How to Start a Horse Breeding Farm
Make sure you want to start a horse breeding farm., Gain experience and knowledge on how to work with horses.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Make sure you want to start a horse breeding farm.
Note that there are challenges that you will face, including financial, physical, and emotional consequences.
It is important to know how to deal with those.
If you've owned one or more horses, you'll already be aware that there is a lot of work involved and that it's a rather expensive undertaking.
Breeding horses will increase the work, the expenses, the worry and the long-term attachment to your business in ways that simply owning a horse doesn't really prepare you for.
You will also have to immerse yourself in such aspects as marketing, detailed and reliable checking and referencing of the horses' background and breeding information and keeping track of all your income and expenses, meaning that you're going to experience a lot of administrative input on top of the horse care, as a business operator.
A brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of turning your hobby into a business will help you to decide if this is what you really want to do.
Here are some suggested pluses and minuses to help you form your own list:
Advantages:
If you love horses, working in a business that involves them means that you'll be doing what you love, often an important element of a successful small business.
Moreover, if you're already knowledgeable, you'll be well ahead of others starting a business from scratch in products, goods or animals about which they know nothing.
Some other advantages include:
The opportunity to ride horses regularly A chance to be around your horses constantly Caring for foals Selling horses for more money––while optional if you're operating as a stud farm, this tends to be a necessity to prevent overcrowding, to remove horses that aren't getting along and to keep your business well funded.
This can be a source of pride in knowing that your horses are going elsewhere but it can also be a very emotional side of the business Operating as a stud farm, offering the services of your stallion(s), offering your mares where appropriate and perhaps offering boarding and foal raising facilities.
This can be a very rewarding aspect both financially and as a source of pride but it's also fraught with the potential for liability and worry.
Disadvantages:
There are numerous disadvantages to owning a horse breeding farm, including start-up costs for land, stables, equipment, feed and the horses.
You will need to have quality breeding horses, or risk nobody wanting to purchase the horses, and this initial outlay can be very costly.
You won't necessarily see a good return for your cash outlay for several years, meaning that you'll have to run a tight business and make do for a while.
Other disadvantages include:
The constant need for high quality, expensive horse food; you might consider whether it's possible to grow your own or to buy as a co-operative with other horse owners in the local area.
The requirement for adequate equipment, supplies, and tack, which will quickly add up financially.
When starting up, make use of sales, discounts from belonging to professional organizations and used items through auctions and other sales.
If you're smart and lucky, you might find a horse breeding business that is closing down and has stock to sell off (of both the product and animal kind).
Increased regular vet visits––more horses means more potential for problems, including general health maintenance such as deworming and shots, everyday injuries through to disease and major injuries.
Emergency treatment will also need to be accounted for as a possibility at least once a year, so set aside adequate funds and plan good insurance coverage.
Increased regular farrier visits will be required to ensure that all of the horses' hooves are maintained in top condition; presentation of breeding horses is your customer's reassurance of quality, so you cannot skimp on this, ever.
Increased workload and responsibility.
It's self evident that more horses means more work, including more mucking out stalls.
Need for ongoing legal and financial advice to ensure that you won't be out of pocket for things out of your control or for a poorly run budget. -
Step 2: Gain experience and knowledge on how to work with horses.
It is extremely important that you know how to properly handle, care for, and understand horses.
You don't have to be able to ride a horse, but if you can't, then you'll need to hire someone who can to keep the horses in shape and well trained as most people will only buy horses that have been "broken in" for riding (foals being the exception).
In fact, buyers may consider it a little odd that you run a horse breeding operation without actually knowing how to ride a horse, so unless there is an issue of disability involved, it's recommended that you learn to ride.
And just in case you're a bit green with horses, here are some skills you should have set in place beforehand:
How to lead a horse how to care for a horse How to tell if a horse is sick How to tack up a horse How to groom a horse How to prepare for the arrival of a horse
Detailed Guide
Note that there are challenges that you will face, including financial, physical, and emotional consequences.
It is important to know how to deal with those.
If you've owned one or more horses, you'll already be aware that there is a lot of work involved and that it's a rather expensive undertaking.
Breeding horses will increase the work, the expenses, the worry and the long-term attachment to your business in ways that simply owning a horse doesn't really prepare you for.
You will also have to immerse yourself in such aspects as marketing, detailed and reliable checking and referencing of the horses' background and breeding information and keeping track of all your income and expenses, meaning that you're going to experience a lot of administrative input on top of the horse care, as a business operator.
A brief overview of the advantages and disadvantages of turning your hobby into a business will help you to decide if this is what you really want to do.
Here are some suggested pluses and minuses to help you form your own list:
Advantages:
If you love horses, working in a business that involves them means that you'll be doing what you love, often an important element of a successful small business.
Moreover, if you're already knowledgeable, you'll be well ahead of others starting a business from scratch in products, goods or animals about which they know nothing.
Some other advantages include:
The opportunity to ride horses regularly A chance to be around your horses constantly Caring for foals Selling horses for more money––while optional if you're operating as a stud farm, this tends to be a necessity to prevent overcrowding, to remove horses that aren't getting along and to keep your business well funded.
This can be a source of pride in knowing that your horses are going elsewhere but it can also be a very emotional side of the business Operating as a stud farm, offering the services of your stallion(s), offering your mares where appropriate and perhaps offering boarding and foal raising facilities.
This can be a very rewarding aspect both financially and as a source of pride but it's also fraught with the potential for liability and worry.
Disadvantages:
There are numerous disadvantages to owning a horse breeding farm, including start-up costs for land, stables, equipment, feed and the horses.
You will need to have quality breeding horses, or risk nobody wanting to purchase the horses, and this initial outlay can be very costly.
You won't necessarily see a good return for your cash outlay for several years, meaning that you'll have to run a tight business and make do for a while.
Other disadvantages include:
The constant need for high quality, expensive horse food; you might consider whether it's possible to grow your own or to buy as a co-operative with other horse owners in the local area.
The requirement for adequate equipment, supplies, and tack, which will quickly add up financially.
When starting up, make use of sales, discounts from belonging to professional organizations and used items through auctions and other sales.
If you're smart and lucky, you might find a horse breeding business that is closing down and has stock to sell off (of both the product and animal kind).
Increased regular vet visits––more horses means more potential for problems, including general health maintenance such as deworming and shots, everyday injuries through to disease and major injuries.
Emergency treatment will also need to be accounted for as a possibility at least once a year, so set aside adequate funds and plan good insurance coverage.
Increased regular farrier visits will be required to ensure that all of the horses' hooves are maintained in top condition; presentation of breeding horses is your customer's reassurance of quality, so you cannot skimp on this, ever.
Increased workload and responsibility.
It's self evident that more horses means more work, including more mucking out stalls.
Need for ongoing legal and financial advice to ensure that you won't be out of pocket for things out of your control or for a poorly run budget.
It is extremely important that you know how to properly handle, care for, and understand horses.
You don't have to be able to ride a horse, but if you can't, then you'll need to hire someone who can to keep the horses in shape and well trained as most people will only buy horses that have been "broken in" for riding (foals being the exception).
In fact, buyers may consider it a little odd that you run a horse breeding operation without actually knowing how to ride a horse, so unless there is an issue of disability involved, it's recommended that you learn to ride.
And just in case you're a bit green with horses, here are some skills you should have set in place beforehand:
How to lead a horse how to care for a horse How to tell if a horse is sick How to tack up a horse How to groom a horse How to prepare for the arrival of a horse
About the Author
Carolyn Reyes
Brings years of experience writing about pet care and related subjects.
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