Preview Horses For LIFE Online Magazine Volume 41 Bent Branderup

Incredibly beautiful horse photos in this online horse magazine!

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Bent Branderup – The Art of Pluvinel
Anja Beran – Lusitano versus Andalusian
Kladruber in the Snow – Christiane Slawik

More info: http://horsesforlife.com

Cowboys and Horses 2008 Calendar Featuring Colorado Cowboys & the Sombrero Horse Drive

Now an extra large 12″ wide by 24″ high format on heavy gloss stock making it even bigger and better! 13 months with 53 photographs. Photographs by Carien Schippers. The cowboys aren’t naked but many of the horses are!

Carien Schippers’ 2008 Western Calendar

You will also want to check out the Horse Drive Fine Art Prints. These horse art prints or the calendar would make wonderful holiday gifts for the horse lovers or cowboys lovers in your family or among your friends.

About the photographer Carien Schippers

Carien Schippers has been photographing professionally since 1976. She has an AAS degree from SUNY Cobleskill in Animal Husbandry and a two year certificate from the New England School of Photography. For many years she was primarily an event and farm photographer, more recently she has been developing an extensive stock archive of horse pictures for publication as well as a fine art print site at horsedrivephotos.com.

As a lifetime student of the horse she excels in capturing the spirit and beauty of the equine and is in constant pursuit of finding fresh, unique and creative perspectives of her subject. She is a keen observer and able to capture the subtle nuances of horse and herd behavior, giving her a highly recognizable style of work that has been widely published in a variety of magazines, calendars, books and catalogs.

Almost every year someone gives me a horse calendar and I never tire of looking at great full color photos of horses. Wild horses running are always a favorite with me.

Six New Mother’s Day Greeting Cards with Horse Photos!

Here are three of the new Mother’s Day Holiday ecards show as tiny thumbnail images to give you a quick peek, but to see them full size, sharp,and beautiful visit my Horse Art eCard site.

If you are planning a party, dinner, or some other Mother’s Day holiday event these ecards are a great way to invite your guests. These free Ecards are great to send to your family, friends, clients, and hopeful clients. Everyone loves receiving a pretty greeting card!

By the way, the stars of these new horse photo ecards are rescued mares and foals that Marian Mastin of Adopt A Foal has up for adoption! Hard to believe that such beauties end up needing to be rescued and placed up for adoption, but it happens all the time. So please reconsider breeding your horses unless they are the best and you know that you can find great home for them. Please check out all the horses and foals up for adoption at Adopt A Foal Right now she has three sweet as candy foals and three mares that need loving homes.

Happy Easter! I just added two new ecards for the Easter Holiday.

Here are the two new two Easter Holiday ecards shown as tiny thumbnail images to give you a quick peek, but to see them full size and you have to visit the Horse Art eCard page.

If you are planning a Easter Holiday Party, Easter Dinner, or some other Easter Event these ecards are a great way to invite your guests. These free Ecards are great to send to your family, friends, clients, and hopeful clients. Everyone loves receiving a greeting cards!

Please leave a comment if you have any ideas or suggestions for ecards you would love to see me create and add. Thanks!

It is the season for sending greeting cards and for horse lovers equine cards are the way to go!

I now have eight ecards in the Christmas category and seven in the Happy Holidays category and three in the New Year category.

I displaying a few of the Holiday ecards below to give you a quick peek at what some of them look like. Of course to see them full size and you have to visit the Horse Art eCard page.

Equine Holiday Greeting Cards

Horse Art Holiday Greeting Cards to send online – No envelopes to lick, no stamps to buy, just fun, easy and instant.

These ecards are great to send out to your family, friends, clients, and hopeful clients. Everyone loves receiving a beautiful Christmas greeting cards and these are postage free!

If you are planning a Holiday Party or Christmas Event these ecards are a great way to invite your guests

Two horses headed for death saved and made into greeting cards.

I just thought that I would share with you a little background information on a couple of the horses who’s photos appear in the Horse Art eCards. Both of these horses had a rough start in life and were about to be auctioned for horse meat, but kind and loving people rescued them and they are now living the good life.

“Shiloh” Percheron/Belgian cross

(Photo posted in the “Wise Words” ecard category in Horse Art eCards.)

“…for those who aren’t aware…Dan and I adopted Shiloh from a rescue in Kentucky when she was 17 days old…she would have been sent to slaughter had she not been rescued. She is a Percheron/Belgian cross and 3.5 yrs old now and once she’s clean…a real beauty! Just goes to show ya…that thar bucket feeding her milk sure goes a long way! LOL )

She and Dan are doing very well with their schooling to drive….we are very excited to get Shiloh “graduated” and back home to take ‘er for a spin!”

- Marian Mastin of Adopt A Foal – Mon, 11 Dec 2006

“DOC HUDSON” Quarterhorse

(Photos posted in the ecard categories of “Wise Words”, “Love”, and “Christmas” in Horse Art eCards.)

“I wanted to tell you what Alina (the little girl in the photos) was telling Doc in that picture – she later told her MiMi that she was telling Doc, “Doc, you and me are going to grow big together.” Pretty good looking quarter horse who was rescued from and saved from going to auction – he is from grand champion cutting stock and because he was raised around Pasos – he thinks he’s one. Too funny!

My dad started round penning him in August and he is the smartest baby (foal) they have ever come across. As different people come through the barn, they all ooh & aah over Doc and now the owner of the barn regrets getting rid of him. Different cutting trainers have been in and out of the barn and immediately spot him. They are curious about his bloodlines and when told who he is out of they can’t believe how my parents acquired him. Now he has a permanent home and he and my daughter will be reunited in about a years time so they can grow big together.

Sadly most of the horses (14 in all, purebred with fantastic papers) went to auction some for as little as $75 to $350 (for a mare with a newborn) all with papers! One Peppy Sand Badger son (stallion) sold for $225, hopefully he found a good home.” (The caretaker of these horses died and owners were elderly and couldn’t care for the horse properly and they were in poor condition.)

- Jeannine Wargacki of Paso Americana – Fri, 1 Dec 2006

What can you learn from these two stories that may help your horse business?

Here are a few things I take from this info:

1. From these two stories and others I have read and heard, there seems like quite a few nice horses are being sent to auctions with a good chance they will end up being bought and sold for horse meat.
2. Purebred horses with good to great bloodlines show up at the auction barns regularly.
3. Since most people in the market for a horse are looking for one ready to ride most of the young foals, studs, broodmares, and untrained horses are short on buyers and have the highest chance of going to slaughter.
4. The main people that bid on horses in poor condition are the killers. People buy with their eyes and want horses that look and move great.
5. People desire horses they can handle and ride so the more training the horse has more willing they are to part with good money for them.
6. Surroundings count big time! Take a diamond ring — if it is glittering on black velvet in a classy uptown jewelry store window people will perceive its value as higher than if they viewed the same ring at a yard sale. Same goes for where people view a horse for sale.

So lets see…

If you want to received the best price (most profit) for your horses and take the lest chance they will end up slaughter bound you have to do as many of the following as possible…

• Sell what people are looking for — what is in demand, horse wise, for your area? What training, bloodlines, breeds of horses, color of horses, etc…
• Put as much training as you can on your horses. Even if you are selling foals a halter trained foal that will trailer load and allow his hooves to be trimmed will pull more interest than a foal that hasn’t been touched. And a foal that has been imprint trained at birth and given daily handling will make a better horse and gain more looks and money.
• A horse that is easy to handle and ride has a much better chance of staying in a home for a many years or maybe life and has far less chance of being bid on by the killers if he should ever end up in an auction.
• Love your horses? Then consider selling them with a buy back option.
• Pay attention to your horses health and condition. The better they look the higher their perceived value. They don’t have to be a halter horse to shine like one. Learn about horse nutrition because it can make a huge difference in how your horse looks.
• The setting counts. A man was trying to sell his horse and he wasn’t getting many interested buyers until he started to board his horse in a popular show barn. His horse seemed a better value when displayed in a winning barn surrounded by champions. If you have a farm look at it with new eyes and see where you can polish the setting. Consider a nice looking sign with flowers at the entrance. Fly flags with your logo imprinted on them. Maintain the paint on the buildings and kept everything clean and orderly.
• Only breed the best to the best! There seems to be just too many horses around and that drops the prices of all but the very top ones. Breed less, breed better, train more, market better.
• Take great photos or pay someone that can.
• Give people all the info they need and be truthful about the horse.
• Learn more about marketing your horses and your horse business. Never stop learning. This is especially important if you breed a not so popular breed or sell young untrained stock.
• Seriously consider getting out of the horse breeding business. You don’t have to breed horses to have a horse related business and make money. Consider all the other options that allow you to be around horses but without adding to the over population problem.
• Put your new found knowledge into action.

Learn to Market your Equestrian Business…

Selling 101 for Equestrians – How to Quickly and Safely Sell Your Horse

Covers advertising and marketing, about how to write advertisement, adding pictures, pricing, and other things to do to sell your horse, local and off line actions.

“The Law Of Attraction” For Equestrians Teleclass
Why You Get What You Get With Your Horse And In Your Life

PR for Equine Biz Teleseminar with Sherry Busch, of RiskOutWest.com

I would love a day to come where there are no horses going to slaughter but until then we can all play a part in helping save horses by spreading this info. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, especially if you have any more helpful horse business tips. Just comment on this posting.

P.S. If you would love to see one of your favorite horse photos posted as a Horse Art eCard email me a clear, sharp, good looking horse photo to info (at) alove4horses.com with “Horse Pics” in the subject line. Also let me know who is in the photo and who took the photo and your web site address to post in small text in the ecard image.

Tips on getting your horse business known…

1. Who you know is not as important as ‘who knows you’, so put on your thinking cap and conjure up as many ways as you can to meet more people to expose your name and brand to.
2. Talk with people about your business. Let people know what you sell or do. If you love your business then your enthusiastic words may spark their desire to learn more.
3. Create a short, compelling, description of your business to tell people when they ask what you do. Do a search on google.com for ‘elevator speech’ and check out: http://15secondpitch.com
4. Network (stay in touch) with other horse loving people. Check out and join some of the busiest online forums and groups to keep up-to-date on ideas, trends, and opportunities.
5. Consider donating something business related to charity fund raising auctions (on and off line). This will draw attention to your company.
6. Volunteer to talk and/or demonstrate to local groups, clubs, churches, local co-ops, feed and tack stores, western stores, etc.
7. Consider offering your farm/stable/business for special classes, events, and meetings put on by local groups to introduce new people to your business.
8. Consider holding events that help your local charities and don’t forget send out press releases. Write press releases that will interest potential customers.
9. Don’t just go after people with horses but consider people that may have an interest in horses if someone gave them a chance to see what they are all about.
10. People that like dogs may also like horses so consider letting a dog trainers hold classes in/on your facilities.
11. Make a plan to send out press releases on a monthly basis and keep a note book this for filing and working on your ideas for press releases. having your name in print or mentioned in an interview is huge. The credibility you gain in the eyes of the consumer is at least ten-fold over what you would gain from a paid ad.
12. Did you know that many public TV channels off free air time for educational demonstrations? Contact them to learn more. This is good exposure.

PR for Equine Businesses Teleseminar with Sherry Busch, of RiskOutWest.com.

Horse Cents Infiltrate and Dominate Your Local Equine Market Using Pre-Equestrian Classes “A Simple, No-Holds-Barred System For Filling Your Horse Business With New, Paying Clients – As Well As Taking Care Of Your Current Ones!” http://alove4horses.com/links/go.php?urlid=horsecents

Being remembered tips…

1. Stay in personal contact with your customers. Send them postcards of new products, news clippings, articles, newsletters, birthday cards, ecards, holiday cards or a ‘thank you’ cards.
2. Remember to send out sincere and timely THANK YOUS whenever you get the chance. This is nearly a lost art and guaranteed make people remember you!
3. Go back to the handwritten notes and you will be noticed in this time of hurriedly typed and miss typed emails.
4. If you don’t have the horse or service they want but know or hear of one that would be a good match call or send them a note. People remember people that help them gain their desires.
5. Follow up with everyone that contacts you. You never know which one will be your next client.
6. Follow up as quickly as possible as there is always someone else that may want to sell to them and is willing to follow up fast.

Online marketing tips…

1. Get a web site so you can have 24/7 global storefront working for you!
2. Post updated information about your business, products, services, classes, lectures, demonstrations, shows, wins, events, etcetera to website!
3. Connect with your customers through your “About Us” web page. Give them an inside peek into your horse training philosophy and a feel of the real you with true behind the barn events that make you seem more down home and real.
4. Don’t be too shy to share with your clients your successes, recognition, and compliments that are sent your way. Graciously accept compliments and post your thanks you online — a testimonials page.
5. Display a few of your best products/horses (post small images) on your home page with a link to a new page with more info and large images.
6. Consider making a “Press” page on your website where journalists can locate what they need quickly: your bio, your photo, photos of your artwork, FAQ, etc.
7. Brand your website with a professional email address with your domain name, like: horses @ southwindfarm.com not sillyhorse235678 @ aol.com
8. Never send out an email without your company signature file at the bottom with your web site address. http://yoursite.com
9. Have a few people proof read your website and email sales letters. You will not believe what errors you can overlook! Make your spellchecker your best friend.
10. Start a blog or space on mySpace to draw more people to your website.
11. Tag your blog so more people will find it! Do an Internet search to learn more.
12. Don’t SPAM! I have had many horse businesses add my email address to their email list without my permission — that is spamming. Do not do it; it is bad for your business. Learn about what spam is so you will not be accused of doing it.
13. Think about making a few informational products (ebooks/reports/articles) to sell and/or give away to draw more people to your website.
14. Let me give you a clue about what is the most important part of your website — the W O R D S ! Spend some time working on your sales copy or hire a good copywriter.

Presentation Tips…

1. Visuals are super important — make sure you have great looking images of your products, your logo, yourself, your horses, your business. Good horse photos and equine graphics draw people in and build desire.
2. Always consider the first impression your making because most people will not give you a second chance. Double check your business from top to bottom and left to right — how does it look from your clients view? Ask them!
3. Your business card will draw more attention if it has a strong horse image on it.
   
   
4. Don’t overcrowd your business card or your ad designs. Consider printing on the backside of your business cards instead of crowding too much info on the front. A map on the back maybe a helpful idea.
5. You cannot be great at it all. Know when to hire professionals; like photographers, ad designers, web designers, copy writers. Professional presentation materials add up to more sales.

Learn to Sell

Selling 101 for Equestrians – How to Quickly and Safely Sell Your Horse

Covers advertising and marketing, about how to write advertisement, adding pictures, pricing, and other things to do to sell your horse, local and off line actions.

“The Law Of Attraction” For Equestrians Teleclass
Why You Get What You Get With Your Horse And In Your Life