [10:33]
B
So definitely more, I would say more of a coach. But I did show quite a bit, and there's always, like, horses to school. I did a lot of, like, hunter under showing, some in the trail. But most of my clients were really successful in, like, the horsemanship, the equitation showmanship.
- [10:50]
A
Okay.
- [10:50]
B
A little bit in the ranch riding as well. So really just geared toward. I mean, my clients were, like, going for the allaround, so we were showing all day long. And in that sense, especially when you have, like, all the levels of the youth and all the levels of the amateur, like, you're standing in that pen all day long.
- [11:10]
A
Yeah, that's very hard. And, you know, I guess that's one reason why some or a lot of show barns are like, pleasure. Only they might have, like, one client that's an outlier that shows in some other things. But, you know, when I go to a show and, you know, Aaron Moses, who shows, who shows and trains, my stallion, Denver, he is mostly a western pleasure barn. And so there's occasionally the outlier that has other classes, but they generally have other trainers for that because he truly is like on a horse, off a horse, on a horse. Very specialized for that one specialty because there's so many different horses and especially those big shows. So that's interesting.
- [11:47]
B
Yeah.
- [11:48]
A
And then. Have you had any What? But not to say that my horses are only western pleasure horses. That's like the misconception a lot of people have. Because I think when I bought Denver and was starting being like my. My western pleasure stallion because that's what he started off in. Everyone's like, she's a western pleasure horse. I've never not. She's a western pleasure horse. She's a western pleasure rider. I've never shown a western pleasure horse literally ever. I like when I had Beyonce and she's a pleasure horse. I just showed her in the trail. My mom showed her in the pleasure. I've never shown a pleasure horse ever in my life. And so it's very funny that people consider me a pleasure person because I am truly like a hunter under saddle all around person. And I think that's what I gear my babies towards. Like, I would love for them to be able to start off in the, you know.
- [12:33]
B
Right. Pleasure for sure.
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A
Possibly. But like, I'm so much more geared towards the all around and then leaning more towards the hunt under saddle and like the big ponies. Y. And so I just think it's funny that people western pleasure.
- [12:46]
B
I feel like you have mostly like big, big horses at the barn. Like everything's like mostly huntery, so. I know.
- [12:53]
A
Which is funny. So I'm with you on that. That I feel like we have a very similar taste.
- [12:59]
B
Yes.
- [13:00]
A
In horses.
- [13:01]
B
Yes.
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A
But okay. I touched on that earlier when she started here. She was like, I really like that buckskin mare. I used to watch her show. So you like saw Sophie in action.
- [13:12]
B
Yep, I did.
- [13:14]
A
So you kind of had some run ins with a couple of my. And then obviously, like, I think you already knew of Kennedy versus the first lady. What were some of the other ones?
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B
Buttercup.
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A
You knew of Buttercup?
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B
Yeah, because I wanted to buy her years ago, but I was too poor at the time.
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A
Gotcha. She mine.
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B
You have all the buckskin mares I wanted.
- [13:34]
A
Well, but you have. This can kind of be like a little segue. Yeah. Cuz you have the Perlino May that I want.
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B
I do.
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A
So she. Unfortunately, I didn't have any stalls. She has a May that is due this year. Right.
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B
So give us April 11th.
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A
Give us a little like update on her. What's her name. How old is she, who she bred to? All the things she.
- [13:58]
B
Her name's Pinky. She's bred to Lazy Loper. I bought her as a yearling and I just randomly saw her for sale one day and I was just like, I have to go buy her. And I just drove to Indiana and picked her up and took her home. I was like, I have to have this horse right now. And like, I. I wasn't looking for a horse. Like, I didn't really have the money for a horse. And I just went and bought her. And when I got there, she was like, lame. And I was like. But I took her home anyway. Her feet hadn't been done in like 12 weeks. 14 weeks. So took her home. The people are super nice. They were like, you know, if she gets home and she's lame, like, you can send her back. And I was like, okay. And she's fine.
- [14:39]
A
Okay. So she's Perlino. If you didn't know what that is.
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B
Carmelo, actually. Because I see. So Perlino is, I think like the dark base. I see of the same thing. Carmelo is the red base of that. Yeah.
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A
Like, she's like. Like a champagney white glimmery.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Unicorn with.
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B
She is. She is unicorn for sure.
- [15:01]
A
And so she's western pleasure bread. Right. Which is very rare, I feel like.
- [15:06]
B
Yes.
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A
To get a cremello that's like truly western pleasure bread and not like. I mean, I guess she probably has some like foundation influence. Like. Does she? Not really.
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B
I feel sire is pretty.
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A
Like he's super western.
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B
Yeah. Super Western pleasure. And then on the damn side, she's exquisite. Zippo. So basically she's like all of the good, like palomino lines I see cross together. So. Because usually you do see like a cremello and it'll be like one side is good, but the other is just kind of like nothing modern. Yeah.
- [15:36]
A
Rancher.
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B
Nothing super modern. So it's really cool that she's pretty modern. Bred on both sides. Right.
- [15:43]
A
I will be convincing her to cross her on one of my boys because they're red based.
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B
So.
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A
And she's. Doesn't she like always throw cream?
- [15:52]
B
Yes. Yeah. She'll always throw a buckskin palomino or smoky black, which is kind of.
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A
So she could never have a cremello.
- [16:00]
B
She could if bred to something that also carries the cream gene.
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A
I see.
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B
So another palomino or I see buckskin.
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A
So basically, if she was bred to either of my boys who are red roans, it could be palomino or a palomino roan.
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B
Yes.
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A
That's like the only option probably.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I think there's nothing else.
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A
That sounds like a good idea to me.
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B
I will say though, have you ever seen a palomino roan in person?
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A
You kind of look ugly.
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B
They just don't. Situations, they just don't like, look shiny ever. I had one before and I will say you just always looked like dull.
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A
I like them when they. And the same for Buckskin Rose. I like it, I think when it's more like, you know how Kirby is where, like in their flanks.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And like it's not all over.
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B
Yeah. I like a little darker.
- [16:48]
A
Yeah, I like that better. So we'll see if we can make that happen. But. So she's. She's boarded elsewhere at the moment. Just because I. I had no stalls. This did end up being kind of a last minute thing. And I remember when we were like, hey, you know, you can bring a horse and stuff. And it was like, oh, well, I have a mare that's bred. I'm like, that's the worst situation that could have possibly happened scenario. Like, I'm like anything else could have happened. So you've got. That's. That's what all you have right now, right?
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B
Yeah.
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A
Okay. So what are your plans for her baby?
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B
I'll probably sell it. I would like to keep one out of her, but it's got to be like the right one.
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A
Right.
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B
So we'll just see what comes out.
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A
You know what, what would be your, like your order?
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B
My order on this one is a buckskin Philly.
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A
Buckskin Philly. So.
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B
And I'm pretty sure Philly that will be.
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A
It would be. You're pretty sure?
- [17:47]
B
I'm pretty sure. Like that.
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A
I think. Is he homozygous?
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B
I think that he is.
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A
Okay. I mean, we don't know about Philly
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B
or Colt, but so she's had one before and it was a cult and I was just like, why? So I feel like I'm due. I'm due for affiliate.
- [18:08]
A
Last one was cool.
- [18:09]
B
That's what I'm banking on. I'm really.
- [18:11]
A
No, it doesn't happen that way. Okay. Because I would be due my order.
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B
I'm manifesting.
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A
I have gone through five minis asking for a Philly with some white on it. And I have had five solid colts.
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B
Have they all been red?
- [18:28]
A
No, I have.
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B
Okay, that's good.
- [18:30]
A
I've had a silver black that turned gray. I've had a red. A red turn gray, which is Glenn Outside a bay. And then the donkey, he had like the most spotted up dad ever and he came out solid.
- [18:46]
B
Yeah.
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A
Anyway, yeah, it doesn't work that way. She's gonna get her order and I'm gonna be so mad, but. Okay, so that, that's kind of where you're at now. Like, you've been training for, I'm not gonna say how many years, because that'll give you away. You've been training for a while. You got a mare that you breed that you would like to keep a baby from. So as far as, like, your own personal goals, you're looking more to just stay in the coaching realm and the training realm. If you do keep one of their babies, you do want to take it down the show line. And, like, probably.
- [19:18]
B
I think if I keep something, I definitely want to get it shown. And, you know, obviously if I'm keeping something, it's going to be like a future.
- [19:26]
A
Right.
- [19:26]
B
Broodmare of some kind. So.
- [19:28]
A
Yeah, smart. Okay. Speaking of breeding, because you have this one mare that you're breeding and, you know, you're hoping to keep a baby. What is kind of your background in breeding? Because I know you've worked and fold out quite a few, which is amazing because it's come in handy this year a couple of times where, I mean, you know, not to bring up sad situations, but, like, when Charlotte had her baby and I'm having to rush it to the vet, like, I was so grateful that I was able to be like, do you have Charlotte? Okay, good. And like, head up. You know, that that was just such a godsend that there was someone there that, oh, yeah, like, had the situation at home handled so then I could go to the vet with this baby. So give us a little update, like on. Not update. So give us a little background on your breeding.
- [20:12]
B
Well, I feel like I've. I've worked for. Yeah, I've worked for people throughout the years and just always kind of been around it. I feel like I've had a handful of foals every year. Marriage to fall out, a fold out for other people. My own, some Arabs, a lot of Appaloosas, a lot of quarters.
- [20:35]
A
Any thoroughbreds when you were doing the race?
- [20:36]
B
No, actually, no thoroughbreds. I was around lots of young, but I was never like, you're fooling this out.
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A
Yeah, I gotcha. So when did you kind of get into that side of things where you're like, training but also falling out for people?
- [20:50]
B
And probably like within the last like eight years, I would say. I kind of like happened together. Breeding has always been, like, something I've been really interested in since I was young, and I've always, like, wanted to breed my own and stuff like that. So it's just kind of like a little passion side project, so.
- [21:08]
A
Same.
- [21:10]
B
Same. Yep.
- [21:12]
A
But that's. That's been awesome because you've gotten to be there for a couple of babies, and then, you know, like I said, in that kind of really stressful situation, like, it was amazing having someone to kind of, like, fall back on. Yes.
- [21:24]
B
Yeah.
- [21:24]
A
So that's. That's gonna be. You're gonna be pretty handy going forward.
- [21:28]
B
I'm excited for more babies. I'm like, why is there such a big lull in between?
- [21:33]
A
There wasn't supposed to be. Today was Benedict's due date, and he's been here for a minute.
- [21:38]
B
That seems crazy. Yeah, he's been here for a while.
- [21:40]
A
Yeah. So one of the questions I've been getting a lot is, are you here for a good time or a long time?
- [21:49]
B
I think both.
- [21:52]
A
A lot of people have been like, is she just here to start your twos and then heading out, or is she, like, here, like, is she, like, your trainer forever? I'm like, forever.
- [22:01]
B
Forever. Forever.
- [22:01]
A
Forever. I. You know, this is such. I'm putting you in a weird position here because, like, I'm technically your employer, so you're gonna be like, yeah, I like you a lot, but I'm like, I feel like we've hit it off. So.
- [22:14]
B
So, yes, I agree.
- [22:15]
A
And, like, yeah, it's just that, like, I felt. I felt such an ease. I feel like my horses are just, like, really well taken care of in your hands. And I feel like you've taken a weight off of me being able to, like, get back into riding and not have to worry about the, like, hard part. And I say that is that I've. I've always loved the hard part. Yeah, I've always loved the, like, daily writing and the, like. The, like, every piece of it. And I used to ride, like, four to six horses a day, and it just got to where I, like, had zero time to do that. And so then it was like, if I can't do it fully, I didn't feel like I could really do it at all.
- [22:52]
B
Right.
- [22:53]
A
And so, like, I really felt that last year where I'd, you know, I'd ride Kennedy and Ethel, and I'd feel like I was pretty consistent for, like, two weeks, and then I'd have to leave, and then I get back, and, you know, when a horse is Coming back into work and they're not like, steady Eddie, two weeks off after only being on two weeks, you. You're back to like, it's rough ground zero. And so that's what I felt like. I just kept going back and forth in between last year and so being able to hop on when I have time and, you know, have someone there to say, hey, you know, do this or that and, and get me back into things without it being so stressful, like, and feeling like I'm there on my own. It's been very, very nice.
- [23:36]
B
So much of training is just like, consistency and like, if you look at like why a lot of people send their horses to trainers, it's just because they don't have the time to do it every day. So not that they couldn't do it themselves, they just don't have the time to commit to it. So.
- [23:50]
A
And I've learned so much. So I, I look forward to sharing more of like the two year old, you know, journeys and starting them and putting their first rides on. But watching the things that she does with the 2 year olds prior to riding definitely made me realize when I was starting horses myself, the holes that they probably from me starting them because I'm like, I didn't do that. I'm like, I just. One day when I felt like there's
- [24:18]
B
so many different ways to do everything though, like you could go and look at how somebody else starts a two and it's like completely different.
- [24:26]
A
Yeah.
- [24:26]
B
But you go like, oh, that's cool.
- [24:27]
A
You know, mind you, this is like Annie's 11. So the last. Oh no, I started one and I, I did a lot more with the second one than I did with the first one. I've only started like two in the last 10 years. I did a little bit more when I was a teenager, but when I was starting Stevie, which was in 2022, so I mean, what that long ago we did, I did a lot of groundwork with her, but I feel like I got lucky with those two. It was Annie and Stevie. They just were kind of born broke.
- [24:58]
B
Yeah.
- [24:58]
A
Like, when I put a saddle on them, they were just like, okay, those
- [25:01]
B
ones are so nice. They're so easy because you can, you can just like saddle them a couple times and jump on and go.
- [25:06]
A
And that's what I did. And so I think that just kind of made me feel like I was a little better than I actually was. Um, but I've learned a lot already and it's only been a few weeks and so I'm Really, I mean, that's kind of the purpose here. I mean, I don't think I've really talked about it in this. Sit down. But the purpose of Stephanie being here and us having a trainer on site is a multitude of reasons. So one, it's starting the two year olds at home and that just gives me that much more control. Not that I'm trying to like micromanage, but, you know, in the past you send them off and sure, I send them to people that I trust, but as they're growing still, I like to be able to see, okay, do we need to do anything different with their feet? Do we need to change their feed? Do we need to give them time off? Do we need to do this and that.
- [25:50]
B
That.
- [25:51]
A
Because as they're growing, those situations or those decisions have to be made. And so I want to be the one kind of like in on the decision making more so rather than just like sending them off and.
- [26:01]
B
Right.
- [26:02]
A
Letting someone do that all for me. Um, and I, I like the fact that we can make really tailored decisions based on. Yeah. The horse itself. And not to say that wasn't happening, but I also can't, I can't justify sending six horses or having eight horses in training in different spots and paying full board and full training, whatever it's like. It is absolutely an economical decision to have.
- [26:33]
B
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense if you're going to be keeping a handful of babies every year, like you're already feeding, you're already boarding them.
- [26:40]
A
Right. It made so much sense monetarily to have someone here. And that's. That was actually a really big portion of. It's like, hey, when do we decide to. Not full board, full feed, you know, you know, I'm using my farriers and all that good stuff and your vets
- [26:54]
B
and everything and that's huge. You know, you have a good relationship with your vet and that just makes decisions easier and.
- [27:01]
A
And then we can decide, hey, which because I'm keeping multiple, I can say out of these four, like, let's use my yearlings for an example. I have two stud colts and two Phillies. I can say, you know what, this western stud colt, I think is actually be a stud cult. The other one, I think he'd be better gelded, but let's geld him and still put 60 to 90 days on him and then we're able to then sell to a show home and hopefully be profitable. I mean, that's. Yeah, that's the point of it is to try to make it A business. And so we can kind of judge that and we can say, hey, I think this one just is maturing a little later. Let's wait. Yeah, hold it back. And then this one, you know what? It just doesn't fit me personally. And this is for me to have a show horse. So we're gonna sell this one or whatever.
- [27:46]
B
Yeah.
- [27:47]
A
So it just allows us to make a little bit more tailored decisions, in my opinion. And I'm really excited for that and to be able to like watch the yearlings. Two year olds, if we have any three year olds at home right now, we're writing Kennedy, Ethel, and you know, potentially more in the future. Yeah. So. Or Gracie. We can't forget about Gracie. Little Gracie. So it's opened us up to not only, like within the breeding and the like, keeping of babies business, but like the content business.
- [28:15]
B
Yes.
- [28:15]
A
And yeah, you know, sharing all that is super fun as well. So that's the purpose. Stephanie, speaking of my horses, we'll. We'll kind of wrap up with this because we've already been talk, talking and chatting for a minute here. The people want to know and we'll get more questions if we can get Stephanie to come on for a part two here in a little bit. They want to know who is your favorite 2 year old and why. Right now the 2 year olds are Wally, Molly and Daphne.
- [28:44]
B
I feel like that is the hardest question to be asked ever because they're all three of them are so different.
- [28:51]
A
Very different.
- [28:52]
B
They're very, very different. Like, personality wise, like just everything. Yeah. And I would say, like, I don't dislike any of them. I love all of them. It's really hard to pick, like a favorite. And I think, like, depending on the day, like, I have a different favorite. Exactly. I have a different favorite every day. Yeah.
- [29:14]
A
Who was your favorite yesterday? We'll go with that. Not Wally. It was not Wally.
- [29:21]
B
Well, here's the thing. Like, it wants to be Wally. Like, I want Wally to be my little buddy. You know what I mean? And he is most days, but like it's breeding season and like it's been a little.
- [29:33]
A
Has been putting him through it. She, every time she walks past him, I saw her do it today. She pees in front of him and is like, just like torturing him.
- [29:42]
B
Yes.
- [29:43]
A
So poor guy.
- [29:44]
B
Because when he's good, he's, oh, my gosh, I love him. And then just little moment of I'm a stallion, it's like, no, you're not.
- [29:53]
A
In all honesty, think this is like the best thing for him.
- [29:55]
B
Yes.
- [29:56]
A
Like staying on site and having mares all around him and he's having to just like be a good little citizen in the middle of breeding season, I think is the best thing for him possible.
- [30:04]
B
Yep.
- [30:05]
A
Because at some point he's going to become a monster.
- [30:08]
B
Yeah.
- [30:08]
A
Yeah. Because He's. He's already 16, what do we say? 16 hands.
- [30:11]
B
Yeah.
- [30:11]
A
He already 16 hands. He's going to be a freaking 17 hand plus monster.
- [30:14]
B
Yeah.
- [30:16]
A
And so he needs to learn everything now.
- [30:19]
B
Yeah. Because I feel like too, like if he was like completely away from all the mayors and like in like in the barn that was like being built and everything was separate. Like, he'd be so quiet and easy, but then he. Because there's not enough, like going on.
- [30:33]
A
But then he'd come into a space and a mayor's in heat and be like, yes.
- [30:36]
B
Yeah, exactly. So we gotta get in trouble a little bit.
- [30:39]
A
Okay, so yesterday it was not Wally, so who was it?
- [30:43]
B
Probably Daphne, I guess.
- [30:44]
A
Daphne was your favorite.
- [30:45]
B
She had a little aha moment.
- [30:46]
A
Oh, good. So, yeah, and I, I think me and you both established out of the three this year, she's like our type.
- [30:54]
B
Yes. Oh, yeah. Very much my type of force. Yeah.
- [30:58]
A
Very excited for like five year old Daphne.
- [31:00]
B
Yes.
- [31:00]
A
She's gonna be very fun.
- [31:02]
B
Going to be awesome.
- [31:02]
A
And then we'll end, we'll end with this question. And this is also kind of a hard one. Okay, which horse? Not age group. So yearlings, two year olds. And then the mayors that you're riding for me. And then we have a couple of mayors that we haven't really even started with yet that we might make little projects. Which horse makes you the most excited in general?
- [31:24]
B
Oh, just like, to work with.
- [31:27]
A
Just like, which one are you just the most excited about to ride, work with their future?
- [31:34]
B
Probably Kennedy, mainly because, like, she's just such a fun. She's such a fun mare. She's. She's a little bit challenging, but like she loves to work. Like, she wants to come work every day. Like, she's almost like sad if she doesn't. And she just got like all these buttons and all these cool things. And I think we have some cool, like, plans for her in the future. So I think it's just kind of exciting.
- [31:59]
A
She's gonna show her and she's nervous
- [32:01]
B
about it a little bit.
- [32:03]
A
She's like, it's Fias. The first lady. I'm like, oh, well, we're taking her
- [32:07]
B
to a show and you're gonna show her too. Yes.
- [32:10]
A
We're both showing her. So super exciting things ahead. Thank you so much for sitting down and chatting with us. If you have more questions and you have more topics or even just like riding slash horse videos that you think Stephanie, Stephanie and I can get together and make for YouTube and longer form things and to kind of expand the content that we've offered on this channel, I think that'd be a super helpful thing if you could let us know in the comments as well. So let me know any more questions from Stephanie. Thank you so much. And we'll see you in the next one.