Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I think we should work on the letter to AHA together, Lif. You make some 
great observations!
Bette
PS We can each put some ideas together and privately mail them back and 
forth and then submit to the group for some additional input. This could 
be the first step in a long journey. And yes, it has been tried 
before--- but timing is EVERYTHING and at least I have a contact in 
there that will personally review it and pass along to the proper parties.
What would this mean to the endurance sector? Perhaps enough change to 
allow those of us who are breeding athletes to continue to do so. :-) 
(and I am including EVERY line be it CMK, Polish Crabbet, Russian 
Egyptian-- whatever)

Lif Strand wrote:

> At 07:30 AM 6/19/2004, JANUSTUDIO@xxxxxx wrote:
>
> > I've met lots of people just looking at the breed to
> > see if it is what they want their family to get into. Here is where 
> > the QH and
> > Paints are way ahead of the Arabian associations. They promote what 
> > their
> > breed can mean for the average rider. They promote the 'look', that 
> > so many want.
> > They promote the sane dispositions, the western image that we have 
> > seen since
> > childhood. They capitalize on this and the average person doesn't 
> > have to
> > show to get it.
>
>
> Yes, Jan, that's it in a nutshell.  The other breeds are promoting to 
> the average person, the average rider.  I went to the AHA website 
> (link which Kristen supplied), and found that when AHA did surveys 
> they surveyed its own membership to get it's statistics.  These would 
> be a good baseline for a marketing program, because they show what a 
> *non-healthy* situation for AHA is like.  What they should have done 
> then was survey potential buyers - might be non-Arabian owners, or 
> non-horse owners - or even look at AQHA statistics to see what 
> *healthy* registry's memberships look like.  Then you create stats 
> that would represent the ideal AHA situation and this would be the 
> goal.  You take the baseline, compare to the goal figures, and figure 
> out how to get there.  This is the basis to all planning.
>
> I didn't see any talk of that at the AHA website - maybe marketing is 
> doing that and just didn't mention it (after all, that part of the 
> website is over a year old, apparently).  I hope they are, because you 
> never use where you're at as the goal if you plan on changing where 
> you end up!
>
> I went to look at the AQHA website last night and there are photos of 
> middle aged riders sitting in the outdoors on nicely groomed but not 
> slick, shaved, greased, hyper-alert horses:  This is the first image 
> you see on the opening page.  In other words, the AQHA site is 
> providing an image that immediately plants the suggestion to the 
> viewer that he/she could be the one sitting on a QH.  That's good 
> marketing!
>
> At AHA's site the main photos do not put the average 
> person/rider/buyer in the saddle of an Arabian.  In fact, right up 
> front, the opening page says "Making Dreams Possible.... Every Day".
>
> Marketing can sell dreams (Victoria's Secret) or it can sell reality 
> (WalMart).  Sure, Victoria's Secret has lots of sales, but of the two, 
> which of them has the highest sales, which is growing like crazy, 
> which has people lined up 10 and 20 deep at the cash registers on 
> weekends?  Dreams are nice, but reality sells, reality is where the 
> true, healthy, dependable market is.
>
> AHA is selling dreams, AQHA is selling reality.  Until AHA starts 
> looking at the real world and pointing it's marketing in that 
> direction, to the world of the average buyer, average horse owner, 
> AHA's "sales" - new foal registrations, new owners - will likely 
> continue to fail.  That's why I keep coming back to distance riding 
> and endurance for the focus of promotion for AHA.  Distance riding has 
> been the reality of of horse ownership since the first person got on a 
> horse's back - I don't think it's a passing fad, I think it's 
> something AHA could and should take to the bank.
>
> ________________________________
>    Lif Strand      fasterhorses.com
>            Quemado NM USA
>
> ============================================================
> There is something really special about getting to ride all day, and all
> night on your horse. I know that a lot of people like to get finished, 
> and
> get it over with. Yes, it is a lot of work. But, realize that each ride,
> especially a 100 is a really special gift and savor it for all it is 
> worth. ~  Karen Chaton
>
> ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/
>
> ============================================================

--
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians
Home of Bunny and 16.2h TLA Halynov
who lives on through his legacy Hal's Riverdance!
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com

Always remember: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." (George Carlin)



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Riding alone is when you teach a horse all the "tools" and "cues" he needs
to handle the trail, to hold a speed, deal with hills, etc. It's also where
you develop the "bond" that causes him to "defer" to you before losing his
cool.
~ Jim Holland

ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/

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