Conference noted::equitation

	One thing I like to get is a list of ingredients and nutritional tags
on all my feeds and supplements.  Those color brochures may rave about the 
feeds but I need to see what's in them.  Also, having xerox copies of the 
latest feed/supplement studys from veterinary journals or magazines 
to give away or at minimal charge would be great.  

	Have the average daily cost of supplement per horse displayed on the 
shelf with the product - also a comparison analysis of popular brands.

	Have a variety of feeds and brands.  Scout for and stock less expensive
alternatives to hoof supplements, hoof dressings, fly sprays, etc.

	I may not go to a feed store for most supplies, but I sure like having
the convenience of buying a halter, leadrope or brush at the feed store in a 
pinch.

	Stock Rubbermaid Water Troughs - I love mine!  I've had it for 4 years
and it's withstood NH winters and AZ summers AND kicks AND chewing!  

	Convenient location and prices are my selection criteria for a 
feed store.  Are you going to carry dog food?  I found it very convenient to buy
all my pet food in the same place.  Most people with horses have dogs also.

	Try a side line of consignment tack - no initial out-of-pocket cost.

    	You might encourage new business by distributing flyers at
    horse shows and other livestock events.  A grand opening with a free
    gift (hoofpick or comb) for attendees?  Another less-expensive
    marketing approach is to have a coupon for $ off certain feeds and
    distribute the coupon in a Val-pack or put it in the local paper.
    
	Good luck!!!! 
    
    		Janice
    

    Delivery is very important to me.  When I lived in Middleboro, I had
    my choice of several feed stores that would deliver both grain and hay
    to my barn.  Now I live in Chelmsford, and there isn't *one*.  I have
    to pick up everything except hay myself.  So I go to the local Agway,
    even though I would rather get Purina feeds.  But it's a 20-mile round
    trip, and I have little enough free time....
    
    You might also consider carrying things like garden supplies, too. 
    Again, the store I went to in Middleboro did this, and I rarely went
    anywhere else.  I used to joke with the dealer that his store was my
    "one stop shopping" place.  I even bought a lot of Christmas presents
    there -- he carried thermometers, bird feeders, art work, lots of
    stuff!
    
    Good luck.  You're on the South Shore, right?  Where are you thinking
    of opening your store.  (Too bad you're not up in my area  8^(  )
    
    -ellie  

    I won't be opening a "store" per say (not yet, anyway! (: )
    
    I'm going to start out slow, using my barn as a storage
    depo.....try to get steady accounts that want delivery....
    (and still work full time @ DEC!)
    
    
     

    I prefer to pick up myself, the extra .25 or .50 cents I usually see
    per bale of hay/shaving adds up quickly, but several of my neighbors
    prefer delivery and have a hard time getting it during evening/weekend
    hours.
    
    I'd also like to see detail information (in layman's terms!) of feed
    contents, and knowledgeable staff. The  store I use hires teenagers
    who barely know what a horse IS, much less what goes into one...:-)...
    
    The idea of stocking small items is excellent, bug sprays etc are
    a frequent need and with tack shops far spread (in some areas) it would
    be a nice convienence.
    

    Re .4-
    
    Gee, wish I was in your area!  Those are the hours I will
    be delivering/open....evenings & weekends! (:
    
    Please, noters, I need your input!!!!  Contact me offline
    if you would rather not enter here!  (I promise, no salesperson
    will call! (-; )
    
    Lynne

    Something that's *really* important is to never run out of what you
    carry.  Your customers will find someone else that one time you run
    out, and they might not come back.
    
    Also, it looks like your "special" appeal is going to be that you are
    there when other businesses aren't.  You should probably make a point
    of this.  Many feed stores operate on the outdated assumption that
    there's always someone at home all day.  I think your best bet is to
    be the absolutely reliable place that someone can go when they get home
    from work and find that their last bale of hay is moldy!
    
    You could also do little extra things -- like putting the grain in the
    bins.  I knew several people who dealt with a store that was a bit more
    expensive, but they were willing to pay the extra for this service. 
    
    
    -ellie

    We are having trouble w/ our feed distributer.  Delivery prices
    increased dramatically....to the point that we're switching companies,
    and considering a grain silo.  The distriubuter would bring the bags in 
    and fill the bins, w/ extra stacked on the side.  
    
    My instructor wanted to become a distributer for a brand name feed but
    the company won't let her because there are too many around in the
    Worcester/westboro area.  Oh well, maybe our new distributer will work
    out.....

    p.s.
    
    There was someone local who used to buy the grain at a reduced rate
    (bulk) and re-sell it to the local neighbors....we'd have to go pick it
    up, and at the quantities we were buying, it was cheaper just to drive
    to the feed store (discounts for X100 lbs).

I have to ask a silly question.  If you get a grain silo, why would you still 
get your feed in bags?  A truck delivers our grain and pumps it into the silo.
Isn't the price cheaper and easier?

Just one of those questions.....

    THe silo is the cheapest alternative, and we can get the feed right
    from the manufacturer, and it's very fresh.  In the long run, that's
    probably how we'll do it, but for now we're buying grain in 100lb sacks
    

    I've often thought that a grain distributor would be a great *job* for
    someone who has horses and time, but I never have both at the same
    instant!!  However, I've become engaged to someone who owns a saw mill
    and we are working on ideas to make more horse-related products.  Right
    now all the saw dust we make is sold almost as fast as it's made. 
    People come with pickups and small dump trucks to get their own and we
    have someone with a trucking company who will deliver.
    
    We are trying now to get into the shavings business.  Usually shavings
    are a by-products from planing lumber, but we want to make it a process
    where shavings are the only product, i.e. we don't want to go into the
    finished lumber business.  And we'd get A LOT more shavings!!
    
    I'm starting to look into brokers who sell shavings, etc and am looking
    into selling it ourselves.  We would go both ways, bulk deliveries or
    bags.  They will NOT be kiln dried shavings like those from Canada, and
    will be packed in some sort of environmentally conscious bags!!
    
    You can send me mail off line to *talk* more.  By the way, where will
    your *store* be?  We are in Hopkinton.   DTN 297-5790.
    
    -- Anna
    
    ps.  Anyone else interested in getting shavings either bulk or bagged,
    please send mail as I'm trying to size this market demand!!  Thanks!!!
                                                                          

    
    	Well, I'm giving it a try...I start as a distributor
    for feeds as of this Saturday!  
    
    Come visit me at my booth! (See 1130.3 & .4!!!!)
    
    Lynne 

    Another request for input......
    
    Would you consider using a laundry service for
    your horse blankets & such?
    
    ($5 per blanket, 2.50 english pad, $3 for western,
    pick-up & delivery included?)
    
    Lynne

    Lynne, absolutely would I pay 5$ for a blanket cleaning complete with
    pick up and delivery! I have 4 winter blankets that desperately need
    cleaning and 2 of them need re-waterproofing as well ( I expect that
    you would charge more for that)...heck, I'd pay twice that with pickup
    and delivery included! Gee, I wish you lived in my area.....
    

    Yeah, pickup and delivery -- what an idea.  Better limit your area, if
    you advertise.  You wouldn't want to pick up my blankets -- Chelmsford
    is about 75 miles from Middleboro!
    
    Good luck!  Sounds like you have lots of really great ideas!
    
    -ellie

    I'd be glad to pay $5 per blanket even if I had to drop it off! When we 
    were in NH, there was a laundry about 12 miles away that charged something 
    like $3 per blanket 10 years ago! Without pickup/delivery!
    
    Maybe you could charge separately for pickup & delivery on the
    blankets? That way you could:
    	1) Adjust the rate according to how far away people are
    	2) Charge less pickup & delivery if they sent a bunch of blankets at 
           once instead of 1 now and 1 next month... 
    	3) Give FREE pickup & delivery on the blankets if they can be picked 
           up/dropped off when you deliver feed (Might get people to try
    	   you as a feed dealer besides it saves you a trip)
    
    John

    CAn I UPS them????????
    
    	Michele

               Wow, where my wife and I live, we can do ours for
    sixty cents to wash, and seventy-five to dry.  Unless it's nice
    out then we just hang them out.  Is there realy that much of a
    demand to do this?  I might consider doing them for $4.00.......
    We'll take Visa, Mastercard or a personal check (with 2 forms
    of ID).  But we don't take American Express............
    
                Many  ;^)
    
                  Bob

    Bob,
    
    re: "we can do ours for sixty cents to wash, and seventy-five to dry."
    
    I assume that refers to a laundromat or something. Around here, they
    have people who work in the laundromats who are supposed to keep an eye
    out for horsefolk washing blankets and run us out of the place! If they
    can catch us! We're pretty sneaky. They take breaks, talk to friends,
    etc. Then we got 'em ;-) ;-) Seriously, laundromats don't want us 
    clogging up their machines with horse hair and run us out whenever they
    can!

    		Wow!  I guess it IS a good idea!!!!   
    
       Thx for the input.....
    
      UPS?  Sure, why not?  I can just picture the driver.....
      "Sniff....sniff.....gee, what do you have in here, a dead
      horse?"  (: (:
    
    L-

    What brand of feed do you buy?
    
    What do you pay for a 50 lb bag?   100 lb bag?
    
    Contact me offline if you want....
    
    Lynne ( and_the_survey_says!!! (; )

    We've lived in 3 different regions of the US(Mid-Atlantic, New England
    and now Pacific NW) in the past 20 years, so we prefer national brands
    over regional brands. That way we don't have to change feeds if we
    move. We use Purina mixed feeds and Red River whole oats. 
    
    We've always used Purina. Right now, we're using Omolene 100 and pay
    $9.95 for 50 lbs. Fortunately, our gang doesn't use much grain 'cause
    that's kinda steep for 50 lbs of feed. Regional brands are $2-$3
    cheaper but I don't trust 'em. Some of them don't even list the kinds
    of grain used in the mix on the bag or in their brochures. Just a 
    nutritional analysis. Makes me wonder if they don't use whatever kind of 
    grain is cheapest this week! Which isn't the way I want to feed our
    horses.
    
    We also use Red River triple-cleaned whole heavy oats(aka racehorse oats; 
    44-46 lbs per bushel) from Canada which aren't cheap either. They're $11 
    for an 88 lb bag.
    
    When the horses are in hard training, we use more grain. But, I don't
    think we've ever used more than 5-6 lbs per day per horse. Sometimes we
    have to switch to higher energy products in the Purina line to keep
    a hard working horse in good condition.
    
    I guess what I'm suggesting is that you shouldn't limit yourself to
    regional brands exclusively. Even the feed stores around here that are
    run by local feed mills carry national brand products like Purina & Red
    River because people prefer them to the regional brands.
    
    Sounds like your gonna turn into a real businesswoman! With all these
    ideas like delivery and blanket cleaning, you may find you have to quit
    your day job here to keep up with demand! Good luck
    
    John

    I use Blue Seal, both Charger and Trotter. I pay right around 10.00 per
    100 lbs. I do get it in 50lb bags for convenience, but the cost comes
    out to about the same. I've never had any complaints about Blue  Seal,
    the horses love it and both look and feel great.
    
    For hay, we currently have some good quality local hay, cut from a
    field across the street, we paid 2.25 a bale for. We are having more
    delivered this week from the same farmer but expect to be paying more
    this time, most likely 3.00 a bale. My friend Megan has a HUGE loft and
    can store close to 1000 bales, I buy 30-40 bales at a time from her
    because my storage space is limited, (I trade her free trailering for
    her trouble), and she buys in large quantities planning on her own horse
    plus my two. 
    
    Good luck with your new endeavor, it sounds like you're having fun
    getting started!
    
    

    Can't remember(and dir .* didn't help) whether anyone talked about feed
    supplements in this note. I'd suggest that you stock supplements that
    are commonly used in your area(e.g. TM salt bricks, selenium
    supplements). Also, find suppliers and become knowledgeable about other 
    supplements that you're customers might want. Ya can't stock
    everything but you can serve as an information resource on all sorts of
    supplements and order them for customers. If a regular customer uses
    FOO_BAR Pony Coat Vitamins, keep a bag or two in your stock so they don't
    have to wait for you to get it from your supplier. 
    
    Just another couple random thoughts
    john

    Re .24  No......
    
    Mainly because the cost to carry a "little of everything"
    would bury us!!!!  Storage space is limited, also....
    
    As I said, we are not a store.  They call us and let us
    know what they want, i.e. 20 bags of horse feed #XXX,
    1 bag of chicken #XXXX, etc., and we schedule a delivery
    time and deliver the order.  It means we might have to
    stop off at the mill, but it also means everything is fresh
    and they get everything they want in one shot. 
    So far so good....4 orders for the first week!!!! (:
    
    Lynne

    Does anyone know if Lynn Mandile still has her feedstore and is still
    selling tack on consignment through her store?  If she is, can someone
    post a number where I can reach her?  I have a saddle I'd like to send
    to her to sell.  She very successfully sold my last one when she was
    still here.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Tina

    	As far asI know she still does but I can't find her # either. I
    	believe she is in Milford, MA. It should be listed..
    
    	Sherry

    
    	
    Well - my turn to ask: Anyone have Lynne Mandile's number?