Shake it out

It's finally July, the great and terrible month of the year. 

On one hand Danzador is doing great, he's progressing so much and physically looking like a dressage horse instead of a gawky leggy colt. We finally got his video up and loaded on YouTube, plus a little extra showing his ultra talented half steps in hand. He also has been actively being ramped up to show in August if not under contract by then. Seriously, whoever ends up with him will be incredibly lucky. There's not enough nice words in Webster to describe how genuinely cool he is. 

Flair finally foaled out as well! Couldn't be happier with the results of her first foal- a black/bay colt by Diamond Stud. He's aptly named Justus SSM. For a maiden's colt, he's huge, and shows zero fear. He's a brilliant little mover as well, showing the strengths of the Ferro/Donnerhall blood and the modernity of his dam's sire. Both mom and baby are doing great- Flair is reportedly good spirits, and is handling things in stride. I still can't wait to get the call come fall/winter that she's on the trailer to ship. She's my next long-term project and I feel that she is going to make a good horse. 

I also have investors actively looking at horses for me. It's hard to realize that this is actually happening and I may be flying to some pretty cool places pretty soon. It seems like I've looked at 200 or so horses every week ala YouTube. They're mostly KWPN horses from every direction, but a few from the GOV and other books. 

I found a few that I like, but nothing to really make me jump up and down and scream like a kid in a toy store over a must have. I have a few other personal feelers out there and a few old industry friends are sending me tape on other horses as well, but show and breeding seasons are dominating their schedules, so I get to keep on waiting.  

Then there's the flip side that's been hanging around for a little while now.

After two trips, several blocks, a bone scan and several lameness evaluations, Sinari's intermittent lameness isn't really a outlier occurrence caused by a soreness. 

It's much more serious that involves extensive time off and therapy. The prognosis is more than good, but still we're really looking at a year out. The only way now is to go through rehab and proceed from there.

While I know (and was reassured by several DVMs who have been looking at her case study) there's nothing that could have been done- I still feel like kicking myself. It sucks. I can easily whine how it's not fair, or how karma is cruel or even how hopes/dreams/ect for FEI glory are dashed. It doesn't matter. At this point, I'm relieved that there is a diagnosis and wanting my horse back and sound. If she's going to compete again, we'll approach that hill when we get to it. Right now, it's just one day at a time. 

Matchmaker make me a match

When I worked at a corporate coffee shop back in the day, I was surrounded by a lot old school New

York Hasidic Jewish women.

These women, at least once a week, would order their coffees and sit down and gab for a little while; talking just about everything.

Eventually, they pulled me aside and asked me if I was single, and why on earth I wasn't betrothed to a nice man. After being given the third degree, I found out that these women were professional matchmakers who set up arranged marriages much like I now set up breedings, weighing what both parents can contribute- in the phenotypic and qualitative departments.

I've since then found the nice man, but the concept of matchmaking is something that's kinda stuck with me.

I love to shop for horses, and I love pedigree (comes with the gig of working for breeders). I love matching riders to them. Pairing the right riders with the right horses is this fantastic alchemy that if done right is just magic.

In the time I've been selling, I've been lucky. I've had pretty good pairings.

The most recent being between two long-term clients that connected over a horse that needed a new direction. It's any agents wish to have that kind of connection.

With Danzador officially on the market, I hope whoever ends up with him enjoys just as much as I do. It goes for the same for any horse that I represent. I genuinely love my 'inventory'.

For as many love stories that are out there there is no shortage of horror stories.

With what amounts to an emotional investment equivalent from a new car all the way up to purchasing luxury real estate to a visit to outer space, it's a huge financial investment. Selling and buying amounts to a high stakes cash game where it's literally all or nothing.

I count myself, and the people I have dealings with as honest and transparent, but there are people who shockingly are still out there who just try to hide or do things less than above par. The bigger irony is many of these horses are in the low figures, and not the high six figure ones.

I've unfortunately been on both sides- as a buyer and as an agent when the sale goes south.

From my first buy when the former owner had sellers remorse and snuck on the property and took back the horse during after hours to dealing with an owner who violated several clauses within a contract via social media to finding out one of my horses was underweight at the sales barn to dealing with a seller that non-disclosed surgeries on a horse that were caught on the radiographs.

Eventually everything was resolved and it makes for entertaining drinking stories, but I wonder what thought ran through their heads to make those actions acceptable. Were there life lessons in those? Unfortunately, yes. Personally, I would rather not have a sale go through than face the consequences and heartbreak that happens if it goes wrong.

So what makes people fall in for a horse?

For me, I fell for Sinari not because she was conformationally awesome, but because she had an honest try in her- in my horse shopping experience (I usually end up in the worst situations), she was put through the tryout from hell, and passed, there wasn't, and still isn't a no in her. She had three elastic gaits and was hot enough I felt to do the FEI. She's also probably one of the soundest horses (knock wood) that's doing FEI today. She received her first injections at 15- and is maintained on a monthly joint supplement. The farrier adores her feet and bone, and most trainers who I work around complement her very correct basics.

My owner picked Danzador for me thinking he was a KWPN with a lot of hair. He didn't look like your typical PRE, and is conformationally very correct (straight, no sewing machine, a little paddling, three good gaits).

Flair happened in to my life after I began following the dam, and really fell for her personality.

The point is, that no horse is perfect and sometimes things just fall into your lap, but whoever you choose, love it.

If's, and's and but's

I've been very familiar with crowd-sourcing for awhile now.

The first time I experienced the collective capacity of a population was through my former corporate job when they reached into their network to launch a project that would allow research for the production of quickly decomposable plastics (really exciting stuff right?), and the technology to turn former plastic soda bottles into shipping packaging. By allowing the publicly to own it- it allowed the expansion to happen much faster.

Crowd Sourcing has been around the equestrian world for a little while as well. I've seen riders fund everything from breeding endeavors, to major vet bills to funding the next big horse to regular show seasons to Olympic ambitions and European tours. While some were successful, and some faded off, the ability to pull the crowd together was interesting to watch, and provided good lessons.

So when I started looking at the bigger picture, I needed to look at what I'm doing and where I'm going.

Danzador is on the market, he will be sold later this year. Sinari, while still climbing the levels, needs time to develop into that last push without feeling pressured. Then there's Flair- who isn't remotely ready to do anything but give birth, and a gaggle of kids behind that. All the basics are there, but there's gaps and pauses in the talent. For

Starting a few weeks ago, I started my own version of crowd sourcing.

Personally, putting your hand out and asking for hard money without something return innately seems wrong at my level, if not awkward. While I am very emotionally invested into my horses, business and my work- it's still a business. There are bottom line numbers hanging around, it's not a charity, nor would I ever expect anyone to give me a leg up without expecting something equitable in return.

My first foray was to find potential syndicate members for re-sell horses. While I didn't expect people to whip out their check books and frequent flier miles to head off to the Elite Auction, was honestly surprised at the response. It seems like a viable idea to create quality investment horses and cash options with multiple parties and interests. The full idea is being hashed out while I put my nose to the ground for viable young prospects.

It also started a dialog with potential investors that I don't think I would have been able to reach for single ownership options.

This kinda led me to another crowd sourcing endeavor: finding a Grand Prix horse, to lease.

If you think finding a quality Grand Prix horse is hard, try finding one as a slightly affordable lease. It's like finding hens teeth, or more appropriately- the perfect test. It's a very unique situation between owner and lessor that involves a lot of trust and leeway. Even worse, is finding a schoolmaster who

So I posted this to Facebook thinking I'd a) get no response and/or b) get laughed at:

In about 48 hours, the response was surprisingly, very positive. The dialogs have been really opened, and there are a few viable prospects. More so, I'm incredibly grateful that a lot of the other professionals in the community have reached out and have given support, whether it be a prospect or words of encouragement.

My next thirty years

In 2014, I'm 30.


I'm not sad that the transition is coming. My twenties have been nothing short of dramatic with a huge amount of personal and professional growth.

While the number is daunting in a way, I really am looking forward to getting older. It also means I'm reevaluating my life and where I want to go.

Recently, especially within the last five years, my focus has changed from just riding and being an amateur to exploring more options as a rider and an active participant within the equestrian community (and you thought I just did clinics...).

However, the problem I see, and continue to see with my age group is the constant struggle to find good horses, good situations and living hand to mouth. We are all searching and fighting for the same thing: a living, a top horse, a good barn and support crew. Even as an amateur, I've experienced it in some fashion, and I'm very leery overall to put my toe in without having a safety net and plan in place.

I'm very lucky in the regard that over the period of years I've created a good network, have access to good training, and now have access to individuals who are starting to make investments with me.  Sinari was one of those investments, Danzador is another, and there are a few more in the wings that I'm very excited about (I'm actually looking forward to winter in the north for once). 

By no means, am I made in the shade, and things are evolving.

Right now I'm finishing up a few projects that will set the tone for the next eight years. I'm looking at finishing Sinari out potentially at I2, maybe Grand Prix in the next few years and then retiring her to being a pasture puff. Danzador continues to grow up, he'll most likely follow the national test track and not the young horse track, and Reba is still going through the levels as an eventer. 


I guess the question I'm posing is where do I go from here?

There's a lot of answers. The first and most obvious is invest. Currently I'm expecting one new horse in to for 2014 (which brings my total under saddle herd up to 4), there is also the plan of breeding two, and one foal purchase for 2014 as well.

Alot of it is still fuzzy, and still a lot of details to be hammered out.

This represents the future of my program, which is scary to think how I'll spend the next six to ten years.

Going for the trifecta

The glutton for punishment is talking to me again.

You know that little voice inside that says one more can't hurt? I have one that is extremely amplified when it comes to horses, riding and competing.

To me, more is merrier. I currently ride two. Handle 3.75. I always feel like I can get on another, train another, work more, achieve more.

Then I forget, I have a life outside the sport and the barn. One that involves a full job (plus a few on the sides, picked up two more clients on Friday), a chair position on National Pony Cup, a significant other and a few friends that would like to see me more in jeans than breeches.

Then there are actual time constraints. I forget how much time it takes to ride second level and up, how much time it takes to actually get on a green horse who doesn't always want to thirty minutes. What goals I have. How much training goes into reaching them, and well... cash also plays a factor (economists call it opportunity cost).

It's also not like I haven't had a few free rides land across my lap and a few offers to throw a leg over.

So when a nice, albeit green pony comes in at an extremely attractive price I can't help but look.

But I have to ask myself, with a baby on the way, with Sinari competing, with Bella training, and my goals to reach, what will a green horse add?

I think if I had to add an extra horse to the roster, I would like to at least have the opportunity to school up the levels (and I think I will have the opportunity to do). Still though, I can't help but ask.