How are horse sales at your end of the WORLD?

[Lost Spoke Ranch]

It sounds like we may be an exception to the rule. We had a good year! We sold all the horses we wanted at prices we were happy with. By the same token we also spent a record amount on purchases, showing, and advertising.

Although our main motivation for raising miniatures isn't to sell them we did sell several show horses and several with nothing wrong with them at pet prices. Actually, the pet priced horses took longer to sell if you can believe that! The market has never been good here in the state of Arizona and the majority of our horses go to folks out of state.

With the economy the way it is the prices for average miniatures are going down while their upkeep is going up. Prices for legitimate (proven) quality show horses continues to remain strong.

I hope next year will be better for everyone.

Dawn

 

[JWC sr.]

Dawn,

I agree with you completely the pet quality horses were the hardest for us to sell this year also. I wish I could say we did not produce any, but then I would be lying like some of our friends do. LOL We all have them in my opinion. Hopefully though the quality of even the pet quality babies goes up each year. LOL

I think it all comes down to the fact that marketed agressively to as wide as possible market(ie your selling out of state as an example) quality mini's still brought reasonable, if not great money this last year and hopefully for years to come.

I have seen some of your horses and been to your web site and you sure seem to be doing an excellent job of producing and placing your foals.

 

[Laura]

[SIZE=12pt]I had some horses this fall I really wanted to move (mainly super nice geldings), so I lowered prices and took some to a sale (abysmal prices, right after the September "crash"). I sold a few that way, but have stopped advertising for the most part for now. [/SIZE]

I still have horses and ponies for sale, but am perfectly willing to hold them until the market shifts or the right buyers come along. Our horses have proven themselves over and over during the last 18 years. We'll just hold onto them for now if that's how the market swings. I don't mind making price concessions for the right home, but we have great horses and I won't give them away...if I wanted to I WOULD give them away

 

[Shari]

Just glad I don't have any animals for sale. Though..have to admit I have been tempted to buy a couple of times, both BTDT riding Icelandic and a mini mare but I to.. am holding onto the money we have. Will wait to see what happens in a few months.

 

[sedeh]

I've only sold one this year, but I really only have 2 others for sale. The filly I had listed for sale was originally slated to join the broodmare band until I thought she was going "over" so I put her on the sale page. Since she didn't go over she'll be bred next year.

I have to admit that I haven't done a lot of advertising though. I usually put an add out on Dreamhorse every few months and occasionally on the LB sale board....if anyone has found a great place to advertise please share!!

I don't mind keeping Danny for another year....he's a blast to show! I have been surprised that I've had no bites on Clyde. I gelded him with "youth mini" in mind. Everyone that comes out falls in love with him but I won't give him away so he's still here. I did cut how many mares I breed by half and trying to rotate them alternate years(I don't have a large herd so that means I'll only have 1-2 foals a year). Otherwise I'll just keep my kids until I can find good homes for them!

 

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I sold two nice fillies for a lower price because they went together, and it was a very good home. Price for each was under $1,000, so lower than usual for nice fillies, and it took longer for them to sell. I had one of the fillies sold twice and each time something came up so the buyer backed out of the sale.

I have a gelding for sale at "pet price" and not much interest in him, and a very nice appy colt for sale, I've had a lot of interest in him, but no sale yet. I think it's an average year for me, prices were definitely down.

 

[Lost Spoke Ranch]

I had one of the fillies sold twice and each time something came up so the buyer backed out of the sale.

We too have noticed there has been a difference in the integrity of purchasers over the past couple of years i.e. saying they want horses or even put a deposit on them only to change their minds for whatever reason. This can be quite frustrating when you yourself have purchased horses, some on terms, and follow through with your end of the agreement.

We did back out of a purchase for the first time this year ourselves after seeing the horse in person and realizing it wasn't quite what we had hoped. We had a substanial amount into this horse and didn't receive a dime back. Live and learn.

Dawn

 

[HGFarm]

I have sold two this year, both for my asking price, but for both, the prices were a bit lower than I would usually go due to the economy, but not bad. I still have two for sale- friendly, healthy horses that I have been getting a few inquiries on, but just no sales- however I have also turned down sales on both because the homes were NOT suitable homes and I will not send a horse off somewhere where I think it will be neglected or abused in any way. I have reduced their prices as low as I will go on them, as I feel they are worth at least that much, and also refuse to give them away. I may try breeding only a couple of mares this next spring, for my own benefit, but will not be breeding all six like I had planned.

We had our quarterly update with our CEO in NY last week. He gave some overall stats on things..... as they put it, we are living in the best house in a sh**ty neighborhood right now. We were down 22% however most of our competitors were down 60%!!!

It shocked us all, and he did make a comment regarding the official news that went out to let everyone know, in case they had not noticed, that we are in a recession and have been since Dec. 2007. REALLY??!! Gosh, I would never have noticed! I'm sure glad they told us!

Job losses have accelerated over the year with 1.2 million in just the last 3 months- over half a million in November alone, and more being added daily. I just can't understand why they expect the situation to get any better when jobs continue to be sent out of the country. On a world wide basis, there is a noticable decline in spending there also...

Here's an article from this morning on the 'overall' picture of what's been happening and past and continuing issues. It's not a happy picture..

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n1.4a473ad.html

 

[Lost Spoke Ranch]

I have seen some of your horses and been to your web site and you sure seem to be doing an excellent job of producing and placing your foals.

Thank you John, your learned opinion is appreciated and it feels nice to know we are on the right track with what we are trying to accomplish.

Dawn