Buyer Side/Seller Side

Here's something I learned a long time ago about the sometimes-aggravating processes of buying or selling horses: The best way to get better at being on one side of the equation is to gain experience on the other side. In other words, you become a better seller by having had experience as a buyer, and vice versa. The more times you've walked in the other side's boots, the fewer rocks you're going to feel with each step.

When I present a horse for sale to a prospective buyer, I make it a rule to have that horse as perfectly groomed and otherwise turned out as I can possibly make it. If it's a show horse or show prospect, I have it ready and dressed it in my best tack before the buyer ever arrives. If it's a trail horse, it's saddled and ready to go for a test ride. I do a super-cleaning of the barn, sometimes even get out the paint brush, and see to it that all the other horses are brushed and clipped. I've even been known to strip my garden of flowers in order to have buckets of them greeting my shopping guests when they arrive. I have copies of the horse's papers and pedigree on hand to give out, and sire ads and videos when available.

I learned to do these things in response to what I've encountered as a buyer--horses that hadn't seen brush nor clippers in weeks (or months); horses that had to be rounded up from the back 80 before I could even get a look at them; junky barn aisles and dirty stalls that spoke volumes about the owner's daily management regimen; owners who couldn't seem to locate the necessary paperwork; owners who expected to get a diamond's price for something still in the rough.

On the flip side, I respond promptly to sellers, even when I've crossed their horse off my list, and return their videos and DVDs if they want them back. Having been a seller, I know that "thanks, but no thanks" is more appreciated than the black hole of no reply.

Whether on the buyer side or the seller side of equine commerce, the Golden Rule comes into play, and it's pretty easy to remember: Just do unto the other side as you would have it do to you!

More on the Downsizing Topic

I have read with great interest the responses to my previous post on downsizing our personal horse numbers. The responses make it plain that there is more than one way to look at determining the optimal number of horses for one's situation. Thanks for the feedback--hope to get more of it.

I've sold a horse since making that post, and would like to sell at least one more before winter. That'd leave me with three head of my own to support, and a boarder or two to take care of. That's still plenty of horses for one couple (fulltime-job types, no less) to be responsible for. I didn't breed my broodmare this year, so there won't be an automatic herd increase come spring.

A sidenote on the horse I just sold: The horse in question generated considerable interest while she was on the market, but the majority of inquirers wanted to trade, not buy outright. Horse trading is an age-old activity, but I have to say that I've never had as many want-to-trade inquiries on a horse as I did over the past few months.

Any thoughts on that?

Trendwatch: Downsizing Personal Horse Numbers

With a downturned horse market, rising prices of such horsekeeping staples as hay and bedding, ongoing high fuel prices, and an aging baby-boomer demographic, we're seeing a downsizing of personal horse numbers as a rising trend. I'm feeling the pressure to downsize at my own place, and am likely to have some empty stalls this winter.

So, question for you: What are your plans in this regard? Will you keep the numbers of horses you have now, cut them, or maybe even increase them? What factors are going into your decision?

Trail Ride Wranglin'

This coming weekend, or Aug. 17-19, to be exact, you won't find me here at the ranch, with or without computer. Instead, I'll be out in the Idaho woods, helping to put on a benefit trail ride that's really a multi-faceted wingding for horse people. Besides giving people a chance to ride some neat country, the weekend includes an oldtime fiddler's concert, silent and live auctions, wagon rides, slide shows of other trail destinations, and a Dutch oven dinner--on white linen tablecloths, no less--that's not to be missed.

The prep work's big, and takes many volunteering hands. But that's part of what I consider to be the fun--the joining of like-spirited people, working toward a common goal, maybe making some memories while at it.

I'll take the digital camera, in hopes of capturing a few photos to share later. Stay tuned for Juli's "What I Did on My Summer Vacation" report!

I Love It When...

...you have the kind of friends who, when they come to visit, want to go to the barn, first thing, to see how the horses are doing.
Gossip and refreshments can come later.

...I finally finish the last of my monthly writing assignments, and get to click the SEND button. Feels just like sinking into a warm bubble bath of relief.

...I get to transition from sequestered writer to active horse person again, with something horsey to go do, and real-live horses to interact with instead of the conceptual ones I ride while being in the deadline business for a living.

...a new issue of Horse & Rider comes in the mail. It's just as freshly satisfying for me to get my hands on the lastest as it is for any subscriber. Even though the other editors and I already know what's going to be in the issue, there's still no other experience like seeing the whole package come alive, page after page, right there in your hands.

Hmm--from our heads, to your hands!

Would You Care to Ride 20 Miles a Day, x5?

I just got back from a visit to the Chief Joseph Appaloosa Trail Ride, an annual event (this was the 43rd) that covers a 100-mile segment of the 1,300-mile Nez Perce War Trail. The first installment begins at Wallowa Lake near Joseph, Oregon, and the final one ends in the Bearpaw Mountains of Montana, near the Canadian border. This year's route crosses the Lolo area of the Bitterroot Mountains, which happens to be A) one of the most remote sections of any state in the lower 48, and B) the area that the Lewis and Clark expedition nearly didn't survive over 200 years ago, on its journey to the Pacific. The country remains essentially unchanged since then, still primitive, wild, and beyond easy reach of the outside world.

About 200 riders set out to make this year's trek over some of the most rugged terrain North America has to offer. For some, the ride will be the adventure of a lifetime. Others will wish they'd never decided to undertake it. You really don't know who's tough and resourceful, and who's not, until you put them into this kind of riding/camping environment. This year's participants will ride about 20 miles a day, set up a new campsite each night, then saddle up at dawn the next day and do it all over again--for five days in a row.

While I've been on previous editions of this long-standing trail ride, I didnt' get to go with the riders making this year's trek--just got to visit their assembly camp about a 2.5 hour drive from our ranch. Their anticipation was palpable, and made me wish I got to ride along this year instead of coming back to my regular work week.

Have you ever ridden a horse for 20 miles a day? When and where? Would you have wanted to do it again for four more days?
Just curious as to whether this kind of riding sounds appealing to anyone other than those hardy regulars who undertake it every August while keeping a tradition alive.