That’s another COTH lesson from those who have bought many in their lives. There is little incentive for trainer if you are not going to be paying them for lessons, horse tune ups and Ranch Horse show services if trainer does not generally have Ranch Horse shows on their calendar.
Need to also point out that if they normally deal in higher end AQHA show horses, their normal commission based on price paid is at least 3 times higher and likely closer to 5 times more on that horse, and we sure arent talking young and fancy there. Trainers contacts are going to be for these regular show horses and their time is better spent looking for these regular show horses yielding a much higher commission and presenting more income generating opportunities. It’s a business, nothing wrong with that. But you are small potatoes in that trainers barn, and would you fit into a QH breed show barn with a Ranch Horse?
Now, if you ask those in Ranch Horse circles where to look for a good quality Ranch Horse in your price range? Bet they can drop a half dozen names right off the top of their heads. Just like any other discipline. Everybody active in it knows who the best people are and, more important, who to avoid. With your trainer centered in the circuit show world, they really don’t have many ideas and there’s not enough in it for them to justify extra hours digging around.
Now, I don’t know much about Ranch Horses but do know many who breed and start them don’t do breed circuit shows, they are ranchers. To find them, I’d start by looking for FB groups dedicated to Ranch Horses and any publications or newsletters with show results, who owned them, showed them and bred them. What horses families are found in their pedigrees most often? Wrong time of year but I always go watch some shows when looking for barns and horses in a new area or unfamiliar breed or discipline. Watch the schooling area, start casual conversation, get an earful and get the lay of the land. And it’s free.
You think you ave no contacts on the Ranch side? Yeah, you got one two posts up. There’s somebody who has bought and sold Ranch Horses and recommended a well regarded auction to you ( not all auctions are kill pen cesspools) Bet they could give you a couple of breeder/ trainer names and some bloodlines they could recommend. And YES COTH rules allows us to name names when somebody asks for recommendations, what you can’t do is call them scum suckers or make accusations…unless it’s public record and they were formally charged.
We can post links to auctions too, including the catalogue and results and thise wouldn’t be a bad idea to look at. Cant post ads for sale horses or services as COTH, the magazine sells classified ads for such things and lets us play here for free. So we don’t want to dance too close to that line.
Anyway, broaden your search and develop some contacts with those who actively participate in what you want to do. Star a thread here “Who do you recommend in Western Colorado”. Or some such. Be best to look to buy farther away from any large, metro area, you can always haul it back for a small part if the money youll save without the big city convenience premium added to the price.
