What do you want to see in a sales video?

[Halt_Near_X]

What do you want to see in a cross country video when looking for an Eventing prospect?

Assume the horse is green but confident over fences and separate video exists showing Dressage and jumping in an arena.

Are there specific types of jumps you want to see? Is there something specific you would want to see with regards to the water? Anything in between fences?

Are there things to avoid doing in the video at all costs?

Are there allowances you will make for a green horse (e.g. ok to trot all the fences if the horse is bold and confident, or does video need to wait until horse is cantering an entire course)?

[Teddy_bear_is_me]

You would probably want to show how high the horse can jump, how fast, and how well behaved it is to get the buyer impressed. This is because in eventing or cross country, people are looking for reliable, fast, high jumping, and well behaved horses. I think it will need to wait till cantering, because if the horse is troting, this will tell the buyers that it needs some extra work. A lot of times, buyers want a horse they don’t have to put much training into, so waiting might be a good idea, but that’s just a suggestion. I’m assuming you are putting your own horse up for sale? If you are, good luck, and go with what you think Is right. It helps to step into the shoes of a buyer. If you were a buyer what would YOU want to see? Good luck

[Marigold]

@Halt Near X

Assume the horse is green but confident over fences and separate video exists showing Dressage and jumping in an arena.

I have shopped for this horse before, and since this type of horse typically doesn’t have much of an established record or video from competition, I would say this is the category where the sale video can most make-or-break my interest.

@Halt Near X

What do you want to see in a cross country video when looking for an Eventing prospect?

Specifically for cross-country, I’d like to see the horse put in a position where they are using their brains. I like to see what a horse’s instinct is when experiencing something new. Do they rush? Stop? Slow down and pop? Do they keep their knees tight, or do they get scrambly? That kind of thing.

For other parts of the video, it’s critical for me to see the horse moving without a rider. These horses are generally nowhere near strong enough to show their best side when carrying the weight of a rider - absolutely to be expected, but it means that more information is needed to judge their potential. However, to me this does not mean video of the horse being chased around a paddock. Video of the horse being lunged, including at least a full circle of walk, is very helpful - shows that the horse is a solid citizen with good basics, as well as allowing them to move freely but under control.

Similar to the above, and in agreement with Teddy_bear, it is helpful to see some indication of the horse’s scope over fences. Again, this is likely needed without the rider, as no one wants you to overface your green horse for the sake of a sale video. A controlled video of the horse being properly sent through a jump chute (the young event horse series has some great articles and video on how to do this) is very helpful. Led up to the front rather than being chased around the arena, and remember that the distances don’t have to be perfect - any chance to see the horse use it’s instincts is always helpful.

@Halt Near X

Are there things to avoid doing in the video at all costs?

Don’t include video of the horse pulling a rail. Every horse pulls rails, but when I see a sale video showing that (worst crime: the first rail), all I can think is that it must not have been possible for you to jump a full course without one, and I don’t want that.

ETA: I’d recommend watching the Goresbridge Go for Gold sale videos. They are succinct, but a stellar example of a sale video for a young horse. They use the same template for all of their videos, and do a great job of giving enough information to make a decision, without posting 20 minutes of content.

[trubandloki]

The list of what not to include seems like common sense and crazy long.
No special affects.
No loud music.
No need for slow motion replays over and over again.
No (or very few) still photos.

I think one video showing small snippets of the horse doing everything then individual videos of the horse doing the various things it does, flat work, stadium, cross country.

[Jealoushe]

@Teddy_bear_is_me_

You would probably want to show how high the horse can jump, how fast, and how well behaved it is to get the buyer impressed. This is because in eventing or cross country, people are looking for reliable, fast, high jumping, and well behaved horses. I think it will need to wait till cantering, because if the horse is troting, this will tell the buyers that it needs some extra work. A lot of times, buyers want a horse they don’t have to put much training into, so waiting might be a good idea, but that’s just a suggestion. I’m assuming you are putting your own horse up for sale? If you are, good luck, and go with what you think Is right. It helps to step into the shoes of a buyer. If you were a buyer what would YOU want to see? Good luck

I hope this is sarcasm…

[Xctrygirl]

Show the horse doing what it’s being advertised as. IE, if you say it’s a prelim packer, show it jumping prelim fences with a rider that needs/highlights the packer aspect.

DO NOT say it’s a 1* horse and show it schooling BN. I toss those horses out so fast.

Remember that when you’re shooting video of the horse for sale, the footage in the camera is only seen by you until you put it out in the world. Editing allows people to make a rough xc school look amazing. USE THAT ABILITY, don’t give the world (because videos live forever) a bad representation when you’re including footage purposefully shot for a sale video. Likewise if you’re not having a good day when you go to shoot the video, don’t be afraid to scratch it and try again another day. The power your hold as a seller is to best represent your ‘product’ to those interested in it. A crappy video lives on. So too does a poorly written ad with less than stellar pictures.

Good advertising can help you sell the horse quicker, for more money and to a better home potentially. Do NOT cheap out now.

Good luck,

Emily

[LadyB]

Don’t show it being ridden around a kid on a trampoline, or a kid running around, or you hoola-hooping on your horse. Enough with the gimmicks.

[Xctrygirl]

@LadyB

Don’t show it being ridden around a kid on a trampoline, or a kid running around, or you hoola-hooping on your horse. Enough with the gimmicks.

You can call it a gimmick but that sucker sold fast off that video. Great brains trump great big flashy spook monsters.

Emily

[Libby2563]

@Xctrygirl

Remember that when you’re shooting video of the horse for sale, the footage in the camera is only seen by you until you put it out in the world. Editing allows people to make a rough xc school look amazing. USE THAT ABILITY, don’t give the world (because videos live forever) a bad representation when you’re including footage purposefully shot for a sale video.

Definitely agree not to put a poor video out there but my ideal is actually as little editing as possible, even if it makes the video run longer. People can always choose to skip ahead, but when I see a sales video with a ton of cuts I wonder what they are cutting out.

I have only ever sold two of my own horses but for the second one, who was a lower level eventer and awesome all-around horse, I made one video including: a full First Level dressage test at a schooling show, a full stadium round at an event, a full XC round at an event (or as much of it as the cameraman could see anyway–my no-editing rule will make some allowances for line of sight :)), clips from an Extreme Cowboy Race where we won the amateur division (clips because some of the obstacles were frankly a bit boring to watch, so I guess I broke my own rule there), and a full video of one team penning round. My intent was to show his versatility and make it clear I wasn’t hiding anything or presenting him in a better light than reality warranted (and I wasn’t–he was awesome and only reluctantly for sale).

To answer your questions, OP, I would like to see the horse you describe calmly tackling a ditch, bank (up and down if possible), and water (at least trotting in and out) plus a variety of other jumps. Bonus points if you can string those things all together into a mini-course and put the full clip on the video. I would find that much more revealing than short clips of individual fences, but of course depending on the layout of your venue it could be tough. I would not expect perfection if the horse is green and the price reflects it, but don’t put any major meltdowns on there obviously! Trotting the fences wouldn’t bother me, again depending on age, training, and price point.

Good luck!

[LadyB]

@Xctrygirl

You can call it a gimmick but that sucker sold fast off that video. Great brains trump great big flashy spook monsters.

Emily

I guess it depends on the caliber or horse you are looking for. If you’re looking for that schoolie with no spook, then yes that video is great, but to me, I don’t want the gimmicks. I want simple and everything you say it can offer. At the end of the day, I’m going to come and try that horse and I’ll hopefully feel if they are what they say it is. (unless drugged lol)

[trubandloki]

The short answer to the question is - the video should clearly show the horse doing what the ad says the horse can do.

[Teddy_bear_is_me]

[QUOTE]I hope this is sarcasm…[/QUOTE. Um… yeah it was. But I do wish them luck.

[Teddy_bear_is_me]

@Jealoushe

I hope this is sarcasm…

um yeah it was. But I do wish them luck.

[pologirl27]

Water, ditch, bank to the horses ability. A small course of jumps strung together. I’d want to see that the horse can behave and maintain some rhythm in between fences, which of course is harder the more you string together.

[Marigold]

@LadyB

Don’t show it being ridden around a kid on a trampoline, or a kid running around, or you hoola-hooping on your horse. Enough with the gimmicks.

To be totally fair to the particular viral sales video I think you are referring to, that wasn’t the horse’s original sale video. That was made in exasperation after a potential buyer asked for video of the horse “being good with children”. I wouldn’t recommend it as a sales video either, but agreed with Xctrygirl - it did sell the horse!

[Halt_Near_X]

@LadyB

Don’t show it being ridden around a kid on a trampoline, or a kid running around, or you hoola-hooping on your horse. Enough with the gimmicks.

So… all that practicing we’ve done to get him to jump calmly while he’s wearing a tutu and I’m holding flaming batons was wasted? Dang. And we just perfected the quick release tutu for those times when my baton control is less than optimal, too.

But seriously - I appreciate everyone’s feedback. It confirms some of what I was thinking and gives me some solid additional ideas to include. We are definitely marketing (and pricing) him according to what he has actually done (and not inflated potential), so no worries that we’re going to take him cross country, trot him over a 12" log, and claim he’s a Prelim prospect.

We’ll make sure the log is at least 18". /deadpan

The mini course is a great idea–I hadn’t even thought of that and figured it would end up being snippets showing him taking different types of little jumps. I think we can get a few continuous jumps around the water complex that would be in range of my camera (vs. a dark blob in the distance) + show him trotting in and out of the water as part of that. I do prefer continuous video, or at least enough continuous video that any edited sections later are obviously attempts to provide as much information as possible and are not set up to hide things.

And I agree no video is better than bad video. If he’s overimpressed by everything and having meltdowns, we’ll reevalute this whole idea. However, it’s good to know that if he goes out and does what we think he will do (nothing earth shattering–just calm and confident over low fences) the type of people who should buy him (e.g. would be looking for and able to bring along a prospect) will be able to see what they need to see.

[vxf111]

@trubandloki

The list of what not to include seems like common sense and crazy long.
No special affects.
No loud music.
No need for slow motion replays over and over again.
No (or very few) still photos.

I think one video showing small snippets of the horse doing everything then individual videos of the horse doing the various things it does, flat work, stadium, cross country.

Right side up please also! I just watched a video for a mid 5 figures horse and the video was from an iphone turned on its side. The WHOLE VIDEO.

[Xctrygirl]

@vxf111

Right side up please also! I just watched a video for a mid 5 figures horse and the video was from an iphone turned on its side. The WHOLE VIDEO.

And the sad part is that this is REALLY easy to fix on Youtube.

Not sure folks know this, but it can be corrected.

This video mostly shows how but doesn’t make it obvious that you go to www.youtube.com/editor first.

~Emily

[vxf111]

@Xctrygirl

And the sad part is that this is REALLY easy to fix on Youtube.

Not sure folks know this, but it can be corrected.

This video mostly shows how but doesn’t make it obvious that you go to www.youtube.com/editor first.

~Emily

Well, I’m the buyer not the seller and there are plenty of fish in the sea. So I moved on to the next listing!

[lmlacross]

Agree to the “no loud music,” but I’d up that to say, “no music at all while horse is being ridden.” Unless it’s ambient music at a horse show (which can’t be avoided), I find music a distraction. I’d much rather hear the horse’s footfalls than “Call Me Maybe”-- or whatever.

I know the ask was specific to XC, but I don’t particularly care for videos in which “a course” is clearly composed of multiple clips of different trips edited together to give the impression of a consistent round. If a horse is being advertised as “happily jumping courses” at whatever height, I want to see a course at that height-- even if a distance gets a little deep, etc. This shows me that the horse can do what he’s been advertised to do. When multiple single-jump or line clips are edited together, it gives the very distinct impression that he cannot. Similarly, in this edited trip, if I never see corners with changes of direction and seller claims the horse has his changes, one eyebrow goes up.