Dan: So you are the lucky person who got the dun Connemara mare from GGF. That should be a really nice baby.
We try to maintain a FB page, blog, website and Youtube channel, and update several times a week. It is a labor of love, but gives everyone a view of what we do as well as what we produce.
Recently an interested shopper asked if we could post new video footage of a youngster as the footage on Youtube was two months old. She lives less than six miles away!
By and large, however, internet shoppers are a delight to work with and appreciate the effort that goes in to raising youngsters as well as training them for a successful performance career.
Maintaining a web presence takes several hours per week.
I don’t usually post actual links, but our FB page does feature a mob of butt-high youngsters…it doesn’t seem to deter anyone! 
[QUOTE=Joanne;6198078]
Dan: So you are the lucky person who got the dun Connemara mare from GGF. That should be a really nice baby.[/QUOTE]
Yep we agree! Thanks for noticing.
Dan
Some great points made! I guess for me, I try to keep my website up to date, but if there no news to report then Its just going to wait until there is something to say! I do my own site, but many people pay others to do updates. So, it would make sense to wait until you have a bit of ‘stuff’ for the web person to update. (At least, that is how I do updates for my employer’s website, since they have a web design firm that does the updates)
Along the lines of photographing youngsters, I believe its better to have an old, or no photo of a horse that doesnt look its best. You only get once chance to make that first impression. 
I keep my website current and actually have LOTS of pictures on my facebook page. From reading the above posts I must be the only one who will post pictures of my horses from 3 months on… I like to keep current pictures of my horses (yearlings included!) As the horse ages (or until it sells) I will remove most of the “younger” pictures, but I do like having them on there because people can see what they looked like as a foal and basically month by month after that until they are under saddle. My thought on this is that way people can see what the horse in front of them will look like (or have a great idea anyways) when they are under saddle.
Here is my almost 9 month old yack…I mean colt from yesterday
I had a fabulous lady re-do my website about 6 weeks ago now and it is MOSTLY complete but still need to post more pictures and updates in the Guaranteed Gold section. Havent gotten all of his offspring up yet but Panoramic’s is compete - just need to post the updates on new foals as they are born on his
Bless her heart - she is doing ALL of it for me now, but when I have a minute, she gave me step by step instructions, I will wade through and post a few pictures into existing galleries before tackling setting up new galleries, new pages, etc
She “said” its very easy to use but thats for HER - not sure if it will be for ME!!! :lol:
I have had more people just email and comment about how great the new site looks - it has been well worth the effort to get it updated and revamped and I cant thank Natashya enough!
I think (actually I KNOW!) a properly done, up to date website, is worth its weight in gold for advertising and promoting your business for you when you are busy doing other things …
I own Rolling Stone Farm mentioned in the first post. Thank you for appreciating my website! I have to just say that I started out as a small breeder and after many years of working my butt off, have morphed into a large breeder. Yes, we have two full time young horse trainers on staff. They are now riding 17 young horses, most of them offered for sale so they need to be amateur ready, and 3 stallions, all competing at various levels up to PSG. I no longer clean stalls, but I spend an unbelievable amount of time taking videos, editing videos, putting those videos on Youtube, updating the video links and verbiage on the website, dealing with customer inquiries for sales horses or stallion services, hosting customer visits and hopefully dealing with the subsequent PPE, and paying bills. I had more free time when I was small without 100+ horses to feed and manage. If I make it look easy, I will take that as a compliment. It is definately not easier today as Pepperidge Farm compared to when I was the local bakery, to use ahf’s analogy.
On the contrary, it is much more difficult. I had different problems as a small breeder, for sure, but not more difficult ones.
www.rollingstonefarm.com
I too finally broke down last year and paid someone to update my website and she actually continues to update/fix it for me. Which is really good because it was hacked a few months ago (seriously - who would want to hack a horse site?? sigh, juvenilles) and she was able to fix it for me and keep it going. That being said, I too find it hard to keep current photos but I try my best. But I work full time in a demanding (read stressful) job, and I run my farm alone - so rarely have help to hold horses etc. You tend to get creative (I’ve found I love my video camera lol). So the website tends to have only a couple or 3 photos of each horse, and I post more photos on FB. My web designer will generally pull the photos off FB or tell me which ones to send her and then she posts them on the website. You can also generally tell who I am not keen to sell as they are the LAST ones to get update LOL.
I also try to keep my website up to date, but like others, I will not post photos of young horses when they do not look their best (ie, yak stage). Winter time and no indoor do not lend themselves well to updates through the winter! And I also work a intense (stressful) full time job.
But all in all, not all breeders fall into the category of not updating. I think a lot of them do update. I know my website has a tracker and you can see when I last updated.
[QUOTE=ElegantExpressionsFarm;6198116]
From reading the above posts I must be the only one who will post pictures of my horses from 3 months on… I like to keep current pictures of my horses (yearlings included!)[/QUOTE]
Me too. I’m another one who will put up photos of youngsters at various ages. I typically sell mine the same year they are born (generally as weanlings), but I’ll still go back and add photos to my website as they grow up (when I can get them.) I have photos from all sorts of ages and growth stages scattered around my website on the Updates page and on the Offspring page.
On the other hand, you can’t please everyone with your website. One person’s “your website is too big and I can’t find anything” may be another person’s “love your website, it’s so informative.” One person’s “omg your yearling is butt high why would you post that for the world to see” is another person’s “I’m so glad you keep your website up to date.” And so forth…
Count me in the group who likes to see current websites and photos, can see past winter fuzzies, and understands youngsters go thru growth phases.
I would be remiss if I didn’t give Ellie (Tasker here on Coth) kudos for her expertise and consistent effort on our website. http://watermark-farm.net/ She has links to the registry we use as well as Facebook on the website. The farm blog ( http://ellie-watermarkfarmhappenings.blogspot.com/ ) also has a link to the Facebook fan page, currently with over 6,500 likes, many from overseas.
Since we train our own horses up through grand prix dressage (Ellie has her gold and silver USDF medals) and I have put in 40 plus years in the judge’s box, we have a good bit of confidence about what we want to ride and breed.
And needless to say, we are very proud of our American horses, even if they show their yak-like selves in photos on the internet! Most people like seeing healthy happy horses. We get many inquiries because of these facets of public relations. There are, in addition, quicklinks to our Youtube channel throughout the website as well as on Facebook.
All this generates interest in breeding, sales and instruction.
I am ashamed to admit that my website is sadly out of date, and that I am clueless. :no:
I need to attend to that (the webpage, not the clueless part) so if anyone has a web person they can recommend, who can do a nice job for a reasonable price, please let me know!
[QUOTE=ElegantExpressionsFarm;6198116]
I keep my website current and actually have LOTS of pictures on my facebook page. From reading the above posts I must be the only one who will post pictures of my horses from 3 months on… [/QUOTE]
Oh, I do at least a few pictures each year - and leave up a few foal pictures, then a few yearling pictures, and so on until the horse sells. So each horse’s sales page includes most recent pics at the top. But I don’t post Winter pictures - muddy fuzzball pics - although I have been known to post those on the FB page, especially the silly “character” pictures:lol:
It is much harder to get good pictures in the yearling/2 year old stage, so there are less updates during that time. And once under saddle, the updates are at least monthly with new video and pictures!
And - Mo, I don’t think it is any easier to run a big breeding farm - just different challenges. Small breeders, big breeders, no matter what, it is hard work - just different hard work. You have lovely horses and a comprehensive website!
<smile>…don’t take offense at AHF’s analogy, Mo. It’s just the difference between someone that bakes cookies for a living and someone that cooks them out of their house :D! Sorta. I KNEW I wasn’t kicking you hard enough at the testing. You were able to still walk at the end of it. But sheesh…there were just too many people with cameras around ;).
I definitely can relate to both AHF AND Mo, here. We have to do it all and HOPE that we reach the right people. We recognize that every penny that goes into a horse has to be recouped or we go under. And, we’ve been around for almost 30 years now, which I think “does” say something. Not many warmblood breeders can say that - Mo is one of the exceptions, as is Judy Hedreen and some of the old standards such as Irons Spring and Hilltop. I think we ALL know what NEEDS to be done. It’s just a matter of how to afford it and where to find the time to do it! As my father used to say, “when your up to your butt in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your original intent was to drain the swamp”, comes to mind. There are days - like yesterday - when I’m just happy to have made it through the day with everyone fed and watered.
Things we’ve learned through the years? Absolutely do NOT put a bad photo out there. As AHF noted, despite the claims, most people cannot see past the yakness or growth spurts to see what the ugly duckling is going to look like. She’s absolutely, without any doubt, correct in that. Additionally, every time we have to do photos or videos, we risk divorce around here <LOL>. Funny that in everything we do, Jos and I are pretty much joined at the hip and we work REALLY well together - especially as we’re together pretty much 24/7. But hang a camera around his neck and I truly want to kill him. I suspect the feeling is mutual 
(love ya, Jos). I SWEAR we should take up smoking pot or drinking before we go out and take photos…but then the photos would probably reflect that as well <rolling eyes>.
Next, the website thing. No one does it as well as you will yourself. BUT…where to find the time? And not everyone has the same vision. Websites “are” our main venue for promotion/advertising, but they are time consuming. In order to keep them dynamic and interesting and current, they require constant care. Criminey, I get regular suggestions from people telling me what I “should” (that word “should” be removed from the English language) be doing to make the site better. And I know that when I’m done with a page, I forget to go back and make sure it’s current. But at least now, it is my responsibility. It stagnated for years because I “was” relying on someone else to keep it current and it just wasn’t happening. Now I can’t blame anyone for that…just me.
And, fwiw, I think reputation is EVERYTHING. I’d have no qualms about buying horses from some of the breeders here from looking at an old photo and a phone call talking to them about the horse. Why? Because I KNOW them by reputation. A good breeder recognizes that if they sell you a horse that doesn’t suit you, it’s a lose/lose situation. You are not going to be happy and you’re going to “advertise” that, the horse isn’t going to go where it will excel, and it reflects poorly on that breeder. I know when someone calls and asks about a horse we have advertise, I like to say it like it is. So, an old photo isn’t necessarily a bad thing, if it’s a good photo. If you like what you see, contact the breeder.
I think I speak for many people here, everything we do must be weighed as to it’s importance and the “payoff”. Just because a facility doesn’t have a flashy website, does NOT mean they don’t necessarily have good quality animals and they may be where you can go for a good price! As we don’t do this as a hobby, everything we do, we have to be able to recoup the investment.
And on that note, I’m off to deal with the yaks. I won’t be updating photos any time soon…
OMG Kathy, I can SO relate to this!!!
The worst fights my husband & I have had have stemmed from us trying to do photos or video together!!! I was just telling my good friend that she & I need to just do pics together. Our hubbies just. do. not. get. it.
Have not tried to get help from hubby with pics/video for many, many years. I’d prefer to keep us both alive and speaking. :winkgrin:
[quote=Equine Reproduction;6198395] Additionally, every time we have to do photos or videos, we risk divorce around here <LOL>. Funny that in everything we do, Jos and I are pretty much joined at the hip and we work REALLY well together - especially as we’re together pretty much 24/7. But hang a camera around his neck and I truly want to kill him. I suspect the feeling is mutual (love ya, Jos). I SWEAR we should take up smoking pot or drinking before we go out and take photos…but then the photos would probably reflect that as well <rolling eyes>.
[/quote]
Ditto this…worst fights with husband are when video or photographing is involved, especially when trying to get photos of foals!
Since I am the one who started all this, let me say just a few more things to clear up my humble opinion.
I check out websites to look for certain bloodlines that I like and/or matchings that I did not know about that turned out great.
I do not need to see updated photos of babies in their yak stages. I can tell by looking at 3 month old photos if a breeder has something I might want to call about. Additionally, as an experienced horse person (really, if you are NOT experienced, you probably shouldn’t be looking at babies anyway), I know babies go through the hideous muley yak phases.
What I mean by not updated are the ones where the newest horses they have listed are from two or three years ago. This is especially evident when their stud fees on their great stallions are from something like 2009.
There are quite a few of you (obviously fantastic, yet frustrating) wonderful, successful breeders who sell everything when weanlings and have nothing to offer me. Believe me, YOU are the ones I will be checking back on in a few months!
While I do have a FB page, I hate working with Facebook. While some of my friends in their 40s love FB, I am not a big fan and, embarrassingly, I am not very good at navigating it at all. So I wonder if that really is a good advertising medium. (A lot of us folks with the money to spend on a quality baby are, usually, “of a certain age” and not quite as technologically literate.)
I just want to know what you have, their basic conformation (at 3 months is fine), your general asking price and if you can throw in a youtube video, great.
Why is that? We are the same; yesterday’s little photo op, requiring only a conformation shot, produced a great deal of snarling and hostility. You would think that would be a piece of cake, but nooooo. What it did do is make me swear on all that is holy that next summer, when I have a foal all tricked out in braids, I will do a conformation or shot or two so I’m never faced with that project on a muddy, wooly, butt-high almost yearling in late winter.
Good point Dan, for Alexandra. I’m going to Germany in April and would love to know where Alexandra’s farm is :).
I am a “small breeder” - 3 to 6 foals per year, and a one-man band. I do all the mucking, the handling etc - and there is only me to take photos or videos – no-one to hold the horse, or walk it towards or away from the camera.
I appreciate what AHF says! I had someone pop in this morning, while I was mucking, wanting to see the gang - which consists of hairy muddy yearlings/two year olds, and 8 to 9 month pregnant hairy, muddy broodmares. They really don’t look their best in March , and the ground is not conducive to showing off their gaits!!
However, at least one can judge their attitudes / temperaments – something. I hope she returns in May, to sleek youngsters, and shiny mares with foals at foot.
I also agree that pictures of hairy yearling yaks are not sales-tools, and the suckling/weanling pictures better represent future potential. However, just something to deal with I guess …
