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 Forever Young
Posts: 6768
    
Location: relocated to Texas | Here is a post from a reputable breeder that I purchased a horse from. This is why quality prospects are priced accordingly, and why breeding horses is not for everyone:
Breeding. Some people think they might want to do that. Be it horse's, dogs, etc, it is all the same RESPONSABILITY, DEDICATION & LOVE OF THE ANIMAL " breed"of why you do.But how many have REALLY had questions asked of them like WHY. Why do you want to breed ? If your answer is money, NO, WRONG ANSWER. If your answer is STATIS, WRONG ANSWER. If your answer is, CAUSE I WANT TO, then ask yourself, W...HY do you want to. Breeding, lets look at the downs first. It is not cheap to raise a baby, wheather it be a horse, puppy, etc. IF YOU DO IT RIGHT. You just don't breed an animal & throw it out & expect it to have the baby & then you go, wow, look at that baby. Lets start with horses. First you have stud fees, unless you own your own stud & if you do, he needs to be worthy of breeding. For goodness sake, just don't breed a stallion just because. Then as a mare owner, you have boarding & vet fees to get said mare bred, then you have vaccines & worming for mare. Then you have to feed her " Not junk hay & grain, but a quality diet if you want a healthy foal", Hay & grain is not cheap , if it's quality feed, which one should want for their mare & foal.If for any reason mare doesn't feel well, you will have vet bills to find out why & the cost of making mare feel better. Now foal arrives The happy Day Now you have more feed to feed mare so she can feed baby. Then when baby gets to start eating, you have more hay & grain to give baby. Then their are baby shots & worming.If baby doesn't feel well or an accident acures, baby will need to see vet. More vet bills.And the sad thought if mom doesn't have enough milk. You need to get colostrum & feed baby 4 to 5 times a day or mamy more depending on your situation. Now baby gets weaned. Baby will need LOTS of hay. I keep hay 24 / 7 in front of my weanlings & I grain 3 times a day.Then there is YOUR TIME as a responsable breeder to handle baby & do it right to ensure said buyer will have a easy to work with, good temperment baby.Possible Dr's cost if YOU get hurt working with baby.And the WORSE senerio, having a death of foal or mare or both Yes it does happen & trust me, it is horrible if your a caring person. Now for the UP SIDE. The joy of God's gift of life. There is nothing more beautiful than watching a foal being born. The joy & accomplishment of teaching them from the begining. I take pride in that as well. Putting a horse with someone who goes on to LOVE that horse & if you breed cometition horses, seeing them go on & win.Or keeping baby & going on to win for yourself That is gratifying as well. Before you breed, stop & ask yourself many questions & think about the down side & up side. The down side unfortunatly is more than the up side, but the UP SIDE does out weigh the down side. Don't just jump in. Talk to other RESPECTABLE breeders. Learn & make wise choices. If you can't do all the above, then don't breed PLEASE. As far as dog breeding goes, same as above, just more baby's to care for than 1 foal And that is my breeders take for the day. | |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | I breed because the lines that I like are not in my area. I had to ship a mare in from RockinAS, and ship semen from out west to here because our lines are so limited in Kentucky and on the east coast. It takes a LOT of money, and I'm not in it to make money, but I do want to see a small profit so that I know my hard work is paying off. I spend hours agonizing over the "right mix" and even longer on how to price my foals. I don't run barrels anymore, but breeding barrel horses is my hobby now, and I love it. Love that feeling of seeing a new foals face for the first time. My mares are fed the best, and treated the best. I've had people say that my horses live better than they do, and that's a huge compliment for me. Happy mares make happy babies.
ETA: I agree with the post as well. There is so many times I want to smack someone when they say "well, she can't run barrels anymore, so I guess I'll breed her". Like people, just because she CAN have babies, doesn't mean she SHOULD. I try to mimic my very small operation on what other people have already proven that works. There is no sense in trial and error for me, when other folks have been proving things to work for years.
Edited by Murphy 2014-03-05 9:04 AM
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Forever Young
Posts: 6768
Location: relocated to Texas | Murphy - 2014-03-06 7:58 AM I breed because the lines that I like are not in my area. I had to ship a mare in from RockinAS, and ship semen from out west to here because our lines are so limited in Kentucky and on the east coast. It takes a LOT of money, and I'm not in it to make money, but I do want to see a small profit so that I know my hard work is paying off. I spend hours agonizing over the "right mix" and even longer on how to price my foals. I don't run barrels anymore, but breeding barrel horses is my hobby now, and I love it. Love that feeling of seeing a new foals face for the first time. My mares are fed the best, and treated the best. I've had people say that my horses live better than they do, and that's a huge compliment for me. Happy mares make happy babies.
ETA: I agree with the post as well. There is so many times I want to smack someone when they say "well, she can't run barrels anymore, so I guess I'll breed her". Like people, just because she CAN have babies, doesn't mean she SHOULD. I try to mimic my very small operation on what other people have already proven that works. There is no sense in trial and error for me, when other folks have been proving things to work for years.
Exactly. Oh how about when someone has a mare with a bad disposition, or that will buck you off, or crooked legs, or for whatever reason the people cannot, or do not want to use her, and say, "Oh well, at least we can breed her, she is a mare." Drives me crazy. | |
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  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | Very good post. I had the roughest year imaginable last year between putting down stallions and a foal and then having one in I was halter breaking break it's leg right in front of me. UGH I am so ready for a GOOD year. Breeding and having a good year is like Heaven, having a bad one will sure make you wonder if it is worth it. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Hollywood's Fan - 2014-03-05 9:18 AM
Murphy - 2014-03-06 7:58 AM I breed because the lines that I like are not in my area. I had to ship a mare in from RockinAS, and ship semen from out west to here because our lines are so limited in Kentucky and on the east coast. It takes a LOT of money, and I'm not in it to make money, but I do want to see a small profit so that I know my hard work is paying off. I spend hours agonizing over the "right mix" and even longer on how to price my foals. I don't run barrels anymore, but breeding barrel horses is my hobby now, and I love it. Love that feeling of seeing a new foals face for the first time. My mares are fed the best, and treated the best. I've had people say that my horses live better than they do, and that's a huge compliment for me. Happy mares make happy babies. Â
ETA: I agree with the post as well. There is so many times I want to smack someone when they say "well, she can't run barrels anymore, so I guess I'll breed her". Like people, just because she CAN have babies, doesn't mean she SHOULD. I try to mimic my very small operation on what other people have already proven that works. There is no sense in trial and error for me, when other folks have been proving things to work for years.Â
 Exactly. Oh how about when someone has a mare with a bad disposition, or that will buck you off, or crooked legs, or for whatever reason the people cannot, or do not want to use her, and say, "Oh well, at least we can breed her, she is a mare." Drives me crazy.Â
AMEN!! Just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should. It happens to be called ethics.
I don't know how many times I have been asked if I will breed my mare - my standard response - WHY?? There are SO MANY nice horses out there and mine has a few (small) issues. There is NO POINT in perpetuating them ... | |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Yep, it's definitely not cheap. we do it because we want a specific set of bloodlines, a specific body type, all for a specific sport.
We had a filly born with a club foot and I believe its your moral obligation as the breeder to fix that and not let it go- $1500 surgery. My colt had to go to the vet on day 1 because blood went the wrong way when his cord broke,and he had a clot in his bladder. And when my filly was born the mare retained her placenta. Both babies cost $800 each on the day they were born either because the dam had an issue, or they had an issue.
Not to mention when it's weaning time and their immune systems are in a slump because maternal antibodies have worn out, and they are up to build their own immune system. and not to mention all the bacterial infections that babies are susceptible too…
Not to mention the chance that your prized mare can die giving birth. <--- this is going through my head right now as my two mares are getting closer and closer to foaling. I want easy healthy deliveries but you know problems can happen. | |
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 Northern Chocolate Queen
Posts: 16576
Location: ND | For me I breed because I'm raising exactly what I want to ride and handling them the way I like from birth. I almost quite after the first 2 years though. My first foal broke his leg as a yearling and had to be put down, then a couple months later I found his baby brother laying dead in the pasture. It was almost more than I could take! But as I had 3 mares bred at the time I felt it was my job to raise those foals that where coming as I made the decision to bring them into the world. Those foals are now coming 3 year olds, all lightly started under saddle & the are NICE! They may not be everyone's dream horse but they are exactly what I wanted for myself. My mares are both getting close to their mid 20's so retirement is coming up pretty soon for them. I've got a couple young mares that I'll probably breed eventually but it'll more than likely be a while before that happens as I want to prove each of them in the arena first. | |
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 Best of the Badlands
Location: You never know where I will show up...... | Add to that the costs of promoting your own stallion, the advertising so the foals might be worth something, and the incentives so the foals can run at something are not cheap every year.
The costs of hauling up and down the road, proving stallions and mares aren't cheap either.
I am almost entirely burned out on the breeding business. We have gone to only flushing embryos out of the good mares we are running or have run in the past.
We have sold all of our other broodmares at this point including a couple I never thought we'd ever part with.
We have been fortunate to have been able to sell our weanlings at good prices over the past 15 years. We are just at a point where we want to spend more time riding what we have raised, and less time in the breeding shed every spring.
We will only have 7 foals born here this spring, and I am not sad about that. | |
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 Jr. Detective
Location: Beggs, OK | Hollywood's Fan - 2014-03-05 8:47 AM Here is a post from a reputable breeder that I purchased a horse from. This is why quality prospects are priced accordingly, and why breeding horses is not for everyone:
Breeding. Some people think they might want to do that. Be it horse's, dogs, etc, it is all the same RESPONSABILITY, DEDICATION & LOVE OF THE ANIMAL " breed"of why you do.But how many have REALLY had questions asked of them like WHY. Why do you want to breed ? If your answer is money, NO, WRONG ANSWER. If your answer is STATIS, WRONG ANSWER. If your answer is, CAUSE I WANT TO, then ask yourself, W...HY do you want to. Breeding, lets look at the downs first. It is not cheap to raise a baby, wheather it be a horse, puppy, etc. IF YOU DO IT RIGHT. You just don't breed an animal & throw it out & expect it to have the baby & then you go, wow, look at that baby. Lets start with horses. First you have stud fees, unless you own your own stud & if you do, he needs to be worthy of breeding. For goodness sake, just don't breed a stallion just because. Then as a mare owner, you have boarding & vet fees to get said mare bred, then you have vaccines & worming for mare. Then you have to feed her " Not junk hay & grain, but a quality diet if you want a healthy foal", Hay & grain is not cheap , if it's quality feed, which one should want for their mare & foal.If for any reason mare doesn't feel well, you will have vet bills to find out why & the cost of making mare feel better. Now foal arrives The happy Day Now you have more feed to feed mare so she can feed baby. Then when baby gets to start eating, you have more hay & grain to give baby. Then their are baby shots & worming.If baby doesn't feel well or an accident acures, baby will need to see vet. More vet bills.And the sad thought if mom doesn't have enough milk. You need to get colostrum & feed baby 4 to 5 times a day or mamy more depending on your situation. Now baby gets weaned. Baby will need LOTS of hay. I keep hay 24 / 7 in front of my weanlings & I grain 3 times a day.Then there is YOUR TIME as a responsable breeder to handle baby & do it right to ensure said buyer will have a easy to work with, good temperment baby.Possible Dr's cost if YOU get hurt working with baby.And the WORSE senerio, having a death of foal or mare or both Yes it does happen & trust me, it is horrible if your a caring person. Now for the UP SIDE. The joy of God's gift of life. There is nothing more beautiful than watching a foal being born. The joy & accomplishment of teaching them from the begining. I take pride in that as well. Putting a horse with someone who goes on to LOVE that horse & if you breed cometition horses, seeing them go on & win.Or keeping baby & going on to win for yourself That is gratifying as well. Before you breed, stop & ask yourself many questions & think about the down side & up side. The down side unfortunatly is more than the up side, but the UP SIDE does out weigh the down side. Don't just jump in. Talk to other RESPECTABLE breeders. Learn & make wise choices. If you can't do all the above, then don't breed PLEASE. As far as dog breeding goes, same as above, just more baby's to care for than 1 foal And that is my breeders take for the day.
You should post a picture of Wilson! This is my girl Feisty that came from this breeder's program....and exactly why she has another one for me that will be born in about six weeks. I cannot wait to see the babies that she has hitting the ground this spring!
 (Feisty Training.jpg)
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 Feisty Training.jpg (40KB - 211 downloads)
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 Cyber World Challenged
Posts: 2526
Location: My Own Little World | I know I might get flamed for this, but I happen to think that 50% - 70 % of the people breeding ...SHOULDN"T. There is such a volume of horses out there, if we had less volume and more quality, then prices would go up and all the bleeding hearts that oppose slaughter would be silenced. Back in my younger days, I bred some OUTSTANDING Arabians that sold for very good prices. I only had 1 foal a year and when they went to their new home, they stayed forever because I was able to be selective with pairing a horse with an owner. The last foal I raised was over 20 years ago because I moved to the desert and I just can't see raising babies with no pasture to run in. Now days, the cost of raising & training them isn't worth the risk when you can go out and buy a prospect for a very reasonable price.
OK, I suppose I'm done with my soap box now lol | |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | Its not worth it unless you own a top quality stallion personally! All the people I know who do breed as a business and actually make money own the stud and some really great mares. And they do the training themselves. If you need to pay a stud fee, and someone to train the baby etc....you will NEVER make a profit!!! They also do MOST of the vet work shots etc. You can't owe money to multiple people and make a profit on a baby!!! | |
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