Breeders Websites

[Tasker]

On the subject of posting not-so-perfect moments of development -

I am the photographer/webmaster, so the website has a fair amount of ‘candid’ shots mixed in with undersaddle, conformation and more formal shots. That is my personality impacting the final product - I am not a stuffy or unfriendly person, so I would like to invite people in to see the horses/farm the way that I do - warm, friendly and very happy in their lives. The website is definitely heavy on the photos (and the number of horses & amount of info), so it hopefully provides a comprehensive look at the breeding, riding and training program. The album of yearlings is on FB as they are all turning 5 now and beautiful packages maturing horseflesh and current photo albums are up for all but 1 of them. shrug Nothing to hide at this point. They turned out fine for all they were gangly string beans at one point. There are some other youngsters (2009’s & '10’s) that I will not even photograph until they even out a bit more and lose their winter coats…so a nice day in mid-April will be their day to play in front of the cameras. Hopefully. But FWIW I even opted for a group shot of the ‘unfortunate’ yearlings as the cover shot of the Farm Page on FB with the new Timeline format…right dimensions and more interesting than just a landscape of the farm. The ancient babysitter is even in that shot!

I am currently trading riding lessons with a friend who wants to introduce a double bridle to her horses for operating the video camera - can’t ride and video at the same time! So look into the barter system if you can’t rope a spouse/friend/relative into helping without WWIII erupting. There are also professional videographers that will come to you and shoot for part of a day/full day. We have one set up to come to do the stallions as soon as they finish shedding out.

Like not again (mom) said - it is a labor of love to find time to update the website/FB/blog/YouTube consistently but there is no other way to market effectively…IMO of course! I try to do one of the four before morning barn every day and then put something up on FB (a snapshot of something interesting from the day usually) before going to bed. We rolled 6500 Fans yesterday and should break 7000 in less than a week - so folks seem to like the ‘schedule’.

[ElegantExpressionsFa]

[QUOTE=Tasker;6200228]
On the subject of posting not-so-perfect moments of development -

I am the photographer/webmaster, so the website has a fair amount of ‘candid’ shots mixed in with undersaddle, conformation and more formal shots. That is my personality impacting the final product - I am not a stuffy or unfriendly person, so I would like to invite people in to see the horses/farm the way that I do - warm, friendly and very happy in their lives. The website is definitely heavy on the photos (and the number of horses & amount of info), so it hopefully provides a comprehensive look at the breeding, riding and training program. The album of yearlings is on FB as they are all turning 5 now and beautiful packages maturing horseflesh and current photo albums are up for all but 1 of them. shrug Nothing to hide at this point. They turned out fine for all they were gangly string beans at one point. There are some other youngsters (2009’s & '10’s) that I will not even photograph until they even out a bit more and lose their winter coats…so a nice day in mid-April will be their day to play in front of the cameras. Hopefully. But FWIW I even opted for a group shot of the ‘unfortunate’ yearlings as the cover shot of the Farm Page on FB with the new Timeline format…right dimensions and more interesting than just a landscape of the farm. The ancient babysitter is even in that shot!

Like not again (mom) said - it is a labor of love to find time to update the website/FB/blog/YouTube consistently but there is no other way to market effectively…IMO of course! I try to do one of the four before morning barn every day and then put something up on FB (a snapshot of something interesting from the day usually) before going to bed. We rolled 6500 Fans yesterday and should break 7000 in less than a week - so folks seem to like the ‘schedule’. :)[/QUOTE]

^^ Same here…but on a MUCH smaller scale!! I do everything with my videos and pictures…throw in being a single mom with a 2 yr old and a 10 month old to the mix but I really try to keep something new every day or so…

You can ad me as one of your “likes” now too!! I was happy to break the 100 mark the other day on my farms page…I still have a LONG way to go!!

PS Love the shot of the youngsters on you page!

[Tasker]

EEF - Thank you so much! You deserve extra credit and kudos for balancing a family in with horses…that is amazing to me!! :yes: I’m going to Like your page as well and then it’s off to the salt mines for the day…whoops I mean barn! :lol:

Happy riding!

[Fred]

Tasker, you do a great job posting updates on FB, and I enjoy seeing your beautiful horses. That one lovely young black mare needs to come live with me as I have posted repeatedly.
I find FB a lot easier to manage and to update with offspring pics and performance results.

AFR has his own page there, so I am hoping you will ‘Like’ him as well and find out how the ‘babies’ are doing.
(of course I don’t know how to link to my FB page)

[Tapperjockey]

[QUOTE=Fred;6200293]
Tasker, you do a great job posting updates on FB, and I enjoy seeing your beautiful horses. That one lovely young black mare needs to come live with me as I have posted repeatedly.
I find FB a lot easier to manage and to update with offspring pics and performance results.

AFR has his own page there, so I am hoping you will ‘Like’ him as well and find out how the ‘babies’ are doing.
(of course I don’t know how to link to my FB page)[/QUOTE]

go to your facebook page. at the top should be your link, and you just copy/paste it.

this should be it http://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Fine-Romance/119405697399?ref=ts

[Sonesta]

I, too, post a lot more photos and daily stuff on our facebook page at www.facebook.com/sonestafarms

In fact, just posted about 20 new photos of our new Rubignon/Feiner Stern/Diamont filly!

[Perfect_Pony]

[QUOTE=Sonesta;6200512]
I, too, post a lot more photos and daily stuff on our facebook page at www.facebook.com/sonestafarms

In fact, just posted about 20 new photos of our new Rubignon/Feiner Stern/Diamont filly![/QUOTE]

Oh she’s darling!

I’m done complaining about breeders and sellers and websites and lack of professionalism, I’ve reached my limits recently. If buyers are as bad as sellers then I truly don’t know why any of you do it. My frustration has reached the point that I am truly waiting for my next horse to simply fall out of the sky.

[Tasker]

[QUOTE=Fred;6200293]
Tasker, you do a great job posting updates on FB, and I enjoy seeing your beautiful horses. That one lovely young black mare needs to come live with me as I have posted repeatedly.
I find FB a lot easier to manage and to update with offspring pics and performance results.

AFR has his own page there, so I am hoping you will ‘Like’ him as well and find out how the ‘babies’ are doing.
(of course I don’t know how to link to my FB page)[/QUOTE]

Done! Oddly enough - I could’ve sworn that I Liked his page ages ago…but it’s done now!

As for the little black mare - she’d love a career that was more interesting than ‘just’ dressage. It’s a waste in many respects for her to have a minimal jumping career. :winkgrin: Her mama is staying with me as I have hopes/dreams of being able to jump again someday and we know one another’s quirks, so I’d hate to sell her only to have to go through that adjustment period all over again - getting too old to think that is fun. Plus, every DQ needs their own dirt bike/ATV on 4 legs, right? :lol:

[Blazergoose]

Yes, they do say babies are best seen at 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, +/-. But can you appreciate that I’m looking for yearlings/weanlings based on 1 photo at 2 months old or no photos at all? Perhaps ad could/should provide the best photo but when I inquire it would be nice to be sent a current photo, even if wooly moose. If I’m shopping for a youngster I should be savvy of the gangly periods and hardly think I should be expecting a photo akin to stallion inspection physique.

FWIW - you and the other posters on this thread have some truly beautifully bred horses.

I appreciate all the work and time needed to keep your websites current - kudos.

[Tasker]

[QUOTE=Blazergoose;6201642]
Yes, they do say babies are best seen at 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, +/-. [/QUOTE]

BG - it’s 3 days/weeks/months/years - not 2.

[Tapperjockey]

[QUOTE=Perfect Pony;6200692]
Oh she’s darling!

I’m done complaining about breeders and sellers and websites and lack of professionalism, I’ve reached my limits recently. If buyers are as bad as sellers then I truly don’t know why any of you do it. My frustration has reached the point that I am truly waiting for my next horse to simply fall out of the sky.[/QUOTE]

I can answer why…

Horse people are CRAZY!!! lol