Thoroughbred Logic, Presented by Kentucky Performance Products: Decoding Sales Videos

“[I]f you need to see something like a transition or change of direction, just ask. And if you like the horse, and your trainer likes the horse, and the seller thinks you’re an appropriate home, fantastic. Get the horse, enjoy the training, and go make your own highlight reels.”

Welcome to the next installment of Thoroughbred Logic. In this weekly series, Anthropologist and trainer Aubrey Graham, of Kivu Sport Horses, offers insight and training experience when it comes to working with Thoroughbreds (although much will apply to all breeds). This week ride along as Aubrey shares her logic on what to look for in sales videos.

The market is a fickle beast at best. When it comes to training and rehoming Thoroughbreds it is not enough to just be good at riding or managing them. One must also be marketing savvy and good with creating reasonably high quality photos and videos and then pitching those to the public. I mean, a quiet plain bay 16.1h gelding can be desirable… and frankly is probably the right thing for many a rider… but it is only ever going to get noticed if the marketing is on point.

Emmett (JC Oboy) looking flashy despite being a very plain wrapper who needs a few more pounds. He’ll get there. Photo by Lily Drew.

So as rehomers, we either train our team or hire folks to help with the media. I was lucky in that I had a former career as a photojournalist and visual anthropologist, so this process comes reasonably naturally. But regardless of how easy it comes, sellers have to learn editing software to put video clips together, and then get good at marketing them on other sites and social media. (We supposedly also get good at responding to texts and messages and dealing with all walks of people, but I’m pretty sure the people part comes less naturally for most of us.)

Sales video — especially with very green off track Thoroughbreds — aims to show viewers the best of the horse, of course. But it also aims to give them a sense of what this creature will ride like and be like in a number of years. Sounding way too much like my former career, the video is about buyer desire, training processes and imagining, and that shapes what makes it into each horse’s highlight reel.

When they’re as fancy and well put together as Anoria, highlight reels are pretty uncomplicated. Photo by Lily Drew.

Each video and set of photos will always give a viewer the best of where each horse is at with an eye to imagining them in the future once some of the green horse bobbles are worked out. So while much of the following can be determined by the editor’s style (punchy music and quick clips or long takes and au natural sound), there are a few things to look at and consider when watching an ad — and all of it is about what you are and what you are not seeing and hearing.

Emmett’s first ride here showed tons of potential, but also some tension to work out. Such a smart kind egg, though. Photo by Lily Drew.

So, for video – always sound on.

Clip length

It is easy to take a continuous video with a schooled horse. When I marketed Louis (Unbridled Bayou, who was running Novice), one of the only schooling videos I produced of him was a single take long reel that showed him clicking through all three gaits in both directions with all transitions etc. That was great, sure. But that is not a realistic ask for almost any of my fresh off-track green beans — so smaller clips it is.

I always aim to have video with long-ish clip length — not enough to bore folks, but enough to show that they can hold their rhythm, body and confidence for more than a second or two. If we’re jumping, at least a few of the fences will be interrelated and not clipped to single fences. It is a balancing act between showing a long take and losing viewers and clipping too fast and not giving enough accurate representation of the horse.

This quick reel of Sews (Lord Darnley) provides a good example of my usual style with videos and provides the viewer the ability to see him learn and put things together over fences.

If I can’t get the horse to hold the desired pace or shape? Well… that’s why there are shorter clips, training and time to produce less green horses. And concurrently, their asking prices reflect these abilities.

Sound on

When watching video, I always want the sound on. Sound can help you hear soundness (0r conversely, lameness). And I always find it interesting to hear the chatter. Is the rider praising the horse? Asking them to do better? Chit chatting about the weather?

Sometimes in there you catch little things like effusive praise. If the verbal rewards come in spades, it is reason to believe that this is a good gauge of where the horse is actually at. They were asked to do something that was difficult for them and did it well. Was that make a 20 meter circle? Was it a quiet up transition to the canter? Half halt in the corner? Slow change of direction? Clean jump of the oxer? Regardless of the exact thing, those moments of “so so so good” provide insight into what is expected and easy, and what is still being worked on.

Jenna The Boss popping through the grid below, showing her process and reach.

Similarly, the word, “better” is always a fun find. “Better” without context means that something was less desirable before and likely clipped out of the reel. “Better” is a word that shows that you’re looking at the positive side of a comparison. If you’re not very comfortable with what is shown on that positive side, riding the negative will likely not be your cup of tea.

Also, if there is no sound – or there is music — there is a range of reasons: The cameraman to rider conversation may have nothing to do with the horse (I once had to edit a whole clip of sound out because the horse was so good that I was able to tell a full dumb story about my partner digging a hole in the field for a water leak, only to find that that is just how much ground water we have. No leak…). I digress.

I love bringing Manhattan (Ten Bits) along, but the commentary is sometimes as comical as his green bean goofiness. Photo by Lily Drew.

Sometimes the day one is filming isn’t anyone’s day and the muted video reflects that. If you have nothing nice to say… at least make sure it is muted. And I’m sure there are other reasons, fair enough… But if you’re watching and there’s sound, make sure it’s on.

Transitions & why you might not see them

Transitions are another thing to look for in the video and then think through how green this horse is and what their price point is. If it is a schooled hunter doing the three-foot rounds and asking an appropriate hunter show-ready price, I would expect to see quiet, quality up and down transitions. Similarly, if there is a dressage test on the books, sure, let’s see where they are in the test.

At home schooling, I only leave transitions in if they seem relevant. The rest of the time, viewers will get long clips of canter in both direction and same with the trot without transitions. Here’s why: the market is unkind to reality. Green Thoroughbreds rarely come with easy canter transitions that rock back and step into a lovely gait. Sure, some do — and those you’ll see! But if the transition is greener than the gaits, I let the gaits shine and bring the transitions into the visual fold when they’re ready. If you want to see them, just ask.

Rook (Breath of Royalty) shows off the progress of his gaits. While his transitions are getting there, they didn’t quite make the cut for this reel.

The blips

The long clips I talked about earlier will include some blips — that is intentional. Does the horse bobble in contact? No problem, that will be visible. Do they rush a bit? Sure, you’ll see it. But unless the video is a highlight reel of the comedic things they do, much of any form of imperfection is scrubbed from the edited video.

Video is as curated as conformation pics. These are easy to get good when the fillies look and move like Anoria. Photo by Lily Drew.

Remember, videos are about both showing where a horse is and imagining where they will be later with more training. Most sellers will tell you what the horse’s quirks are and provide insight into how to avoid them. It’s usually also written in between the lines in the sales ad, too. But it is so important to keep in mind that sales videos are an Instagram vs reality situation. They’re highlights, not a full story. But if you hone in on places like sound, clip length, and what is and is not shown, a more complete story might be possible.

At the end of the day, if you need to see something like a transition or change of direction, just ask. And if you like the horse, and your trainer likes the horse, and the seller thinks you’re an appropriate home, fantastic. Get the horse, enjoy the training, and go make your own highlight reels.

So go ride folks and enjoy the progress and process (captured on film or not).

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