August 6, 2008
Hi everyone,
Paul and I have moved back to
the Valley! We began renovating a 130 year-old barn at the
farm in August 2006. As some of you know, we had to evacuate the farm
in 1993 during the 500-year Midwest flood, so we moved into our office
in Wamego, where we could at least "camp" and keep working until the
flood subsided.
So, this has been a hectic
period for us, and I apologize for not keeping in better touch.
It was all I could do to stay on top of our many resources at
HorsesOnly. "Nose to the grindstone" doesn't begin to describe what we
have been through. But, we are making progress a little every
day.
None of our contact information has changed ... we are only a half
mile south, hardly more than the length of the Kansas River bridge in
between. But what a wonderful change of scenery that has been for us
:-)
I am very happy to finally get
back to my roots as a pedigree researcher. I have missed
having the time to share 40 years worth of "stuff" I have gathered and
documented on foundation horses and their ancestors. There are stories
to be told and photos I have collected over the years.
The 2008 breeding season is
basically over.
But, it is very important to go in and
check your pages at Horses Only, Stallion Finder and the Futurity
Guide. Be sure everything is up to date or updated for 2009:
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Send me any modifications or photo changes
you want at StallionFinder.com via email to:
hoofnote@gmail.com.
You can update your classified page by logging
in at
http://buyhorsesonly.com/login.php (If you have forgotten
your password,
send me an email and I will email it to you.)
We now have free photo galleries for our
StallionFinder members. If you haven't used that feature
yet, you are missing a great opportunity.
View the site HERE (http://horsesonly.net)
and contact me to set up your gallery.
If you have not renewed your Stallion Finder
pages in the past 12 months, you can do that online now
By CLICKING HERE (http://horsesonly.com/finder/renew.htm)
We are setting these up for automatic annual reminders, so they
will run for 12 months from today, and you will receive an
invoice next year 30 days before it is due again. Updates will be made
in the order in which renewals are received. You can mail a payment if
you prefer to use a check, but the online transactions are faster.
(These things are explained in detail on the renewal page.) |
Be sure your stallion pages do not run out,
because I am in the process of deactivating outdated pages and
scheduling them for removal. If for any reason, you know you will not
be with us this year, please call or send a reply to this note so I
can take the page down.
On the enrollment page, you will see that we have NOT increased
prices, but we do have more options than in the past. You can remain a
part of StallionFinder for as little as $50 annually, and we also have
an array of "add-on" features
to enhance your stallion promotion.
If your stallion is Incentive Fund or
Breeders Trust nominated for 2008, don't forget the
Futurity Guide! These stallion
lists are free, but you must opt-in
or let me know so I can add them
to our public lists. Please double-check to see that I have your
stallion on the list for your state. These lists are done by hand, and
I got a late start updating for this year, so let me know if you are
not there yet.
I am offering a free
www.ThinkStallions.com page this year to all Incentive Fund
and Breeders Trust stallions, to run from now through November
30th.
So, if you know of other nominated stallions who are not yet
participating, feel welcome to pass that along. We are in the process
of automating the stallion lists, so this fall, as the 2009
season stallions are nominated, it will be much easier and faster to
post these lists for public viewing.
I think most of you have set
up your complimentary companion full page ad at our
classified site. If so, your stallion is on the master index at
www.thinkStallions.com.
These pages are unlimited in the amount of information you can add
below the photo and pedigree chart. Perfect for pasting in an extended
performance pedigree, get and produce records of your stallion's
ancestors. These pages are also linked from our equine link directory
at www.ThinkHorses.com.
And ... they are automatically posted at our
equine classified site. These included perks greatly enhance
your internet visibility, as well as putting your stallions in
other places where mare owners are searching for stallions,
including our Futurity Guide
stallion lists, and online
stallion service catalogs! From the beginning, we
have done things like this to make your exposure on the web as
powerful as possible and drive maximum TARGETED traffic to your
stallion pages. True potential customers looking for your particular
stallion's bloodlines and performance potential, not just
"tire-kickers." This is the difference we deliver, and it
happens on purpose, not by chance.
Probably the most exciting
upcoming feature is the addition of a pedigree database to our
online classified ads and catalog building service.
We have been
planning this for years, while building our other breeder
resources, and we are doing the groundwork now for an entirely
new, publicly available, ACCURATE online database for Quarter Horses,
Paints and Appaloosas, which will be seeded with a database I have
built over many years while offering my pedigree and catalog services,
and includes quite a few performance, get and produce records. As time
goes on, the volume of records will grow as they are quality checked
and become a permanent part of the database. I will let you know how
to submit records of interest to you in the near future. Once
pedigrees and other data are added to the database of 160,000 horses I
have already compiled, pedigree charts will self-propagate whenever
those ancestors are encountered. I am very excited about this
feature! It will give owners, breeders, buyers, sellers and trainers a
much needed, reliable source of information. Pedigree matters,
it just hasn't been very easy to analyze. That will change.
Also on the HORIZON:
this fall, you will be able to
upload videos directly to our site!
They will
display on your HorsesOnly, StallionFinder, classifieds and catalog
pages. It will handle high definition (up to 300 megabyte files)
capable of displaying full screen. This means up to 20 to 45 minute
beautiful videos, not just small fuzzy clips! We are thrilled to
be able to add this quality option to you. It is a no-hassle uploading
and easy management option for you that is also ad-free and simple to
use for your visitors. We are extremely happy about this impressive
marketing enhancement which will save you a lot of money producing and
mailing tapes and CD/DVD's. Let me know if you would like to
upload a few high quality test videos as we set this up.
We tried to have this ready in March, but due to weather and
other challenges at the time, we didn't achieve our desired launch
date. It will be soon.
Let me know how you are doing! Between the weather, hay
shortages, economy, and the horse market challenges triggered by a
well-meaning, but misinformed public, this has been a tough year for
many horse owners, including us. To me, it looks like reality is
setting in and people are adjusting in ways that are moving things in
a better direction. As things change and people adjust,
improvement will happen. It will seek a balance. Things always
do. The horse market is turning around. We want you to be ready and
well positioned at the head of the pack.
Paul and I are pretty much "homebodies" ... which is probably a good
thing because there's a lot to keep us busy this year on the home
front. As always, I will be here to help whenever you need it.
Let me know if you have questions or suggestions about anything.
The very best to you and yours,
Andrea
Andrea Mattson, owner/webmaster
www.HorsesOnly.com
PO Box 148
Wamego KS 66547-0148
Office phone: 785-456-8600
Email: hoofnote@wamego.net
or hoofnote@gmail.com
(especially good for sending photos.)
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