Horse Shoeing

Moving from coaching horses and horse riders to breeding horses appears to just about be a logical progression, particularly for folks who grew up around horses. It may be mentioned though, that it’s not easy to become a breeder: its takes big investment, unswerving commitment and lots of work.

It is natural for new businesses to show losses over the initial few years of their operation. The IRS has guidelines that suggest that if you show profits over 2 out of 5 years, you are in good condition. The IRS has stretched this guideline for horse breeding enterprises: if you show profits over 2 out of 7 years, you are doing fine. Horse breeding involves substantial investments of time and cash. It isn’t a business activity that ought to be taken up without a considerable amount of planning and research up front.

Breeding farms can in the most elementary form include one stallion and some mares. Though plenty of breeders are simultaneously also horse trainers, the totally committed breeder won’t have time for much else. Breeding is not for novices: a high level of experience in horses and horse breeding methods is a total must. It is not easy handling animated stallions and reluctant mares. The best breeder needs to be well versed in breeding practices, laboratory work and indirect operational areas like sales, administration and accounting.

Ideally, the breeder should possess a qualification in equine science, equine reproduction, or at the very least, agribusiness. Even better, the perfect breeder will have gone through courses in artificial insemination and semen collection: breeders increasingly are heading toward this direction. Breeders with mares wish to cross their mares with the best stallions around while not having to transport the mares over long distances. Lots of breeding farms are on permanent 24/7 standby for calls to get the stallion and ship the semen. There are lots of breeding farms that only do synthesised insemination, given the undeniable fact that stallions can be so very pricey and sensitive.

Most breeding managers are on standby for 70 to 90 hours each week. They own dozens of mares, and are kept busy palpating, inseminating, palpating some more and keeping the cycle up till parturition. This leads on to long areas of foal watch; the exercise ends with the birth of the foal, but there’s no rest because other mares are in the queue.

While there’s undoubted stress for the breeder and the breeding manager, it is worth it for them at the end of the day to play a serious role in the birth of some of the most superb creatures God has made. This is adequate compensation for the breeders and breeding executives.

Horses are Heather Toms’ passion and she
enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100’s of articles with other horse lovers… like all things about horse rugs.