Whenever I am asked what I do for a living, my wife cringes when I pull out the, “I sell sperm for a living.” For those who don’t know me, my humor can be a bit dry as I tend to just leave that one sit there a bit. It always goes over well at church when meeting someone new…

Standing stallions is what I do. I am always trying to stand the best stallions we can. I’m proud of our current roster, and hopefully we can get some new studs for 2017. My background and expertise has fine-tuned me for this, and coupled with our location and international distribution network, that makes us unique. We are proud of our world-wide leadership andwhat we’ve done internationally over the past eight years and of our great network of breeders on four continents. If I can be of service, please give me a call as I’d love the opportunity to explain who we are. I’m proud of our track record and history.

We, as a family, counted up the number of stallions that we’ve stood and it’s more than 100. The stallion business is my “wheelhouse,” so to speak. Sure, there are many facets to the horse industry, but what I know best is stallions.

The stallion business is a lot like commercial rental properties and also selling health products. You might be wondering what in the heck I’m talking about, but it’s true. A good commercial sire can service mares for many years as demand will be steady, much like a commercial rental property. Marketing young, unproven studs is a lot like selling health products. Everyone wants to consume quality health products, but what makes product A better than products B and C? Well, opinion comes into play, and also seeking the advice of experts.

When it comes to unproven breeding stock, most people seek the advice of their trainers. There is nothing wrong with that, as trainers have experience dealing with the end result of a mating. But, and I say this out of respect, trainers don’t make a living in the breeding business. Folks like myself do. Don’t come to me for advice on training a horse, I know who the experts are there. I’ve heard my father say this my whole life and I use it myself, “Don’t take advice from someone who doesn’t make a living doing it.” I can’t tell you how much crap I learned in business school from the smartest professors around. Many of them teach business because they don’t have what it takes to be in business. The real world is a different place than the classroom. My favorite lecturer was a 40-year entrepreneur who taught because he wanted to, not because he had to.

I am immensely proud of my heritage and upbringing. I have seen and experienced a lot in my lifetime. I’ve seen what success truly looks like. I’ve experienced severe pain and trauma that comes with life. I’ve seen what happens to good people when you get involved with bad people. I’ve been grateful to see the goodness and pure joy real friendship brings, both personally and professionally. I’ve seen what happens in the business life of someone successful if their private life falls apart – it’s only a matter of time before their professional life will be rocked as well. During the two years I lived in Taiwan, I learned what ying and yang really mean. Life needs balance in order for progress to happen.

Growing up, I had the perfect childhood with two parents who were totally committed to each other and their kids. The youngest of five children, I grew up with my best friends. My parents were either lucky or crazy, having five kids in eight years! I didn’t know my parents had wealth until I was just shy of high school. Sure, I saw glimpses of success as a kid, but my first pair of new shoes purchased just for me came at around that time. Hand-me-downs were a way of life. I think they pretty much poured as much as they could back into their business. If ever two people were the definition of self-made, it was my parents.