Horses and money

[donrae]

How much money would you plan on spending on your young stallion?

How much is it going to cost just to feed and maintain him until he's old enough to compete?

How much for his boarding and training and campaigning?

How much on advertising?

How much on that pipe fencing for the acre?

How much on the building for the stall?

Where are you going to board the mares? Do you have separate stalls/paddocks, with fencing appropriate for foals at side?

How much is insurance going to run? Are you doing live cover? What if one horse injures the other?



Add all that up, divide by the realistic number of mares your stallion will stand to in your area, and see how much you'd need to charge for a stud fee to even start to break even.

 

[Weehopper]

If I knew how to do the ovation thing here, I would surely give you one. Very good post.

 

[BabyandCotton]

If you have room, I'd say go for boarding and training. You could board the horse WHILE training it, for the owners (of course, if the owners want you to)
-Liv

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

If I knew how to do the ovation thing here, I would surely give you one. Very good post.

Hit the thumbs up icon on the bottom of the post, add any words if you wish, or smiley faces.

 

[Weehopper]

Thanks

 

[abigalerose]

I would also like to add, if I ever did get a stallion, he wouldn't be just for money. That would just be a way to help maintain him. And I thought if he was worth anything he may help maintain my other horses too. But if stallions are really that expensive then maybe not. Now, my goal is to get into reining, right now I have two mares who would almost be good for it, but ones to old and ones too small. So if I ever get lessons and really enjoy it, I'd need to buy a different horse to compete on, and I think a stallion would be a good choice, because if I was competing he'd be proven, and if I have a stallion at least I wouldn't be pouring money into him and getting absolutely nothing out of him. Now obviously by what all of you are saying I wouldn't make as much off of stud fees as I initially thought, but I would still make a little something that'd help out with all his costs. Becuase I WILL have to get another horse if I'm ever doing reining, so I think that would be the best way. But if I don't do that, then the stud plan is out.

 

[dainerra]

I have dogs, not horses, but there is a lot of similarity when it comes to money. There is an old joke in both dogs and horses. "How do you end up with a little money from horses? Start with a LOT of money!!"
Campaigning is expensive. You have training expenses. Travel expenses. Entry fees. Advertising (if you plan to breed). You don't just have to have a good horse/dog. You have to have one of the best. You need to show potential clients why they should choose your stud over another one. People who will be a bit more lenient won't be willing to pay the price of a good stud fee. Those who are willing to pay top dollar expect to get their money's worth.

That means that you have to have the bloodlines as well as the work put in to prove that he has inherited those good qualities. And then, in the end, it will still be a crap shoot. He may be the greatest horse ever and not produce well. The best advertisement for your stud is to make sure that his offspring are out there and winning competitions as well. Sometimes the best way to do that is to campaign at least one of them yourself. This is also important because it gives you a better understanding of what he produces vs just watching how other people handle his foals.

 

[abigalerose]

Well yeah, that's what I'm saying. Initially I thought studding one out would help pay for him as well as my other horses, becuase I didn't realize how costly it is to have stallions, so now I'm thinking, if I ever get into reining enough that I need a horse, at least if I have a stallion I would have the potential of making back at least a tiny percentage of what I put into him. Id probably still be losing money but maybe not quite as much. And yes, the plan would be to breed him to one of my mares first and campaign his foal when it was old enough, to help out with his advertising. And if I am into reining I may need more than one reining horse anyways.
Reining is my ultimate goal, I'm just trying to find ways to make it a little easier on the bank account. Even if I am spending more money than I'm making, every little bit helps.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The others have already said it pretty well. Owning horses is expensive, and there is little money to be made on them. Your best bet is probably boarding, but even that means money for insurance, time taking care of horses, maintenance of the property, etc. in the end, unless you are able to board many horses, you probably won't be making much.

Stallions are tough. Many of them are dangerous and they are not able to be housed the same as other horses. Many will have to be kept alone. Before even thinking about buying a stallion, I would suggest working with them first. I found them pretty unpredictable.

Raising a horse takes a LOT of money. Training a horse takes a lot of money. Showing a horse takes an astronomical amount of time AND money.

I think the better route would be to find a job in something that makes decent money but allows enough time for your hobby.

Honestly, unless you have been training horses for many years and have apprenticed under other trainers/proven your skill, you probably will not find many people will to pay you to train their horses. Not to mention the liability training horses incurs.

 

[waddles99]

I don't have horses or have any experience with them, but I knew a guy who did. He made money a couple of ways. He grew his own hay and sold it. It was good stuff, too. He did a great job. He also charged people to trailer their horses around. I think he charged $1.50 per mile. As someone mentioned above, he boarded horses too. Don't know how much money he made, it had a lot of costs involved. He also imported horses and sold them. I thought that was interesting. He definitely made money there.