Our Newsletter
(updated 3/7/08)

State of the Industry

After doing no fancy government polls, or high-falutin’ economic equations (pretty much went around talking with real folks in the Paso industry), it is very apparent that this industry is in a serious downturn. Horses with golden pedigrees are being sold for $500. Foals are being given away, and breeding horses are on the auction block to go wherever auction horses go. Breeders are bemoaning the fact that they can’t get what they used to for their stock. Trainers are clamoring about empty stalls and half full show trailers. All in all, it seems pretty disheartening.

However, there is a silver lining here. All industries, be it horses, cattle, furniture or candy bars has its ups and downs. A downturn in the horse industry actually helps that industry. When there are fewer buyers, breeders need to sharpen their pencils and breed only the best. The industry can’t support less than that. Horses that don’t make the grade are culled (thankfully) out of the breeding pool.

Golden pedigrees going for $500 means a small breeder that couldn’t touch that lineage previously can now step up and breed a small number of higher quality horses. Those breeders that were hanging on the margins are usually eliminated. This means when the industry experiences and upswing and demand is high, more money is paid for fewer animals. If you are a breeder, you know it is much better to receive $10,000 for one horse, than $5000 a piece for two. One horse eats less than two and requires less showing, vet care and so on.

Those horses that are given away are our most priceless piece of an industry downturn. You never know what that one horse will mean to the industry. That horse may be given to a little girl who could never afford one any other way. She will love Paso Fino’s forever, that one horse meant so much to her. Maybe, 20 years from now, she will become a doctor and have a show string. Maybe she will become our next top trainer. Maybe she will earn a comfortable living and end up buying four or five Paso’s throughout her life. The main thing with these types of giveaways is for the people doing the giving to be responsible about it. Handing over a 5 year old, unbroken stallion to an 8 year old girl isn’t the best way to instill good will for the future of the breed.

With all the positive effects of a downturn on the horizon, what should we be doing now? First, as an industry, we need to look at the fact that our market is currently a niche market. The bulk of the horses bred are small, pony-sized animals that have a lot of energy, but essentially go nowhere. These horses are frivolous animals to own. It is a status symbol in the sense that one can afford to have a horse that does nothing. It is very similar to owning a racehorse. The person spends a lot of money to point at their horse in a race and say “I own that horse”. For 99% of racehorse owners, there’s no return, except in ego. Our breed is very much the same. There is very little incentive for ‘regular people’ to get involved in this breed. So many people have called me to unload their Paso Fino. It is always the same story. They got into the game because they loved the majestic image of these horses portrayed in art, magazines and TV shows. But, after they spent a pile of money for a pony that can’t keep up with more mainstream breeds on the trail and requires hours of attention after the ride just cooling out, they just want a horse they can enjoy with their other horsey friends.

Within the breed, a handful of breeders are working towards breeding higher quality pleasure Paso’s. These horses have decent size and a long reaching gait that allows them to keep up with other breeds on the trail. These horses are revered by their owners. They have all the abilities of ‘regular’ horses, and the rider has an intact behind, even after hours in the saddle. Retired dressage riders, hunter jumpers, endurance riders and saddleseat riders who can’t take the pounding of a traditional trotting horse anymore are clamoring for these horses. There just aren’t enough out there. This market is being taken from our breed by Tennessee Walkers and Rocky Mountain Horses. It behooves us as a breed to stop being so stubbornly focused on the board-trotting ponies, and open our market to more people. The old lineage carries size. My own stallion is an example. And there are others out there. The larger breeders would be doing themselves and advantage to dedicate at least some of their breeding efforts on these types of universal Paso’s. If you went to a car dealership to buy a car and all they had were red Porches, you’d go elsewhere, unless a red Porche is exactly what you were looking for. This is where the breed is lacking. Wonderous variety equals more customers reaching for their wallets.

Along with this statement of the need to expand the market Paso Fino’s can fit into, rides the need to give people something to DO with those horses. This usually means showing. Showing is a great way for people with the horse bug to gather around other people with the same affliction and look at great horses, talk about great horses, show off their pride and joy, and all around perplex their non-horsey associates. Our shows are sadly geared away from allowing the every day Joe from participating. The cranked up, over-the-top performances of the few horses with enough money behind them to show is a discouragement for most people. Much more emphasis needs to be placed on the every day person classes. The pleasure classes. The youth classes. I have friends who (for whatever reason) are into Morgan horses. She was telling me how about 10 years ago, the breed introduced the “classic” division. This division is for amateurs only. The only time a professional trainer is allowed in the ring, is if they win and the trainer is doing something amusing to make the horse pick up it’s ears for the winning photo. When this was introduced to the Morgan breed, the trainers recoiled. They scoffed at a class that excluded them. Amateurs showing without the political pull of the trainer. Egads. With the recent discovery that the world was indeed round, this new idea was just too much. 10 years later, the classic division is the strongest division. It is the only adult division that requires class splitting. The youth division is usually split 3 or 4 times. Trainers have more classic horses filling their stalls than the other 5 types of morgan combined. In short, folks not intimidated by politics are flocking to pay the money to show. The trainers are bringing in clients, starting them with a classic horse, and eventually selling them a high-powered park horse that is the “look, I own that one” horse, while they themselves show their classic horse.

There is a lesson to be learned here. We need to make an effort to include the ‘small potatoes’. Make it EASY to be in the breed. If some of our elitist attitudes could be checked at the paddock gate, and we could learn to welcome anyone who loves Paso’s, regardless of financial status, our breed wouldn’t be so impacted by downturns. The American Quarter Horse is another example to look at. There are more quarter horses in this country than any other breed. This breeds forte is its versatility and user friendliness. The Congress in Ohio attracts more than THREE THOUSAND horses. To ONE show. I don’t have facts, but I believe that is more horses in one show than all the showing Paso’s combined, nationwide. You can get into showing a quarter horse for a pittance. Then work your way up. The youth classes are huge! There were almost two hundred horses in the “fitting and showmanship” class at Congress last year. Two hundred kids paid to stand around with a perfectly groomed horse. I bet our breed could use an influx of that kind of money and participation. For every kid in that class, there must be 500 who didn’t qualify for that show.

I am not naïve enough to think that the Paso will ever achieve that kind of status, but we should strive to! Ours is the most wonderful breed, in my very humble opinion. I believe when a person is thinking about buying a horse, the Paso should be in their top 5. It shouldn’t be so out of reach as thinking to yourself “Ok, Chevy, Toyota, Ford or Lamborghini?” We, as custodians of this breed, have the responsibility to make this happen. And, we can probably turn a decent profit all the while.

So, in closing, change is on the horizon. The upswing in the industry is coming, we need to be prepared to handle the challenge and get more people enlightened to all the Paso Fino is and can be!

Being a breeder of horses, of any breed, carries a level of resposibility to our horses to care for them with the latest in scientific, biologically based nutritional data that is available.

I have always taken great care to ensure that my mares received the needed nutritents to successfully carry a foal to term, with no problems at birth. These foals grew to their full potential with no growth problems.

This was done by following the latest information that was available to me, either in the equine nutritional books that I would pick up, or by searching the internet for the most complete nutraceuticals on the market. I won't give the Veterinarians that I had, any credit, they know about the use of drugs, and made NO feeding recommendations to me at the time that I was breeding my mares. Many of them, don't even know a lot about what is available to breeders in the nutraceutical arena!

I have never needed to use steroids or drugs to enhance the growth or appearance of my horses. Nutraceuticals are a safe effective way to make sure that your horses are getting exactly what they need on a daily basis, to reach their full potential, this includes mares and growing foals, stallions, show horses, geldings and our geriatrics.

I know that there are a lot of people, that for one reason or another do not want to change their feeding programs because it has worked for years. What they don't understand is that, our feeds, both grains and hay are NOT what they used to be 50 years ago. Thanks to pollution, and the use of pesticides, the overall quality of the feeds is different. They may have the protein we all look for, but they also contain pollutants that really don't manifest themselves for some time, and fianally appear as diseases. Degenerative orthopedic disease is one that can be avoided by making sure your mare is getting what she needs throughout her pregnancy!

If you ever look at where your hay is coming from, or the grains are grown, many are alongside highways, picture the amount of pollutants just from the cars that pass along the fields~what goes up, must come down!

I have a feeding program that includes multi-vitamin, joint supplement, immune enhancer and more. The products I use are from US Animal Nutritionals of Vermont. You can find them on my links page. I use Pro Form, Joint Discovery EQ, Hoof Discovery, Energy + and Gluta DMG.I prize my horses! Just think of the amount of money that is paid for these beautiful animals, isn't it important to keep them at the top of their game? Isn't it worth putting a little extra into your mare to help that foal grow, isn't it justified to make sure your horses in training are getting what they need to keep up with the work we are asking them to do?

There are so many grain companies that claim that their feeds include everything and that you don't need to supplement the diet. Let me think for a minute, fat soluble vitamins, that are important to a horses diet, go rancid when exposed to oxygen for any amount of time, and digestive enzymes and amino acids are important also. These cannot be put into grains and have any real shelf life. Do you know how long a bag of grain has sat in a warehouse before it gets to your horses feed dish?

Sadly, there are many people out there that don't believe innutraceuticals, what you don't know can hurt your horses. Also, there are so many people that over feed grain, this leads to overweight and horses prone to laminitis (founder). If we were to feed our horses what they tell us to feed them on the side of that bag, so the horses are actually GETTING the nutrients in the proper amounts needed on a daily basis, the horses would be lame balloons out in our fields!

Horses are fed depending on how they're being used, grain is NOT a natural food source for horses, and there are other ways to ensure that your horses get the nutrients they need! You can save a lot of money by going back down to the basics with your feeding program and offering a balanced dose of muti-vitamin combinations, and be sure that your horses are getting what they need!

I personally don't feed grain anymore, our breed has lost quite a few beautiful horses due to feeding mis-management. It IS easy to feed your horses right, part of it is personal education, your horses will look and FEEL better for you putting the time into learning what is best for them!

You can always e-mail or call me (after 8pm est) with any questions and I will be happy to help you find solutions that work!