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Re: [RC] buying, selling, breeding, producing - heidiA very wise woman once told me a horse is worth what the owner is willing to sell him/her at and what a buyer is willing to pay. <snip> It is in who you know and what your connections are. I agree 100%! High-dollar sales in this country are VERY rarely equated with any sort of riding quality, but rather with "connections." I figured out a long time ago that one could either breed good horses or play the high-roller game, but that no one seemed to be able to do both. And I've yet to meet anyone who has been able to walk both sides of this equation. The breeder who has come the closest to managing both IMO is Bazy Tankersley--she IS a "connection" in her own right, and her riding horses do command a pretty fair market--but not the high-roller market, either. And she does produce good riding horses! And other breeders who have put in the blood, sweat, and tears to consistently produce quality also have a steady market, even if it isn't one that makes for a fat wallet. Additionally, the high-dollar game is frequently a matter of wealthy people buying the "prestige" of having paid that much for a horse. They rarely have any intention of riding it. The folks who are out to buy good riding horses are most often those who earned their money the hard way, don't have any to waste, and are paying out of wallets that are not overly fat. But they DO personally ride and enjoy the horses that they buy. So this is another factor in keeping the riding horses within a certain price range. At the Bandit Springs ride this past weekend, another veterinarian told some of us about a client of his who had recently sold a Chihuahua to a Japanese businessman for $22,000 to take home as a present for his wife. The dog is not an investment, nor is he interested in the quality of the dog. But the current fad there is to see who can come home from the USA with the most unique and expensive gift. Oooookay.... There is a fable about the king who goes around in the nude and tells everyone how splendid his clothes are. He gives flowery descriptions of his splendid robes and the fabrics from which they are made. No one in the court dares say that they can't see the clothes--they are afraid to offend the king, they are afraid they might get thrown out of the king's court, and they are afraid to trust their own perceptions, for fear that they may be the only ones that can't see the king's clothes. But a couple of country bumpkins come to town and proclaim that the king is naked. There is a great hue and cry about how rude these bumpkins are, simply because they are honest. Selling high-dollar horses is a lot like the king's clothes. The buyers expect the horse to be described in flowery superlatives, even if the verbiage seems to have little or no relationship to the poor beast being described. I would never be able to make a living as a used-car salesman, and I likewise have difficulty describing horses in such terms--and in fact, get an uncomfortable feeling that I have crossed into some twilight zone when I am around people who describe horses that way, when it is as clear to me as the light of day that the words they are using do not match the horse they are allegedly describing. I've frequently been the "rude" country bumpkin for daring to state that the king has no clothes--er--that the horse does not have the described features--but I've never had any desire to be a politician. One of the things I like about the sport of endurance is that in general folks DO call a spade a spade, and don't get into all that flowery stuff just to make a sale. And most of them DO know when someone is trying to pull the wool over their eyes with a sales pitch. And I appreciate that. Those of us who don't speak "superlativese" and don't do window-dressing have learned not to take offense when honesty and forthrightness is labeled as rudeness, but it does tell us a lot about what sorts of folks we're dealing with. Maybe we lack some essential ingredient--I don't know. But I also know that honest and forthright people also take honest and constructive criticism well--and appreciate it. One of my favorite things is to have other capable breeders (and riders!) come on my place and critique my horses--their pointing out of faults is not "bashing" but rather is thought-provoking and useful. Additionally, the rank-and-file rider who buys the medium-priced horse and rides it themselves tends to develop a personal relationship with that horse and take care of that horse. Maybe I'm an odd duck, but that's important to me. I can't quite fathom selling the sensate beings that I brought into this world as status symbols that will languish in some trainer's barn with owners that couldn't pick it out if it was in the wrong stall. A part of the reward of breeding good horses is seeing those horses go out and find meaningful relationships with real people, and seeing a variety of them do well for a variety of riders over the long haul. So odds are I'll die broke--but I'll betcha that I also die happy... :-) Heidi =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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