Would Breeding Horses Be Profitable For Me?

[CLSranch]

It may be worth a go then. Just don't expect a profit. If you ride/pull often and other people see your mare and her in foal they will ask about the future foal. If not potential buyers they will talk. That will help with the ability to sell witch helps the price. And you will have your Morgan. A few years ago I saw (wishing I had money and pasture) 2-4 yr old broke (90 day) registered Quarter Horses get only a $200 bid at auction. It's 3X that to have someone to put that many days on them as they had.
So another thought is your training ability. Can you mess with the mare and foal at birth. It makes a difference. I had my wife mess with my foals at a young age. She said she can't break a horse but it made it a lot easier for me to saddle. Even halter broke will help selling cost. But selling a broke broke horse takes several yrs more feeding.

Do you have an idea of how much it would cost? I’m Canadian

I don't remember the cost to register. Not much but still a cost.

 

[farmerjan]

It sounds like you have done some research, as well as having experience. I was trying to make sure that someone that had next to no experience with horses, and animals in general, were not seeing $$ in the sky. Since you like the breed, and have been around horses in general, then it would probably be a good experience. With only 1 mare, at least you are being sensible in getting your feet wet. I did it years ago, and then had 3 mares that I had bred a couple times, so I know the allure. Don't know the demands and such there in Canada....
Keep us up on your adventure!!!!

 

[rbruno]

I would agree with what has been said. I bred a mare I had several years ago. Once I added up what I spent which I stopped doing because I didn't like what I was seeing and some of which may have been avoided, I could have bought at least three if not four young horses. But, as you said, I had been around horses for awhile and always wanted to take one that was born on my property all they way through to training and riding. I had bought younger horses that I "finished" but never had a foal to start. I did it not for the money, but for the experience. I still have the horse and he is my main ride so to me it was worth it.

 

[ButtonHerder]

So another thought is your training ability. Can you mess with the mare and foal at birth. It makes a difference. I had my wife mess with my foals at a young age. She said she can't break a horse but it made it a lot easier for me to saddle. Even halter broke will help selling cost. But selling a broke broke horse takes several yrs more feeding.

I can do the basic training like halter breaking, ground work, lifting feet etc. I just wouldn’t feel like I should saddle break it for someone else to ride as I’ve had no experience with that.

A few years ago I saw (wishing I had money and pasture) 2-4 yr old broke (90 day) registered Quarter Horses get only a $200 bid at auction. It's 3X that to have someone to put that many days on them as they had.

That just makes me so sad

 

[ButtonHerder]

Keep us up on your adventure!!!!

I will! It’s not a for sure yet, it was just a thought.

 

[ButtonHerder]

I would agree with what has been said. I bred a mare I had several years ago. Once I added up what I spent which I stopped doing because I didn't like what I was seeing and some of which may have been avoided, I could have bought at least three if not four young horses. But, as you said, I had been around horses for awhile and always wanted to take one that was born on my property all they way through to training and riding. I had bought younger horses that I "finished" but never had a foal to start. I did it not for the money, but for the experience. I still have the horse and he is my main ride so to me it was worth it.

Yeah, to me it’s not about the money, more the experience, because in the future I would kinda like to look into being an equine reproduction technician.

 

[rbruno]

If you are doing it for the experience and can afford it and are set up for a foal, I would say do it. It was one of the best experiences I have had with an animal. It taught me a lot as well. Nothing like a young horse to teach you patience and being calm in trying circumstance. Again, I took mine from foal, to halter, to ground manners, to riding. It was daily work almost everyday for several years. For me, there is sense of accomplishment. My daughter was young at the time, maybe 9 or 10 and she got involved. When the horse was 2 or 3, I had him out on trails at a local park. My daughter was riding him. Two other riders were coming towards us and one was having a hard time with her horse. We pulled off to the side to give them the trail. As they passed, one said thanks and we are working on a new horse. I just smiled and said "no problem" and "good luck". In my mind, I was thinking how happy I was that my 10 year old was riding my 3 year old horse who had clearly better manners then an older horse with an adult rider.
Rob

 

[ButtonHerder]

I kinda feel like I should wait, because I’m just working on building up my cattle herd, and haven’t gotten money for calves yet. But then again, this mare is the one.

 

[Ridgetop]

First, how old is this mare? Is she broke to ride? Can you use her for pleasure once you have bred her and raised the foal? Or do you plan to sell her on? Why are the owners getting rid of her? Don't trust anyone, everyone is nice when selling something to you, get a written stud contract with a live birth clause. Better yet, If you decide to do this, have the owners breed the mare and buy her with a certificate from the vet that she is guaranteed in foal. Also with a live birth guarantee if possible.

Second, be sure about the breed registration - some registries are now demanding DNA tests from bloodwork. The Tennessee Walking Horse Association went from hair samples to blood work and foals out of registered TW horses without a blood sample for their DNA were no longer acceptable to be registered. Make sure the mare and the stud have all their paperwork on file with the breed registry. Just because they are registered does not mean that their foals will be eligible for registration. Check this out.

Third, unless this mare has a fantastic pedigree and show/performance records and wins, and is bred to a superlative stud with the same, the foal will bring hardly anything. It takes 2-3 years before you can actually break and ride the horse for any length of time. Some earlier and some later - depending on the breed some legs and backs take longer to mature.

Fourth, are you able and do you have the finances to keep the foal until it is breakable? Do you have the money to break the horse? Do you have the time necessary to work with the foal?

14 years ago we bred our TW mare. We had a terrific stud, and a live birth contract. The foal was born dead but the vet verified that it had never taken a breath so we were able to have the mare rebred to the same stud. The second foal was alive but very weak. The mare didn't have much milk so we had to supplement. My husband imprinted the foal, and bottle fed until the mare's milk came in.

BUT before we could breed either time, we had to have a vet do a clean check for uterine infections, $$$, then we took the mare to the stable for a live cover (better in my opinion than messing with AI for a maiden mare). Stud fee and boarding fee $$$$ - and remember we had to do it twice. The second cover was free but not the boarding. $$$ Then of course, there are the vet checks to verify pregnancy, more vet checks when she gets near time to foal, $$$ extra feed $$$, and for us more vet bills $$$ because the mare didn't have a lot of milk and the foal was weak.

The mare was a beautiful mare with exceptional bloodlines. She hadn't been worked for a couple years when we bought her and her previous owner had tried to do jumping, etc. instead of proper TWH stuff. We put her with a trainer (turned out to be one of the best flat shod trainers in California) Sue worked with her and then asked if she could show her a bit. We agreed and she won all her classes (flat shod) every time she was entered. The stud was a national winner. The foal turned into a gorgeous little filly and after Sue trained her she was a standout in the show ring as well. We were not interested in showing and asked Sue to sell her. We priced her at $3,000. No takers although everyone that saw her loved her. We finally gave her to DDIL1 who lives in Nipomo and rides with a group that all ride gaited horses.

We figure that we had $10,000 into her from the time we bred to the time she was broke and showing.

If you want to have fun with breeding and foaling out a mare, enjoy. If you have pulled calves and can identify when the mare might have trouble, go ahead. I delivered a stud colt from my neighbor's registered Standardbred mare. Hard work but I had delivered about 100 other difficult births in sheep and goats. The foal was just a lot bigger.

f you don't have the money, time, or experience, don't bother. Too many people decide to breed their mares and then don't bother having the colts or fillies broken when they reach 2 years old because they don't have the money.

 

[Baymule]

And that’s why I just go buy a horse. Auction barns have plenty of unwanted horses that go for $125 to $300 to kill buyers. Many are perfectly healthy, just no one wants them. Many are several years old, unbroken and would take a lot of time and money to train. We bought a scrawny, skinny, don’t know how she was still alive, TWH mare from a kill pen. Why? Her picture just spoke to me. It’s been over 2 years, I’ve thrown everything at her I could think of, even live culture yogurt trying to restore gut health. It slowly dawned on me that she probably never had good health to restore her back to good health. She was probably starved all her life. She’s possibly 15-ish years old, rides like a dream, loves to go and is safe with the granddaughters. She is finally putting on weight, not as fat and roly poly as I like, but looking beautiful. I still have waaaay less in her than raising a foal, plus she is well trained. I have a chestnut gelding, also from a kill pen that took no time at all to fatten up to a round butterball. LOL

That’s just me. I don’t want to put the time and money into raising a foal, training, etc. If this is your dream, you have heard both sides of the debate. Make a thoughtful, educated decision and do what your heart tells you.