Ep 99: Thoughts About the Current Horse Market
We are in the midst of an exciting time in the equine industry. Whether you are raising horses, buying prospects to train, or searching for a rodeo-ready athlete, there is no question that the value of the horse has risen dramatically over the past few years.
The height of the horse market has been building for a long time. As a trainer who knows the time and effort it takes to help a horse reach its full potential, I believe the value of the horse in today’s market is right where it should be.
The trends of today’s horse market bring up a few thoughts about the process of increasing the value of your equine assets. Ultimately, this process comes down to: knowing where you are, knowing where you want to be, and having a plan for how to get there.
Knowing Where You Are
The first step is knowing where you are at right now with each horse. Whether you have a horse that you are keeping to compete on or a horse that you are going to train and offer up for sale, it is important to be mindful of both their strengths and weaknesses so that you can develop a plan for how to address both.
When evaluating your horse’s strengths and weaknesses, it is important to be able to take a step back and look at your horse through an unbiased lens. You have to be able to remove the rose-colored glasses and be objective about where your horse is at in relation to your goals. Then, decide: what small changes am I going to commit to to get to that next level?
Knowing Where You Want to Be
A key consideration in developing your horse’s potential is having a clear picture of where you want that horse to be. Are you planning to keep this horse to compete on? Are you planning to train it and resell it through a public sale or private treaty? Do you have a certain deadline in place? How much time do you have to commit to this project? Do you have a particular discipline in mind for this horse?
When you have clear, realistic goals in place, the path for how to achieve these goals is much easier to determine. While this path will rarely be linear, having clear goals in place always gives you something to revert back to when adjustments need to be made.
Knowing How to Get There
Before you begin the process of getting your horse to the next level, that animal needs to be in the best shape possible. I believe there is no way an athlete--human or equine--is going to reach its maximum potential without being in the best physical condition possible. So, make your horse’s physical conditioning a priority.
Once your horse is in a good place physically, you can start implementing the small steps that reinforce the strengths and improve upon the weaknesses. It is important to remember that this process does not happen overnight. The journey of getting to where you want to be is the culmination of small, incremental habits over a long period of time. As you begin implementing the small steps, it is important to devote adequate time to both the strengths and weaknesses.
Don’t make the mistake of only working on the areas of weakness. Part of developing a horse’s potential is helping that animal build confidence. If you only work on the weaknesses, before long, the strengths will begin to fade, and you will end up with a frustrated animal. To keep your horse feeling confident and sharp, it is important to continually reinforce the strengths while you continue to fine-tune the weaknesses.
When implementing your daily habits, there will be times when your routine gets interrupted. Just because you quit something temporarily doesn’t mean you have to give it up altogether. Give yourself the grace to have an off day, and pick right back up where you left off the next day. One small step at a time will lead to major changes down the road.
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