Horse Family Magazine - Latest Comments

Re: Mane ‘n Tail Makes An Appearance in The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

danzee — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:41:41 -0000

Unfortunately, the documentary says at the end that Mane 'n' Tail didn't pay up for its sponsorshop. It provided some product but that was it.

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

MarciaHancock1 — Sat, 12 May 2012 09:17:09 -0000

Teenage girls love horses and many parents look for ways to keep young women occupied in healthy summer activities. I leased my horses to teenagers over the summer months. Helped with expenses and keeping the horses in good shape! The youngsters loved my Tobiano paint mare and gelding and the horses seemed to love theie company!

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

Mandee Widrick — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:36:52 -0000

I like the idea of sharing a horse, Bonnie. Great suggestion. I often times wish I had someone to share my mare with since I have very little time to ride these days with my busy schedule. Thanks for reading!

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

Mandee Widrick — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:35:18 -0000

Thanks for the link, Linda. I think that horse ownership costs a lot more per year than that article suggests, however. I am very cheap when it comes to horse care and keep my horse on my own property, but I would estimate that I'm still spending more than $1,200 a year (that's only $100 a month - that barely covers hay alone). Perhaps some locations are able to squeeze by at that amount, but many are going to be looking at spending more than $100 a month.

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

Mandee Widrick — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:30:03 -0000

Thanks, Nanette! You'll have to share with me more about fecal testing versus the going by standard worming rotation. Maybe that could be a future blog post? :)

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

Nanette Levin — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:10:58 -0000

Great summary, Mandee. I'd add a truck to go with that trailer (your average commuter vehicle isn't going to cut it), fecals vs. a blind worming strategy and liability insurance (NYS still hasn't adopted an 'at your own risk' legal standard where horses are concerned - many states have but that still doesn't cover you if your horse gets loose and crashes with a vehicle - not to mention the history of jury lawsuit awards given to people hurt from playing with horses without permission).

Funny on the shelter comment - I find the horses turned out 24/7 here gravitate to the run-ins much more during the summer than winter. Bugs and hot sun seem to be bigger concerns with this crew.

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

Linda — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:57:10 -0000

Here is a good source for finding out if a horse is right for you and what it takes to properly care for a horse, including how much it costs!
http://www.horseofcourse.org/f...

Re: Is Horse Ownership Right for Me (And My Wallet)?

T H E Ranch — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:10:13 -0000

Mandee—by the look of your poll, horse sales are definitely down! lol Seriously in addition to leasing a horse, I advise people who still want horse ownership but maybe have a demanding job or schoolwork to SHARE. Going in on ownership of a horse means paying only half the costs and someone who will exercise and/or give him attention when you can't. Course, you have to get over any possessiveness and territorialism, the same way you would finding a roommate to share your place.
Bonnie Ebsen Jackson, Author
Herdmates to Heartmates: The Art of Bonding with a New Horse
Available on Amazon.com

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Head West Outfitters — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:54:56 -0000

We had fun designing ours: The slogan came from a customer who had never visited our store because she thought it was all men's clothing because the parking lot was always full of trucks :)
https://www.facebook.com/HeadW...

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Lori Abercrombie — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:00:17 -0000

I am a bit biased of course, but you sure did pick some great ones! Too bad the rest of my FB page isn't as it should be because I cannot keep up :D Some days, with FB, I almost feel like if I shut my eyes for a week or two (which I actually sort of did here recently) EVERYTHING will be different when you open them so ----- but I love looking at everyones banners now so Its nice to be among the good ones ;) Thanks To Carolynne @ Pixel Graphix Design for always making us look good. (So I have time to make YOU look good ;) )

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Mandee Widrick — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:15:51 -0000

That one is fantastic...great design!

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Violetta Talley — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:01:45 -0000

Here is a great design: http://www.facebook.com/photo....

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Greg Pinniger — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:32:01 -0000

Lets do an interview about fodder feeds and how it applies to the horse world

Greg Pinniger
Fodder Feeds.Com
541 977-4104

I will send you some background information.

Re: 15 Amazing Facebook Cover Photos for Equestrians

Nicole Miller — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:23:51 -0000

Love all of these! It's exciting to see all of the creativity that has come out of this latest change in Facebook. Thanks for posting these!

Re: 5 Tips to Getting Your Horse Sold

Lorraine Jennings — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:48:37 -0000

Humour! We had one horse listed for weeks as a Danish warmblood. Then the ad went on to list her dressage points etc. Not a single call despite a good photo. As a last resort we ran a new ad - 15.3hh Mobile goal post and bomb disposal unit!Requires Danish phrase book.Likes to keep all four feet firmly on the ground. - She was sold within 24 hours! Worth bearing in mind anyway :)

Re: Why We Changed Our Facebook Page Name (And How You Can Too)

Lauren Huston — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:30:19 -0000

Congrats on the new page name! Were you able to change your vanity URL, as well?

Re: 5 Tips to Getting Your Horse Sold

Geoff — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:14:17 -0000

Hey Mandee - Generate a QR code linking it to the YouTube video. Print that code on a flyer or business card and distribute these. Interested people just click the QR code and are whisked away to the video. Doc T

Re: 5 Tips to Getting Your Horse Sold

Nanette Levin — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:36:59 -0000

This is a good tip list, Mandee. I'd add spending the time to ensure your horse is well behaved for grooming, tacking, mounting and new people requests. More buyers are asking to witness the horse being groomed and tacked after their arrival (a smart request) so that first on-site impression can be critical in making a sale. Some even want to see how they come to you from the field (I know this tells me volumes about the horse's attitude toward training and the current owner).

The other thing I'd suggest on horses that are more valuable than your average pleasure horse (and few people seem to do this) is to spend the time figuring out where your market is. As an example, we have Irish Draught Sport Horses at Halcyon Acres that are well known as a breed ideal for hunting and eventing. We have an active group of fox hunters nearby (with a newsletter that permits advertising) but we've found the biggest demand for our horses is in the Maryland and North Carolina areas. Reasonable price benchmarks are much higher further south, so it makes sense for us to forge relationships with people in that market.

Re: 5 Tips to Getting Your Horse Sold

Cheryl Harless — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:55:49 -0000

Don't forget to remove your youtube video once the horse is sold. You can also remove some ads or edit them to indicate it has been sold too.

Re: Hold Onto Your Hats, Facebook Pages Have Converted to Timeline

cynthia Riegle — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:46:39 -0000

Thanks mandee, I changed over to timeline, but really haven't played with it yet...thanks for the pinning info...will try to find that...cynthia riegle

Re: Hold Onto Your Hats, Facebook Pages Have Converted to Timeline

Karisa at Troxel Helmets — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 13:53:12 -0000

Very informative. Thanks Mandee!

Re: Bookkeeping Tips for the Equine Business Owner

Raymond — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:33:35 -0000

Thanks for the interview Mandee and Rachel. I think that for me bookkeeping wasn't the hard part in the beginning. It's always been the inventory issues. Inventory of socks and ordering and following them from the yarn to the finish is time consuming so I need a part of this process to be very streamlined. Thanks to Rachel, I think we will be able to get this mastered using QBs. As my company Sox For Horses, Inc. grows and it's growing!,(3X last year over 2010) I find that the most critical uses of my time are in customer service, marketing, new product development, and certainly all of the administrate functions, but so many of those administrative functions such as bookkeeping and inventory accounting can be reduced and streamlined and put in the hands of someone I trust. I trust Rachel. She is knowledgeable and very capable with a full understanding of her tools. I need her because I want my company to grow into a mulitimillion dollar, mullti-product, "American Made" company that has considerable resources to help horse and other animal rescue groups. I found Rachel thanks to our group. Now that is flowing support to a group that I only hope grows too!

Re: Movie Review – Buck the Film: Not Just for Horse Lovers

Elise — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:03:58 -0000

Honestly, i was dissapointed in this movie. what about the poor horse that they sent off to be put down???

Re: Education of the Equestrian: Learning Resources for Horse People

Kim Robitaille — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:20:08 -0000

Thanks for the recap, Mandee!! Hopefully I will be able to catch the next online chat!! Josh is coming up here again in June 8-10 for another rider clinic. I would really appreciate a shout out if you could, thanks! Take care Kim Robitaille

Re: SmartPak’s 5 Tips to Making Your Online Video a Success

Sarah from SmartPak — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:16:34 -0000

Hey Karisa, You have to talk a lot louder than you think is normal. It's a lot like a stage voice, where you're not shouting, you're just speaking in your normal pitch and cadence, but with more presence and more de.lib.er.ate.ly. I'm naturally inclined to be a fast-talking "mumbler," so the first few shots were followed by the comment "OK, but can you do it so I can understand you?"
You also should be as close to the camera as possible, while still maintaining a good frame. And you have to be willing to accept the fact that some shots simply aren't going to work. We had a couple outdoor shots that it was just too windy for, so we had to either cut them, wait patiently for a break in the wind or find a way to shoot them inside.
Hope this helps!