Covering questions

[springfallstud]

This year getting my 3 mares in foal has almost made me broke

my vet insists on me taking them into him to be AI'd but with transport fee's, keep fee's and him not setting a package it has all added up to a very large amount, an amount i couldnt do again! He will come to me and scan which works out to be around £80 each time. So what i am asking is...

Do you AI at home?
Does your vet give you a package, if so what are the prices?
Do you have a limit when you say ok this is too much now?
Where would draw the line on costs of making a foal you are breeding with selling in mind?
Do you breed for yourself or too sell?
Do you think there is a realistic market in the UK for well bred foals (that arnt coloured or unusual) to make it viable if vet hasnt ripped you off?
Does anyone know of any good stud vets down south that will AI at your yard?

 

[Amelia]

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Do you AI at home?
YES *I do it myself

Does your vet give you a package, if so what are the prices?
NO

Do you have a limit when you say ok this is too much now?
NO

Where would draw the line on costs of making a foal you are breeding with selling in mind?
I have not come to that line yet <lol> although my OH may say I have already crossed it this year! lol

Do you breed for yourself or too sell?
BOTH. I divide my mare heard into two sections - those that are 'commercialy' sought after and those that I wish to 'take a chance on' - ie: younger stallions, foal for myself ect

Do you think there is a realistic market in the UK for well bred foals (that arnt coloured or unusual) to make it viable if vet hasnt ripped you off?
Yes

Does anyone know of any good stud vets down south that will AI at your yard?
Why dont you look into doing an AI course yourself? It is vert satisfiying

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[britishwarmblood]

I always have my mares AI'd at home - I wouldn't dream of them going away, even to a vets.
I am sure that is why I have such good conception rates (plus having an excellent vet) as my mares are totally relaxed in their surroundings and don't have the stress of travelling/ mixing with new mares and foals.
I aim to sell my foals at weaning and I think that the extra money spent on visits etc for insemmination works out as a similar amount that it would cost me for livery etc if I sent them away.
My vets are excellent, and not far away from you in being based in Cranleigh. They are Shotter & Byers, 01483 274905, and I can't recommend them highly enough. With them the mare comes first- when she is ready they will be there, unlike some vets who seem to expect the mare and her cycle to fit in with their time schedule.

 

[volatis]

you are not far from were we used to be so try Maynes and Scrine - you want Ben Maynes to do them if possible, he was our old vet and fab - always came out to do the horses on the yard, any day, any time and we had a 100% success rate.

Is there a realistic market for foals in the UK - no. Not really. It is a very small marketplace as most people wnat something under saddle. I have been advised to keep my Trakehner filly as I will not sell her for what she is worth here and wouldn't be able to afford her if I was bying her in germany. Even with coloured foals there is a limit to what people will pay. I could sell them by the bucketload at under £3k but over that and the market is smaller as people wonder if they are getting value for money buying a foal at 4 or 5k. That said my coloureds are always the first to sell compared to the solid ones.

I think it takes time to develop a reputation to be able to easily sell sporthorse foals for a decent amount. By the time you have bought some decent quality mares, paid your rent/mortgage and overheads, stud fees and vets fees, there is not a lot of profit to made. But if you keep producing quality stock, stick to your principles and accept you might have to keep some till they are under saddle, then you will start to develop a good market for your foals.

You need to look at where you can make savings in your costs - and that includes vets fees. I sometimes think it would be nice to find someone to share the costs of rent/overheads/vets call out fees etc with as it is hard work keeping those costs down.

If I am am struggling to get a mare in foal I would draw a line but it would depend on time of year, previous foaling history, etc. For example we struggled a bit with one mare this year with timing, as we did insist on ovulating over a weekend. We finally caughter her on the third attempt but that would have been my last attempt anyway as the season was drawing to an end.

I dont get a package from my vet but he is pretty good about splitting the costs of visits if he can

 

[Navalgem]

£80 for a visit and scan

, yikes, mines £20 for the scan and £28 for the visit which this year has been shared.......

my YO and HG went on the AI course at Twemlows, my YO has since successfully inseminated mares who are now in foal however that was with fresh semen not chilled or frozen.

The most I have spent on getting a mare in foal was just over £1000 inc stud fee £500, £300-odd keep fees at Twemlows, £120 in foal fee, plus transport from Lancashire, the foal was for me so didn't worry too much about the £, although I think even for one to sell £1000ish inc stud fee is reasonable, but then when you add their keep etc into it you have to get a very good price for foals and the problem being so many come from the continent and are cheap by comparision to similar over here. However yes I do believe there is a market for well-bred youngsters, it's about keeping costs down, I can't believe how expensive your vet is!!

I think that if I were to set up a business ie a stud then yes I'd AI at home with a good vet and pre-arrange a package deal, and set limits for the mares at whatever I could reasonably afford whilst still making a profit.

 

[Fahrenheit]

Do you AI at home?
Yes I do, my mares only go to the vets if we are using frozen has I haven't got the facilities for frozen yet!

Does your vet give you a package, if so what are the prices?
Yes my vet gives me a package but if he thinks it will work out cheaper to charge for each item individually he'll do that, he also gives me 10% off the standard package rates because I'm such a great customer

Do you have a limit when you say ok this is too much now?
Yes and No, we usually have a set date, we will only inseminate our own mares upto 31st July, it only goes over if they are in season over that date but if they aren't inseminated by that date thats it for the year on my own mares, visiting mares we do upto end of August.

Where would draw the line on costs of making a foal you are breeding with selling in mind?
Debatable it depends on the mare, I spent 6 years to get a foal out of Betty Bug, but she is the only daughter of Barry Bug and she is Elite Graded with one studbook and Head Studbook with another, as well has having the performance records to back it up, I think she was very worth persisting with the foal is AMAZING!

I have persisted with another beyond where I usually would has she is on lease and I don;t want to give her back without having my last foal, she is old and isn't in excellent health just been differcult, also I class my Grade A mare has very worth persisting with, she also has had a STUNNER this year and these foals are all keepers! If I was having alot of problems getting any of the other mares pregnant, I would most likely call it aday with them, either give them a year off or ride them again depending on which mare!

Do you breed for yourself or too sell?
Both, I breed because I love to do it and I have trouble parting with any of the babies that go but I have learnt to live with it because if I didn't sell most of them, I couldn't breed anymore, there is a limit to how many horses I can look after!

Do you think there is a realistic market in the UK for well bred foals (that arnt coloured or unusual) to make it viable if vet hasnt ripped you off?
The market is tricky, I am getting better prices now than I use to but nearly everyone that comes to look doesn't appreciate what they are looking at and how much time, effort and money have gone into breeding that particular foal and most people want something for next to nothing!

But then there is the few buyers that make it all worth while and really appreciate the horse you have sold them

Does anyone know of any good stud vets down south that will AI at your yard?
Which area down south, down south is a large area ha ha ha

Forgot to say £80 for a scan YIKES

I pay around £35 and call out is only £10 on certain days!

 

[Navalgem]

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But then there is the few buyers that make it all worth while and really appreciate the horse you have sold them


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oi I best be in that bunch!

 

[springfallstud]

Thanks i have started making enquirys this morning.

Apart from the fact it has cost alot this year i read Horse and Hound and wonder why i keep the seeing the same foals advertised which look very well bred and nice looking as much as one can tell from a photo. Some i see i think are over priced, others seem to cheap but are still there, some i have seen advertised in May are still popping up in various places for sale so it makes we wonder how good the market is?!

 

[htobago]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


Do you AI at home?
YES *I do it myself

Does your vet give you a package, if so what are the prices?
NO

Do you have a limit when you say ok this is too much now?
NO

Where would draw the line on costs of making a foal you are breeding with selling in mind?
I have not come to that line yet <lol> although my OH may say I have already crossed it this year! lol

Do you breed for yourself or too sell?
BOTH. I divide my mare heard into two sections - those that are 'commercialy' sought after and those that I wish to 'take a chance on' - ie: younger stallions, foal for myself ect

Do you think there is a realistic market in the UK for well bred foals (that arnt coloured or unusual) to make it viable if vet hasnt ripped you off?
Yes

Does anyone know of any good stud vets down south that will AI at your yard?
Why dont you look into doing an AI course yourself? It is vert satisfiying

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Hello Amelia - your breeding policy sounds interesting - the 'commercial' and 'take-a-chance' division, I mean. I'd be fascinated to know which section of your herd has produced the best foals so far? What breed(s) are you mainly breeding? And how do you decide which mares to breed 'commercially' and which ones to take a chance on?

(Sorry to bombard you with questions!)

 

[Tia]

I know how expensive it can all be....let alone the running around, time thinking and hoping that all will work out well, whether or not the foals will be of the calibre you are looking for. Nightmare for some breeders.

I used to be there; no more though thank goodness. I used my own stallion, pasture bred the mares; they took first time, they foaled without any problems and the expense was absolutely minimal (apart from the initial outlay of buying the best breeding stock).

For what I bred, yes there is a market because the bloodlines I have here are not available in this part of the country. They are sought after even 3,000 miles away which makes them even more rare in this part of the country.

The little foal which arrived a few weeks ago, was bred with the specific purpose of being sold......however she will not be sold at this time as I have an end of the line filly now which I wish to keep and look to perhaps breeding her once she is older.

I sympathise with those who have all of this financial outlay which isn't even guaranteed to produce anything at the end of it, except a huge financial loss.