I grew up reading Marguerite Henry, and once I read King of the Wind, I HAD to have an Arabian. My mother "indulged" me with a Nabor++ bred gelding named Barna-B-Gazi. And boy was that horse a Barney! I love my hotblooded horses, though. Nothin' pushbutton about them.
But, what I love more is a good working horse, so for me it's any horse that can work a cow. I've never had the opportunity to do it, but I had a farrier who was a great cow horseman and we'd spend the whole shoeing session talking about his cutting and roping horses.
I'm at a loss came home to find 3/4 of my biggest pasture burnt to the ground.....wanna cry don't have enough for hay all winter and now I don't have fields to feed....farming is like growing it's all about working through the problems.....it's never about reaping the rewards....at least for me.
I can't do much but cry and hit this joint. Ok time to get creative.
It's time to call on other resources. Do you have them? I mean, I'm down here in SoCal, just drove through Arizona and New Mexico and saw TONS of alfalfa being harvested. I know it's expensive, but given the number of head you're running I'm wondering if there may be a program to help you offset your costs. Let me know if you'd like me to do some digging.