Need suggestions for my ad

[tinypony]

I had posted an independent ad locally for my stallion in preparation for spring. Pics were of him parked out, standing normally, and just looking at the camera. He is fuzzy now because I just bought him recently and have no decent pics. While I realize that it would be more appropriate to have nice pics for an ad, it just wasn't possible. He has been vet checked to ensure nice teeth and conformation, and to ensure he isn't likely to pass on dwarf traits. Here's my dilema: I got a nasty email from one lady telling me I had no right posting an ad in the current economy if I couldn't at least make the effort to shave him first and that if I was educated I would realize I should be blanketing my horse this time of year instead of allowing him to be fuzzy. She went on to say that if I was so lazy, he must just be pet quality and I would be better off giving him away. She didn't email me personally, she posted it on a public sale board for all to see, what a sweety!!! Then that fueled others to pitch in and talk trash. I'm not a huge breeder, I don't claim show quality, and I'm not being irresponsible. I require the mares to have vet checks, I'm honest about whatever I can help with, so what am I doing wrong? Should I really not post him in his fuzzies? I know it isn't the best, but I won't clip in winter. Am I wrong to not blanket? Am I truly that "uneducated"? I ask this to all on the forum because I love this forum and value all of the advice here as well as the experience, so if you can help at all, please.........what am I doing wrong? I post his height, registration, pedigree, and offer xrays to those who request as well as make available vet records.......well I could complain all day so I should stop....thank you all...

 

[Genie]

It takes all kinds to make the world go round.

I received an e-mail from a dog breeder who said that I could not charge different prices for my registered dogs.

They said they would report me so I could no longer breed because it was not ethical and against the kennel club rules?

They did send the ad on to the kennel club last year, apparantley, but I have not yet heard back from the kennel club.

There are a lot of experts in the world and they are always ready to help out those of us who have no idea how to advertise, or market our animals or wares

I politely thanked her and said that if the kennel club does not want me to register my dogs with them or pay my annual dues, or participate in their magazine subscription, and their micro chip program, etc., then I may have to sell my puppies unregistered. The way the economoy is I can get just as much for the puppies unregistered anyway.

Just chalk it up to a person who enjoys messing up other peoples' corn flakes, and know that it isn't a personal thing.

There are many ways to market our services and some that may work better than others, but you will figure it out without negative criticsm, I am sure.

I think studying some of the other breeder ads and seeing what catches your eye in those ads, will be a good way to get started.

Good luck and try to see the humour in it

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Let me start by stating that I do not, in any way, condone this sort of behaviour.

If you had posted an ad stating that, for money, you were willing to paint your colt bright blue, so long as you were not harming him (I have actually done this with Reckets Blue Bag, for a Fancy Dress) then no-one has any right whatsoever to attack you publicly or even in private, I think the private messages are the worst, in fact.

Having said all that, I can see both sides.

If your colt is not top quality I do not think you should be offering him at stud.

Although shows are not, IMO, the best way to tell an animals quality, I very much doubt that you would have anyone using your colt on mares of any quality, so, in fact, you would be perpetrating the problems of second class animal being over produced.

There is NO way whatsoever to check for Dwarf Traits, BTW.

So, although I do not agree with her attitude, or her methods I do agree with the main content of her attack.

Why exactly are you offering to stand your colt at stud, BTW....could you explain your motivation??

And while there is no shame in showing a horse in his fuzzies, again, it , is unprofessional to do so when offering the animal as breeding quality and the "right type of people" if such a thing exists are unlikely to be impressed by such a thing.

If you just look in the Journal or World, you will see immediately what I mean.

If your colt is not of the same standard, irrespective of whether he has won prizes or not, he should not be being bred from.

 

[My-Lil-Pony]

If your colt is not top quality I do not think you should be offering him at stud.

The problem as I see it is that everyone seems to think their horse is quality and somehow others horses are not. That is why she got this e-mail in the first place.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Well, no, I see both sides, but that in no way excuses the rude approach.

I am well aware that I can be very abrupt, but there is a line between abrupt and downright rude, and even when I am answering Fugly Horse Of The Day "idiots" I am not rude, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

 

[sedeh]

Winter time is the time I let all my horses "be horses". I don't clip or blanket. They get to be out in a herd environment. I think it was very inappropriate for the person to berate you like that publicly. Lets face it.....if no one likes what they see in your add you're not going to get any responses. I personally wouldn't advertise a stallion for stud service without professional pics. I don't know of too many people are going to pay for the services of an animal that they can't get a good look at. Good luck with it......and act like a duck, just let that bad water roll right off you.

 

[tinypony]

Thank you all for the advice and reasoning. In response to one question about "why" I offered him, the previous owner bred him and that is why I bought him, to breed. He was shown and I was told he was more than pet quality but I choose to allow others to determine if they consider him show quality because it seems that people have many different opinions in the horse world. While at a show in October I had two requests for breeding to him, unsolicited by me. This prompted me to advertise locally. If people don't consider him to their standards, then they have the choice not to use his service.

As for not being able to determine dwarfism, this is true, there is no test. The vet did say however that there are some warning signs and certain situations that may make it much more likely. She only stated that he was not outwardly likely to contribute to dwarf traits, not that he couldn't.

Yes, I agree that my ad could be much more professional and I certainly intend to make it so come spring time when I feel comfortable shaving him and having professional photos. Honestly, I think that after spring I may just geld him because there are many, many studs and mares out there and I don't need to be a huge part of the population, I am only offering him due to local request. His pedigree is acceptable, conformation good, color excellent, disposition wonderful, but I'm not disillusioned to believe that my "pet" is better than a show horse. Some breeders chose to breed for pet quality so they can offer 4H children an affordable horse, or maybe someone is looking to breed for a driving horse and don't want to show it in the larger circuits so they also may want a pet.

All wonderful advice and most welcome, thank you again. One part of my question I am still wondering on is this: am I wrong to not blanket? I really had thought it was in his best interest and our climate is moderate here, not hot and not freezing.

 

[Littleum]

As for not being able to determine dwarfism, this is true, there is no test. The vet did say however that there are some warning signs and certain situations that may make it much more likely. She only stated that he was not outwardly likely to contribute to dwarf traits, not that he couldn't.

Wait, I'm confused.

There is some question as to if your stallion is "dwarfy" or not? Maybe I missed some prior post where you put up pictures and this came up for discussion.

 

[Versatility Farm & Training]

To answer your question about blanketing, you are doing the right thing. Let the horse get fuzzy and keepp himself warm! I don't know what could be wrong with letting natural do its job. The only reason to blanket would be if the horse is having trouble keeping itself warm. Make sure you feel him from time to time to make sure that he is not skinny under all of that hair though. Sometimes they look good or even fat, but really under all that hair they are skinny.

For your ad, I don't think you did anything wrong, but personally I would not advertise a horse without a quality picture. If someone wants a current picture over the winter, I'll send them a fuzzy one, but I won't use a fuzzy picture for an advertisement, it can make the horse look bad and then reflect on you that way.

The best thing to do, is ignore people like that. If you address them or confront them, it is only going to get worse. If they are polite about it, then you can communicate with them and ask questions to understand where they are coming from, but when they are as rude as you described, just don't address them. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, right or wrong.

 

[txminipinto]

If he is full winter coat, then I see no reason to blanket provided he has appropiate wind breaks and shelter from wet weather.

Now.....

Standing a stallion at stud has many issues that others have not brought up:

1) Risk to your stallion via physical injury or illness from outside mares

2) Risk to outside mares via physical injury or illness from your stallion

3) Mare owners - I'll admit that when I send one of my mares out, I'm a PIA to deal with.

And that's just the easy stuff to deal with.

Frankly, in this industry, standing a stallion at stud is not worth the effort you will put into it in advertising. Very few mare owners send their mares out because everyone has their own stud. Stallions that receive outside mares are the very few stallions with stellar attributes including an impressive show record, that their owners are willing stand at public or private service. Very few stallions owners with our industry's best stallions stand these stallions to outside mares due to the risks I listed above.

I'm afraid, at best, the mare owners you would most likely attract are the pet quality mares that shouldn't be bred to begin with. There is no need to "create" a pet quality foal - there are thousands of them born every single year already.

In all honesty, there is really only one reason that people breed. And that is greed. Be it greed for money, greed for creating a life, greed for "experiencing the miracle", etc. It's a selfish act on our part and every single one of us is guilty of it. Some of us are just better at creating a marketable product than others. Even I breed my mares for the opportunity to make a buck by selling the resulting foal. Why else would any one do it? If we all stopped breeding today, not a single mare was bred back, we would still have this over population and no market for 10 or more years.

I encourage anyone who's thinking of starting a breeding program, to cull the pets, invest in the show ring, research your pedigrees, watch what's winning, and then buy every book on the planet that covers breeding horses. After you've done all of that, talk to your vets about stallion care, mare care, foaling emergencies, stallion injuries, and mare injuries resulted from breeding. There is far more to the act of breeding than putting a mare and stallion together. Success is not a live foal. Success is a successful foal.

 

[ruffian]

Just curious - why would you offer X-rays?

 

[tinypony]

Just curious - why would you offer X-rays?

Honestly the xrays were just a bonus. I had one person ask for a written statement from the vet that his teeth were straight (she was from out of town and wanted assurances). It just so happened that he needed a follow-up xray of his abcess on his nose so I had the vet do his teeth xrays since it was in the same frame. Normally I wouldn't have had such an odd offering, but she was pleased that I was able to so accurately show her that his teeth were straight. She was the only person I have ever had want more than just a snapshot of his bite, but now that I have the xrays, why not make them available....

 

[icspots]

First I think you are doing the absolute right thing to let him be a horse, too many people think horses are people and have the same wants and needs....THEY DON'T.

I also have to respectfully disagree that there are very few stallions that do or are acceptable to do outside breeding. I have a little stallion who has never been shown, but who has sired a multitude of national top ten horses, I've had quite a few outside mares brought to him. I had a young stallion out last year, and had a lot of people ask if he would be standing to outside mares when he was older, AND I have sent mares to outside stallions irregardless of the fact that I have plenty of stud power here at home. To me, it is a good way to introduce new blood lines into your herd without adding another mouth to feed. If done properly outside breeding is an excellent idea. I personally won't take a mare if I don't think she'll compliment the stallion, won't take a rank mare, and need to have a health swab done to protect my boys from STDs. If that makes me a PIA then so be it, I haven't had any complaints about it.

 

[Sandee]

I disagree with txminipinto about those wanting to breed having their own stallion. I know of several very small discreet breeders who have small farms and yet have mares with National titles. Or they are hoping to get National titles and they don't have the room nor the "set up" to have their own stallion. (Some think stallions are a real lot of fuss).

I offer my stallion to those types of outside mares and I can do this because I also have only a few (3) horses and do not wish to breed at this time. He has excellant conformation and good bloodlines and his temperament is more that of a gelding (actually my gelding is more of a pain).

I do agree that you don't get enough to pay for advertising. Most of my outside breedings are through word of mouth and I insist on a vet check for the mares.

I really love my guy and he's very affectionate and easy to handle ( we always hand breed). He is just getting better as he gets older (coming 6). He drives (National champion) and at Nationals in that huge halter class he stood for the entire class without ever moving a foot (even though he didn't win - I was very proud of him).

My point is you have to decide if your guy is worth breeding or keeping "whole". Don't let others do it for you. And it sometimes takes time for them to develop and fillout before you can really access what you've got.

Added: In retrospect you probably realize that it was a mistake to put up an ad with him fuzzy. You always want to put your (his) best face on for the public.

 

[wildoak]

If your critic was coming from the big horse world, it's much more common to blanket for the winter and keep them under lights to avoid the "yak" look we get LOL. Otherwise, I can't imagine what her thinking was - I know very few little horses - even serious show horses - who are kept up clipped and blanketed all winter.

Jan