MiKael Meets Richard..................Tested........... Part 2

As we got closer and closer to the estimated date of arrival it seemed like the "major principles" began to shift. Instead of the sister who was shopping for the western horse calling the shots, the sister with the horse coming to training seemed to be in charge. She was the one making the arrangements and deciding when they were coming and it all centered around the arrival of that gelding.

Then by the middle of February, this woman asked Richard about the price we wanted for the two horses. I knew right from the start that this was a problem. I could just feel it in my bones.

When people are telling you they can afford to buy whatever horse they want, even keep it in training on the other side of the country while flying in for lessons once a month, it doesn't surprise you when questions are NOT asked about pricing. But then when those same people decide they need to know about prices right at the last minute when they've been planning this trip to see said horses for months, something's up. And that's exactly what I told Richard.

On the matter of pricing horses, right from the get go I had been telling Richard I was NOT interested in selling horses at a reduced price just to move them. For me, to continue on breeding horses I need to get a fair market price for my horses. The whole purpose behind getting these horses broke and in the ring is to do just that.

Now that we are nearly there, I do not want to short change myself or my horses. Richard and I put our heads together and came up with what we believe to be a fair package price for the two horses.

The sister who's now in charge didn't see it that way. It was her belief that with the sagging economy and her cash we should be willing to sell for the price that she was willing to pay. Which is her prerogative, I guess, but that doesn't mean that I have to accept whatever she offers.

She didn't particularly see it that way either. To the contrary, she continued to push and push for me to accept the price she was offering...........which I might add was nearly half as much as Richard and I had decided would be fair market value for these two horses.

Over and over this woman tried to convince Richard that her offer was reasonable considering the market etc. Not only that but she thought it was Richard's responsibility to see to it that I saw it her way. She not only talked to him about his "commission" (which happens to be zero) but also about the gelding's training like somehow it was part of this deal.

From the beginning of this dialogue I was offended. It makes no sense to me that people want to negotiate prices on a horse they haven't even seen. How can you tell if a horse is worth the price or not without even looking at the horse? To me there was no point in discussing any of this until they had seen the horses. That was what the trip was about, after all, looking at the horses. Seeing the horses in person would show what makes them special.........and special definitely has a bearing on price.........in any market, I might add.

A couple of weeks ago the plans changed again. Now the junior rider(this woman's daughter, it turns out) wasn't coming at all even though one of the horses was supposed to be for her. It was only going to be the two sisters. It was looking less and less to me like this was going to happen at all.

The date of arrival just kept getting bumped and bumped. Based on the progress of the hauler getting his Scottsdale horses back home and so on. We finally ended up with a projected departure from PA of last Wednesday making their arrival at Opus Arabians a few days after that.

To be continued..........

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