HorsesForSale - 2008 Illinois Horse Fair
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BRINGS BUYERS and SELLERS TOGETHER – UNIQUELY
“I’ve sold horses every year we’ve been there,” says Marsha Morton of Morton Quarter Horses, Sikeston, MO, explaining her experience in the unique “HorsesForSale” concept at Illinois Horse Fair. “The first year we sold all three; the second year we sold two at the Fair, brought one home, then sold three more to people we met as result of being there,” she said.
“I always take very gentle horses,” Morton notes. “We make a lot of contacts there, plus the Horse Fair staffers are very friendly and helpful,” she said.
The HorsesForSale concept, which originated with the Illinois Horse Fair, according to Joy A. Meierhans, Horse Fair manager, allows buyers to deal directly with sellers. “There is no auction,” Meierhans said, “all sales are made privately, and no commission is paid to Horse Fair.”
“Being in HorsesForSale is excellent advertising for us,” says Vicki Morrison of Morrison Training Center, New Boston, IL. “Where else can you go and have that many people see your horses. And you get business afterwards, too. I had a gal from Chicago call me two years later wanting to buy a horse.”
Raymond Fatheree of Iuka, IL, has sold 17 horses in the years he has come to Illinois Horse Fair, “and more than double that after I get back home,” he said. “What makes it (HorsesForSale concept) work is that I get to talk directly with prospects…learn what interests them…and I get to see what’s selling up and down the aisles,” Fatheree said. “It’s a better marketing experience than I find anywhere else,” he concludes.
HorsesForSale barns attract huge crowds from the more than 10,000 annual attendees at Horse Fair.
Horses are stalled in several adjacent barns fronting Central Avenue, which is closed to traffic during the fair hours. Although Horse Fair runs three days, HorsesForSale aisles are open only Saturday and Sunday. There’s always a wide variety of types and breeds, ages and talents. Information on each horse is posted on its stall, and owners are there to answer buyers’ questions and show their horses.
A pamphlet distributed at Horse Fair lists all the horses for sale with breed, age, type, color, etc., helping buyers organize their search for the horses that meet their needs. HorsesForSale entrants wear bridle/halter tags corresponding to their number and information on the sales list, making it easy to identify them as being “for sale.”
The $125 fee for entering a horse (late entries accepted at $150 after January 28) includes a stall for one horse, first bedding, “For Sale” sign for the stall, and two admission badges to Horse Fair.
Some horsemen will use a stall in the HorsesForSale aisles to promote a boarding stable, training service or lesson program, providing horse business owners an affordable way to promote their business to the thousands of Horse Fair attendees.
“We’ve probably sold 10-12 horses at HorsesForSale over the past five years,” says Mary Brenner, Petersburg, IL. “One year we sold the two most expensive horses we brought, which is unusual. A nice broke, pretty but quiet, four-year old trail horse sold that weekend for $3,000 and a flashy tobiano two-year-old that had been ridden for only 60 days sold 10 days later for $6,500 to a contact made at Horse Fair,” Brenner explained. When asked what usually sells there, Brennan says that experience was not typical and advises bringing attractive horses with eye appeal that are quiet and priced between $1,500 and $3,000.
“It’s the highlight of my year,” says Cathy Schoof of Wildwind Arabians, Colchester, IL. “It’s the best exposure for the money and a great experience for horses,” she says. “I’m happy with the traffic and happy with how I’m always treated.”
Schoof has been bringing horses for the past seven years. “It frightens me to take a horse to auction because you never know where it will wind up,” she said. “I put a lot of time into my youngsters, and it’s important to me to know where these horses go. I like it that I can interview the prospective buyers at HorsesForSale.
