Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

At 11:29 AM 9/2/2004, ll cole wrote:
> Could it be the prices???!!

I'm sure it is. But I've never understood buying a horse by the dollar 
figure alone.  I've been in too many situations where my very life depended 
on my horse to buy one just because it was cheap.  For all the years I've 
been buying, breeding, selling and riding horses, I've never NOT wanted to 
know what the pedigree was, what the horse's history was, etc. etc.

I'm not much of a gambler.  I'd rather spend $500 at a casino and take my 
chances there than buy a horse at a killer auction for $500 when sometime 
in the future my life might hang on that purchase.  Worst thing that could 
happen at the casino is I'd lose the $500.  With the horse, I could wind up 
paying for feed and vet bills for years, never get an endurance horse out 
of it and maybe not live to regret the purchase decision  At least knowing 
pedigree and history the gambling odds are better.

Look at the email earlier today about the horse Steele and the reply, that 
horses with that breeding are known for flexibility.  That flexibility 
maybe saved the rider's life.  With a known pedigree and history, you can 
select for things like that.  You spend $500 at an auction, you'll never 
know if you've got what you need till you need it - and what a time to find 
out you don't have what you need!  Maybe it's a coincidence, but the 
absolute best horse I ever rode, the one who saved my life twice, happened 
also to be the one I paid the most for.  Maybe it's not a coincidence - we 
carefully considered the horse's pedigree and history, met the breeder, 
watched the horse at an endurance ride and examined sire and siblings 
before buying him.  Like I said, I'm not much of a gambler.

________________________________
   Lif Strand      fasterhorses.com
           Quemado NM USA