Bigeq.com Horse of the Day

Bigeq.com is pleased to announce the launch of the official Bigeq.com Facebook Application: the "Bigeq.com Horse of the Day." Facebook users can now install a wall box on their profile which will feature a new hunter/jumper horse or pony for sale every day. The box features a photo and links to the horse description on Bigeq.com. It's horse shopping made easy; the perfect application for horse shoppers and horse lovers alike! Install it now and invite your friends, too.

Add the application in three simple steps:

STEP ONE: Go to Application

Go to:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=86267373157

STEP TWO: Allow Access
Don't worry we don't take or store any of your personal info! This just lets the application onto your profile.

STEP 3: Add to your Wall Tabs

YOU'RE DONE! Enjoy using the Bigeq.com Horse of the Day application. :) If you want, invite your friends, too!

Posted in Bigeq

The Art of Showing: a new series of artistic horse show photos, capturing the beauty of the horse and horse showing. When I go to shows, I see art all around me. The horse is the star, but it goes beyond that. I see beauty in the stitching on a bridle, the way a cooler drapes off a horse's body, or the mellow look of a gray horse waiting around to go to work. I see beauty in much more. And if you continue following the blog, you'll see what else!

Like this pic? Hate this pic? Know who it is? Leave a comment.

Posted in The Art of Showing

The internet is a blessing for online horse sellers. Never before in history have so many horses been accessible with a few clicks of a mouse. The internet can be a curse, however, if sellers do not present their horses appropriately and competitively in the market. The web allows many nice horses to be "seen" side by side for instant comparison by buyers, so sellers simply MUST make every effort to present the horse at its best. Otherwise their horse is likely to get lost in the cyber-shuffle. Here is an online selling tip to optimize your horse's ads and help them stand out in the crowd.

BIGEQ ONLINE SELLING TIP:

VIDEOS ARE VITAL

Videos are perhaps the most essential online tool for buying and selling horses online. Forget snail-mailing VHS tapes, and forget DVDs; get your video online! Ads on Bigeq.com with videos have the highest view rate of all ads placed on the site, viewed 20\% more often than ads with photos only.

Online sale videos should be a few minutes of footage which capture the buyer's interest. Some tips on shooting your own videos:

• Invest in a TRIPOD. Your horse's sale video should not resemble the "Blair Witch Project" or make viewers motion sick from viewing!

• KISS: Keep It Short & Simple. Videos should be no more than 3-4 minutes.

• Get your footage at horse shows. One or two over fences trips is usually plenty for a prospective buyer to call on.

• If you can't get to a show, pretend you're at a horse show. Horse and rider should be appropriately turned out. No crazy saddle pads, helmet hats, blingy tack, or anything that would distract a buyer from the horse. Include a brief section of flatwork, showing all three gaits and lead changes if applicable. Most of the footage, however, should be a few jumping courses.

• Zoom in on the horse as you tape. No one will learn much about your horse, if it looks like an ant on the screen.

So far away! Definitely needs to be zoomed in a bit.

• Don't zoom too close. Keep the horse in the middle of the frame, with a comfortable visual border.

Oops! Too close. This horse has been beheaded by the video.

Ah! Just right. The horse is centered on the screen with a comfortable margin.

• Avoid noise distractions. Try not to speak or have a conversation while taping, unless you plan to remove all sound. Don't program the video with music. It's fun to sellers, but can be annoying to buyers.

Agree or disagree with our list? Have your own video suggestions? Leave a comment!
Keep checking the Bigeq Blog for more in our Selling Tips series!

Posted in Online Selling Tips

Cindy Fuller flying over a bright yellow oxer in an adult amateur jumper class on Calitto, a nine year-old Danish Warmblood gelding.

Posted in Awesome Amateurs Show Shots ,

By Kim Ablon Whitney 

When I was an exhibitor, I used to have this idea that the judges were a mean lot who liked nothing better than to see a rider mess up so that they could announce some horrid score, like 16.  I’m not completely sure why I thought this about judges but I was convinced they were bitter, disgruntled people with no love or joy in their hearts—equestrian versions of the Grinch.

As a judge myself I now see how wrong I was.  Most judges aren’t mean or bitter.  We love horses, we love riders, and believe it or not we love spending all day watching round after round, even if it’s the modified adults.  (Well, maybe not all day of modified adults…)

When each exhibitor enters the ring, I’m hopeful.  If they pick up the canter and I like what I see, I start to get excited.  If the first few jumps go well, I move to the front of my seat and say a quick prayer.  The whole rest of the course I’m rooting for this team to nail it.  What you riders might not know, what I never knew, is that the judge wants you to do well! 

There is no happier thing for a judge than a beautiful round, a clear winner.  The worst feeling I ever have as a judge is when I get a class that has no clear winner.  A class where everyone made mistakes.  It’s those moments when I wish I could simply declare a “do-over” and run the class again, this time hoping for a winner.  But somehow I weigh the mistakes against each other and come out with someone to give the blue to.  As the results are announced, I wish I could add a caveat that says the winner wasn’t really the best, only the best of the worst.

You might think it’s easier to judge classes where people make mistakes or the quality of riding or horses is low.  But it’s much, much harder.  One of the best judges in the country, Brian Lenehan once said to me that his father, Daniel Lenehan, a very famous judge in his own time, had this comparison: “What’s easier, walking into a room of beautiful women and picking the most beautiful, or walking into a room of ugly women and picking the most beautiful?”  Since I’m a woman myself I’ll make the comparison about men—I would find it much easier to walk into a room of gorgeous men and pick the most gorgeous.  

Well, it’s the same for horses.  Judging a class with ten top-notch rounds is much easier.  There’s always one horse and rider who are just that little bit better or appeal just a little bit more to the preferences of the judge.

So next time you walk into the ring and sneak a glance at the judge’s booth, you’ll know that whoever’s in there is on your side.  We’re hoping more than anything you’ll put in the trip of your life!

~

For more information about Kim, please visit http://www.kimablonwhitney.com

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

by Sara Green 

Garden State in New Jersey was quite a long show. It rained and was cold and things didn't go so swell! Had some trouble in the equitation and then a lot of my horses were spooky in the hunter ring because we showed late and it was a bit chilly. Some were strong and some helicoptered away from the jumps. THANK GOD I stayed on!

On a funny note I got to show a PONY. I hadn't been on a pony in six years and I got a call before Blue Rock from one of my best friends Evan Colluccio. He asked me to show one of his young large green ponies, Jet Blue, owned by the Mandarinos. It was fun and hilarious! I thought ponies were easy… oh my god was I wrong. I give pony kids a lot of credit, as ponies know every trick in the book! I think we got a third and some other ribbons but I made a little mistake in each class.

On Sunday I decided to show my jumper Cardano Al Campo in the USET. Flat phase went first, which I dreaded because I hadn’t been riding a lot before this horse show (don't tell my trainers)! Miraculously I was called back 5th and in the jumping he was amazing but I had a rail and ended up 5th. I was super proud of him, though… he looked like an authentic equitation horse!! I'm hoping I can do him in some more eq because I think he really likes it (and of course he knows how handsome he is and he loves to show off)!!

Ok, all for now! Next up... Devon!

Posted in Bigeq Guest Bloggers ,

Kokopelli and Paige Johnson were one of the "it" teams in the large junior hunters in the early 2000s, winning up and down the east coast. This video was taken at Devon where the pair won the coveted 15/u championship. Johnson was a prominent junior rider, with a veritable fleet of show horses: eight junior jumpers, three junior hunters and one equitation horse. Wow.

More recently, Johnson scored a more dubious title as one of "The 20 Most Intriguing Billionaire Heiresses" by Forbes Magazine in 2007. Don't worry, she wasn't the lone equestrienne. One of her peers on the list was also a fellow competitor in the junior ranks, Georgina Bloomberg. Both excellent riders. And blessed with some serious means!

Despite this, Johnson's very accomplished mother (first black female billionaire- before even Oprah!) admitted in a 2005 interview with Washington Life Magazine that "I've never known a sport that can drain more money out of your bank account."

Amen.
lol

Enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zO162NiNHk

Posted in Bigeq Bigeq Classic , Cool Clips ,