Stupid Old AMHR Breeder

[Lewella]

And by doing that we had to open it up to the reduced hardshipping fee for everyone , Not just Mini's , Not just other countries , BUT FOR EVERYONE ! And Like I said to some before , the number of Mini's hardshiped in from AMHA is double the number of Shetlands !! Actually I am not sure the number of shetlands is that much more than what we were getting with the higher fees !!!

More like 5 AMHA horses for every 1 Shetland.

There were 517 AMHA horses hardshipped with the Hardship sale between Jan 1 and the end of October vs. 103 Shetlands hardshipped in the same time period. I'm with Belinda, I don't think there was a significant increase in the number of Shetlands hardshipped with the sale this year, I don't think there will be a significant increase next year either.

 

[Minimor]

Look at it this way...how many of those people --especially those in Europe--would come and buy from you or anyone else if there wasn't a sale on hardshipping? These days in this economy I would bet that the majority of them wouldn't be buying AMHR anyway--they would just sit tight with what they have and would simply not be a part of AMHR. Some, not all, would still choose to hardship , because even $400 is far cheaper than buying and importing another horse.

I agree with Belinda, we do need promotion in Europe--if there isn't promotion there then 'you' are never likely to have AMHR sales to Europe--if there is nothing AMHR there why would anyone want AMHR horses there? More R horses mean more interest in R events and then maybe more interest in buying AMHR. Our BOD did what was good for AMHR

 

[LaVern]

I totally agree with Belinda. Promotion up the wazoo. The AMHR horse is the most wonderful horse there is. You must have AMHR. Our registry will back its breeders. Our directors will stand behind you as a breeder of AMHR horses. They are the only horses in the world worth having. We love out AMHR horses.

And once you start raising and trying to sell them we will not sell you out.

 

[LaVern]

In the strangest of ways it was about the money but I don't believe in the way you might thinkI sat in the BOD meeting when this decision was made and let me offer what I saw as to how it went

It began with the idea that ALL hardship fees should be increased to the same as the AMHR as there is a segment of our organization who pays much less to get papers. What followed was a debate about if this particular "fee" was even a hardship fee or not and progressed into the idea that raising this fee would stifle the growth and participation and even make it prohibitive cost wise to people who might otherwise join this particular segment. Mind you the original intent was to raise that fee. After about 10 mins of the debate and the idea having shifted toward the raising of this initial fee would or might inhibit growth of that segment a director had the brain storm to LOWER the hardship fee for AMHR or as it called have a "sale" the focus having turned toward what could be done to increase revenue and membership this idea of a " sale" was quickly embraced and passed. Not a single utterance was offered regarding any impact or other ramifications regarding its application other then if its cheap people will buy. So the quick thinking and tunnel vision of the matter of doing something to improve our numbers won out that day and brought us the "sale"

So as I saw it I would say yes it was about the money but did not end the way it started.

This is how one person that sat in on the meeting remembers what happened.

 

[Minimor]

And I have been told that there are things missing from that particular account...that parts of that account actually pertain to ASPR rather than to hardshipping ...

 

[LaVern]

And I have been told that is the way it went down. Who has the best "tellers" is the question I guess.

 

[Minimor]

And perhaps all in what you prefer to believe or who one chooses to believe is reliable...and if you prefer to believe s single version or several matching ones.

 

[Belinda]

And I have been told that there are things missing from that particular account...that parts of that account actually pertain to ASPR rather than to hardshipping ...

That is correct Holley ! I guess LaVern you and whoever reads this can believe Directors that were involved or on lookers who only have half the facts ..

Sorry I tried to explain what actually went down !! I guess you will just have to believe what you want . Once again it was not done to hurt anyone , I for one sure would not have gone for it , sitting here with over 125 head of AMHR only horse if I thought it was going to kill our market ... Have a great Holiday season ..

 

[wpsellwood]

I didnt go back and read all of the post, but I wonder if they close the registery would it increase the value of the AMHR horse? If brought sorry for repeating.

 

[LaVern]

I guess I shouldn't base everything on hearsay. And if I had wanted to know, I should have been there myself and sat in on the meeting. But was wondering if everything was recorded or every word copied down.

 

[sdmini]

We had many request from YOUR buyers from other countries to reduce the fee for them to come into our Registry !

We still only have half the data. This is the second year in a row of the reduced price. How many of the hardshipped horses were overseas horses? I have such a hard time wrapping my head around people paying thousands for the horse, thousands for quarantine and thousands for shipping but quibbling over the $200 to hardship a mare into AMHR. I have to say of the few overseas buyers that have contacted me (generally speaking overseas buyers want that "big name" on their imported horses) no one has cared if they were AMHR registered or not but AMHA was a must. Makes one wonder if it's because of the premium AMHA set a long time ago on their scrap of paper.

More like 5 AMHA horses for every 1 Shetland.

There were 517 AMHA horses hardshipped with the Hardship sale between Jan 1 and the end of October vs. 103 Shetlands hardshipped in the same time period. I'm with Belinda, I don't think there was a significant increase in the number of Shetlands hardshipped with the sale this year, I don't think there will be a significant increase next year either.

Considering the few shetlands there are compared to miniatures that is no surprising figure but I think your missing the point. Why do people double register be they ASPC or AMHA? To appeal to a broader market. While the 1/2 off sale will help with the appeal of the AMHA horse and the ASPC horse it further diminishes AMHR "only" horse. Buyers don't want limitations and, in my opinion, AMHR is happy to oblige at the cost of their AMHR only horse.

All and all the half off sale doesn't affect me, most of mine are AMHA/AMHR but that doesn't mean I'm incapable of seeing that there are two side to every issue. It wasn't that long ago that it cost $60 to register a AMHA horse into AMHR I can't help but wonder why they didn't then and why they don't think AMHR is worth $200 now? This coming from a ranch wife of three, driving beat up vehicles yet still has deemed it beneficial to my program to hardship horses into both AMHR and AMHA.

 

[LaVern]

Makes one wonder if it's because of the premium AMHA set a long time ago on their scrap of paper.

I say yes, and they have done an extremely good job of demanding accountalbilty from their breeders and then backing them up. It is a two way street, with AMHA, those papers are all.

It is just a scrap of paper yes, but so is the title and the pin number to your car or a deed to your land. With out those papers you have nothing.

Maybe that is why the board voted to let them in for sale prices. Because they are so much better than, the old amhr only b horses.

 

[Minimor]

I would say it is due to the fact that AMHA has been so active in promoting their horses in Europe for do many years now. ASPC/AMHR has not been doing any promotion across the pond--not until very recently. People haven't cared about AMHR papers over there because there has been nothing over there for AMHR horses!

Eeeesh! Like I said , people see what they want to see, and sometimes that means they cannot see the forest for the trees!