"It Really Stands for 7 Kids..."
The tedious construction of building a reputable "brand" is extremely difficult, and definitely not for the faint of heart. It takes consistency, perseverance, and a lot of patience. There are going to be a lot of sleepless nights wondering, "Why in the hell am I doing this?" You're going to want to throw in the towel, walk away, and give up absolutely everything you've worked so hard for. But I can share this wealth of knowledge with you, it makes one hell of a difference if it's something that you're truly passionate about, something that sets your soul on fire, so much that you're willing to fight for it everyday of your life. Think about it, dig deep and stay focused on putting one foot in front of the other.
Finding a stallion prospect that you want to base your whole career on, that fits your budget, and meets your incomparable taste for perfection is a very tough financial road to go down. It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Everybody has their own opinions on what perfection is, but that is the absolute beauty of it all. We recently visited a state of the art breeding facility with some of the top racing stallions in the industry, each stallion that was presented to us were extremely successful and built completely different from one another. Height, conformation, how one body part tied into the next, it was quite a wake up call. Once you find something that you believe in, something that you love and can stand behind, that one missing piece, it will all fall into place like a puzzle. Slowly, very slowly, it will all fall into place. Remember, that's where that patience will come in.
7k has steadily evolved over the past fifteen years, and really started to flourish after the purchase of a very special bay roan stallion prospect named "Just Fire." His mind, willingness, and natural riding ability really had no comparison to anything Kyle had ever seen, and it really left a memorable impression on his life.
The 7 was taken from the last foal crop's brand of the 7S Ranch proudly displayed on the young stallion's hip. And the K, well it came from Kyle. We actually joke quite a bit about it meaning that we're going to have 7 kids eventually. We're going to need that many to help take care of the farm and all the horses someday. Soon, one stallion turned into three, and a couple of broodmares turned into, well...more than I can personally keep track of. I joke with him that he needs to make me some flash cards so I can keep all my ducks in a row when clients come out to visit. All the while, he has everything imprinted in his brain down to every intricate detail. Its quite fascinating, especially to somebody new to the industry like myself, to sit back and watch somebody strategically plan out the perfect mare/stallion combination for the ideal performance prospect. There really is an art to it, finding that "magic cross," and then when there's color genetics involved, well...that's when I throw my arms up and head to the barn to clean some stalls. I'll leave that up to the professionals.
Welcome to 7k Performance Horses. We cannot wait to share our adventures with you!
-Ali and Kyle