Marketing Yearlings and Sales Prep
Now that the breeding season is over, many farms have switched their attention to the business of selling.
By this time most of the decisions have been made and entry forms sent in for the many yearling sales throughout the country.
The select yearlings, those that will be sold in California, will be going to one of the two select sales available this year. The yearlings foaled early in the year with the best pedigrees and conformation will probably be heading for the Del Mar Select Yearling Sale in August. The yearlings who were born later and need a bit more time to grow up and blossom are more likely to be headed for the Select Yearling session at the Barretts October mixed sale.
The non-select yearlings usually stay closer to the area where they were born and raised. There are two Northern California yearling sales available this year, along with the Barretts October and January sales.
The same age and size rational is often used by owners who have elected to sell their 1999 foals as weanlings. The big strong early ones will be on the auction block at the Barretts October mixed sale. The ones foaled later will be sold in January at the Barretts winter sale as “long weanlings, short yearlings”.
Usually the decision to sell a mare comes when we finally accept the fact that she is not going to produce the kind of runner we expected. Sometimes this takes several years. We can be quite attached to her by the time we realize keeping her does not make good business sense.
Those of us who care about our mare’s future really go through a “gut wrenching” process, looking for a favorable venue.
If she is no longer acceptable to us she probably is not acceptable to anyone else in our market place. And if we are selling in Southern California her sale price is unlikely to cover the high cost of selling.
In Southern California we also must accept the risk that the “killers” might buy the mare. This is not acceptable to most of us.
Californians are now shipping to out of state markets. The price of the mare probably won’t be any different and still may not cover the selling and shipping costs, but the mare might have a better chance of finding a good home. Several people have reported good experiences using this plan. Their mares have gone on to produce offspring that are racing successfully at tracks where there is less competition than Southern California. And their new owners are thrilled with them.
Luckily we have many sale options here in the West. We have choices in the time of year to sell and the company with which we do business.
It is important to read the conditions of sale for each company before making your final decision. For instance, each company has a different method of handling the dispersment of sale funds. If getting your money quickly is important to you it may be prudent to go to one of the smaller sale companies who pay out soon after the buyer’s check clears the sale company’s bank.
Oregon, Washington and Arizona all have mixed stock sales in the fall and winter. Their state associations welcome our breeding stock. You can find information on these groups on the CTBA internet site under “sites of interest”. Or you can view their own sites in Don Engel’s thoroughbredinfo.com/showcase. The California Industry Directory, published by the CTBA, also lists them.
Nancy Yearsley has been marketing horses for several years, making a good reputation selling quality yearlings both in California and in Kentucky. She is a tireless worker and knows her business. She has some words of wisdom for those of us interested in selling our own horses.
Phyllis Lambert has been involved with preparing sales horses for more years than she wants to admit. She has given us the “nuts and bolts” description of her program.
Marketing Yearlings
Nancy Yearsley, Yearsley Bloodstock, Southern California:
The first priority in marketing begins with a quality product. When that produce is a weanling it has to be assessed for correctness, size, strength, how and where it is being raised, whether it has regular veterinary care and of course, its breeding.
Secondly, having taken the above into consideration, it has to be determined where or in which market the foal is likely to fetch the most for its owners which means that some assessment must be made as to the likely price range.
Also, it helps to consider where the sire or dam or the immediate family was successful on the track. Of great importance today, particularly in California, the eligibility of the foal for State-Bred awards is vital. There is not much point in selling a Florida-bred in California if most of the buyers at a particular sale live or race in California.
Proper sales preparation is as vital as is the prior raising of the foal. Our most successful yearlings have been fed well since being foaled. Creep feeders are vital to ensure that foals are not pushed away from their grain by mares.
Additionally, they go through a preliminary six weeks of beginning sales prep in February/March after which they are turned out until 90 days before the sale date. During this initial learning session they are often inspected by representatives from the various select sales available. The six to eight week break before the real sales prep begins does a world of good and in most cases is an accelerated growth period.
This regimen ensures a long, slow gradual development without pushing or rushing the animal through an unnatural schedule which puts pressure on young joints. In short, it takes money to make money. Such a program makes the marketing of any foal easy since astute horsemen appreciate a qualified physical specimen.
We believe in strong personal promotion prior to sales although most sales companies do a good job of bringing the buyers to sales. Personal letters to past buyers and direct contact with future buyers has been rewarding.
We also think that a first class shedrow with neatly designed promotional tools enhance the overall presentation and acceptance of the consignment. An adequate and efficient number of show personnel, grooms and supervisors neatly attired and working in tandem both impress and save the buyers time. All the updates and pertinent information must be given succinctly to the buyers by supervisory personnel in the consignment. Their time is precious and it must be honored. Above all, consignment staff must be friendly, courteous and make it a pleasant experience to view the yearlings.
A top consignor has to have the courage to withdraw inferior and injured foals from the consignment and await another day. If a consignment has good foals year after year, the top buyers will gravitate toward that consignment year after year.
We place 80 percent of our emphasis on fitness and conformation and 20 percent on pedigree. The best prepared yearling will always bounce out of their stalls, even at the end of a long hard day. That is the best marketing tool a consignor can have, strong, correct and properly prepped yearlings. The product speaks for itself.
Phyllis Lambert, farm owner/manager, Notjustanother Farm, Chino:
Marketing experts have always said: ‘A few extra dollars spent on sales preparation can reap thousands of dollars of benefits in the sales ring’. During my 17 years as Rollin W. Baugh’s Auction Sales Manager, I found that statement to be an absolute truth. Regardless of the horse’s age, the time and money put into sales prep equals higher sale ring prices and often a more profitable sale.
Since the summer yearling sales are approaching, I have been asked to discuss my yearling preparation methods.
My goals when I prepare a yearling for a sale are:
1) A horse fit enough to endure the rigors of 3-4 days of constant showing without losing his good humor.
2) A horse heavy enough to maintain that slightly round look through the 3-4 days, without carrying extra fat.
3) A horse who will tolerate touching, feeling, pinching and poking while maintaining an acceptable pose.
4) A horse who walks out smartly and with the same enthusiasm the 100th time in a day as the first time.
5) A horse with poise and an attitude who acts and reacts with confidence throughout the stress of a sale.
So how do I accomplish my goals? I will start with a typical yearling from a farm who has been accepted to a select summer sale.
The yearling needs to arrive no less than 75 days and preferably 90 days prior to the sale. Providing the horse comes to me willing to be caught, able to lead reasonably well and ‘touchable’ by human hands it would go directly into a stall (mine are 12 x 15 with front and back windows) and put on a diet of hay only. The yearling is then dewormed via a stomach tube, vaccinated, evaluated by the farrier and then allowed to settle into his new surroundings.
After the 3-5 day ‘settling-in’ period the work begins. By feeding hay only for that three plus days I find a yearling is more able to concentrate on me and focus on the process of learning. Of course every horse is an individual and my schedule will vary with each horse. Nothing is written in stone.
The first thing I teach a young horse to do is walk on the hot walker. This provides the first lesson in patience while still allowing the young mind to drift and not get bored. Remember, we are fitting the mind as well as the body. My hot walker goes both directions with variable speed. Initially, with the hot walker being the sole exercise, horses walk 10-15 minutes each direction twice a day.
All the other time I spend with the horse, feeding, cleaning his stall, leading him to and from the hot walker, is used to get the horse to focus on me. To anticipate my moves and ‘go with me’ in this great learning adventure.
When I feel the yearling’s mind is focused on me, we go to the next step: the body building. I begin to work him on a long line. This is, also, the first day I teach him to tie and about how good the grooming equipment can feel.
The hot walker has already impressed upon the young mind the futility of resisting the head pull but I still just run the lead rope through a ring and hold the other end in my hand for the first week or so. I groom as much of the body as the horse is comfortable with but don’t push it around the ticklish and untouchable places for a while. All this new activity places the horse’s focus directly on me as he waits for and wonders what is next.
The hot walker, also, has already taught the horse to circle around in both directions, so all I have to do is teach him to go forward on a long line. I do not have a round pen so it is important to me to teach in this order. The first two or three days I ask the horse to work both directions usually within 15-20 feet of me, until he breaks a sweat or gets it right. He then cools out on the hot walker.
Usually within a week the horse is working the entire perimeter of my arena (120 x 120) on the end of a 50 foot line. It’s important to me to work him in the largest circle possible to reduce joint stress. This first week of longing is also when I introduce the yearling to water from a hose and baths.
After a stint on the long line and hot walker, the cool water from the hose and a nice bath becomes a pleasant ending to the day’s routine. I seldom use soap on sale horses, just plain water.
As the yearling gets more fit I gradually increase his exercise and insist on a strong trot. I am careful that all ‘round and round’ is done equally in both directions in order to achieve a balanced horse.
Thirty days after the arrival of the yearling, he is revaccinated, paste wormed and his feet reevaluated.
The yearling is now on a schedule of working on the long line in the morning six days a week and walking on the hot walker twice each day. He receives a thorough grooming daily. His grooming includes biweekly clipping of bridle path and gradual mane pulling and otherwise total stall confinement. This equates to quiet and rest from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Thirty days prior to the sale this routine changes. At this point the yearling is pretty fit (he can trot almost an hour and walk two hours daily) and is getting a little bored with that routine. The work/walk schedule continues but now the time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. is spent going in and out of the stall. He learns to stand and hold the pose, lead up and back in a straight line and turn gracefully in both directions. Again keeping the horse focused because building the mind is very important.
Now I combine more intensive work days with a new reward. The yearling is turned out in the evening or early morning for a few hours. This is free time for the horse which I find increases learning power greatly in that last month when it is again needed.
Feeding is done on a totally individualized system. Each grain combination is made up personally by me for each yearling, taking into account energy level, work level and overall condition. Basically I feed crimped oats, whole oats, sweet feed with no corn and bran along with alfalfa hay, oat hay, grass and Timothy hay as needed. I begin graining a yearling the second or third day after he is started on the long line and increase it in direct relation to amount of work performed. As activity increases so does appetite so I use this opportunity to teach the young horse to eat all kinds of different things in their grain. Carrots, apples, plums can all become favorites.
Grain and work are reduced the last week before shipping to the sale grounds. A truly fit horse will need very little grain to sustain energy through the rigors of a sale. By reducing the high energy food prior to shipping I have once again placed the horse in a learning mode at just the right time to survive the ‘at sale’ routine. Experience has shown me that this allows the yearling to settle quicker into his new environment.
During prep time I use little or no restraint on the yearling. I do introduce him to the chiffney and a chain over the nose but seldom use more than a lead rope snapped to the halter when working with him.
The yearling receives his final shoeing the week before the sale, mane is pulled and final clipping completed.
I endeavor to reach a peak with the yearling about two weeks prior to the sale and then hold him there.
This is my basic routine, but as I said at the beginning of this article, nothing is ‘set in stone’. Flexibility is the key to a successful sale prepping program.