Sales?

[JennyB]

I was wondering how your sales of your AMHA/AMHR or ASPC/AMHR horses are doing? What do you feel makes a good sale? How many have you sold this year and has it slowed down recently?

 

We have sold quite a few, but seems they are now NOT moving!

Is anyone else having that problem? I wonder because ours haven't been shown that, that is why

Do you have to have a Champion to sell them and selling them for as little as we are having to sell ours?? That would be sad because after all that hard work and money put into showing and get very little would very hard to swallow. What your opinions?

 

Thanks,

Jenny

 

[chandab]

I don't have any for sale and haven't for some time, however, do know moving towards fall gets to be a harder time to sell horses as all people think about is the additional mouth to buy hay for during the winter (and it sounds like this year will be a hard year to get good hay in many places).

Good luck.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Fortuantly I had none that I needed to sell this year lol. This topic has been brought up before this year and there have been breeders saying they have had good luck in sales.

Here's the problem I see now, once again the economy is unsettled, fall/winter is coming up I just don't see to many people buying horses much anymore. I think after the Nationals and Worlds you will start seeing it decline. Next year hopefully it goes back up but who knows what the country will be like by then. Hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[Jill]

I haven't tried to sell anything this year, but was able to claim a pricey addition recently who I am very excited about.

 

[cretahillsgal]

Im not doing so well. Everyone near me is in the same boat I guess. NO pasture, NO hay, and now our wells and reservoirs are going dry. Everyone here is already banned from ALL outdoor watering of grass and plants. And I know of several people who have wells only, and those are dry. Doesn't bode well. Guess we are not living right here or something.

 

[disneyhorse]

Just speaking from my own personal opinion...

Showing DOES make the horses more attractive to people who DO show. If you are wanting your horses to go to show homes, or are advertising them as "show quality" or something... people are going to be looking for "proof." That doesn't really mean that you need to drag all of your show horses to shows, but at least your breeding stock OR a few horses that are related to your sale horses.

When I'm looking for a new weanling to show, I prefer to buy one whose sire (or dam, or preferably both) is a National Champion or better. OR, if the stallion hasn't been shown but a bunch of his babies have, the babies tend to be Nationally competitive.

I don't really mind if the above criteria are met or not if the horse I'm buying is an adult and just a stunner to look at, but since I prefer younger horses, I need to see what their potential might be. The amount of money I spend is also related to this... I will pay more for the added "bling" of show record and bloodlines, whereas I might spend less on a horse that I have to put more effort into.

There are SO many minis and Shetlands out there from stock who has been shown, for not a ton of money, that it's just a better financial investment for me to go with that, than from a farm that does not show their foals or their breeding stock.

That's my perspective.

Andrea

 

[Minimor]

Some people do want to buy show champions....or at least offspring of show champions. For my part I don't care--I prefer to buy what I like, regardless of what that horse or its parents have done in the ring. In fact I prefer to buy a youngster that hasn't been shown, because show records often mean a higher price tag. I figure that I can win just as well with the horse I like as I can with one someone else has already shown.

I haven't advertised any horses for sale though it wouldn't hurt for us to cut down a bit in numbers....quite frankly I don't think we would have much luck selling just now. There are so many horses on the market, for all sorts of prices from very low to higher. I don't believe in giving them away, and this year I fear that any horse given away might not fare so well in terms of feed. Feed is scarce this year--flooding in this province has caused farmers to lose a lot of pasture land, not to mention some hay land. So, farmers need to buy more hay than usual to feed their cattle, and with some hay land being out of production due to flooding, the hay that is available is not going to stretch far enough. Also, some hay suppliers have raised their prices--so it's going to be harder to find hay, and more expensive to buy it. Some people, I fear, just aren't going to pay out the money it will take to buy sufficient feed for their animals.

 

[Matt73]

Thankfully, I'm not in this for the money....Horses, and especially ponies and minis are a non-market around here. I own, and breed the odd year, for me

 

[Jill]

Thankfully, I'm not in this for the money...

Ditto!!! And I couldn't quit horses if I tried

 

[LindaL]

Well, I have been trying to sell a few horses with no luck, but then the lady "down the street" from me (a few hrs north) has been selling quite a few!! Not sure what the trick is...or is it just luck?? I am confused...not sure what makes certain horses sell and some not (show records or not)...

Funny thing is...I am always a "buyer" (what I mean is...there is no good reason for me to not buy...like droughts, no hay, etc.)...so I know I am not the only one out there who is a buyer...I don't know what the answer is.

I was no help...lol

 

[midnight star stables]

I put a price on one, but I'm not pushing to sell him at all. I did buy one though...

Yeah, no money coming in here, but lots going out! If I could build an expansion, I'd buy more too... I'm very bad.

 

[targetsmom]

Well, my math comes out right, but for the wrong reasons... In the past year, 2 minis died (one was a foal), I gave 2 away, and I bought one (announcement coming SOON).

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

We have sold a few but not even any inquiries lately. If my place were back together I would be shopping though, there are tons of horses for sale I would LOVE to own!

 

[barbiedoll68346]

We have sold several lately, but we have them priced very reasonably too. Wish the market were better. I am more into getting the proper home, not the $$$$$.

 

We are taking one to Nationals that will be for sale too, hope that works for us.

 

Barb

 

[maestoso]

Sellers should keep in mind some key things that most buyers are looking for when they search for horses....

Prices (nobody wants to guess and they need a place to start, "private treaty" "neg. to good home" etc tend to scare buyers away).

GOOD pictures. This means the horses clipped or well groomed, standing and "showing" good angle, all views, etc.

Honest descriptions. If I look at a picture and the horse is described as world/national quality and it is clearly not, it deters me from looking at future ads from the seller.

Videos if you can.

As much as it is a pain to make all these things happen. The market is a buyer's market. There are many horses to choose from. There are only a "superstars" out there and everything else is in a huge pool of comparable competitors, so if the seller really wants to make the sale, they need to make it EASY for the buyer.

A seller who is waiting for the buyer to make it easy for them, will be feeding their horse all winter long

 

[Magic]

I haven't been advertising, I need current (and decent) pictures. My daughter does my website and even she doesn't recognize some of the horses from their pics -- it's hard to sell when the pictures don't do the horses justice. There have been some people who have sought me out from word of mouth, which is nice. They've been fairly local so have been able to come see the horses in person and they do buy. Hay prices are up 50% here from last year too, but I hesitate to push selling horses when the market is so bad. They still get fed very well here, regardless of how many we have or how high feed prices get.

 

[suen]

Well, after convincing my hubby I just had to get into the mini horse world and raise them, the first thing he asked me was "Are you going to raise and sell them and actually try to make some money, or raise them as a hobby?" Of course my answer was that I was goiing to raise and sell them. My first foal hit the ground this March, she is the apple of my eye, and of course is going to go nowhere. I have her mother bred and can't wait for that baby too... due next May. Needless to say, probably won't be any selling here on this farm, lol. I think he's happy just seeing how much fun I'm having with these little girls.... hope to get into the showing next year.

 

[HGFarm]

My meager sales this year were great, and had inquiries for more. Have one last one that I might part with, but dont care if I dont.

I need to update pictures on my site terribly (of the mares anyhow)- sigh. Something I keep saying every year and then suddenly they are getting winter hair and all and it's too late.

 

[Leeana]

I've sold several over the past couple months, about 6 or 7 actually - and these are mostly straight ASPC ponies and 1-2 straight AMHR minis. I've also bought a couple to put in the barn to play with and work on, as up until a few weeks ago, I only had 3 ponies in the barn (and 9 stalls). Most likely, one more coming home soon that will be in the barn and shown and later used as a broodmare. I would not consider selling any of the broodmares that I have right now, my 5 classic mares right now are so good in my mind, I don't think they could be replaced.

I just recently, in this past week, sold one just ASPC mare, and one AMHR/ASPC mare, both at the price I was asking. I average good number of inquires generally. The ASPC mare wasnt even on my sales list.

 

[Lizzie]

I think everyone in the US in the horse industry, has taken a huge blow in the last couple of years. For generations, horses have been a luxury and not for most, a business.

As I see it, many responsible breeders with quality stock, have cut down on their breedings, while irresponsible breeders, still pump out poor quality stock and sell for next to nothing or dump their horses into public auctions. It's all a very sad situation. But that said, I do think there is still a market for top quality stock - shown or not.

A good website with as much info as possible, helps. Pictures need to show good conformations shots. Definitely not pics looking down on the horse. Ugh! Complete pedigrees and not just a listing of the sire and dam. Pics of the sire and dam and others in the background if possible. Show results and what a given horse might have in the way of training. My daughter had an interest from an Engish breeder, wanting to purchase a mare she had originally imported from England. The mare is not for sale, but it does show us, that our websites are viewed from the world over. Give the information which potential buyers want to see. Little information, most usually does not invite buyers. Humans are busy. Some are lazy. Most won't even bother to write to find out information lacking from the website or ad.

I have been looking at stallions lately. It urks me no end when I see stallions I like, with no information as to whether they are at public stud, the stud fee and whether or not they provide frozen/chilled semen. I would like to know that up-front. Surely providing important information on a website, saves us answering many emails from those who wish to know. I find it even more annoying, when the stud owner or owner of a horse for sale, doesn't know any more than the sire and dam. As a breeder, we should know.

I think there is a great deal to selling horses and it's not just about putting an ad in an all-breed classified equine online site or local paper.

Lizzie