Critical Mass - By Lenny Shulman

re: Critical Mass - By Lenny Shulman

LetItRideMike — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:45:28 GMT

A friend opened the Lexington Herald Leader and motioned me over on a recent visit to the Bluegrass. "Look, this sums the whole thing up on two pages" I looked down and saw two facing pages of legal notices. "We MIGHT get half a page of these if things were a little tight over the last several years. Now its 2 full pages or more, and its all caterers, fence companies, plumbers, feed companies etc. suing some of the biggest names around here for non-payment. If anyone wants to know the real state of the breeding industry, tell them to just check out the Herald Leader legal notice page.When it gets back to half a page, we'll be back to normal."

re: Critical Mass - By Lenny Shulman

Paseana — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:13:04 GMT

Lenny, I have a question. But first of all, a disclaimer. I got interested in this game in about 1980, and my involvement in it remains as a passionate fan, nothing more.

My question is, how does this collapse of the last year or two compare to the "adjustment" that happened in the mid-80's, shortly after the spectacular sale of Seattle Dancer for $13M+ in 1985? At that time, I was just barely starting to learn about breeding and sales, so I didn't understand, much less remember, any of the dynamics going on then. I just see that mid-80's downturn referenced quite often. I don't even know if it was as bad, or not so bad, as what is being experienced now.

Maybe it's an apples-to-oranges kind of thing, but I'm just so interested in learning about this industry and its history.

Thank you for your indulgence, and I hope my question isn't as ignorant as I fear that it is.

re: Critical Mass - By Lenny Shulman

marktoothaker — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 19:02:21 GMT

As we make our farm visits Lenny what you are saying rings very true to the majority of people. I think the consignors understand that this year that old saying just one more bid could be the difference for some folks. It is vital that we become marketing machines to try and get our clients every bid possible. I hope we come out of this downturn stronger on the other side but I sure hate the pain we are going through now. I wish every breeder and consignor the best of luck this sale season and look forward to us getting back at it.