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Colonel Rey Lew has been bred only 3 to 4 times per year since
199213 and his breeding fee in 1992 was $500. Notwithstanding
petitioners' contention that a cutting horse stallion's full
value depends upon the success of his offspring, at trial they
were uncertain of the total number of Colonel Rey Lew’s offspring
and were familiar with only seven or eight of such offspring.
Thus it would appear either that petitioners have not been
businesslike in monitoring Colonel Rey Lew's value, or the
performance of offspring is not as important as petitioners
argue, which suggests a shorter development period. In any
event, petitioners estimated Colonel Rey Lew’s value at the time
of trial, when he was a 10-year-old, as between $100,000 and
$150,000. Although petitioners offered much speculation at trial
that Colonel Rey Lew would continue to grow in value, we do not
believe the evidence provides any basis to believe that the
horse's value will increase dramatically in future years. He has
already been "campaigned" extensively in professional and
nonprofessional classes, has been bred, and, according to
petitioners, has produced some offspring of promise. Thus we
believe he has completed any fair approximation of a development
period. Yet even petitioners' estimate of his value, though
13 Petitioners and Mr. Hightower testified that extensive
breeding interferes with competition, which may explain less
breeding in 1992 and 1994, years in which the record indicates
that Colonel Rey Lew competed extensively. However, no such
explanation exists for 1993 or 1995.
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