Horses and money

[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.

I also have a place I could keep one seperate from the rest of the horses, becuase my big pasture is to the right of my barn, and on the other side of the barn is my garage, and then after that, my house, and finally on the other side of my house is a small area (about 1 acre) with a little building, that I would fence with pipe fencing, and then fix up the building as a stall, maybe two. And keep a stallion there, with a mini gelding or mini dokey gelding as company, as I know a lot of people who do that and it seems to work.

Please re-read these. As I've already said, I have a place completely seperate for a stallion IF I did get one, in the DISTANT future, and I just said that I now realize I won't make money with him, or break even, but getting a small amount of money from stud fees just to put back into him would help.

Now on to working with stallions first, my cousin has one. She's moving in with me. She's going to show me how to work with stud horses. Her stud is for her to do barrel racing on, she's training him herself (she's been training for 10 years and she's going to help me with horse training as well) and if he proves himself she's going to stud him out. If not she'll geld him. She's already bred him to one of her mares, sold the foal as a weanling for $3,500. Studding him out is going to be her way of putting a small amount back into what she's put into him. Basically what I want to do, but she's into barrel racing and I like reining.
As for training horses, right now I'm already doing it, I advertise myself as having very little experience and that I'm wanting to do it to gain experience at this time. I'm charging $100 a month. Which obviously is VERY cheap. I had an ad posted for 2 weeks, which I had to take down becuase I had 20, yes, 20, people call me wanting me to work with their horses. Obviously I can't train 20 horses a month. So I'm taking what I can right now, and i told everyone else I could save their number and call them as soon as I get time and see if they're still interested.
Now, maybe I personally won't ever make any money with horses, considering I don't have a big farm and imported horses and years of experience ect, but I do believe some people can make money with them.

 

[Bunnylady]

20 people who are willing to let you risk your neck on their horse for $100/month? Yeah, I can see that . . . .I can see this as being an opportunity for you to learn the business side of the business too, which can be a real eye-opener (or eye-closer

) in itself. Be careful, stay smart and stay safe, OK?

It's good that you will have your cousin there to "have your back," as it were. Is she bringing her horses with her?

 

[abigalerose]

Yeah, I know all those people want to use me just because I'm cheap. Which is fine, becuase it'll let me get a lot of experience in. So far the business side has been all good. Which I know can change at any minute. A lot of the people who call me are breeders who want to start their two year olds under saddle so they can sell them easier, and since they have multiple they don't want to send all of them to people who charge $600 a month for each horse. Which is understandable.
But I'm only doing colt starting for now, just taking young horses and doing the same thing I did with June, and taking it as slow as I need to. That way I don't bite off more than I can chew and end up getting hurt or something.
And yes she is, she has a stallion and a pony gelding. She's going to clear out and fence the area I said I would keep a stallion in if I ever got one, and she's going to keep them in there for now. Her stud is pretty gentle and has mare manners and barbed wire will keep him in.

 

[BaroqueHen]

OMG... As a horse owner, I have to tell you that you need a LOT more experience and training. From your questions alone, there is no way I would entrust a horse to you. Add to that the fact that you think barbed wire is acceptable horse fencing!!!! Young horses in barbed wire....that is a disaster waiting to happen and you don't have the experience to even know that??? You don't know enough about horses to be training. I'm sure you have good intentions, and I do't want to squash your dreams, but I'd advise you to walk before you attempt running.

Right now, what you are talking about is basically backyard breeding. Believe me, the horse world does NOT need anymore backyard breeders. If you are really serious about making horses your life, you should look for a well established trainer and see if they are taking apprentices. From what you've revealed so far, I doubt they would consider you have enough knowledge but they might be willing to let you hang around and learn a few things. I TRULY don't mean to be insulting, but your lack of knowledge and experience is shining through your posts. It's fine to dream, but it's better to dream realistically. Is there any school around with an equine program? Maybe your equine vet needs volunteer help? You have a LOT to learn. Also, look into liability insurance because if you continue with your plans you are SERIOUSLY going to need it.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Wow no need to be such a jerk about it!!! Some of the info in it is mayhe good yeah but if you want people to listen to you you should really try not being such a jerk about it.....

Also, no **** she doesn't have experience.... that's the whole point, she's trying to get more experienced...

And she didn't say she was going to use or wanted to use barbed wire, it's her cousin that uses it and says it contains him. Although that said I have to agree that barbed wire is dangerous. But you could have been nice about it instead of being an absolute ******* about it. You go on and on about how she has no experience yet continue to say things in a rude manner... if she doesn't have much experience then how exactly would she know that? You need to educate not attack.

And you know, you have a lot to learn too..... it's called treating people right. With respect and dignity. In a tactful manner. And calmly EDUCATING people who don't knoe better instead of bashing them.... because if they don't have experience how would they know those things? And do you really think bashing them is going to make them more willing to learn? I know I for one would go wow what an ******* and ignore any "advice" presented in that manner....

You might be great with horses or you could be terrible, I'll never know) but to be quite honest I would MUCH rather send my horse (if/when i get them) to someone who maybe isn't the most experienced but is respectful and pleasant than someone who's been training longer but is terribly unpleasant and a disrespectful know-it-all.

 

[abigalerose]

Well,I don't know where you live at, but around here, I don't know one single person who owns horses, and doesn't have barbed wire. Now obviously barb wire would not be my first choice, I would love to fence with wood, but unless you're gonna give me the thousands of dollars to do so, it's not gonna happen right now. Maybe one day I'll have all wood, and if I do I'll be one of the only farms around this area with their horses in a wood fence, because like I said, every person I know uses barbed wire. That does not make me uneducated. I also don't think my questions about stud horses have anything to do with my ability to train, and I also clearly stated that I'm inexperienced and am training to gain experience right now. Which everyone who has talked to me is aware of. And luckily for me I don't ever have to worry about training any of your horses.
Also, what I'm talking about is not backyard breeding. What I'm talking about is one stallion, that's registered AND proven. I know what backyard breeding is. I've been to a backyard breeders house before (to buy chickens not horses) and they had about 50 unregistered QH foals out of unregistered parents who never have and never will be put in a show ring of any kind. THAT is what backyard breeding is. And no, there's not a single trainer near me that does apprenticeships, and if you'd like to know, most "trainers" around here train the horses by saddling them up and kicking the crap out of them until they go and riding them until they quit bucking, instead of working them through their groundwork and slowly progressing them into riding. A lot of them also start horses between the ages of 1.5-2.5, wich I think is too young. There's ONE equine school that is 4+ hours from me and it costs more than I would ever be able to afford. And what makes you think there's an equine vet? We have vets that treat all animals including horses, but none that just specialize in horses, the closest one like that is in the next state over.
Aaand. None of the trainers or boarders I know, and yes this includes the well known ones who charge $600+ a month, have liability or insurance of any kind.
So maybe you should educate yourself.
Isn't funny how when people say they're not trying to be offensive, it's usually when they're being offensive?

 

[ShrekDawg]

That person was a complete jerk and obviously barbed wire can be used correctly and without issues, as it clearly is in your area, but I just want to say that there are more options than just either barbed wire or wood... there's chicken wire (def not a good option, too flimsy but just putting everything out there), hardware cloth (too expensive probably and not really applicable for big fencing), welded wire fencing, woven wire fencing/"field fence", cattle panels, electric fencing, etc. There's a lot of other options and some of them aren't much more than barbed wire.

 

[abigalerose]

Yeah, there are a lot of options for fencing, I don't personally like hot wire. And contrary to what usually happens, I've never had any problems with barbed wire, but I've had a piece of pipe fence break off and go completely through a horses neck (he actually lived). I love wood, even though it doesn't last, it's my favorite. My place is already fenced in barb, a lot of it has trees growing in it and if I trim the low hanging branches it's gonna work just fine. I did one tiny stretch up by the barn in wood, because it was a small area I can afford it. When I do the additional 2.5-3 acres I have I'm gonna use 6 strands of barbless wire. Then I'll only have three sides to a half acre that's fenced with barb, and it has enough trees to keep the horses off of it. And I am going to go through and cut all the low branches before I put horses in so that they're not hazardous. A lot of people with horses around here will do pipe/wood up by their barn or house just for looks and do the rest in barbed wire. That's something I see a lot. That's even how my grandpas is.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Yeah, there are a lot of options for fencing, I don't personally like hot wire. And contrary to what usually happens, I've never had any problems with barbed wire, but I've had a piece of pipe fence break off and go completely through a horses neck (he actually lived). I love wood, even though it doesn't last, it's my favorite. My place is already fenced in barb, a lot of it has trees growing in it and if I trim the low hanging branches it's gonna work just fine. I did one tiny stretch up by the barn in wood, because it was a small area I can afford it. When I do the additional 2.5-3 acres I have I'm gonna use 6 strands of barbless wire. Then I'll only have three sides to a half acre that's fenced with barb, and it has enough trees to keep the horses off of it. And I am going to go through and cut all the low branches before I put horses in so that they're not hazardous. A lot of people with horses around here will do pipe/wood up by their barn or house just for looks and do the rest in barbed wire. That's something I see a lot. That's even how my grandpas is.

Yeah, hot wire makes me nervous I'd zap myself aha I hadn't realized you already had barned wire on the property though. Definitely makes sense to use what you have especially since it's free. I was thinking you were buying and building a new fence! That makes more sense what you said. And yeah I can see having other fencing for looks in some spots. And wow that's scary!!! Good he lived though! But I'm assuming he wasn't able to be ridden again? Or did he heal up fine? That's scary.

 

[abigalerose]

Yeah I don't want to worry about being shocked all the time! And he healed totally normal, didnt even leave a scar