1962-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1962 July Voice | Page 3

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Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse
VOICE
of the
Tennessee Walking Horse
B en A. G reen ................... Publisher-Editor
M rs . B en A. G reen ....................... Secretary
OFFICE—SHELBYVILLE, TENN.
(This monthly magazine is dedicated to the welfare
of the Tennessee Walking Horse breed for show and
pleasure.)
OUR AIM— To maintain a permanent publication
that will merit the full support of all who love
the Tennessee Walking Horse.
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse is owned
by Ben A. Green and Mrs. Ben A. Green, Shelby-
ville, Tenn., and its editorial contents can be used
for re-publication by any person or firm provided
proper credit is given and the magazine is correctly
quoted.
Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse is pub­
lished monthly at 1110 South Brittain St., Shelby-
ville, Tenn.
Send all subscription payments and advertising
payments to Ben A. Green, Shclbyville, Tenn.
Subscription Price: $4 per year; single copy
50 cents.
We Must Establish An
"Appreciated Value"
For The Pleasure Horse
Of The TWH Breed
We are somewhat "horrified" when
we see feature writers and columnists
telling people they can buy a “riding
horse” for SI50 to S300, etc., etc.
And we also note that the Business
Week article (reprinted in this issue
with special permission—and the Wal­
ter Street Journal article reprinted in
our March issue of Lite Voice) neither
mention the Tennessee Walking
Horse.
Happy To Be Omitted
We are happy Lhat "our” breed is
omitted from articles lhat tend to lead
people to think they can get a “riding
horse” for any such sum.
We believe it is most unrealistic to
suggest that a person can get a horse
“worth riding” and worth equipping
and worth feeding and caring for, at
any such low price.
One might as well suggest that a
person wanting to buy a car go to a
used car dealer and get the lowest
priced “jalopy” imaginable.
Any person knowing the cost of
breeding, feeding, raising and train­
ing a Tennessee Walking Horse is
bound to know that a horse sold for
§300 would be sold at a distinct loss
by the breeder.
Actual Cost Ascertained
In our March issue we told how Dr.
M. E. Ensminger of Washington Slate
University set out to find what is the
actual cost of breeding and raising
horses of Lhree breeds. He chose
Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and
Quarter Horses. He found the cosi
of raising animals to two years of age
was: $5,099 for the Thoroughbred,
$3,648 for the Standardbred and
.$2,309 for the Quarter Horse. Indica­
tions are he was treating chiefly with
racing slock but the figures are easily
translated to show horses and pleasure
horses.
Pleasure Horse Chief Concern
Our concern chiefly is with Ten­
nessee Walking Horses for pleasure.
This phase of TWH breeding offers
the greatest opportunity for promo­
tion; it offers the untapped market;
it presents the Tennessee Walking
Horse at its best for the most people.
The Walker is vastly appreciated
and already well promoted as a show
horse. That is well, and it’s a great
advertisement for the breed and for
the Walker—to have the fine animals
in shows all over the land.
But there are thousands upon thou­
sands of people who want to ride
horses that are easy to ride and safe to
ride and are available at prices that
people can afford.
Must ‘Afford To Raise Them’
Here’s a point—the horses must be
priced at a point where people can
AFFORD TO RAISE THEM for the
folks to buy at a price buyers can AF­
FORD TO PAY FOR THEM.
There must be a price reached to
meet this need. We have a name for
such a price. We believe the name
should be the "Appreciated Value
of a Tennessee Walking Pleasure
Horse.”
By “Appreciated Value” we mean
the money that a buyer is willing to
pay for a “good horse with a proved
Tennessee Walking Horse pedigree.”
This price should be enough to com­
pensate the breeder for all costs met
in breeding, raising and training the
animal—plus some profit.
Only when such a value is deter­
mined, can we expect breeders to go
into the production of Tennessee
Walking Pleasure Horses.
‘Appreciated Value’ Defined
The Editor has some definite plans
in mind to attempt a program that
can determine what should be the
"Appreciated Value” of this type of
horse. But more of that can be given
in later issues of this magazine as
progress becomes a reality.
Let us define more closely the
phrase "Appreciated Value.”
We mean a “worth” of the horse to
an average buyer.
By “Appreciated Value” or price
we do not mean “bargain price.”
One big trouble about the horse
business is that buyers so often seem
to be "looking for bargains" rather
than looking for solid buys in which
the seller as well as the purchaser gets
his money’s worth.
Housewife Is Not Fooled
Surely in merchandise generally the
"bargain sale" advertising slogan is
often used—but the average housewife
is not fooled by such advertising. She
knows that a merchant could not stay
long in business if he kept on selling
g oods at prices below costs.
Yet—it is rather general in the pleas­
ure horse field for people to expect
to find “bargain prices” in all horses
they see, and that are available for
purchase.
The Voice Editor has received hun­
dreds upon hundreds of letters from
pleasure horse owners who look upon
their own horses as “priceless friends."
These horses have an “Appreciated
Value” to the individuals that can be
measured at many times the “money
value” of the animal.
Horse To Be Kept For Years
Such is the potential in a pleasure
horse. Such should be the potential.
A person buying a pleasure horse
should do so with the expectation
of keeping the horse for years—far
longer than the life of an average au­
tomobile. Purchase of such an “ani­
mal friend” should be on a basis of
“appreciation” that will grow with
the years.
There is “health” in horseback rid­
ing; “comfort" in riding a Tennessee
Walking Horse; “sheer delight” in en­
joying the unusual feature about
horseback riding that seems to
“ground your cares” in the earth it­
self and relieve "nervous tension”
built up in many of us by modern
living.
Yes, the "Appreciated Value" of a
Tennessee Walking Horse “friend”
means all these things so difficult to
measure in money.
Plan For Sale At 15 Months
Yet we must establish a “going
price” for pleasure horses—and our
idea, as set out before, is to set up a
plan whereby folks can buy pleasure
horses as halter-broken colts, some 12
to 15 months old—for their children.
There lies the big market for the
Tennessee Walking Horse of the fu­
ture—a market that we cannot enter
in quantity any other way.