Welcome Back!

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Welcome back to Katching Up With Katie. Are we be knitting? I've been... Oh, did I just do a knit

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stitch? Dang it. God damn it. I got to start over. No, not a KP. I don't know what to do. I know,

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but I got to unroll it all. I'm just going to commit. We'll have three knit stitches in a row.

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It's fine. I told you I was bringing the whimsy back into my life and so I'm here to prove it

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by knitting on camera. Knitting is not something that's new to me. I don't know how to do anything

Knitting

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other than a scarf. My nana taught me when I was growing up and I feel like every five years

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I knit a scarf. Comes back. Yeah. Comes back. So right now you could just do a really really

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big scarf. It would be a blanket. I feel like crocheting is for blankets. What if you kept

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going like you picked a color and worked on one for however long each year and then you have a

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decade worth of scarf. Wow. Just one scarf. She's just sitting there. Fold it back and forth. She

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just has a scarf and it's going into a dark room and you turn the light on just to the ceiling.

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Well, okay. One thing is we have the opportunity to do this because the new year is coming up.

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People do a temperature blanket. I was going to say that. So when you crochet,

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you make a chart for each color. You go off the average temperature of each day and if

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it's within a certain range, it's a certain color. You do a row every day or you say,

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I want to knit on Sundays. Then you do seven rows in a night and by the end of the year you have a

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blanket. You figure out your dimensions and all that good stuff and by the end of the year you have a blanket and it gradients off the colors. That's cool. Imagine you lived in Florida or Los

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Angeles and it's just 65 to 80. Well, Tennessee it would be like if you have

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it for 30 degrees and below it's blue, and then purple for 70 degrees. It's just blue

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purple blue purple for two weeks straight. We're knitting. We're chilling. Lindsay's here

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today. We're doing a little bit of something different. Honestly, not even different. It's going back to the OG, the roots, Katching Up With Katie, which is a Q and A. The last

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episode we played games. Usually we use this opportunity to either gab, chat, goof around,

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make videos, talk about stuff. And that's what we'll do here, but in a more structured way

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where I put a little prompt on Facebook. If you don't follow my Facebook, that's where you get

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the most bang for your buck because I post so much there. Photos, statuses, stories, videos,

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all of it. On there, I posted a prompt saying, Hey, what do y'all want to know Q and A wise. We

Q & A

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got some questions from that that she's going to ask. If you want to kick us off, Lindsay.

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Okay. We're going to start with the World Show questions. We just came back from the World Show. Number one, why did Aaron not show Denver in the western pleasure at the World Show?

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So, this entire year we've focused on western pleasure with Denver. That's been like... and

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normally if you have a western horse or an English horse, they're going to start off in

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the western riding or the hunter under saddle and use that as the base of their career because it's

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a really good foundational class. It teaches them how to hold themselves and get used to

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the show pen even if they're not going to be super competitive in it. It's a good class to start in because they walk, trot, lope or canter. With Denver, when I bought him I did not think he

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was going to be the western pleasure horse. Aaron will tell you that. He surprised us. He has a very

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all around movement. When you look at him loping around you think that horse will do great in the

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trail and western riding. He surprised us with how well he put himself together for the western

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pleasure this year because usually they're sat back a little more, they're tighter moving,

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they have to hold themselves for an extremely long time in this collected gait, and he killed it.

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Everyone really liked him. The judges really liked him. I think it was good for the western pleasure

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industry to see a horse off the rail, passing, moving more forward, and being rewarded for it.

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But there's multiple things to balance with a trainer who has as many horses as Aaron. I'm

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not the only person with a horse in that barn. Yes, I want him to focus on Denver,

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but he has other clients in the same boat. He had a horse for the junior this year,

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which for horses five and under is the hardest class. There's junior, there's level one which

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can be any aged horse but is usually younger, and then all these futurities and maturities.

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Sorry, hold on. My husband is sending me a nine years

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ago picture of us. Oh, nice. It's that bad, huh? There are all these futurities and maturities.

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Denver was in... we decided the best place for him would be the 10K Maturity at the NSBA World

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and the Congress. That meant a horse that had not won in excess of 10K in western pleasure

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by a certain point. There are all these different western pleasure classes. I've seen people in the

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comments being little haters like, It's because he can't go up with the big dogs. I'm like, Hold

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on. Hold on. Margot Robbie, shut up. He's fine. I don't care if he maybe wouldn't have won the

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green or the junior. I don't care. He's doing more than we imagined and he's amazing. So he

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did those classes at NSBA World and Congress. It was the same class at both. There was a variant of

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horses. Congress was twice the size of NSBA World, but it was a lot of the same horses

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in the top ten. He's competing against the same horses. At the World Show, it was the same horses.

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The horse that won the World Show is the one who was second to him at the Congress. Amazing horse.

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I'm not saying Denver would have won the World Show. He might have had a different ride. There

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were different judges. You can always have a bad step. Different opinions. It's a judged sport.

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Our viewpoint was there are only two days between the western pleasure and the western riding at the

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World Show. We decided at Congress to start his western riding journey. His first time

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showing western riding was at the Congress. It was great, but there was a lot to work on. They

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worked hard for three weeks between the two shows on the western riding and it came so far. It felt

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unfair to Denver to flip back and forth. Those two classes have contradictory training, especially

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for a young horse. Switching back and forth mentally is hard. Aaron said it would be unfair to

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practice western riding then suddenly go slow again for pleasure and then right back to western

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riding. It would be unfair. He's already proven he's really cool in pleasure. Our next goal is

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western riding. It didn't seem needed to do pleasure. It would be the same horses he's

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been showing against all year. I could be greedy and want a trophy. He possibly could have gotten

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one. But I don't care about that at this point. I care about his long term success.

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I think it was the right choice. He did have a couple bobbles. You'll see in the video we post

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next week, the World Show video. He didn't have a perfect run, but the difference between Congress

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and the World Show was exponential. That is where his talent will shine, the western

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riding. That's our goal for this coming year. I know that was a long answer but it was thorough.

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When you have a young stallion, some people cheer him on and love watching the journey,

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but some people for no reason want him to fail. I saw a lady commenting being so sweet, like,

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Oh my gosh, Aaron and Denver are unstoppable, they're amazing. And another lady said, He

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was stopped. Did you not see he was 12th? He was stopped. I'm like, Why are we being so dramatic?

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It doesn't matter that much. He actually lost. You enjoyed watching him. That's what matters.

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I said it in the TikTok and I'm glad I did. He didn't win but improvement is winning.

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He absolutely won for us. He did look a lot better. Everything we said we wanted... okay,

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if he does the trot walk better, that didn't happen, but he was straighter and more even.

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Next question. In your video riding Denver, you acted like Aaron might be mad at you for doing lead changes. Why can't you just do what you want with your own horse?

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I probably put more drama on that. He never got mad at me. I try to be respectful to him as the

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trainer. I've entrusted him and his program with my horse. He makes a lot of decisions for Denver

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because that's where he lives. I'm not with Denver all the time. He had Denver before I owned him. He

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started him. So each relationship with a trainer has terms. Aaron knows what he's doing. There's a

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method to the madness. I like to be kept in the loop. But it would be contradictory to my goals

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and the money I spend and my relationship with a professional who is taking care of my animal

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if every time I got on him, I did whatever I wanted and undid work or contradicted

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training. It's not what's best for everybody. So yeah, I threw a lead change in there. I

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wouldn't have done that if I didn't lope off and think, Oh yeah, I could do it. If I'd been unsure,

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I wouldn't have done it. Western riding is a class I've had success in and I've changed leads on a

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lot of horses. I felt confident enough in that moment. It was good. Aaron walked up and I told

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on myself. I said, I changed leads. He said, Was it good? I said, Yeah. He said, Show me. He said,

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Okay but if you're going to show me, let's make it a teaching moment. Lope him straight then

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break to a walk and stop so he's not turning either way. There's specific ways to do it

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without creating bad habits on a young horse. If you're going to pay someone and entrust them,

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don't contradict what they're doing. It feels different. I haven't ridden since July or August.

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I'm not in my prime riding. I'm not used to riding Denver specifically and he's only four. They're

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still babies. You have to be consistent with your cues to stay on task. It's unfair to confuse them.

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Anyway. Those glasses look really good on you. You like them? I've been surprised at your ability

Katie's Hidden Talent

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to knit and talk. I would have to pause. You've paused a couple times, but you've been rolling.

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Who's the scarf for? I don't know. Does someone want it? I'd wear it, but I'd also give it away. Would either of you wear a scarf? Yeah. Would you fight over it? No.

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Can we make that a segment? Do you want tassels on the end? Do you want it to be an infinity scarf?

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No to infinity. Can you put your chain garb on and fight? They do have chain now. I'm indifferent to

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tassels. I was thinking I want tassels on it. Tassels wouldn't deter me. But I might keep it.

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That would deter me. All right. Next question. What is next for Denver and the plan for 2026?

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He just finished at the World Show. They haven't left yet because they had a couple more horses to show. When they leave, they'll go home. He'll have a rest. A month of doing nothing. He'll go outside

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being a horse. These are athletes and he's just finished his biggest season. Big show in August,

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big show in October, big show in November. That's hard. Every athlete needs rest and recuperation.

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In the off season we might have the vet out and say, What are some things we can do to

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help him recuperate? Maybe massage, lasering, all that. He'll do that for

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a month. The only thing he might do is take pictures with me. Maybe a little photoshoot.

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After that, in January he'll move to High Point and live there through mid March. They will

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collect him for frozen semen in January because he has some mares booked for 2026. We're doing

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fresh semen for six weeks, February 1 through March 13. He'll be collected Monday, Wednesday,

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Friday. Fresh gets sent out to mares. After that, because he'll show, it'll be frozen only.

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His frozen semen is very good. Almost everyone got pregnant last year. Only

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two didn't. One was mine. It was Erlene. It was her own issues. It was a killer 2025 breeding

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season with frozen only. Mixing in fresh this year, he has more mares breeding in 2026.

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After he breeds, we're going all in on western riding. I think we'll find someone to maybe

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start him in trail. I don't know what that will look like for 2026, but starting him

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in it. Trail is hard. Super hard. But I think he'll be a freak at it. He's really good over

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poles. Don't watch the western riding and use that as your reference. He is good over poles.

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He's going to be more all around this year. If he does pleasure, it'll be me in non pro.

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I don't think pleasure will be something they look at. He'll be level one in western riding,

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not pleasure. He's won too much money in pleasure. Is there a level two? There is. What's the

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difference between two and three? Aaron wouldn't be able to show him in that. I could show him in

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level two amateur. I could show him in non pro limited. We might do those. But I don't

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want to be greedy. I want what's best for him and his career longevity. He's not a robot.

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I did this strand too tight and now it's hard. We'll see.

Why Is Jack Going to Training So Early

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Next question. Why are you sending Jack to training so

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early but waited to send Gretchen so late? I had zero plan when I got Gretchen. I got her

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because when I bought Code Red, I met Chandler Marks. Chandler's whole thing is minis. He has

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amazing stallions, amazing mares, shows them, knows the bloodlines, all of it. I reached out and

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said, Hey, I'd love minis at some point. If you have broodmares for sale, let me know. He said,

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How about this one, this one, and this baby. He gave me a three for deal. Both mares were bred.

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Karen carrying Squirt, Regina carrying George and Gretchen. Gretchen was four

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months old. That was my introduction to minis. I had no plan. Didn't know about showing. My

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plan for Gretchen, because she was going to be bigger, was that she could be a kids horse one day. By the time she's old enough, hopefully when I have kids. She's so pretty.

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Then I learned more about minis, how athletic they can be, how versatile, halter, driving, jumping,

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liberty. There's so much. It's a cool world to document. Minis are smaller and cheaper to house,

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feed, train. Not cheap but more attainable. Bringing this world

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into the light and doing it the correct way. With Jack, when he was born, Chandler said he was

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a nice baby. You should keep it. If I was going to send him to training, I wanted him with someone

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who knows what they're doing. And Gretchen, her sire is known for driving. The cart is so

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cool. I thought, What if I send her to training because it's perfect timing, and send Jack to do

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halter and the weanling and yearling halter. The reason I didn't send Gretchen earlier is

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because I had zero plan. I probably should have because her full siblings have been fantastic.

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With Jack, if he's going to be a halter horse by spring, the earlier he gets to the trainer the

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better for handling and fitting and feeding. If he's left intact and going to be a mini stallion,

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he needs good habits. That's the plan. We'll hopefully follow the mini horse

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show journey next year. They have shows at Ocala. We could see them in training,

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take a lesson. He has so many minis. He's going to Emily Cond. I need a driving lesson. With one that

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knows what they're doing. I need one where I don't need to know what I'm doing. I want a chariot

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though. They'll take you for a loop. Can they pull two people? I don't know. They're little.

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Do they have mini mules? They do. This trainer doesn't train mini mules. Mini mules can be as

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little as the same as a horse because it's a mini donkey and a mini horse. Think of how

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little Dolly is. And bred to one of those mini stallions. That would be a henny. A mini mule

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would be Karen bred to Hank. Like if we bred Karen to Hank. We're not doing that. But think

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of the workload if you had a mule. People are like, I do so much work with minis. Cool. Could

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pull two people. And a plow. The mules. Next question. Will you be bottle feeding

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the mini calves or letting them raise them? We have two mini cows due. Poppy and Petunia.

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They're due April 26 because we AI'd them. Both due same day. We'll recheck

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them. Hopefully still pregnant. When we got the babies, they were on the bottle. I don't have a

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solid opinion. Bottle fed calves get friendlier and become puppies. Super friendly. But I think

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we'll leave them with their moms. I know we're letting Poppy and Petunia raise their own babies.

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Because there's only two, we'll bring them up to the cow barn and calve them out in the stall, not the stall but cattle barn bay. We'll try to do a calving season. Cameras. Because we'll keep them

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up closer and Poppy and Petunia are so friendly, we'll get to love on the babies like with the horses. They might not be friendly day one but with the horses you can love on the moms and

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babies become inquisitive. I think with Poppy and Petunia we'll get the same thing without bottle

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feeding. If they're heifers, we're keeping them. Next question. On to the big horse questions.

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How many foals will you be keeping from the 2026 foal crop and do you know which ones?

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We have nine babies coming. Last year I said I'm only keeping two and then I kept four. I'm going

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to try to keep no more than four. It doesn't make sense to do more. With us potentially having an

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in house trainer, keeping four is better because we can see what they look like as yearlings, two

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year olds. Then make decisions based on how they're maturing, which fits our needs best,

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and potentially sell them to show homes later. There are two embryos I purchased this season. I

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will always keep an embryo past weaning because I paid for that embryo. It doesn't make sense

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to sell them at weaning because I won't make that much. I'm buying from mares I don't own.

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It's an opportunity at a show horse I wouldn't have had. So the Waffle House Code Red baby,

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absolutely not for sale. You'd have to pull out a lot to get that baby. And the Only Blue Couture

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VS Code Red baby will probably be a keeper at least through yearling because it's an embryo.

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My mares... I'm going to have a hard time not keeping the Indie VS Code Red baby. It would be

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really cool. It's an appendix baby because she's a Thoroughbred mare. The Trudy First Things First baby will be a really good horse. I feel like I have to keep one of the First Things

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First babies because I want to make sure they get into the show pen and on the correct route

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to get his babies proven as early as possible. I'm picky about where his babies go. I'm picky

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with everybody but more picky with him. Did I just knit? I just knitted like

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four. Apparently you can't knit and talk. Did you do KS or KP?

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So I can't keep the Ricky Hey Good Looking. Another thing. People asked why I bought a mare I have to foal out and the baby goes back. Ricky is who I want to breed to Denver. I looked

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at my mares and I have awesome hunt seat mares to breed to Denver but all my high caliber western

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mares are his mother, sister, or niece cousin. I needed to buy a couple. That's why I bought

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Buttercup and Ricky for him for the western. She's bred and due early in the season. That

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allows me to have full control over breeding season with her. If I had her at someone

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else's place until after weaning, it would be a nightmare or I'd have to wait a year. I'm not

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doing that. The deal was that because I don't mind another baby. It's something to follow along with.

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Taff Dickerson is who the baby goes back to. He's fantastic. It's forging that

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relationship. I'll foal her out. I get videos. I won't charge board. It's fine.

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The Happy baby and the Annie baby are both First Things First. We'll see with those who

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I keep. I don't want to lock myself into anyone other than the embryos right now.

Plan for the Current Horses in Training

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Next question. What's the plan for the current horses in training?

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Penelope is a coming three year old. She's Trudy and Allocate Your Assets. She's doing English.

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She'll do hunter under saddle. Whezzy is Indie and Full Metal Jacket, Walter's full sister. She's

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gigantic. She got picked up today. Scott Kyle Performance Horses did a fantastic job with her

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foundation. They hauled her everywhere. She looks amazing. But it makes sense if I have

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two horses doing hunter under saddle and traveling to shows to have them in one place. Jamie English

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showed Hank. That's who has Penelope. She's had other horses of mine. So I moved Whezzy to Jamie.

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Whezzy will be four this year. She's a late bloomer and so big. We gave her time to grow. I'd

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love to see if she'd be competitive enough to do the four and five year old futurities and maiden

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four year old stuff and green horse. There's lots of avenues for her in hunter under saddle prior to

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an English all around career. We'll see this year. Denver we already talked about. Yearlings this

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year will go into training next year. They'll be on their own timeline. I don't know their hard

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start date. We'll go off them. Last question. Why can't

37:27

Kennedy have the pond the mini cows use? Give her the pond. Are there other horses there?

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So this is just Kennedy. You see that pond? No. When I got Kennedy, she's the queen because she's

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Denver's mom. She had a pond at her old home in North Carolina. Way better ground than here. More

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aesthetic. It was the most beautiful pasture I've ever seen. This is the slums here. Seriously. I

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feel bad. She had this pond. She would swim in it, roll in it, loved the pond. Now she has no pond.

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People say give her a pond. They see the mini cows have one. But it's so far from the barn. Nowhere

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near it. There are no other horses up there. It's so deep. This isn't a pond. Their pond was

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walk in. This is 20 feet immediately. Not safe. I have this huge investment in this horse. I'm not

38:49

putting her in this giant pasture with this pond. If I ever move and have beautiful flat pastures

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with no rocks, I'll dig a safe pond for Kennedy. But until then, no. I have no pond for Kennedy.

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We're not blasting shelf rock. That's what I'd have to do. If you live in Middle Tennessee,

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you know the rock is for real. It is rock. That's it. Let me know if you enjoyed this format,

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if we want to sprinkle these in of answering questions and going more in depth. Thank you

39:36

Lindsay for being our moderator. Let us know what other questions you want and what other

39:45

content you want to see. If there are any games you want us to play. I'll see you all on the next.