1. LEARN TO RIDE FIRST
I recommend to all inexperienced riders that you join our Riding Academy for a few lessons before you attempt to purchase a horse. It will help you decide which type of riding you prefer (and thus which type of horse will give you that ride). It also provides an opportunity for our riding instructor to match the horse to your level of riding. If you have prior experience in riding, you no doubt already know what discipline you want to ride.
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2. TAKE A TEST-RIDE We want you to take a “test-ride” on a horse or two that appear to be a good match. You will find that you are more comfortable on a particular horse, or you may quickly bond with one and not the other one. This helps you to decide what you are looking for. 3. VISIT WITH LAVESTA I can give you specifics on each horses’ breeding, and information re: the parents, the siblings, or the show record of the horse in question. Some of the horses bred here at El Camino are 4 th generation El Camino horses, and I have photos of their “next-of-kin”. I also can give you price information, and the guidelines re: sales tax on a horse purchase. Most horses are sold for cash. Some can be purchased on a contract, over one or two years time, and I will calculate for you the monthly payments. Contracts are offered as a courtesy to our EC Customers who have good credit. |
4. WRITTEN SALE AGREEMENT A sales agreement is always written up between EC and the buyer. It specifies the specific horse, registration number, age, breed, and any guarantees given. It will outline risk responsibilities of seller and buyer, and usually is subject to a pre-purchase exam, at the purchaser’s choice. 5. PRE-PURCHASE EXAM The buyer always has the option of a pre-purchase exam by a veterinarian of their choice (not an EC vet). I always recommend this exam for any horse I sell. I may not be aware of some defect that would not be advisable for the use you intend for the horse. Only a vet can guide you in this area. A few extra dollars spent here will insure you get a sound and healthy mount. No horse is 100% perfect, but you need to assure yourself of a horse sound for the purpose intended. Any conditions found after the purchase are at the buyer’s risk, so before purchasing, check out the horse. 6. EQUINE INSURANCE Once the horse has passed the exam, you should consider insuring the purchase. Any horse purchase over $5000 may be best insured in the event of a major injury or illness. You insure for mortality, and then have the option of surgical and/or medical insurance. You may also wish to insure for “use”. I can give you information on equine insurance companies, and how to contact them. Cost of equine insurance is approximately 3% of the value of the horse. 7. EQUINE TRANSPORTATION OR SERVICES AGREEMENT If you will be moving your horse from El Camino, you either need a horse trailer (your own or a rental) or a horse transporter. I will guide you in this area. You will have the transportation to pay as well as the new ranch where the horse will be going (unless you have your own facility.) If the horse will be remaining at EC, you will need to complete an El Camino Services Agreement for boarding or training. This outlines EC’s responsibilities to you and your horse as well as your responsibilities to your horse and to El Camino. It keeps us both out of future misunderstandings. 8. CORRECT SADDLE AND BRIDLE Ask your riding instructor/trainer of the horse for assistance in purchasing a saddle and bridle, and any other tack they recommend for your horse. The top side of the saddle must fit you, and the bottom side must fit the horse. Most retailers of saddles will allow a trial fitting on the horse.. A bridle purchase is extremely important, as the incorrect bridle may create a disaster when you begin riding. If the horse is not accustomed to a certain bit or bridle, or you are not able to ride with a different bridle, you are asking for trouble. Only the trainer of the horse can guide you in this regard. 9. A VETERINARIAN and A FARRIER Locate an equine veterinarian to call for routine health maintenance (immunizations and wormers). He should also be available to you in the event of an emergency. You should also locate a farrier to call when your horse needs a trim or a new set of shoes (approximately every 6 to 8 weeks). Keep these numbers handy, as you will need their expertise. 10. LEADLINE, HALTER, AND LUNGE LINE Purchase a lead line from your local tack store. You may also wish to buy a new halter, although every horse sold in California is required to be sold with his halter. I always advise getting a lunge line, as most horses need lunged prior to riding. Even if they don’t, there may be times when you do not want to ride, but the horse still needs exercised. Ask your instructor to teach you how to lunge your horse. 11. USE EQUINE GUIDELINES Consider buying an equine book that will guide you in managing your new animal. A good, all-around manual for Health Care is “How to be Your Own Veterinarian, Sometimes” by Ruth B. James, D.V.M. If your purchase is a broodmare, with or without a foal, the 2 books by M. Phyllis Lose, D.V.M., “Blessed are the Broodmares” and “Blessed are the Foals”, are excellent guides. You may also wish to buy or locate a book in the library or on the Internet that will give you generalizations re: handling your new horse, or preventative maintenance. 12. ENJOY YOUR HORSE You have now acquired a new companion. It is similar to getting married, or having a new baby. You have a new dependent, which unlike a baby, will always need you to feed him/her, and will always be dependent on you for care. You and your horse will become a team. When you meet your horses’ needs, then your horse will meet your needs for a wonderful mount. Enjoy!!  |
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By LaVesta Locklin-2005 - Printed in the June 2005 Arabian Horse World, page 105 “We began our El Camino Ranch in Redlands, California, 20 some years ago with 1 Arabian mare we purchased at a Greengate Farms auction in San Luis Obispo”, says LaVesta Locklin. “That mare was in foal, and being a nurse, I felt I had to learn all there was to know about foaling out a mare. I went to Davis, and took a 5 day class, and learned how to breed them, too. Then before foaling season, my husband Bill went back to Greengate and bought 3 more mares in foal. I guess he wanted me to be real busy! In no time at all we had a ranch with 8 Arabians. How fast we grew! |
“We’ve always had a lot of customers here, many coming just to visit with the new foals, but along the way a number of them pick up the feeling that comes with being around Arabians, that irresistible urge of –“I want one, too!” I learned quickly that if I was to stay in business I had to offer services people wanted for their horse activities. We began offering not just horses for sale, but instruction on how to ride, how to stand a horse up at halter, the opportunity to go to shows and show a horse–often one a client didn’t own. People want a place to keep their horses and interact with others who share the same interest. So we accepted boarders. Some of them wanted their horses trained. So we hired a Trainer. We found an instructor to teach these folks to ride. And so it went, until very soon El Camino Ranch became a full-service facility.” I just means that we can provide the opportunities for our customers to learn about Arabians, to love them like we do, and to spend every waking moment with them! “We breed, foal out mares, train and show yearlings in halter, send some to the pasture to grow up, and start long-lining late two year olds. We’re on their backs by the time they’re three years old. We then finish them for the show ring, or to be pleasure horses. I used to feel we had failed when every horse didn’t turn out to be a show horse, but now I realize that we have a bigger market for pleasure horses than we do for show horses. And the pleasure riders want a pretty horse, too. Sometimes it is their only criterion. They always spend more time deciding which horse to buy, being sure it is sound, than those people who buy show horses. These clients aren’t as experienced as show people, and they rely on us to sell them a good horse, and on a vet to verify it is sound.” El Camino Ranch has grown its own market through its “ Riding Academy”, which has evolved into a complete program with 20 lesson horses, one Riding Academy Director, and 3 Riding Instructors. With more than 100 students every week in private lessons, a teen drill team group, a ladies’ “estrogen riders group”, a few handicapped riding students, and camps for eight weeks in the summer and one week in winter, it makes for a very busy schedule here at El Camino. Added to these programs are birthday parties, tours, and special education classes coming to “see” and “hear” the horses. “When the economy slowed, I found that a lease works almost as well as a sale. In fact, my leases have sold more horses than any trainer I’ve ever had.” “We have reduced our own horses, but it has not reduced the numbers of horses here at the ranch, because whenever I sell one (if it actually leaves, and many don’t), the stall or pen is suddenly full again. I may never have fewer horses here. There will always be more people who want a horse to experience ‘country life’ and have ‘horse experiences.’ These people want their children to know what it’s like to go to a farm. “A full-service facility is an Arabian experience, not a horse stable,” says LaVesta. “Each visitor will envision themselves with an Arabian doing what appeals to them. That is the first step in selling an Arabian. Another way I diversified for a few years was when we bred and raised National show horses and Saddlebreds. However, those horses did not fit in so easily with the flavor of a family ranch. We are now exclusively breeding Arabians and Half Arabians. I retained a few of my English type mares to breed to outside stallions for foals with English action, which we market in the industry. But at the end of the day, the good feelings come from guiding another family to the Arabian horse.” |
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THE INDUSTRY SURROUNDING ARABIAN horses in America has enjoyed a rather exciting ride over the past 40 years. The breed’s popularity quitely rolled along through the 50’s and 60s before surging exponentially in the 70s and 80s. The rare and alluring breed best known over the centuries for its inherent ability to run long distances at high speed steadily tranformed into notoriety as a fun and athletic show ring breed. - View PDF - |
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