What do you know about tires ?

(post by Jason) I commented earlier today that it seems like I spend half my life and all our money fixing or replacing tires. Does it feel this way to you, too ? Just for fun, I counted all the tires on this farm and for the first time I can quantify why I feel this way. Between vehicles, farm equipment, trailers and tractors there are more than sixty tires to keep track of on this farm. It is no wonder I feel this way.

Caring for the horses is definitely the fun part of our job. It is also the part that the public and our clients intuitively understand. Keeping track of and maintaining sixty tires and all the equipment that sits atop them, two hundred or more acres of land plus barns, run-in sheds, and miles of fence is less intuitive, definitely has less “sex appeal” to the public, but is equally necessary. So is keeping good records of what’s going on with the horses, keeping their owners in the loop, scheduling vets and farriers, and keeping the bills paid and the cheques coming in.

We get a lot of inquiries every week from folks that are intrigued by what we do and who wonder if they could replicate our business for themselves. Judging by the number of inquiries we field, and how often we are told “I would love to do what you do,” running a retirement farm seems to be a dream job for a lot of people. It is definitely a lot of fun but a lot of the work we do does not carry the same allure as interacting with the horses. I told Melissa earlier today that I think I’m going to start replying to all of these people who ask about running a retirement farm with a question, “what do you know about tires ?” If nothing else the responses should be interesting.

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Homer