Mini Appaloosas Make Great Pets Ethel Morro is sold on her mini Appaloosas. off a stallion while being given a ride. Morro The little horses keep up her spirits and even said he stopped, turned and went back to her carry her home when she needs a lift. In as if to see if she was all right. Even around fact, she credits the horses with improving mares in heat, the stallion doesn’t react to her health. them if children are close by, says Morro. “I’ve had a lot of problems since I fi rst got “They’re intelligent and can be my minis, and they’ve helped me get through housebroken,” she says. “People are even them,” says Morro. “Their hearts are as big training them as companion animals because as Texas, and they’ll bend over backwards of their longevity. They can live to be 40.” for you. If you treat them well, they’ll do While she has a waiting list for her mini anything you ask of them.” Appaloosas, the price is not what it once was. Morro describes being stranded when her Having bred them for 14 years, she has seen car broke down, and health problems made the investment bubble build and burst. People walking home impossible. When her husband who bought minis to sell to other breeders spotted her off in the distance, he hooked their have lost thousands, if not tens of thousands stallion up to a cart and came to the rescue. of dollars. Morro tells of one breeder who “The stallion carried us home without even bought a stallion for $17,000 and eventually breaking a sweat,” she says. sold it for $500. “My husband and I fell in love with mini Appaloosas when we fi rst saw them and bought That stallion is less than 34 in. tall and “We didn’t go into it with expectations a farm so we could have some,” says Ethel Morro. “They make great pets.” weighs just 150 lbs. However, she says minis of making handfuls of money,” says Morro. can pull 3 times their weight and carry up to “My husband and I fell in love with them the past 2 years, she plans to breed a number Mini Acres, 6886 280th St., Hartley, Iowa about 65 lbs. when we saw our fi rst minis and bought a of the mini Appaloosas in 2015 for the 2016 51346 (ph 712 728-3149; tinyhooves51@ The gentle nature of her minis was borne farm so we could have some.” season. hotmail.com). out when her 3-year-old grandniece slipped Though she was unable to breed them for Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Morro

“Salesmen Samples” Sell For Big Bucks Working scale model farm tools that sales- One of the most expensive items sold men used to use to take door to door while recently was a road grader, a scale model of plying their wares, have been hot sellers at the Stockland 80 (aka Little Giant) made by recent antique auctions. They can sell for the Stockland Road Machinery Company of thousands and even tens of thousands of dol- Minneapolis, Minn. Made with brass, cast lars. Leading antique auction house James D. aluminum, wood and steel with a full range Julia, Inc. has 2 auctions a year dedicated to of movement and action, it sold for $23,000. advertising specialties, including salesmen A set of smaller samples, including 2 samples. pitchforks (one with an original canvas cover, Working scale model farm tools that salesmen took door to door are hot sellers at an- “Farm-related items are among the most point protector and metal hang tag), tobog- tique auctions. This horse-powered walnut and cast iron baler sold recently for $5,175. popular,” says Andrew Truman of the Antique gan, pulley, nesting tubs, wooden extension Advertising Division. “There is hardly a sale ladder, and axle sold for $2,070. where we don’t have several of these items.” Truman cautions FARM SHOW readers High demand items have included a 16-in. who own salesmen samples and are interested wide, 13-in. deep and 6-in. high reaper that in selling them at some point to think before sold for $10,665. It was made from brass and they restore any worn or damaged part.“There wood with fi ne-toothed gears, chain drive are two schools of thought on restoration,” he and working mechanics. Everything from says. “Many buyers like them the way they the ground drive to working levers simulated came off the store room fl oor. If it has been the full-scale machine. It even came in the restored, it may be hard to see if a part has original carrying case and included a scale been changed or replaced.” A 16-in. wide, 6-in. high reaper (right) size wrench and a canister of loose parts. If you’re interested in buying, auctions sold for $10,665. A set of smaller sam- ples, including 2 pitchforks, toboggan, A walnut and cast iron baler designed to are conducted in person, online, by phone pulley, nesting tubs, wooden extension be powered by horses sold for $5,175, even and absentee with a staff person acting as ladder, and axle, sold for $2,070. though it wasn’t in working order. It included a personal representative and bidding to a offset gear and cable mechanisms and win- maximum value. “If a reader is interested in Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, An- Skowhegan Rd., Fairfi eld, Maine 04937 (ph dows on the sides of the chute so prospective selling an item, I encourage them to contact drew P. Truman, Antique Advertising, Toy 207 453-7125, toll free 800 565-9298; info@ buyers could see the process. us by email, letter or phone,” Truman says. & Doll Division, James D. Julia, Inc., 203 jamesdjulia.com; www.jamesdjulia.com).

These Cowboys Milk Wild Cows Wild cow milking comes with a warning: a herd of 30 that roam freely on the Don’t try this at home. 367-acre ranch. Teams of 4 cowboys compete in the timed His personal favorite is the “broke horse event. One rides a horse and ropes race.” A cowboy ropes a horse and another the wild cow. Another, called a mugger, cowboy puts on the blanket and holds the cow on the front end. A third and tack, then rides it. Though the horses cowboy holds the tail while the fourth milks are broke, the speed and excitement turns a “pourable” amount of milk into a bottle and it into “a very wooly event,” McLean delivers it to the judges. Winning times are says. typically less than 1 1/2 min. The winning Other events include team doctoring, time in 2014 was 52 seconds. sorting and branding (with paint). Mike McLean at the Bar U Ranch near Ranch are very popular, McLean Longview, Alberta, holds a each year notes, and draw good crowds. in August and the wild cow milking event has “The big thing is you need an become a star attraction. McLean explains experienced core of people who know that wild cow milking dates back to 1923 at what they are doing,” he suggests for the Calgary Stampede. It was discontinued at people interested in organizing an event. some point but the Bar U Ranch has brought “There are lots of ranch rodeo associations it back. around to get more information.” “Ranch rodeos like ours are designed to Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bar hold events that are like what happens on U Ranch National Historic Site, P.O. Box a ranch with real cowboys,” McLean says. 168, Longview, Alta., Canada T0L 1H0 Wild cow milking has become a star attraction at a rodeo each year in Alberta. Teams of The wild cows used in the event come from (ph 403 395-2212; www.pc.gc.ca/baru). 4 cowboys compete in the timed event.

24 • FARM SHOW • vol. 38, no. 6 • www.farmshow.com • www.bestfarmbuys.com • [email protected] • 1-800-834-9665