Boy, oh boy!!! Tri’s obviously making friends and influencing people again.
You say … "I find horses for people all the time and, guess what? I don’t charge for it. I do it because I have those kinds of contacts and my trainer friends say they don’t have the time to weed through the mostly crappy websites that U.S. breeders tend to have, and try and figure out if the U.S. breeder has a rat’s clue to what the horse is capable of. " Yet, you can’t figure out how to get to the pricing information on Hilltop Farm’s website? Guess your “trainer friends” are getting exactly what they’re paying for… (By the way, Yankeelawyer doesn’t charge for her referrals, either… )
You say … “See, again, there you go. Yankee Lawyer, your marketplace is talking to you and, how do you react? With sarcasm and very much the “holier than thou” attitude. It isn’t serving you well…” yet, you’re the one accusing Yankeelawyer of “attacking” you.
You say - and this is your recurrent theme… “And, I will command you to “fix it” as well as all the other U.S. breeders that have let our sporthorse industry go down the crapper with confusion, disorganization, and what funds the breeders do have being funneled to europe..” and with that let the whole world know what kind of an ignoramus you really are. Show me that the funds brought in by the KWPN-NA are being “funneled to Europe”, or show me that the funds brought in by the AHS are being “funneled to Europe”. I double-dare you to do it… Besides, what’s with the “I command you” crap?? Are you having an identity crisis again?
Why don’t you go take a course in “Internet 101” - it may just be an eye-opener for you.
Mozart - I’m one of the breeders who does NOT market foals and yearlings because I have the room to let them grow up and get started BEFORE they go on the market. By that time they usually have somebody interested in them and I don’t have to advertise at all.
I don’t think I’m lucky or anything like that - I like to think of it as having put in the time to develop a good breeding program where my clients know that I produce quality youngsters, and that is what they want. All it took was time, lots of it…
And that’s it Siegi. Time. Time and money invested. Time for a program to mature. Time to make contacts and ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS.
There was a time, right around when I got out of the performance horse business and into the breeding business that foals WERE selling, even for very young programs. But times changes, the market changes, client’s ideas of what works for them changes.
Did I get frustrated in the beginning? Sure! But when it became apparent my original business plan wasn’t going to work, it’, and my sales goals, got re-evaluated. Big time. And so did my farm. I am set up for “unsold young horse fields”. Big part of that flexibility.
Tri, I have honestly never in my entire life met someone so focused with their anger towards something that is not life or death. Really, I have never even read a post by you that doesn’t have something to do with euro registries. And thats the honest to God truth! CHILL.
TRI A Question? How many upper level horses have you purchased in Europe? How many were successful in this country as FEI horses? What exactly are you searching for now that you just cannot locate in this country?
I had a budget of over 200K (you must agree not an insignificant budget for a schoolmaster) to spend. I was looking for an FEI horse - MARE only. I was in Germany for over 3 weeks. I looked at around 12 horses not all mares even and certainly the only one that was the quality I was looking for turned out to be completely lame. I had more than 3 agents searching for me. There were none available at any of the name auctions either!!
I do completely agree with whoever said it was a National Pastime to fleece “stupid Americans or just any American with even the smallest bit of trust left in them” in Europe.
Yankee Lawyer has been to Europe and she has made some wonderful purchases. She also has bred some lovely horses. She has sold way more than I have. She always offers to help anyone who comes along. She never charges anyone a dime. She just loves seeing the right horse with the right buyer. I have yet to meet an person in Germany that would go horse shopping with you and you would not be expected to pay a serious fee whether you knew it or not!
I personally have an exceptional 3rd level mare here. I have not even started advertising her yet. I have a very nice 2nd level mare also. I have a wonderful 5 yr old gelding. I have 3 three year olds very well started under saddle. All with good pictures, minds and conformation. I am only one small breeder.
Do I wish we had the interest and big business behind the horse industry to fund the kind of auctions they have in Europe YES. Do I want to risk sending any of mine to one in this country NO NO NO. Other than the TB auctions people here assume that the auctions are for the garbage no one can get rid of any other way. AND currently they are!!!
Believe me all of the US breeders that struggle to produce outstanding horses that consistently end up in the year end awards would love to have the same auction services, riders and Bundeschampionships that they have in Europe. I believe to a one we would all love to have some breed association come up with and sponsor a high quality auction here so it would be easier for all of the buyers who cannot find us to do so.
The bottom line is being that in the US horses are NOT a national pastime or big business (except for the TB industry) like they are in Europe so who is going to pay to support this endeavor and pay for all of the start up years when they can expect no return on their investment.
Most of the breeders in the US have to struggle to support their breeding operations. With the exception of some of the biggest Hilltop, Iron Springs etc. who can afford to set this type of thing up! They have no problem attracting buyers so why would they start something like this.
Jessus, We cannot even get to see the dressage on TV from the World Games or at the Olympic level here. We cannot get anyone other than family, trainer, and some friends to come and watch our shows much less attend a gala evening!
I enjoyed the article. It reminded me of my two weeks spent in Germany doing the Hanoverian Breeders Course, seeing the auction, the stallion licensing, wonderful farms, many, MANY horses within a few hours’ drive. Thanks for posting.
My opinion is people will buy here or in Europe, wherever they want to. I’ve bought a weanling (found on my own on a trip to Germany) and a GP-trained horse (bought from my German-born trainer who found her so I bought her sight unseen), and I breed and start a few Hanoverians to sell. Some are bred with US-based stallions; some are bred using frozen from Germany. NOTE: I do not do this as a living; I do this more or less to fund my riding hobby and because I love the babies, so I understand why some of the posters may sound more “passionate” than I do. That’s my background.
I have to say, some of the “buy American” posters here sound a little too defensive. If you have what a buyer wants, they’ll buy it. If they don’t, they’ll move on to another seller. That’s what free enterprise is all about. I do believe that the U.S. is breeding quality offspring that equals what is being bred in Germany; however, where we fall short is the riding/training. If I didn’t breed my own youngsters, I’d have no hesitation to buy a weanling in the U.S. But if I want something well started under saddle, especially at 4th level and above, I’d send my trainer to Germany to find me something. We’re just not there yet with the amount of horses with the training as they do in Germany, for example.
Yo, tri, when are you going to get it together to get this perfect American registry off the ground. Are you going to blather about it or do it? Anyone else notice how when tri is asked a specific question about her specific horses, there is never a specific answer?
We may expect that this post will be met with the usual tri response - ugliness.
[quote=not again;3335443]Far from going into oblivion, the market for US bred and labeled horses has never been better for us. Quality is never out of fashion, I would surmise. There is plenty of room for everyone in the horse business.
Agree wholeheartedly, if you can’t keep up, keep out!!
Repeat customers. however, will base their return to a seller for a second, third or fourth purchase on the accurate representation of the first product and the first buying experience. That is true on both sides of the ocean.
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True 'dat!!!
[quote=Mozart;3335447]It is my impression that most N.American breeders like to have their young stock sold before they are started. When I look at websites I see mostly weanlings, yearlings and two year olds. The started horses seem to be more like the “left overs”. Not to say they are bad quality, just that they are what the breeders happen to have left and now the horse is three and, well, I guess we better get this fellow started.
I think there are definitely deals to be found in that category, breeders have no use for going young horses (unless they plan to keep them as breeding stock for the future).
Only they need to get them correctly started and price them accordingly.
However, to see a whole bunch of young, going horses within a few hourse drive…I think it requires quite a bit of planning and prep and knowing where to look. Which is why I really think N.America should pursue the sport horse auction route. Pre-screened, available for try out.
Make it a “go to” event. Trade fair, big name guest riders. The works.
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Sounds good, has not been tried on a large scale yet. Small scale, yes, with limited success.
[quote=DownYonder;3335465]My God, Kathy (Tri) - you certainly have your panties in a wad today, don’t you?
Why would anyone expect BREEDERS to have a slew of under saddle horses waiting around for buyers? BREEDERS, by their very definition, breed foals. Most of them try to sell those foals long before they get to riding age. It is unrealistic for anyone to expect to see a large group of young horses under saddle at any place other than one of the big breeding/training establishments, such as Hilltop, Iron Spring, etc. And - as already stated - even THOSE places don’t have tons of them.
Oh wow! What a revelation…it is unrealistic to expect to see young horses at a…breeder’s farm…gee…I wish that I knew that to begin with. It couldn’t saved a LOT of wasted time. I didn’t realize there was an expiration date on young horses bred by…breeders…:eek::rolleyes::sigh:
You like to blame all problems on those nasty Euro registries, but even if every WB breeder in North America was using AWR, I would wager that they STILL wouldn’t have a bunch of under saddle horses hanging around their farms waiting for buyers. BREEDERS who can’t sell their foals eventually run out of room - therefore most of them try very hard to sell most of their foals before they get to riding age.
I didn’t read ANYthing blaming ANYthing on ANY registry…rather just that US breeders maybe need to re-evaluate their priorities, but good way to bring past prejudice into new (valid) arguments. That’s productive…NOT!
I agree that shopping for good riding horses in this country isn’t easy. I am not sure how your pipe dream of every WB foal being registered with AWR would make it any easier. Besides, isn’t AWR actually owned by a German?
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[quote=siegi b.;3335568]Mozart - I’m one of the breeders who does NOT market foals and yearlings because I have the room to let them grow up and get started BEFORE they go on the market. By that time they usually have somebody interested in them and I don’t have to advertise at all.
Good for you~!! Not sure why you felt the need to join the fray, you are obviously not the breeders we are talking about! :no:
[quote=Bellfleur;3336429]TRI A Question? How many upper level horses have you purchased in Europe? How many were successful in this country as FEI horses? What exactly are you searching for now that you just cannot locate in this country?
I love it when folks who cannot substantiate their argument throw up a smokescreen.
I had a budget of over 200K (you must agree not an insignificant budget for a schoolmaster) to spend. I was looking for an FEI horse - MARE only. I was in Germany for over 3 weeks. I looked at around 12 horses not all mares even and certainly the only one that was the quality I was looking for turned out to be completely lame. I had more than 3 agents searching for me. There were none available at any of the name auctions either!!
OH Puleeaaaaze! You must’ve had the most idiotic of agents or have had the “dumb American” label on your forehead to have not found a FEI schoolmaster at that price. I can tell you right now why you had probems…too much $$ and not enough sense…sorry in advance, but really now. That is WAY too much $$ for what you wanted/needed…you must realize that now. I would’ve been too embarrassed to admit to such a mistake. Wow!uhoh::sigh:
I do completely agree with whoever said it was a National Pastime to fleece “stupid Americans or just any American with even the smallest bit of trust left in them” in Europe.
See above.:eek:
. I have yet to meet an person in Germany that would go horse shopping with you and you would not be expected to pay a serious fee whether you knew it or not!
Ditto that in America!!! :yes:
[quote=Touchstone Farm;3336516]I enjoyed the article. It reminded me of my two weeks spent in Germany doing the Hanoverian Breeders Course, seeing the auction, the stallion licensing, wonderful farms, many, MANY horses within a few hours’ drive. Thanks for posting.
My opinion is people will buy here or in Europe, wherever they want to. I’ve bought a weanling (found on my own on a trip to Germany) and a GP-trained horse (bought from my German-born trainer who found her so I bought her sight unseen), and I breed and start a few Hanoverians to sell. Some are bred with US-based stallions; some are bred using frozen from Germany. NOTE: I do not do this as a living; I do this more or less to fund my riding hobby and because I love the babies, so I understand why some of the posters may sound more “passionate” than I do. That’s my background.
I have to say, some of the “buy American” posters here sound a little too defensive. If you have what a buyer wants, they’ll buy it. If they don’t, they’ll move on to another seller. That’s what free enterprise is all about. I do believe that the U.S. is breeding quality offspring that equals what is being bred in Germany; however, where we fall short is the riding/training. If I didn’t breed my own youngsters, I’d have no hesitation to buy a weanling in the U.S. But if I want something well started under saddle, especially at 4th level and above, I’d send my trainer to Germany to find me something. We’re just not there yet with the amount of horses with the training as they do in Germany, for example.
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Well, there ya go folks, spoken truthfully and from “one of your own”. :winkgrin:
We may expect that this post will be met with the usual tri response - ugliness.
I didn’t witness any “ugliness”, just questioning…and that’s OK in my book. :D:D
Dune, if you have followed the MANY threads over the years on the breeding forum where Tri has ranted about the Euro-registries, you would understand where I, and Bellfleur, etc., are coming from. Tri foams at the mouth whenever anyone mentions supporting a Euro registry, or one with a “Euro” name.
The European model of the Sporthorse Auction route will not become viable here unless and until buyers can get over the stigma associated with auctions and be prepared to pay well into 5 figures for foals and six figures for riding horses – as they do at the Elite Auctions in Europe. It costs a fortune to host an event of that magnitude. And I really don’t see US buyers spendng that kind of money – even assuming we offered EXACTLY the same quality and number of horses at the events. I would be thrilled to be proven wrong on that, but I doubt it will happen.
As for trying to tie such an auction to a trade fair, even the best of our trade fairs in very horsey areas frequently are barely viable. The one that used to take place at the Dulles Expo Center in Northern Virginia was a financial loser and ultimately the organizers abandoned it and it is no longer held. That was a very nice event in an excellent venue, incidentally about 10 minutes from Dulles airport and easily accessible from DC, MD, VA, and points South.
Just a quick story to add to the fray. I just returned from Germany where I spent two weeks with a friend looking for what many amateurs are looking for. A gelding, 5-7 yrs old, 2nd/3rd level, nice gaits (but not expecting international quality by any means), good amateur friendly mind and ridable.
We kind of ran the range of options. We used a few agents, visited some breeding farms, and also just dialed up private sellers that were advertising their horses on the german version of dreamhorse. com.
First of all, why were we shopping in Germany, and not the US? Well, we DID try the US market. My friend had 30-35k to spend. We are on the West Coast, so targeted our search here. I am happy to spend hours on the internet, so I spent alot of time looking for her. In a nutshell, it was not very successful. Most horses did not have a very good foundation of training. One gelding that was successful at 1st level with his amateur owner was quite nice, but she wanted 55k for him!!! Again, not an int’l quality horse, just a nice guy with potential. So, we said forget this, we will shop in Germany. The thing we had on our side was my friend is German. So, we stayed with her family, and of course, we didn’t have the language barrier that many Americans would.
In the end, she found a very nice Rhinelander gelding. 7 yrs, 17 hands, dark bay, super brain and loves his job. Brentano II/ Rosankavalier breeding. A bit behind in his training because his former owner was a tiny little lady who was uncomfortable with his forward thinking ways. But, we saw him go at a local show at L level, he has his changes, he can easily do a 3rd level test here in the States. Well within the budget, including the shipping to CA.
We were able to see several viable candidates within a short period of time. And while we did quite a bit of driving (thank heavens for GPS on the rental car!!!), it was minimal compared to what we would have done here in the States. BUT, I don’t know that many Americans could have done what we did. The fact that my friend is German allowed us to explore some options that many could not, simply because of the language barrier. Of course there are some very good agents there that can do the legwork for a buyer, but there is a price connected to that legwork, and rightly so! It is a lot of work to track down appropriate horses, and than spend the time driving around, so I think for most buyers, this is a great way to go, but it does add to the price.
So, from my standpoint, I see the breeders here in the US producing some very nice quality foals. But, the young horse training is sorely lacking.
My personal experience was to buy a 2 year old, and than invest in his education.
So, to each his own. There are many options and roads out there. I think the bottom line for ME, is that if I was looking for an unstarted youngster, I would shop here in the US. We have some amazing young horses. If looking for a horse with an education, I would probably head back over to Europe. I just wish the exchange rate would improve.
What a difference a day or two makes… I am sorry that legitimate questions that any perspective buyer might ask frosts some and is seen as potentially inflammatory by others. If US breeders are going to be successful, they will find that level of sensitivity and defensiveness to be counterproductive. Horse buying is a business transaction, pure and simple, no matter how the sellers feel about it.
I am not an agent. I am a very small breeder. I have helped many friends find horses in Europe simply because we have a blast doing it and because I usually find something that would look good in my paddock when I am over there. I started shopping for horses in Europe more than 10 years ago. The dollar was quite strong then. I made some good connections with people I feel comfortable dealing with, have been involved in the purchase a few FEI horses that have come home and been successful. I am not an agent and I don’t usually work with agents. I have bought horses from breeders, sales barns and individuals. Before I went to Europe the first time, I spent over $6,000 on travel expenses to look at horses in the US. I had some friends who wanted to go but we didn’t know anyone there. We went with the attitude that horse buying wasn’t rocket science and we might come home empty handed, but at least we’d have more info. Our trip lasted 10 days. We spent maybe $1500 on travel expenses each, there were 3 of us. We saw over 300 horses. Yes there were sellers who tried to play us, but they were in the minority by far. Before we left we all learned how to say “I am an American but I am not stupid.” in German. We never had to say that. But we did just say “nein, danke” a few times.
When I started doing this, there was no central point of contact a buyer in any region of the US could go to. Though there are regional breeders groups developing now, this still doesn’t exist. That makes shopping in the US a more cumbersome process than it needs to be. For the record, I am looking for a mare. But I have specific requirements as far as bloodlines go and I have a gelding I need to sell before I am seriously on the hunt. When I am buying a mare, I like to view a lot of different horses from the bloodlines I am interested so I can put ideas together about what these lines produce. That is tough to do here.
I’d be happy to buy American, truly. With the dollar as weak as it is, the perspective has shifted economically. But that doesn’t automatically shift buyers from Europe to the US. Sellers in the US need to find a better way to make their horses available, plain and simple. What does that mean? I can’t say with certainty. Auctions might be part of the solution. But the US is simply too large to just adopt the German model. I think a single centralized registry organization would be very helpful. But I do know one thing, if we don’t find an answer to the issue, as soon as the dollar swings back (should be in a year or 2), everyone will be flocking back to Europe.
Cooper, you posted while I was writing mine. That sound a lot like my 1st experience in Europe, except we didn’t have GPS
ahf, I am glad you did not take offence as truly none was intened. And I do know of a couple of local breeders that do not even market their youngstock as their plan is to produce and sell them as going young horses. One of those is from the UK, they were quite surprised that so many breeders sell their horses as young stock. To anyone who plans to keep their young horses and then sell them as young horses, well, more power to you I say. When you think of the increased cost and risk I can see why breeders try to sell young horses as soon as possible.
I still think the auction route has potential. One on the west coast and one on the east coast. Canadian breeders are working on the auction format, I have never attended one of these auctions personally but I certainly would if I lived closer to either one.
Given the sheer geographical challenges of N.America, I do think that one way to bring the horses to the buyers is to have some regional sales centres. How that would be accomplished…I dunno
You’re correct; horse shopping in the US still seems more difficult than it ought to be. U.S. breeders and trainers should, ideally, get better organized, particularly by region, to market their horses better to potential US buyers. For example, I particularly like the idea of one website where one could watch short videos of available horses, organized by US region, modeled on the current German practice of posting videos of auction horses on the web. That might be more achievable in the short term (as opposed, say, to the much more costly effort to establish regional training centers).
However, as I pointed out in my prior post [found 30 mares located in the Mid-Atlantic region and fitting your description within 15 minutes of searching on the internet], it’s not impossible, particularly if one uses the internet. I’m simply “frosted” when folks appear to be fostering the impression (however inadvertently) that it is insurmountably difficult to shop for quality warmblood horses here in the US. It’s not, at least in some horse-rich regions of the US.
Considering that most US breeding operations are fairly small businesses, I’ve been impressed that so many have established and are maintaining decent websites that makes finding them and contacting them easier. Similarly, some of the warmblood registries are doing an increasingly good job of encouraging members to register their contacts on the registry website (particularly good examples are www.hanoverian.org and http://mahb.homestead.com/index.html). Finally, most of the warmblood breeders and trainers I know are very generous about making referrals to other local breeders (even those from another registry) when that breeder doesn’t have anything for sale that the buyer is looking for. As a result, it really is not any more difficult in the US (at least in my Mid-Atlantic region, and others too, I suspect) to do the sort of shopping that you described as your shopping experience in Germany.
I do concede, however, that because there are SO many fewer warmblood horses here (as opposed to Europe), the higher the level of training that one is looking for, the harder it would be to find (at least in any great number in any particular region) here in the US. Until our breeding numbers equal those in Europe (which is unlikely anytime soon) that will continue to be the case for upper level horses.
It is NOT true, however, for younger stock. I have, several times now, heard German inspectors comment that this or that young mare or foal is among the best seen in Germany. If one attends Hanoverian, Oldenburg or other inspections here in the US, it is impossible not to be astounded by the high quality of the young stock. Many, if not most, of the horses at such events are for sale. Also, as you mentioned that you like to do, inspections are great opportunities to view many offspring from particular bloodlines.
So, my pitch is, simply, that it is not all that difficult to shop for good warmblood horses in the US if one makes use of the current and readily available resources through the internet and/or regional breeder groups.
I still think the auction route has potential. One on the west coast and one on the east coast. Canadian breeders are working on the auction format, I have never attended one of these auctions personally but I certainly would if I lived closer to either one
I have gone to the red deer one and the fall one in Alberta. Neither impressed me much. The organization was great, promotion was great, but in most cases, the quality of horses is lacking. The German friend of mine (who sadly passed this year) would sometimes take a Hanoverian and the prices would be good. A few years ago he took his 2 yr old colt who is a full sister to my mare and got 40k for him. Last year there was a nice Dutch mare in foal to Contango and they got 51 k for her.
So people are willing to spend the money on quality, but to be honest, the quality is VERY variable among the Canadian wb breeds. Many of the horses are stock breed crosses or just lower quality wb’s (IMHO). And while they may not be the breeders leftovers, the quality of the Canadian wb in relation to some of the Euro breeds in general is just not comparable (the standards are not even close to comparable). This may be offensive to some, but this is how I see it. There is always SOMETHING very nice there …but overall, it is not comparable to an auction in Verden ect.
This year I will take one of my weanlings and see how it goes…might be a fun experience anyways and good for the foals to get out.
Last year when I heard the American Hanoverian Society was thinking about having an auction here with help from the Verband, I e-mailed several people on AHS committees with what I thought was a good idea. I suggested that, if the world cup came back to Las Vegas, in 2009, that would be a good venue to have an auction. It would appeal to both dressage and jumping customers. There would be a greal amount of horse-oriented people attending. I suggested that the South Point Hotel be considered since they have stalls and a lovely indoor where many equestrian events are held. Not hearing back, I e-mailed someone again who said it was an interesting idea. But I guess it was too much too soon.
Would anyone here want to consign a horse to something like this, even if it meant a long distance? Have a chance with a customer base of maybe 20,000 people?
I have another idea. The world equestrian games are coming up in 2010. Someone open up a sales venue close to the park, having horses consigned from all disciplines (evening, jumping, dressage, reining, driving). Lots of advertising.
Would anyone here want to consign a horse to something like this, even if it meant a long distance? Have a chance with a customer base of maybe 20,000 people?[/QUOTE]
I don’t mean to be Miss negativity; I really don’t. I really wish we could have some awesome auctions here that were fun to shop at and just to attend to see some amazing horses. But as a practical matter, I think it is going to be really, really hard to make something like this work. For one thing, say I or a friend has a horse that is confirmed upper level, really nice – fill in the blanks as to whatever your dream criteria is here. Everyone here is saying it is near impossible to find a horse like that; there are so few available, etc. Does anyone really think, then, it would be difficult to sell such a horse privately if its price were commensurate with its quality and training level? So what would the incentive be to transport the horse all the way to Nevada to take your chances in an auction (except possibly some positive public exposure for your breeding program if the horse is impressive and/or fetches a big price)? Ditto for a very talented horse that has true upper level potential or whatnot. And realistically, off the top of my head, it would probably cost me approximately 6K to prep a horse for auction and get it out there from VA, so already the selling price had better be pretty good to make it worthwhile.
So, aside from getting possibly some nice exposure/publicity for one’s program (which I recognize is valuable), what would the incentives be to bring the best youngsters and more advanced horses to such an auction --esp. given that they do not have a great track record here? Maybe it would be good for those who are based in more remote locations far removed from a WB sporthorse market?
I can think of several reasons why such an auction could be great for the buyer – but that presumes that quality horses are available. So, what would make it worthwhile for people to bring their top horses there to sell? And what would people envision the auction prices to be, from bottom to top, assuming the kind of quality posters here expect to see and are seeking?
That sounds like a super idea. There used to be one held during the Masters at Spruce Meadows. Not really sure how that went over to be honest, I was not into sport horses then. But in both cases there would definately be the customer base.
One of the things that is a problem is a lack of familiarity with US geography. I am in California, a pretty large state, that influences my thinking I have to admit. When I look at ads for horses on the East coast, I tend to think that looking at horses in different states won’t work too well, that traveling between PA and NY and OH is infeasible in a short timeframe. I know that isn’t necessarily so. If I am looking at a horse in Maryland, could I view horses in South Carolina too? The US is large and I am just geographically ignorant about the eastern seaboard outside of a few areas :uhoh: That is a problem a marketing nexus could really help.
And actually I am feeling the pain of this issue from both sides. I have a gelding that I need to move to make room for the new mare I want. I am advertising him and he is very well priced for his quality and training (1st level & 15K). But I am not getting a lot of activity on him. I would love to have an auction situation that I could place him in. I live very close to the Oaks and have placed horses at Jeff Marsh’s auctions there a few times without any success. And it was an expensive process; $750 entry plus commission if the horse was sold, owner paid for all vetting and you had to present the horse yourself which meant you had to be there for several days. I also tried to buy a mare there once. But the bidding process doesn’t work to well when you are the only interested party. Granted, the last time I was involved there was before I started shopping in Europe but there just weren’t enough people there for critical mass. Maybe I was a bit ahead of the curve.
What would really help this effort along, IMO, is having riders to prepare and present the horses at the sale. I might be able to commit to send a horse to a distant facility but hanging out for a week prior to the auction is infeasible for me. Whoever co-ordinates this should consider having riders/handlers as they do in Europe.
uhoh::sigh:
