Karen Fulton of Full Moon Farm in Finksburg, MD, has gad to find ways to cope with crammed summer camp wait lists and to offer more chances to share horses and join barn sponsored equitation teams.
It is quiet on a Tuesday afternoon at the Eyler auction stables, but on a Saturday there can be over 90 horses being shown for sale. Buyers are local farmers and horsemen crowding its historic stands, and those clicking in online from all over the country and just down the road.
“People have told us that they love the fact that this place is lively again,” said barn manager, Tyler Donnelly, co-lessee of this updated arm of Wolfe Agricultural Auctions that re-launched in September. “Prices are way up, and it has been nonstop, but it warms our hearts.”
June sales included a 10-year-old bald-faced registered paint for $15,000 that had only been trail ridden. A Friesian cross hit $8,200. “He rode and he drove, but wasn’t a fancy jumper or anything,” Donnelly said.
If those prices seem high, try looking for a medium green hunter pony to fly into the finals with, as Maryland trots out of the pandemic.
Finksburg’s Full Moon Farm owner Karen Fulton said standard price points of $25,000 to $100,000 for the right event horse are consistent, but more new riders entered the market last year. “It puts pressure on barns to evaluate riders quickly and find safe horses to buy, often sight unseen,” she said.
Fulton has noticed a different clientele. “We saw people paying $20,000, for a horse that will walk and trot down the rail. In years past, that horse cost $2,500. They can’t buy them fast enough.”
Stephanie Brigham, who reopened the Columbia Horse Center in Laurel, MD in January, said that getting lesson horses has been hard. “It was a challenge,” she said. “We started getting horses that are on the greener side and are working them into our programs once they have the saddle time.”
Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) Executive Director Ross Peddicord confirmed that sales and riding boomed during the pandemic. He said losing the state’s higher-end events and racetrack purses hurt, but a big win was that the Fall Standardbred sales, usually held in Harrisburg, Pa., and featuring over 1,000 horses, was moved to the Maryland State Fairgrounds.
Harry Eyler began selling horses and livestock at the old barn on Emmitsburg Road in Thurmont, MD in 1933, and there are still old signs on the walls, reading ‘No guarantees on any horse selling for under $600.00.’
Today, it offers a private buying option, even delivery, and Donnelly said that folks who are not regular auction-goers are trying it. “In May we had 156 horses and were turning people away,” she said.
Looking for Lessons
Following COVID-19 closures, horseback riding was one of the first activities to resume in Maryland. Stables were allowed to re-open in May with public health protocols in place. Horse shows resumed in June 2020.
MHIB published results of their licensed stables survey in June 2021. Recreational lessons grew by 14 percent, with some Maryland barns reporting as much as a 35 percent increase in business.
But just as prices for lumber rose during the pandemic, even new riders were confronted with ads for six-figure leases.
Christine Barakat, of EQUUS magazine, said there were three factors. “There were parents who wanted outdoor activities for kids last year; adults who took the plunge; and people who already had a horse and bought another one,” she said.
That meant Fulton and Brigham had to find ways to cope with crammed wait lists for their summer camps and offer more chances to share horses and join barn sponsored equitation teams.
Brigham also leases the Andover and Andy Smith Equestrian Centers. “Between all three facilities, we have a wait list with 200 people on it. Our six-week camps were completely filled by March. That maxes out our two large locations at 30 kids, and 20 at Annapolis,” she said.
“Having enough school horses also means not overworking them and making sure they are happy and sound. At Columbia, we are limiting boarders so the community can take lessons from us.”
The welfare of horses and consumers is also the concern of MHIB, the equine component of the Maryland Department of Agriculture that oversees commercial barns. The 2010 horse census found over 16,000 locations in the state where horses are kept. Peddicord said, “We jumped from 728 licensed stables in 2019, to 782 in 2020.”
As Fulton searches for horses, she is surprised to also be on the selling side of the business. “Typically, we buy for ourselves and sell those that are not going to work for students but don’t have an outside sales program. Having said that, we sold three horses last month,” she said.
Reaching Millions
While the public isn’t buying foals on the path to the Preakness, and no one is offering freebies off the track since Thoroughbred retraining programs are more popular, Fulton said she keeps an eye out in places she never had considered before, like Eyler.
Because of the internet, “the market is wider,” she said. “How would I have found a horse in North Carolina when we had to read classifieds?”
To meet this growth, Eyler held its first-ever online sale in January. Donnelly said, “Facebook is not the norm, but it is easy. When we put up a paid post, we reach millions of people in three days. This used to be word-of-mouth, now you can be at the beach and bid all day long. Auction has definitely gotten more convenient.”
Fulton said she’s noticed less backyard breeding as housing has replaced many four-acre family farmettes, leaving fewer horses to buy in the $500 to $1,000 range and leading to more responsible breeding overall. And as veterinarians were considered essential during the pandemic, thoroughbred and Standardbred breeding was not affected.
Donnelly said horse meat prices are so high, “instead of filling a truck, meat dealers might leave with one and they paid crazy money for it, so they are not going to make any money off it. Plus the cost of transporting them to Canada or Mexico is much higher now.”
“Everyone is paying more for the bottom end horses, which then drives the prices of everything else up,” Fulton agreed.
Keeping the Doors Open
As Maryland celebrates post-pandemic horse interest, it is also still balancing continuing needs for assistance. “As an industry, since our activities are naturally socially distant and quarantining animals is not foreign to us, we are more fortunate than others,” said Peddicord.
“When Governor [Larry] Hogan set up 18 task forces back in March, we were asked to be involved to set up financial resources programs. By having an organized network, we ensured the re-opening of our licensed stables,” he said.
There will always be factors that determine a horses’ value and best use, but for Donnelly it is not just price, it’s personal.
“Our pasture stock includes re-sale flips and projects for my kids, and we buy two to three horses per sale.” This includes her four-year-old roan and a 10-year-old registered gelding that’s a barrel horse for her seven-year-old son. “You will still pay for color every day of the week,” she said.
Since Donnelly and her partner, Joshua Ruby, are from Thurmont, their focus is on making their auctions a modern phenomenon, while preserving the reputation. “Historically, every Wednesday, Eyler was the place to be.”
Fulton is still adjusting.
“We all know purchase price is not the most expensive part of owning horses, but if you told me ten years ago I’d be spending $4,000-$5,000 for one that we have not sat on I would have told you, you were out of your mind.”
One thing that hasn’t changed?
“You can match horse and rider. But you can’t buy that bond between them,” she said.
For information about the statewide services and assistance provided by the Maryland Horse Board visit: www.marylandhorse.com. The next auction at Eyler is on August 21.