How to sell a bunch of half-trained, ugly, inbred horses?
Okay, it's not as bad as the title suggests. :P
I have taken on a project with a bunch of Morgan horses for the summer. It is a wierd situation. The breeder is old and senile and, wierdly, not even a horse person. He asked me the other day why I jump up and down next to the saddle before getting on a colt. He has no tack, and doesn't ride. He has been running his farm for many many years, selling colts before they turn 2 (so he didn't have to train them).
He is stubborn and un-savvey when it comes to breeding, and basically he is every sensible horse-person's worst nightmare.
Here's what I'm dealing with:
There are probably 40 horses on the property from this years colts and fillies to yearlings to studs and stud colts. I am working with about 10 horses between the ages of 3 and 10, all around the same training level. They are geldings or young mares.
My partner in crime, who got me onto this project out of desparation (too many horses and too many issues to deal with herself, not to mention the stubborn and undiplomatic property owner), has started all the untouched horses, and put about 3 rides average on them. She has one or two to the point of "greenbroke," or walk, trot, and canter and now working on flexibility, give, and being nice, dependable animals.
While there are some damn fine horses on the property, there are also several with genetic defects. In particular we have three horses with a protruding lower jaw, and one horse with some spinal problems that do not allow him to move properly. There are also a few who are just plain ugly.
The owner wants to sell the horses we are currently working with (we want him to sell/give them ALL away, but need to get him on board for that still). He thinks that bloodlines make the horse, and he thinks that his horses have amazing bloodlines. Thus, he refuses to sell his horses for a reasonable price. For example, for his butt-ugly green-broke 3 year old gelding with a jaw defect, he is asking $5000.
While we have a game plan (under the cut below), it's always good to see what other ideas are out there and what other peoples' experiences have been, which is what I think this community is best suited for. So....
What we are looking for is some tips and advice in three areas:
1) What are some good (innovative/creative?) strategies for selling these horses?
2) How do we deal with the owner/get him to "hand over the reins" so to speak?
3) What is the most efficiant way to get these horses trained, and what should we concentrate on in order to make these horses good, safe horses that we feel comfortable selling to an inexperienced rider? (There are very few experienced horse people in this area, and the experienced people aren't the ones who are buying horses unfortunately).
Here is what we have done and/or plan to do:
We have showed the owner the state of the local horse market (which is flooded atm), in which a person could buy a 7 year old dressage-trained fresian for $7000.........OR you could buy his greenbroke inbred Morgan (one of the nice-looking ones) for $7500. He insists that the bloodline makes the horse, and refuses to lower his prices. The only way that WE can think of to make him see the light will be to bring people in to look at his horses and have THEM tell him (over and over) that they won't pay more than $2000 for his nicest animals, and that most of them should be given away for free or sold for a tolken amount ($500). Unfortunately this means initially bringing in a large volume of potential buyers, most of whom will be immediately turned off by the price.
We will advertise on line, in magazines, and in tack stores. We'll also show the horses at schooling shows and gymkanas and approach local coaches. I have my Parelli levels, so we can advertise them as Parelli-trained horses. In our minds, selling to a coach would be ideal since they would be able to continue/maintain the training, are always looking for fresh new lesson horses, may buy our horses in bulk, don't mind ugliness if a horse can do its job, and the friendly, willing, and docile natures of most of these horses would be perfect for a lesson barn.
We will show the horses off of the property to potential buyers (his place is a mess) and will be honest about their abilities. We will also spend time evaluating potential buyers to make sure they are apt enough to handle the horse they are interested in.
We are currently concentrating our efforts on one horse at a time, bringing them to a certain point, and then moving to the next. We're concentrating on making these horses bombproof and completely safe, and training them in the basics of several disciplines. Morgans are versitile, so I think we want to play on that as much as we can.
We have set a goal of selling five horses by the end of August.
edited to put more info under the cut.
I have taken on a project with a bunch of Morgan horses for the summer. It is a wierd situation. The breeder is old and senile and, wierdly, not even a horse person. He asked me the other day why I jump up and down next to the saddle before getting on a colt. He has no tack, and doesn't ride. He has been running his farm for many many years, selling colts before they turn 2 (so he didn't have to train them).
He is stubborn and un-savvey when it comes to breeding, and basically he is every sensible horse-person's worst nightmare.
Here's what I'm dealing with:
There are probably 40 horses on the property from this years colts and fillies to yearlings to studs and stud colts. I am working with about 10 horses between the ages of 3 and 10, all around the same training level. They are geldings or young mares.
My partner in crime, who got me onto this project out of desparation (too many horses and too many issues to deal with herself, not to mention the stubborn and undiplomatic property owner), has started all the untouched horses, and put about 3 rides average on them. She has one or two to the point of "greenbroke," or walk, trot, and canter and now working on flexibility, give, and being nice, dependable animals.
While there are some damn fine horses on the property, there are also several with genetic defects. In particular we have three horses with a protruding lower jaw, and one horse with some spinal problems that do not allow him to move properly. There are also a few who are just plain ugly.
The owner wants to sell the horses we are currently working with (we want him to sell/give them ALL away, but need to get him on board for that still). He thinks that bloodlines make the horse, and he thinks that his horses have amazing bloodlines. Thus, he refuses to sell his horses for a reasonable price. For example, for his butt-ugly green-broke 3 year old gelding with a jaw defect, he is asking $5000.
While we have a game plan (under the cut below), it's always good to see what other ideas are out there and what other peoples' experiences have been, which is what I think this community is best suited for. So....
What we are looking for is some tips and advice in three areas:
1) What are some good (innovative/creative?) strategies for selling these horses?
2) How do we deal with the owner/get him to "hand over the reins" so to speak?
3) What is the most efficiant way to get these horses trained, and what should we concentrate on in order to make these horses good, safe horses that we feel comfortable selling to an inexperienced rider? (There are very few experienced horse people in this area, and the experienced people aren't the ones who are buying horses unfortunately).
Here is what we have done and/or plan to do:
We have showed the owner the state of the local horse market (which is flooded atm), in which a person could buy a 7 year old dressage-trained fresian for $7000.........OR you could buy his greenbroke inbred Morgan (one of the nice-looking ones) for $7500. He insists that the bloodline makes the horse, and refuses to lower his prices. The only way that WE can think of to make him see the light will be to bring people in to look at his horses and have THEM tell him (over and over) that they won't pay more than $2000 for his nicest animals, and that most of them should be given away for free or sold for a tolken amount ($500). Unfortunately this means initially bringing in a large volume of potential buyers, most of whom will be immediately turned off by the price.
We will advertise on line, in magazines, and in tack stores. We'll also show the horses at schooling shows and gymkanas and approach local coaches. I have my Parelli levels, so we can advertise them as Parelli-trained horses. In our minds, selling to a coach would be ideal since they would be able to continue/maintain the training, are always looking for fresh new lesson horses, may buy our horses in bulk, don't mind ugliness if a horse can do its job, and the friendly, willing, and docile natures of most of these horses would be perfect for a lesson barn.
We will show the horses off of the property to potential buyers (his place is a mess) and will be honest about their abilities. We will also spend time evaluating potential buyers to make sure they are apt enough to handle the horse they are interested in.
We are currently concentrating our efforts on one horse at a time, bringing them to a certain point, and then moving to the next. We're concentrating on making these horses bombproof and completely safe, and training them in the basics of several disciplines. Morgans are versitile, so I think we want to play on that as much as we can.
We have set a goal of selling five horses by the end of August.
edited to put more info under the cut.