more new foals and a question for buyers

[Nancy]

I think we are about done for the year so had some time to take a few more new baby pictures.

My question is, do you prefer to see posed pictures of horses you are looking to buy, or do you like to see them natural as in action shots or in pasture pictures?

Here are the baby pictures

this colt is sired by Mountain High Tiger Too dam is a near leopard.

this is a blue eyed colt sired by Vermilyea Farms Analyze This and out of my favorite buckskin mare.

This buckskin filly is sired by my LTD Magic Man grandson,her dam is a buckskin mare.

 

[Songcatcher]

I like to see standing pasture shots. Head up, and not laying down. If that catches my interest, I may ask for posed pictures.

Pretty babies. Congratulations.

 

[Nancy]

here are a few more babies.

this little colt has spots to his withers but, they don't show up in his pictures his sire is Canterbury Electric Storm owned by Will Gentry and the dam is a little buckskin appy out of the Kobeck line she is a granddaughter of Komokos Chief Running Brave.

This filly I have already named Canterbury Whoops-A-Daisy, she was suppose to be sired by Tiger but,late summer, after she was suppose to be safely in foal I found she had gotten into pasture with Toy my golden palomino and he is the daddy, I love this girls golden color, if she happen to get appy spots she would be gorgeous as her spots would really show up good on her dark golden coat.

 

[Nancy]

I like to see standing pasture shots. Head up, and not laying down. If that catches my interest, I may ask for posed pictures.

Pretty babies. Congratulations.

Thanks Freeland, I have a hard time trying to get posed pictures and was just curious how people felt about pictures snapped in natural setting, with head up and taken from all sides.

 

[Jill]

When it comes to evaluating a possible purchase, I like to see shots that show the comformation as well as possible. So squared up as best as can be, head up not into the grass, etc. Pictures from the sides, front and back as well as pictures of the bite.

 

[Minimor]

For me, pasture shots are fine IF they are decent photos. I don’t want to see photos of the horse lying down, or with its head down grazing. I also don’t want to see the horse standing at a rearward or frontward angle so it’s impossible to judge conformation. I don’t want to see side views where the horse is standing under itself with all 4 feet and it’s neck poked upward at a funny angle—that pose will make any horse look bad and yes, I recently saw some photos that were exactly that pose! Guaranteed, if that is what someone sends to me, I won’t be buying the horse.

A nice side view with the horse standing relatively square, even side views of the horse walking or trotting are okay. If I can’t go look at the horse in person then I want to be able to look at the photos and get a pretty good idea of how the horse is built—and if I’m going to go & look at the horse the photos have to interest me enough that I’ll want to take the time to drive over to see him.

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

Congratluations on some beautiful foals - very nice!

 

[Miniv]

Agree with others in wanting to see the foal standing.....Natural stances are fine, but more than one in those cases.

BTW....It was nice to see some descendants of "Tiger Too" from a personal standpoint. Larry and I loved/LOVE his breeder (Jean Kenneth) very much. She was a "grandma" to our daughter.... I hope she's watching these foals and smiling.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Gorgeous babies! I also have a granddaughter of Komokos Chief Running Brave! She's a silver appy, and we just had her vet checked in foal to our near leopard stallion.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Lovely babies! To answer your question, I like to see both kinds of photos. I want a clear shot of the legs when squared, but I also know that a clever photographer and/or handler can hide many faults with the right set and angles, so a couple good casual unset photos are always nice too. If I could only choose one though, I would choose the posed shots.

 

[Allure Ranch]

I personally prefer video footage of the horse verses photos....

 

[ThreeCFarm]

For me, pasture shots are fine IF they are decent photos. I don’t want to see photos of the horse lying down, or with its head down grazing. I also don’t want to see the horse standing at a rearward or frontward angle so it’s impossible to judge conformation. I don’t want to see side views where the horse is standing under itself with all 4 feet and it’s neck poked upward at a funny angle—that pose will make any horse look bad and yes, I recently saw some photos that were exactly that pose! Guaranteed, if that is what someone sends to me, I won’t be buying the horse.

A nice side view with the horse standing relatively square, even side views of the horse walking or trotting are okay. If I can’t go look at the horse in person then I want to be able to look at the photos and get a pretty good idea of how the horse is built—and if I’m going to go & look at the horse the photos have to interest me enough that I’ll want to take the time to drive over to see him.

As usual, Holly's answer works for me! As a performance person, I love to see a good trotting picture, but preferably in addition to the standing photos as she described above.

 

[Nancy]

Thanks everyone for comments about pictures and it sounds like most want a variety I realize it is difficult choosing horses from pictures,I guess a sale page should have some variety, my sale pages really only have room for 4 or 5 pictures so if one is bite and one of legs them it is important to know what to use for the other 2 or 3 pictures.When we first started raising minis I bought some horses from professional pictures and have gone to farm to pick them up and was very disappointed, the horses didn't look much like the pictures so, I was curious how others felt.

Video sounds good too do you put video on U-Tube or do you send the video directly to prospective buyer. I tried mailing videos a few years ago but, haven't done them lately.

 

[Joanne]

Video sounds good too do you put video on U-Tube or do you send the video directly to prospective buyer. I tried mailing videos a few years ago but, haven't done them lately.

Nancy most new video cameras come with software that allows you to edit the film and send it to a client via email. You can also put it on Your Tube and have many people be able to see it. I have not sent a video by mail in a few years, though I am sure there will come a time when I have a client that is not computer savvy that will want me to snail mail a cd.

We have added videos of our sale horses to our website so that prospective clients can see movement. It saves us a lot of time and answers their question at the beginning. It also allows us to video the horse when it is in prime condition and not on demand as some people want in the middle of winter when they are in full coat and not looking their best.

 

[Nancy]

Nancy most new video cameras come with software that allows you to edit the film and send it to a client via email. You can also put it on Your Tube and have many people be able to see it. I have not sent a video by mail in a few years, though I am sure there will come a time when I have a client that is not computer savvy that will want me to snail mail a cd.

We have added videos of our sale horses to our website so that prospective clients can see movement. It saves us a lot of time and answers their question at the beginning. It also allows us to video the horse when it is in prime condition and not on demand as some people want in the middle of winter when they are in full coat and not looking their best.

We have added videos of our sale horses to our website so that prospective clients can see movement. It saves us a lot of time and answers their question at the beginning. It also allows us to video the horse when it is in prime condition and not on demand as some people want in the middle of winter when they are in full coat and not looking their best.

Thanks Joanne, I guess I need to invest in a new video camera.

I really like the way your sale pages are set up, the video feature is an excellent addition, it really does give people a chance to see the horse in action

 

[Becky]

If I have a buyer wanting to see a video, I take video clips with my digital still camera. I upload them to Photobucket and send the link to prospective buyers. That's worked well here.

When we first started raising minis I bought some horses from professional pictures and have gone to farm to pick them up and was very disappointed, the horses didn't look much like the pictures so, I was curious how others felt.

One has to remember that professional pictures are just that. Professional. Horses are generally spit polished and posed to look their absolute best. With props and lighting, horses can look amazing with the right photographer. Ask to see casual pictures if professional pictures spark your interest and you want to see more.

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

I commented on your beautiful foals earlier when you first posted - but now I"m addressing the 2nd part of your post:

One has to remember that professional pictures are just that. Professional. Horses are generally spit polished and posed to look their absolute best. With props and lighting, horses can look amazing with the right photographer. Ask to see casual pictures if professional pictures spark your interest and you want to see more.

This is really a tough one - and bit us in the butt just recently as casual photos can truly backfire.

Immediately upon birth this year we had an interested party. Based on our photos from birth to the first couple months, all the photos we took ourselves for the website - they couldn't get enough of this foal, very excited.

This party was tickled to death with the foal. I spent a ton of time sending info, pedigrees, photos, you name it, I did it.

June we had professional photos done of those foals we're offering for sale. Turned out fantastic we thought. Interested party was blown away they said - definitely made up their mind - yes that's the one and admitted they choose this one months ago but the professional photos just locked it in

.

Now skip to middle of July - less than a month later after the professional photo - we thought okay, if WE were buying a foal, we'd like to see photos along the way - see how the foal is maturing, etc since we have to wait till weaning anyway and we're not close to see in person.

Being nice and honest as we always are - we send some "casual" pasture shots of the foal playing, romping, poised, loving up kids, etc.

BACKFIRE BACKFIRE BACKFIRE BACKFIRE !!!

Lost a sale immediately as the person thought these playful photos didn't show the foal as refined as the photos less than a month earlier - although our own photos prior to the professional ones they liked. Hmmmmm is this for real or did they just simply change their mind and didn't know how to tell us?

There were other babies playing with him in the photo - did she have them confused maybe? Can she tell which one is hers??????????????

This baby is not getting conditioned, no sweating, no lunging etc, this baby is nursing at will, grazing at will, and fed at will - not obese but no ribs showing on this baby - gets all it wants whenever.

This foal is spectacular and has not disappointed us from our "scoring" of him when he was born. He's unfolded and maturing into what we knew was high caliber.

We thought we were going out of our way thinking of this potential client, being nice and keeping them in touch and maybe helping them feel a part of the baby growing up - but it backfired. There's no rule book that gives instructions on this - and no book that can predict how potential buyers will react.

In our email with the recent photos we informed them we would also do a video but they made their mind up before seeing it.

I have to say some horses we purchased from show or professional photos never arrived looking that way either. And not just professional photos either - but some don't even look like the photos in their ads or their websites.

I always ask for additional photos when I'm shopping. I agree that makeup and lighting and razoring and all that stuff makes a HUGE difference, but if I get the casual ametuer farm photos within a months timeframe, I can generally see the similarity. And more importantly, once we've clipped and cleaned them up we have never been disappointed. Not everyone is a professional photographer - we're not - but we do our best.

That's why I incurred the costs with a professional photographer so potential buyers could see the horses potential as well as our own casual photos.

 

Now I'm even more motivated to get this foal in the showring so he can prove himself and they can see what they missed out on. LOL

Just my thoughts based on our own recent experience with professional vs casual photos.

 

[Songcatcher]

BACKFIRE BACKFIRE BACKFIRE BACKFIRE !!!Lost a sale immediately as the person thought these playful photos didn't show the foal as refined as the photos less than a month earlier - although our own photos prior to the professional ones they liked. Hmmmmm is this for real or did they just simply change their mind and didn't know how to tell us?

People back out on a purchase for many reasons. Sometimes, they just don't know how or don't want to say why. At least they didn't just disappear without a word.

 

[WhiteTailsMinis]

People back out on a purchase for many reasons. Sometimes, they just don't know how or don't want to say why. At least they didn't just disappear without a word.

Songcatcher, you are so right - I agree. We've had people that do disappear. So yes, we were at least offered an explanation which was stated to say because of the photos. However I will add they were extremely complimentary of our program and our stock and will return again. For that I am grateful and appreciative as it was a very nice email.

I was just stating that the casual photos is what changed their minds and sometimes can backfire.