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Petitioners testified that the value of a cutting horse is
established through conformance, proficiency in competition and,
for stallions, through demonstrated capacity to pass along their
conformance and skills to offspring. According to petitioners,
training of a cutting horse begins between ages 2 and 3,
competition begins at age 3, and demonstrating proficiency in
competition can entail extensive "campaigning" at weekend events.
Petitioners generally did not breed their horses until they were
at least 4 or 5 years old, although Colonel Rey Lew was bred as
early as age 3.12 Given petitioners' contention that a
stallion's offspring's performance affects his value, the upshot
of their argument is that the value of a cutting horse stallion
may not begin to emerge until sometime after 7 or 8 years of age.
Colonel Rey Lew was born in 1986 and was old enough to
commence competition in 1989. The record indicates that Mr.
Hightower rode Colonel Rey Lew in professional competition in
1992, and Mrs. Sullivan rode him in nonprofessional competition
in 1994. Nevertheless, petitioners' losses have not abated as
Colonel Rey Lew has reached full maturity. From 1992 through
1995, when Colonel Rey Lew was 6 through 9 years old,
petitioners' losses were never less than $33,500 per year.
12 Although the parties have stipulated that petitioners do
not breed their horses until they are at least 4 or 5 years old,
the stipulated exhibits in this case include Colonel Rey Lew’s
breeding records, which document that he was bred in 1989, when
he was 3 years old.
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