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The
Perfect Storm .......
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A few years ago there was a popular, widely read
book about the events and lives affected by a huge
and unpredicted hurricane in the Atlantic.
The storm was the result of several weather
systems that came together just right to cause a
mega storm of unprecedented strength. The
book went on to describe the rescue of various
people caught in the storm and the aftermath of
such an event. Now, my job here is not to do
seek reviews or discuss the weather but rather to
discuss the horse business. Not long ago I
heard the horse business as it exists today as
"the perfect storm". I
thought this was an apt description.
The horse business or at least the horse business
based on the traditional western breeds is not
good. There are a lot of forces that have
caused difficult situations, primarily economic,
for those of us who own horses. For many in
the breeding business, the obstacles in front of
us seem almost overwhelming. There are so
many things that have a bearing on the success or
failure of the Quarter Horse (and related breeds)
breeding operation. I thought it might be
prudent to look at some of these situations, try
to understand them, and hopefully cope and
succeed.
The economy in general is depressed.
Construction is down, retail sales are down, auto
makers are in dire straits, and countries whose
economy is tied closely to the U.S. are in a
similar situation.
So.......what does this have to do with the horse
business? A lot in my opinion. Maybe
your income has not dropped or changed or in a few
rare cases, increased. But, as a whole there
is a lot of spendable income for established or
potential customers to spend on horses.
Whether you are selling horses, breeding mares, or
in some way managing horses for others, the people
spending money with you seem to have less to
spend.
The above is the first part of the storm. To
add to the economic problems of the country and
the world, the breed associations have shown how
irresponsible they really are at providing support
for the majority of their members and horse owners
in general. This is my opinion but here is
why I think they are amiss in what they need to be
doing to help horse owners. The breed
associations seem to give 80 to 90 percent of
their attention and focus on their "world
shows". Yet, these shows are attended
by a small fraction of the one percent of the
horse owners and are represented by equally small
percent of the total number of registered
horses. What's wrong with this
picture? It's totally out of whack so to
speak. There are over 99 percent of the
horses and their owners who are totally without
support or direction.
The breed associations attempt to solve some of
the problems by doing MORE of the same
thing. Horse shows have more classes than
ever offered yet there are fewer horses that are
being shown. A judge told me that two weeks
ago he judged a multi judge paint show and had
well over a hundred classes. Now with all of
that, they were done by one in the
afternoon. What part of this problem do the
breed associations not understand? There is
something about horse shows that people do not
like and are not comfortable with. This,
unlike some of the nation's economic problems, is
fixable. It would take a commitment on the
part of the various breeds and their governing
bodies to make some radical changes and reorganize
to make themselves more "horse owner
friendly". This is a topic for another
time but I mention it here because it is part of
the storm that we are weathering.
Another part of the storm that we are in is the
fact that the world is changing. It always
has and always will continually change to adapt to
the needs of the people who inhabit it, some of
which are horse owners. As technology
develops and changes our lives, lifestyles change
as the values and goals of each generation.
I don't want to turn into too much of a
philosopher here but it has been pointed out to me
that the people buying horses are not the
traditional horsemen that I and many others tend
to think of. When the idea of people who are
interested in horses was first suggested to me, I
was not sure that was right. But is is to an
extent. The western horse business has moved
from the family farms and ranches of rural areas
to the urban sprawl. The business has ceased
to be the centered around a lot of small breeders
(and a few large breeders) to being oriented to
the amateur-owner-exhibitor with a
trainer/coach. This is trying to sum up a
large idea in a few sentences but I think the
reader can get the gist of what I am
thinking. The baby boomers are a past
generation and the horse consumers of today are
more technology oriented as well as focused on
different kinds of careers than their
predecessors.
So.......now that we have identified the problems
that as horse owners, we all face, what do we do
about them. I don't know. Nor do I
think anyone has a clear vision of what is to come
or how to cope with the current situation. I
do think that the good times of the nineties are
over and it will never quite be the same. In
other words, I don't see it to be a very promising
endeavor to just raise a bunch of foals and sell
them. You could but on today's market I
think the breeder would be very
disappointed. I see the business changing to
this- if you breed a mare, have a goal and a
purpose for the resulting foal. Goals have
always been important but never so much as
now. As well as clear, realistic goals,
careful budgeting is essential. In a weak
economy such as we are experiencing, careless
spending could lead to disaster. An example
is that five or six years ago I could buy a mare,
take her to the Triangle Sale and advance her two
or three thousand dollars. Now we are
working on a mark up of two or three hundred
dollars. The money simply is not there with
which to be careless.
A few things that are doubly important right now
are to keep your horses looking good and as
always, be professional with your horse
business. When the horse business is in a
down mode as it is now, many people tend to not
care for their horses as they would if things were
booming. Now is not the time to quit feeding
and let health care lapse. Now more than
ever, the horse business is competitive for the
few buyers and there are, and the horses in the
best shape will attract the interested people with
money. That is always the case but it is now
more important than ever. And, as I have
touched upon before, look and act
professionally. I see people that are
disappointed and disillusioned about their horses
and their investment in them. They tend to
get careless about how they conduct business,
their appearance and the impression they give
others. Again, now is not the time to let
down. Go about showing, selling and managing
your horses as though it was a fantastic
deal. You might be surprised at the results.
Finally, give this a thought. Although the
economics storm clouds seem dark and for some it
is a challenge at best, things will get
better. Maybe in a different way than we
anticipate so be ready for changes, and hopefully
good ones that will benefit everyone. While
things are not working very well in a traditional
sense, there remains to be people interested in
the horse business and willing to get
involved. These people include those with
established horse programs and just as
importantly, those just beginning their
involvement with horses. These are all
potential business contacts and customers.
Pursue activities that up to this point were not
important to you or did not seem pertinent to your
business. Get involved with new (to you)
horse organizations or activities. All over
the country there are open shows, sales, and horse
organizations made up of horse enthusiasts.
Involvement with these can be rewarding
financially and emotionally.
To summarize, I have tried to discus a huge topic
in a few paragraphs. There are presently
countless problems in the horse business to which
there seems to be no apparent solution. But
hopefully, this will be food for thought and a
little hope for the future.
John
Hayes
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