Spinoff- how are you selling and to who?

[buschkn]

Spinoff from not again's thread about having a number of people asking to buy two of her mares who are not for sale. Edgar says they have sold 11 in the last 2 months. Obviously the market is not completely gone!

SOOOO... How are people finding your horses? Word of mouth, shows, ads? Just curious. I am new to the business, having just started 2 years ago, and breeding my first mares this year, so always interested to hear how people find their buyers. Alternatively, buyers- where do you usually find your sellers?

I have bought and sold most of mine via the internet, either ads or specific websites, etc. These have been primarily riding horse, though. Interested to hear others stories of success.

[Donella]

I am pretty much in the same boat as you, at least for the warmbloods. I am also interested in what folks have to say about this!

[buschkn]

totally OT, another spinoff- should it be to who or whom? I think whom but feel it might be a bit pretentious to go change the title now like a big nerd! :lol::lol:

[Equine Obsession]

I just sold an OTTB (one year OT) through Dreamhorse as an upper level event prospect. A trainer came and saw him, liked him, recommended him to one of her clients.

He's already doing great in his new home! Better than what his new owner expected. :D

[Janet]

totally OT, another spinoff- should it be to who or whom? I think whom but feel it might be a bit pretentious to go change the title now like a big nerd! :lol::lol: It should be "whom".

IMHO there is nothing pretentious or nerdy about fixing a typo.

[Tasker]

I'm not answering for not again but we've had a steady stream of buyers over the years and if anything business for the higher end horses has been improving. The level of inquiries has picked up greatly in the last month for riding horses and yearlings with several vettings just around the corner. Most of the shoppers are via the internet, word of mouth and referrals from current/previous clients. The boys being on stallion rosters for the various registries has also generated sales in that shoppers are then directed to the farm website.

For the riding horses they are looking for an attractive horse with solid basics, correct conformation, an open medical history and the mind to tolerate amateur mistakes. The A hunters have gone to BNT's barns and have ensured themselves of homes for life due to their temperament & talent. The dressage horses have endeared themselves with their correct training. For the younger horses, the list of 'I want...' does not change much except for the riding stuff.

[TrueColours]

The majority of my sales have been internet presence over many years (I am EVERYWHERE, I have been told ... ;) ), some Internet ads, my own website predominantly and word of mouth and reputation sales ...

I will put ads up on places like Dreamhorse and Equine.com more to solidify my presence and introduce more people to what I am producing, than to actually sell whatever I have in the ad

I have also been fortunate that we have had several articles done on our horses in local, national and international publications including venues such as the very specialized Dubai Cup issue which resulted in many enquiries and general email chit chats from people from around the globe who were fascinated to learn of the coloured TB breeding program we have. Those contacts I have now maintained over many years and they are looking for very specific animals and when I either produce those types of horses or know where some can be found, then I will contact them and the deal will be done.

We have another extensive article coming out on our breeding program in another high end publication whose advertisements consist of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lear and Gulfstream Jet, properties for sale in Monaco, St Tropez, etc - all NON HORSE related and whose circulation is geared to individuals with personal incomes of over 5M per annum, so NOT your general horsey crowd at all! :)
I am hoping to introduce our horses to yet another segment of the population who have a high disposable income and who perhaps are coveting a nice coloured TB unlike anything else in their neighbourhood! :)

A lot of people out there want to be the "first" and the "only" and its a status symbol to have something that their even wealthier neighbour DOESNT have so if we can play into that pysche and give them a quality product as well, then we all come out as winners ... :)

So - we do things a little bit differently and so far, it seems to be paying off very very well ...

[Signature]

We use Equine.com/Dreamhorse.com/Warmbloods-for-Sale.com to market, as well as word of mouth. Just so happens this year two of our three babies are being sold to good friends (yay!), but normally we sell to the amateur owner who has their own farm.

[grayfox]

I just sold a broodmare in a matter of hours after placing the ad. I sold all my babies, most at a few days old. I advertise from my website and dreamhorse and warmbloods-for-sale. The babies go usually out of California to some trainers and mostly amatuers. The market definately doesn't seem dead.

[Hillside H Ranch]

Most of my horses sell as in-uteros or before weaning. I only have one older horse for sale now ( 2 yrs old) and I'm being pretty picky about where she goes. This year I advertised 4 foals for sale in utero and sold 3 of them; the 4th hasn't been born yet. I sell primarily through internet advertising, as I've been doing this for less than 5 years so I don't have a large amount of word-of-mouth yet. I do get my babies (that I keep for myself) out to show a much as possible to network, though and one of my in-uteros did sell through word-of-mouth this year.
One foal this year went to a Grand Prix rider/trainer, one foal went to an amateur in a very structured program (I primarily communicated through her trainer) and the other foal went to an amateur who also shows.
I breed primarily jumpers and everyone has told me that I won't be able to sell them easily, especially not until they are going well under saddle, but I have not (so far) found that to be the case.
I do keep my numbers small (2-5 foals a year) in case they don't sell young and I have to hold onto them until they are going under saddle. So far that hasn't happened.

[showjumpers66]

Our jumper breds sell quickly and by the time that they are 3 years old. Primarily, they sell via word of mouth, our website, or www.warmbloods-for-sale.com. We also did a sales list/DVD mailing that was very successful.

[Fairview Horse Center]

When I get good video of the started 3 year olds and post it on my website, and a few internet sales sites, they sell within a month. I also sell about half of the foals each year.

[Edgar]

Not much to ad other than I felt the year had a slow start and now it is buzzing. We sold not just one kind either but it has been some of each age group, unstarted and brood mares. Most of our sales are word of mouth or internet generated and a combination of both from people familiar with our horses. It is more activity than ussual at this time in our breeding season.

[3Dogs]

If you have a good PR machine, and appear to have what the market wants, sales get made. Defining the market you want to target, then having/making the "product" for that market - seems to work for many. Know thy audience (they tell me daily in my work :D).
I have young horses I won't put on the market till they are under saddle - of course, not all of them will be for sale :D

I do hear from friends and trainers that the market for the (under saddle) horse priced in the lower 5 figures has slowed.

[akrogirl]

Buyer here. I have bought a total of three youngsters from a local breeder who is now a very good friend.

The person in question also rides with my trainer from time to time, so I knew a little about her horses ahead of time. In fact, I bought a half sister to her wonderful jumper, who I knew to be a very ammy friendly horse.

We have at least six of her horses in the barn right now - two of my friends have one each, as does my trainer, and one of our previous riders bought from her in the past. The ones that are old enough to show are doing very well in the ring, so the relationship is mutually beneficial.

[hansiska]

Although mine -- save one -- have all sold by the time they were yearlings, this winter I did something a bit unorthodox to get my coming three year old sold.

He's a special horse, a fact I've known since he was three weeks old. But he's also a handful! I knew I wasn't enough of a rider, having just started riding again after a long hiatus, to ride him after sending him out to be broken. I knew it was only a matter of months until he'd need to be sent out, so I made a pretty good "movie" of him.

I uploaded this to youtube and posted links in my sales ads and from my website. Here it is [this is NOT an ad; he's sold]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y93bKlwp_JY

I made sure to put an ad on my local GMO's website. That's where the response came from.

The problem? I had no ring to show the horse in and it was late February in New England. The buyer was only a half hour away. Because she works with a very good dressage trainer who works well with young, green horses, I felt it might be a good fit, so I offered to trailer my boy to their indoor. He knocked their socks off and she bought him. (Incidentally, the horse loved the indoor and made it clear that he could spend all day gazing at himself in the mirror!)

I'm building a ring in my back yard now. :)

[maple_brook]

The market seems very active right now. We usually sell out as foals and I suspect this year will be the same. The biggest draw back this year is finding the time to get a video done and fit in farm visits. I only have 1 left for sale. I'd say the market for is just fine.

Most of my sales come from my website, warmbloods-for-sale and word of mouth with sales to professionals and ambitious adult amateurs.

[Oakstable]

What's the current price range for the various ages?

A friend of mine has an unstarted 3-yr-old at $12,000 and her agent friend is getting questions like "what's wrong with him?" He's by Donatelli out of a Gold Premium RPSI mare with Trakehner bloodlines. He is very nice, but on the smaller side.

[Fairview Horse Center]

Some of that may be because the horse is "3" and "unstarted". I don't find many buyers that have any interest in an unstarted 3 year old. At that point, they expect them to be started, and if not, suspect a (physical or mental problem). Kind of like "why can't YOU start him?!?!?!"

[hansiska]

Some people also think "what's wrong" when the price is too low. ;) I just sold an unstarted three year old for considerably more than $12K.

PS -- A video link of that three yr old is in the above post, if you or your friend want to compare.