See the stallions at www.bbcattle.com/washington_foundation_quarter_ho.htm

ktranch@3-cities.com

May 21 In-Hand Trail/Working Ranch Horse

The Grant County Horse Association is hosting an In-Hand Trail/Working Ranch Horse clinic May 31 at the Grant County Fairgrounds. Activities will start at 10:00, and the cost will be $10, this includes lunch. This clinic is open to all ages and breeds of horses, and all experience levels of handlers.

This will be a great learning experience and a great place to meet fellow horse people. Please contact Bill Bailey for more information at bnb@gemsi.com

The King Ranch put on another great event on April 4-5. The clinic was packed and the clinician was Denise Rotteger.

The Jackpot team sorting went all day. The King Ranch provided vests for the winning teams of each category. People came from all over eastern Washington to compete in this up and coming event. Team sorting is a very fun activity with less strain on the horses and cattle than many other cattle events. It is also a good beginners sport because of this.

Everyone had a great time and enjoyed being at the King Ranch.

Moses Lake Bull and Horse Sale

This was the 8^th year the Grant County Fairgrounds played host to the Moses Lake Bull & Horse Sale. The sale was a big hit, even with the bad weather. It was a three day event with 12 horses consigned, and 7 horses that were sold on Sunday. 3 horses no-saled, and the other 7 averaged 2621.00. Total sale dollars were $18, 350. All horses had to be registered with the AQHA or APHA, be broke to ride, have correct conformation and pass a vet check.

Horses arrived on Friday, shown on Saturday, and sold on Sunday. Saturday was very busy. Halter class started at 10:00 followed by western pleasure at 12:00, followed by the preview, then Team Branding at 3:00, then Team Sorting at 7:00. It was a very long day for horses and riders.

The highest selling horse, was Fritz Hesa Hand, a really nice gelding. He brought 3,750 and won both the halter class and western pleasure. Fritz Hesa Hand was Two Eyed Skeeter, Bill’s Gold Bill, King Fritz, and Dusty Red Joe bred. Many horses at this event were foundation bred.

Another great year for the Moses Lake Bull and Horse Sale. Along with horses, there was also a dog trial and a bull sale. Lots of events and plenty of fun. Don’t forget to mark your calendar for next year.

NFQHA Rulebooks

The NFQHA has come out with its 2003 rulebooks. 1 Rulebook is free to current NFQHA members, extras will be provided for $10. Please contact the NFQHA for your rulebook.

Advertising Your Horse

It’s that time of year again. Spring is in the air, foals are hitting the ground, and it’s time to sell. But how? What is the best way to sell horses today? Internet? Classified ad? Publication?

All offer a wide variety of options, and each hit a different target market.

The internet is the wave of the future, but many people still don’t use it, have time to use it, or want to fight with their kids to get on. The internet offers hundreds of sites to sell horses or anything else. Many of the websites have free classified ads, and then charge to add a picture. One of the most popular is www.dreamhorse.com This website reaches people across the nation, and charges $15 for 90 days for a picture on your classified ad. I personally have sold many horses using dreamhorse. I have also used many other websites, but haven’t had the success I’ve had on dreamhorse. One of the best features on dreamhorse is its user friendliness. Dreamhorse has an easy search page, where you can categorize horses according to region, age, gender, breed, purpose, etc. It is also very easy to put horses on dreamhorse and change ads using their edit feature. Many of the other websites are not as user friendly. www.horsewizard.com is also a very nice website to search for and sell horses. The ones to stay away from are the ones that make searches hard. It is very discouraging to have to look through horses all over the world when all you really want to look for are foundation bred quarter horses in the northwest. If the website charges for the ad, stick to user friendly sites, you are more likely to sell your horse and not waste money.

Classified ads have a small target audience. Classified ads usually target the local buyers. If there is a large local demand for your horses, then this is a good place to advertise. Cost for classifieds is relatively low. However, they don’t come with a picture and they charge by the word. This could be a drawback if you have very many horses to sell, or just have much to talk about. The pro to using a classified ad is that you usually won’t get someone from Texas or Michigan asking about your horse and wondering if you will ship it to them. A closer market also improves the odds that the buyers will actually come look at the horse. You can also advertise multiple times per week and hit the market that doesn’t frequent internet sites.

Publications usually only come out once monthly and you need to plan ahead to get your ad in. The cost is fairly high, but you can put a picture in the ad, you target a larger audience, but still target an audience that is fairly close. Publications such as Horse Previews magazine and Cascade Horsemen are affiliates of horse clubs, such as the NFQHA, so it is a good place to look for certain types of horses. Publications such as the Quarter Horse Journal and the NFQHA magazine carry classified ads as well as articles, and are a great place to look for or sell horses that fit into those categories. Publications also have interesting articles to draw people to look at the magazine. Half the battle is getting people to look at the ads, and usually people that get the magazine will look through the whole thing. Publications are easy to look through and are very user friendly. People that publish these types of publications are very knowledgeable about marketing and can help put a great ad together. Most of them have also been around the business long enough to know an Arabian from a Draft Horse and don’t screw up the ads too bad, or put them in the wrong category.

The bottom line is that there are many options out there. It is probably best to use what you feel comfortable with or think will hit YOUR target audience. With more people looking on the internet for horses, it is a good idea to see if it works for you. But not everyone uses the internet, and it hits a large target audience, maybe more than you want to deal with. Serious horse buyers will look multiple places. Look around and see what best fits your business and don’t be afraid to branch out into some new type of advertising, you never know what may work for you.