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 Elite Veteran
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Location: north dakota | Iwish - 2015-03-04 8:23 AM
Well that's what it meant to me. Like booney said, it's their stud, they can do whatever they want to. The OP asked a question, I answered with MY opinion and because my opinion was different I'm going to be taught a lesson.
It is up to the stud owner what they want to price the stud fee at. As a mare owner it is up to me what studs I want to breed to, what I can afford for a stud fee and if I think the resulting offspring justifies the expense of getting it on the ground. I want to breed to DTF but it is not in my budget this year so I picked studs in my price range that were good crosses for my mares and what I hope are marketable foals.
If the stud owner bumps the stud fee too high and people can't market the foals than they probably won't get many bookings. |
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 Butter my Biscuits
Posts: 2948
Location: MI | I'd like to elaborate a bit on Jenifers position. We tried to keep up with the Jones and stand our stallion. We bought a son of DTF out of a very well bred mare. He just happened to be the only double registered son of DTF also. We bought all the necessary A.I. equipment, advertised as much as we could, offered free breedings to select mares, donated to Stallion Service sales and charities. Paid Semen transport permits, put blood on file for all the breed registries, bought mares for him, etc. Tried to get him in Incentives that we thought would be beneficial but was never enough. When we sat down and figured out what we were spending, what was coming in, and the time and hassle that went with it, we finally made decision to get off the train. We are now raising the kind of babies we want to ride, very content with where we are in life, and dont miss the hassle of trying to stand a stallion to the public a bit. |
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
 
Location: NE Texas | So I suppose if I buy a horse for $2500 and make them into something really neat, then I shouldn't expect to sell them for a good profit either? This is truly no different than what you are saying. Maintaining any horse is expensive, but maintaining a stallion, raising colts, shipping semen, etc, etc is very expensive and I fully expect the breeding fee to go up! Otherwise these colts we see selling for $10K+ would be selling for $2500. It's simple economics. The thought process that a stud fee shouldn't be raised due to the performance of the stallion himself, performing foals by him, economy, or just for the simple fact that the stallion owner is losing money is ridiculous! I admire those of you who do own a stallion, as I know the hard work goes unnoticed most of the time, so kudos to you all!!! |
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 Career in Looney Tune Land
Posts: 1717
Location: the high desert | I never said I couldn't afford a stud fee, sure I can't afford dash ta fame or Frenchmans guy stud fee. So I will stay looking at studs in my budget and hope that a stud I maybe passed on for one reason or another doesn't go up and out of my budget and I kick myself latter for not taking it then. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 550
| Most stallions open their books 6 months or more before breeding season starts, and most even have early booking deals with a cheaper fee.
If you want to book to a stallion at that price, book early.
I would be mad if I booked at a price, and they came back and asked for more than what was agreed upon. If I didn't reserve my spot and they went up, the only person to be mad at is myself.
Anyone has the right to decrease or increase the cost of their good or service as they see fit. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 356
| I don't have a problem with a breeder raising the stud fee from year to year! However...getting back to the OP's question, I think it's really weird to raise it in the middle of breeding season. IMO, once you've advertised a certain fee for that season, you've set it for that season. By all means raise it the following year or have a discounted rate for early bookings up to a certain date, but it seems a little sketchy to suddenly raise it in the middle of the season. |
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 Midget Lover
Location: Kentucky | I've never booked a stallion without a contract with all the legal information as well as the stud fee on there. I don't think a stallion owner can increase the stud fee after you have signed the contract.
Edited by Murphy 2015-03-04 9:13 AM
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
| Iwish - 2015-03-04 5:50 AM
Nope, up your stud fee all you want. I will just go elsewhere.
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 That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| I think the majority of opinions above have said it well. It is a business not charity. The market dictates what you can get for what you are selling. If you are priced to high nobody will buy your product. If you are priced to low, you are leaving money on the table. If you are priced just perfect it is a win win for everybody. Do gas prices change? Yes almost daily. Do home prices change? Absolutly. So stud fee's will always change as well. And yes stud owners do everything they can to increase the value of thier foals. That is why people are willing to gamble on the stud of their choice. So if you see a fee increasing because of successful offspring, you better jump on it while you can. I personally love to see it happen because that means somebody is figuring it out, and that helps everybody!! |
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 Queen Boobie 2
Posts: 7521
| Iwish - 2015-03-04 7:15 AM
I know I will get flamed for this but I don't care. I hate when people up stud fees because they have a foal or two that suddenly did something. Or they up it because it's another year... so I should pay another $250 because it's 2015?? I would walk away from that stud. If I ever had a stud (I never will though) his stud fee would never change, even if his foals started to make noise. I know a stud who's fee went up $500 because he moved to the same place a "famous" stud stands at....really?? So again I'm going to pay and extra $500 because he happens to be in the same place so and so is at. But at the end of the day, they own the stud so they can do whatever the hec they want to do and we are just at there mercy.
Are you serious?
Never raise a stud fee?
It only makes sense that when studs are starting out the fee would be lower to entices mare owner to 'gamble' on a stallion without performing age foals. When that stallion's foals start performing and doing well, of course the stud fee should be raised, the value of the foals is more and warrants an increase.
I would like to add that many stallion owners remember who took a chance on their stud before he was proven and often will give considerations to those mare owners who bred their mares and produce foals that performed and helped prove the stallion. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | To answer the ORIGINAL question- It irks me a little, just a little bit, to increase a stud fee after his stud fee for the year has been announced. It does not bother me *at all* for them to increase it from one year to the next as the stallion proves his worth.
But, honestly, I'm never going to lose any sleep over it. And I typically pick out my stallions so far in advance that I jump on what ever early booking discounts they may have that I'm rarely searching for a stallion in January or later.. so if they choose to increase it in the middle of breeding season, I've already picked my stallion so it doesn't bother me.
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 Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | bennie1 - 2015-03-04 9:05 AM Iwish - 2015-03-04 7:15 AM I know I will get flamed for this but I don't care. I hate when people up stud fees because they have a foal or two that suddenly did something. Or they up it because it's another year... so I should pay another $250 because it's 2015?? I would walk away from that stud. If I ever had a stud (I never will though) his stud fee would never change, even if his foals started to make noise. I know a stud who's fee went up $500 because he moved to the same place a "famous" stud stands at....really?? So again I'm going to pay and extra $500 because he happens to be in the same place so and so is at. But at the end of the day, they own the stud so they can do whatever the hec they want to do and we are just at there mercy. Are you serious? Never raise a stud fee? It only makes sense that when studs are starting out the fee would be lower to entices mare owner to 'gamble' on a stallion without performing age foals. When that stallion's foals start performing and doing well, of course the stud fee should be raised, the value of the foals is more and warrants an increase . I would like to add that many stallion owners remember who took a chance on their stud before he was proven and often will give considerations to those mare owners who bred their mares and produce foals that performed and helped prove the stallion.
That is very true. |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | If you've paid the booking fee and signed the contract, your fee won't increase.
Edited by LRQHS 2015-03-04 1:26 PM
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Career in Looney Tune Land
Posts: 1717
Location: the high desert | Ok I'm done. Yep I'm a moron for stating my opinion, you guys are right I am wrong. |
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas |  |
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Shipwrecked and Flat Out Zapped
Posts: 16390
Location: DUMPING CATS AND PIGS IN TEXAS :) | Hey, El Scorcho is in an auction currently to help a small police force in Milton, Indiana get a K-9, if you're interested :)
It's on the FB group Barrel Racers Supporting K-9 cops. |
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 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | I have no problem with a stallion's stud fee raising from year to year, but I do think it's kinda crappy to up it in the middle of breeding season. However, it's their perogative to do so and if I wanted to breed to the horse that bad, I would still pay it. Lucky for me this situation hasn't happened yet for me to have to make that decision. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Iwish - 2015-03-04 7:50 AM
Nope, up your stud fee all you want. I will just go elsewhere.
I have to say you are very unrealistic.
Over the years everything goes up, fuel, price of food, vehicles, hay prices, etc, so why not stud fees.
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 395
| Yeah. I still think it's a little odd to raise the fee mid season, but the mare owners with contracts didn't see their fees go up I guess. Maybe that is their way of trying to pick the best mares for the stud. Also, here in Oklahoma, the last couple of years have been pretty dry and hay and feed was really high. I know many people who didn't breed any mares at all. Or even sold them. So, it could be as simple as the stud owner doing what they have to do. The other side of that is, there is a ton of good studs around here! 
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Iwish - 2015-03-04 8:48 AM
I never said I couldn't afford a stud fee, sure I can't afford dash ta fame or Frenchmans guy stud fee. So I will stay looking at studs in my budget and hope that a stud I maybe passed on for one reason or another doesn't go up and out of my budget and I kick myself latter for not taking it then.
You are constricting yourself here.
You said earlier if the stud fee ever went up, you wouldn't breed to said stud, so why would you be kicking yourself when it goes against your beliefs. |
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