 |
|
|
|
|
| 12/11/2009 12:08:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
|
| FEELING GOOD: Dottie and Sunshine, two tobiano paint fillies bred at the Bar B Paints Horse Ranch near Centerview, frolic in a paddock at their new home near Paris, France. |
|
E-mail inquiry sends horses overseas
Centerview - Carol Beck of the Bar B Paints Horse Ranch is thrilled with her first venture into the overseas horse market.
"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," Beck said.
She sold two American Paint Horse tobiano fillies, born on the ranch last spring, to Eric Goujon of the Dry River Paint Horse Farm in Gaudreville La Riviere, France. The transaction took place almost entirely by e-mail.
Goujon found pictures of the fillies on the ranch's Web site, www.bpaints.com, and sent an e-mail in July inquiring about them.
Beck wondered at first about being scammed.
"I researched him through the Internet, and checked out his Web site and location," Beck said. "He has a beautiful place just outside Paris."
After several e-mail exchanges, Beck learned Goujon had a genuine interest in purchasing the two fillies. They came out of her stallion, BB Designated Hit Man, who is homozygous for the tobiano gene.
Beck said both fillies showed signs they also are homozygous for the gene that will produce tobiano color in their offspring.
Paint horses "are just beginning to become popular" in Europe, Beck said, and Goujon is "looking for homozygous fillies who will produce color ... for breeding purposes."
She anticipates Goujon's plan to show the fillies would "open up a whole new door for us."
A lifelong horsewoman, Beck said she obtained a Morgan horse as a young girl and "went to paints in my late 20s" when she acquired a registered paint mare from a friend in South Dakota.
"She was just a sweetheart," Beck said.
She began riding paints in shows and then acquired a pinto pony for her daughter. That pony sparked Barb's interest in the horse business, and Beck and her daughter, Barb Myers, now are partners in Bar B Paints.
Beck said they moved to their 140-acre farm near Centerview almost 27 years ago after her husband, Dave, retired from the Air Force while living in South Dakota. They chose this area for the proximity to Whiteman Air Force Base, Beck said.
She and Barb now own four broodmares, one stallion, two show horses and "one old gelding" that is the offspring of the mare she bought in South Dakota.
They have bred three mares in past years, but plan to add the fourth mare to the broodmare string next year.
"We have the broodmares we really want," Beck said.
They, like the stallion, all have good dispositions, which is passed on to their offspring.
"They love human contact," she said.
They acquired BB Designated Hit Man four years ago as a 6-month-old colt.
"We hunted high and low for two years ... for a replacement stallion," she said. "We wanted one that had breeding, would give 100 percent color and had great conformation and a pedigree."
They found him in Ohio after an extensive Internet search.
"We haven't regretted it one day," she said. "He's been a sweetheart."
She said he also "throws absolutely gorgeous colts."
The two fillies - BB Heavenly Dream (Dottie) and BB Zippos Sunshine (Sunshine) - born in February and April this year, attracted Goujon's attention. The third foal, a colt, went to a repeat customer in Odessa who owns his half-brother.
"She came out and fell in love with him," Beck said.
That transaction proved easier than sending two fillies to France.
After Goujon contacted her, she spent several weeks contacting equine transporters across the nation to get information about transporting the fillies overseas.
Goujon had used a Canadian transporter in the past, Beck said, "and he knew who he wanted to use as an exporter."
The Canadian exporter "arranged everything ... from our doorstep to Eric's doorstep," she said.
He found a transporter from Wyoming who took the fillies to New York for the first part of their journey, she said.
Beck contacted the Odessa Animal Hospital. Veterinarians there "had to work very fast" to get the Coggins tests - which check for equine infectious anemia - conducted and verifying paperwork done in time.
"I give them credit for everything going smoothly," she said.
Canada requires horses from Missouri, Texas and New Mexico to be quarantined for three weeks before they can enter the country because of a contagious disease allegedly found in those states, Beck said. The fillies stayed in upstate New York, just outside Canada, for the required time.
The horses then had to be held in Canada for 30 days before being shipped to Europe on special planes. She said the planes have two veterinarians on board.
"It's mandatory," she said.
They landed in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and from there went to Goujon's farm.
From the first inquiry until the fillies arrived at Goujon's farm took more than 60 days, she said.
Goujon paid all transportation costs, Beck said.
"I know Eric was very concerned about everything being done correctly," she said.
She acknowledged she and Barb felt nervous.
"It was scary. Both Barb and I were biting our nails," she said.
Goujon kept them informed about the fillies' progress along the way and they arrived at his farm "in good shape."
Since then he has e-mailed photos of the fillies at home on the farm and provides regular reports on how they are doing.
"Eric's initial e-mail told me he was extremely happy with the fillies," Beck said.
Subsequently, she said, she has received e-mails from him praising "the personalities and quietness of Dottie and Sunshine."
Beck said she has learned a lot about exporting horses.
"It was kind of fun," she said. "I keep thanking Eric for being such a wonderful client. He was a perfect first (overseas) customer."
Beck is hopeful about more overseas transactions.
Articles in the American Paint Horse Association Journal have cited the growing popularity of paint horses in other countries, she said.
"The doorway is just starting to open up with paints overseas," she said.
"The first adventure was wonderful, and I hope I'm lucky enough to experience it again in the very near future."
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
|
|
|
|
