Before I address anything else...I want some updates!
How is Applejax the pony?
How is Scarlett?
Are we ever going to hear more about those mares from the fancy-schmancy barn that got dumped? (I hear through the grapevine they DID get rescued after all...despite the drama that took place for awhile there!) People, seriously, nobody can sue you for telling the truth no matter how much smoke they blow. Well, they can, heck, I can sue Hillary Clinton for annoying me every time she opens her mouth, but you don't get far with frivolous nonsense. Pictures don't lie!
The weekend is coming, folks - get out there and take some pictures! We want updates! I'm sure I've missed some horses rescued as a result of this blog, so if you have one, please share your story.
NCCatnip gets a gold star - she updates her blog very regularly. Yay on Cricket going to training! It's so exciting to see these rescues getting on track to being productive members of horsey society.
On to today's topic: We're going to talk again about reasonably pricing your sale horses. You know, it is not that hard to price horses. Go on DreamHorse or EquineHits and see what horses with your horse's approximate quality breeding and accomplishments are selling for. If this seller had only done that, she wouldn't look so off the wall.
"Tar" is a balck gelding. He is approx. 16h. He has a great disposition. He has been shown both English and Western in both open and Quarter Horse shows. He baths, loads, and clips. He has been used for lessons for beginners and intermediate riders. He is very quiet. He is very easy to handle at home or at the shows. He has been used for Midevil Times demostrations at school and at state expos. I took him to our first AQHA show in July. We got 1 pt in Amature Horsemanship, 1 pt in Amature Hunt Seat Eq., 1/2 pt in Open Grean trail, 1/2 pt in Open Hunter Under Saddle, and 1/2 pt in Green Hunter Under Saddle. There is video of him loaded onto youtube. You just have to search his registered name. "
Now, don't get me wrong. Tar looks to be a decent enough boy. He is pretty. I don't care for his goose rump and I'm not sure the shoulder is a lot better, but he's a gelding, so at least he won't be passing it on. He's black and pretty and well broke so that's enough to make most people happy.
My issue is with the fact that he is priced at thirty thousand dollars. For a horse that has two amateur points, one open point, and one green point.
So let's review what we could spend our thirty thousand dollars on instead:
Like this horse. "Earner of 65+ AQHA points in Open & Amateur Western Riding & Western Pleasure at 6 years old. Multiple NSBA futurity winner. Numerous Circuit Championships. Top 5 at Richart and NSBA BCF as a two-year old. Top 5 PCQHA & CAQHEA year-end highpoint Jr. & Amateur Western Riding. Qualified for World Show 2007 & 2008. Also does horsemanship and is started on trail and showmanship."
Or this horse: "2006-2007 Liberty Circuit high point champion in am.working hunter am.eq.over fences nov.am.reining nov.am. western riding nov.am.equitation point earner in multiple events including:working hunter,trail,western riding,eq.over fences,reining,showmanship,hunter under saddle,horsemanship,equitation.. UPDATE Tommy was just High point champion @ ESQHA Fall show in Nov. Am Hunter over fences and Reserve High point In the nov. Am Equitation!!"
Here's another. Huge and with over 50 AQHA points. Totally has the look that the HUS judges want these days.
And another. "GORGEOUS I.F. BAY GELDING BY THE GREAT DONT SKIP ZIP. "SKIP" HAS HIS OPEN AND AMATUER ROM AND 50+ POINTS. WINNING IN AMATEUR AND SENIOR WESTERN PLEASURE AND AM & OPEN PERFORMANCE GELDINGS. SKIP IS A NSBA MONEY EARNER. HE WAS THE RESERVE CHAMPION AT THE SOUTHERN BELLE 2 YR OLD WP IN '04 AND A FINALIST AT JUST FOR PLEASURE, TOM POWERS AND THE CONGRESS IN '05. NORTH AMERICAN OPEN AND NON PRO WINNER UNDER ALL JUDGES. MULTIPLE CIRCUIT AWARDS. ALL AROUND JR HORSE AT GORDYVILLE '07"
C'mon people. Do a little basic research. Price your horse sensibly. Who told you that your horse with 3.5 points was worth $30,000? Whoever it was,they were blowing smoke up your ass. Here's the video, by the way. Cute, pretty solid. Looks awful small compared to the rest of the class though - if he's 16.0, they must be mostly 17 handers! There's nothing wrong with this horse - he'll probably be a kick ass novice amateur horse for somebody, and he sounds like a sweetheart, but he's just not a thirty thousand dollar horse. Either keep him and put more of a record on him, or price him in keeping with other horses with his abilities and let him move on for the next person to enjoy.
Just goes back to what I keep saying about how people don't even try to run their horse business like a business. You know, by doing market research and pricing competitively and, if something's not selling, change what you're selling or develop a service business instead? Look how silly someone would look if they opened a car lot and tried to sell a five year old Chevy for $30K? But that's exactly what we see in the horse business, every single day. It's just ridiculous.
