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California Riding Magazine • February, 2009 EquiStudio Productions
by Kathleen Burke Jensen |
Dave and Heidi Aparicio of La Cañada were interested in buying a horse in Pennsylvania. The seller sent a video that showed the horse’s ground manner and under-saddle work. “It was his kind attitude in the stable, as much as his potential to meet our performance needs, which sent us to the Internet to book our airline tickets,” recalls Heidi. Not only did they buy the horse, Heidi and Dave decided to create EquiStudio Productions to provide this same invaluable service to other equine enthusiasts. The Aparicios and their extended family have purchased horses from South Carolina, Quebec and Ontario based on as little as a few photographs and a short, grainy video. They had good experiences, but had friends who had not been as fortunate. Heidi knew there had to be a better way to make an informed decision to either buy a horse sight unseen or spend the money traveling to check things out. EquiStudio Productions specializes in filming a customized virtual buying visit and hosting it on their website to allow buyers or trainers to evaluate a prospect in depth before making any high dollar decisions. Buyers who commission a video can choose which behaviors they want to see a horse perform, with the seller having the final say on what is appropriate. Someone selling their horse can hire Heidi to produce a comprehensive video demonstrating ground manners and highlighting performance skills while providing a running dialogue, just as they would for a buyer standing in their barn.
Heidi Aparicio One Take Only A Purchase Evaluation Video starts with the things a buyer would witness when they first arrive to view a horse prospect. These scenes include watching the horse being taken from his stall, loading into a trailer and extreme close-ups of his entire body showing his markings and condition with special emphasis on his eyes and legs. While the horse is being tacked up the buyer can see what kind of bit is being used, how the horse is shod and his general demeanor while being handled. Under saddle work focuses on the skills the horse is advertised as performing such as jumping a course where the heights have been measured, performing dressage tests at the levels he’s showing and schooling or running a Online Or On DVD The web page features a menu of highlights of each behavior and performance segment, such as bridling, trailer loading and flatwork, extracted from the full length video. These highlights allow a viewer to review specific behaviors and performance skills at the click of a button without searching through the entire full length video.
Benefit for Buyers and Sellers A video could quite possibly increase the pool of prospective buyers who may never have considered making a long distance purchase until viewing a “no cuts, no edits” Purchase Evaluation Video. And appointments made by buyers who have prequalified a horse using a Purchase Evaluation Video can be more efficiently used to focus on aspects of the horse that particularly interest that buyer instead of being used to make a full presentation. The development process has been fun and challenging and EquiStudio Productions is excited to make this new resource available to buyers and sellers. “We see full length Purchase Evaluation Videos quickly becoming the future standard for buying and marketing horses on the Internet,” says Heidi. And with EquiStudio Productions, it seems the future is now.
To view a sample web page and video, visit www.EquiStudioProductions.com or contact Heidi at Heidi@EquiStudioProductions.com to request a DVD. You may also call 877-9-HORSE-9 or 818-790-7959. |
