THE BUSINESS OF HORSES
Reality
M.R. Bain

I lost a mare recently to the complications of colic. She was pregnant. The unborn foal was by a nationally ranked stallion and my futurity baby for this year. I am pragmatic about the setback and the loss of a good well-bred horse, but that doesn’t mean that I am not sadden by the event.

In this business of horses, we often lose horses because of things that we don’t have any control of. And we lose horses for a variety of other reasons that we can control and don’t.

In the news that I get on a daily basis from around the world are stories of barn fires, starvation, and assorted cruelty by the use of drugs, infliction of pain and other things.

In my view of the business, one should not produce more than he can afford to feed and maintain. Acquiring large numbers of animals, no matter how cheaply, does not make sense if one can not sell them or their produce at a profit.

I know that the pleasure rider whose day job provides for the horse as well as the family owns the majority of horses. But there is a segment of this industry, where people acquire horses just to acquire horses.

Two recent cases involved large numbers of horses. One case involved 131 horses in the Midwest and the other involved 87 horses in a Mountain state. In the Midwest state, we have had a mild winter. In some areas, the animals had enough graze not to demand much supplementary feeding. However, running large numbers on acreage without some supplementing is not recommended. In the other case, the 87 horses were on a 77-acre farm, in a state where the winters are never that mild and feeding is taken as a matter of course.

Why is it that people buy horses at a low cost and immediately think that they can sell them for more money? In order to market that animal, one must do something to add value. Added value can be feeding and training, breeding to a good stallion, or fattening up and selling them to Europe.

If you are simply buying in order to say you have x number of horses, you are not doing justice to the horse or you. It is like building a 150’ by 250’ arena when a sixty-foot round pen will do.

People buy horses to keep them from going to Europe, but sometimes all the feeding and training is not going to work. I see rescue animals all the time that are unregistered, mentally abused as well as physically and totally unsuited for the weekend rider. One has to be sensible about what one can do about these animals.

If every person who is intent on preserving every horse for whatever reason would support two or more of them for ten to fifteen years, they would be more knowledgeable about the real cost of time and money involved in maintaining a horse. The population can only absorb so many horses - after that we must find something to do with the remainder.

My business and every other horseman’s business depends on breeding, raising, training and selling foals by good stallions out of well-bred mares for a profit. If we can’t do that, it becomes an expensive hobby. It is not, as many think, how many horses you own but the quality and breeding of the ones we have. We want to make money the same as everyone else but with the least cost. This does not mean that we cut corners to do that but we maintain the horses in a condition where they look good and are UTD on shots, farrier, etc.

I am constantly looking for mares with certain bloodlines to add to my program. It is not large, but my mares are by the sons of leading sires or world champions out of the granddaughters of the same. My market is the person who is looking to buy a well-bred horse to start with. I price them to fit the pocketbook of that person. I sell 3-4 babies a year and it adds to my enjoyment of life.

In my search, I come across mares who fit my requirements but have not produced what their potential is. In my opinion, they have not been crossed on the stallions they should have been. The owner may or may not thought of selling that mare. When I ask them if they want to sell, they immediately want more than the market. And these are the people with large numbers of mouths to feed and maintain. If they would have priced the mare according to the current market, I would probably have bought her even if she had never been vaccinated or wormed, wasn’t really well trained to ride. As long as there is not any unsoundness problems, I am confident in my ability to train the horse to do what I want. At some point in time, I would sell her but by adding value, i.e.; training or breeding to a really good stallion, I would make a profit.

On the other hand, I have seen people buy horses whose up-close breeding would indicate that they would be worth more as a gelding or riding horse than as a breeding animal. One must develop a sense of what is a potential breeding animal and what is better left as a riding or working horse. One can consult with the owners in their area who are selling animals about what bloodlines and conformation are bringing prices that allow them to operate at a profit. Take their advice and start improving your programs.

M. R. Bain has been a horseman all of his life and has been involved professionally in the horse industry since 1955. He is available to speak to your club or association.You can e-mail him with your questions and comments at businessofhorses@yahoo.com