The market is certainly tough right now. I feel for all the unwanted minis out there. I cringe when I hear people say "at least I'm not paying for its housing anymore" or something like that. My thought is if you can't afford to feed/care/vet all the animals you have on your farm for the rest of their lives, you shouldn't have ever bought/bred them. Every animal we as humans take charge of should be a lifelong commitment. And if the right circumstances come along and new home is found for the animal, then great. But I think it should be planned for as if you will ALWAYS have the animal and be responsible for it financially. Ok, off my soapbox on that issue.
Back to the market, I do believe over population is a huge contributor to the issue, but more specifically, over population of lessor quality horses. I see SO many ads for minis where the owner wants a "show home" and I look at the horse and think there is NO way that horse will survive in any show ring. So, do they just not know? Do they think if they advertise a horse as a show prospect, maybe an uninformed newbie will come along and think "show horse; great price; let's buy!" We all need to treat "newbies" with care and guide them. Not take advantage of them. New people are a huge factor in the breed surviving this horrible downturn. If we mislead them, they will eventually figure it out and certainly never purchase from the same farm again, but worse, may get out of minis all together. If we help them, they may become life-long enthusiasts. And that outcome benefits us all.
As for pricing, yes, it's tough right now. And the old saying "quality still sells" is true...but for less these days. There are horses still selling for thousands, but they may go for $4500 today, but would have gone for $10,000 a few years ago. So even the high dollar horses are more reasonable right now. But lesser quality and/or pet horses don't bring much of anything. And yes, I have a few sitting at my farm. And what are they doing??? Eating hay, eating grain, using up wormer, being vaccinated, getting their teeth floated, and just generally hanging out. It's my responsibility to do all those things forever, or until a suitable home comes along. So, whereas I bred 4 or 5 mares per year in past years (I believe 8 was my personal "high"), I now breed for 0 or 1 foal per year. Because I have to plan to keep that foal should it not sell. Simple responsibility + simple math.
Another soapbox and then I'm done.... I know that many feel the "backyard" breeder is the bane of our existence, but I think the "well-known" (which to mean can simply mean well advertised) breeder that is still breeding 20, 30, 40 or 80 mares per year is the real problem. A) they should care more about the breed (as a whole) that has made them thousands and thousands of dollars over the years; B) they should understand their market enough to know it's over populated and C) they know many of those foals aren't going to sell BEFORE they breed the mare...so what is the POINT??? I just don't get it. Makes ZERO economic sense. The dollars and cents just don't add up. For the life of me I can't figure this one out. And there are still SEVERAL farms doing it. Some are (were really, not so much present tense) known for quality, others have always been known to have average horses at best, but breed for close to a hundred per year. I would love for one of them to come on here and explain the money side of that thinking.
Ok, one last note... If you are selling a horse for $500 (which I've done, so not condeming) you have to be extra careful about where it goes. Many less scrupulous buyers feel if they are only paying a few hundred bucks, we as sellers have no right to ask questions, ask for references, etc. But we do! They are OUR animals! So be careful and keep your horses' well being in mind. It's a tough road and it all looks uphill at the moment, but it's all about the slow and steady course.
Thanks for letting me rant!lol
