Sunny08
Well-Known Member
As title says really, what do you think the additional expenses on top of keeping a mare when breeding and raising a foal to say about 6mths old? Assuming all being well that is?
How much does is approximately cost to breed and raise a foal?
- Thread starter Sunny08
- Start date
H.K.D
Well-Known Member
I would be very interested to know the response too as not 100% sure whether to breed or not from my mare!
Waterborn
Well-Known Member
Not cheap with cost of insemination, scans, possible unexpected vets bills,farriers, foal registration/chipping. It also depends on whether or not you have your own land.
Foxhunter49
Well-Known Member
I dread to add it up!
Initial vet exam, at home, swabs and testing for CEM and EVA £100 +
Transport to stud.
Livery whilst away, vet fees, stud fee.
Assuming you are using a well know stallion the bill can be anything up to £500 for keep £300 + for vet fees plus stud fee.
I always leave the mares at the stud until they are scanned at 42 days.
Transport home.
Scanning mare in September.
Altogether you can generally count on a bill for near £2,000 just to get her in foal and check she is in foal. Then there are the EHV injections every other month from month 5.
It all adds up. If you want to breed you can do it on the cheap but it really is not worth it.
As the old saying goes "You can buy cheaper than you can breed" and then you know what you are getting.
If you add keep of the mare, your time in looking after her then to get a foal on the floor it is going to cost nearer £3,000 allowing for a stud fee of £800 - £1,000
You might think it is cheaper to AI and have the mare at home but this means having the mare tested for ovulation every day when she is due in season, a vet who knows and has experience of AI in horses, and the mare taking first time. That all adds up too.
Initial vet exam, at home, swabs and testing for CEM and EVA £100 +
Transport to stud.
Livery whilst away, vet fees, stud fee.
Assuming you are using a well know stallion the bill can be anything up to £500 for keep £300 + for vet fees plus stud fee.
I always leave the mares at the stud until they are scanned at 42 days.
Transport home.
Scanning mare in September.
Altogether you can generally count on a bill for near £2,000 just to get her in foal and check she is in foal. Then there are the EHV injections every other month from month 5.
It all adds up. If you want to breed you can do it on the cheap but it really is not worth it.
As the old saying goes "You can buy cheaper than you can breed" and then you know what you are getting.
If you add keep of the mare, your time in looking after her then to get a foal on the floor it is going to cost nearer £3,000 allowing for a stud fee of £800 - £1,000
You might think it is cheaper to AI and have the mare at home but this means having the mare tested for ovulation every day when she is due in season, a vet who knows and has experience of AI in horses, and the mare taking first time. That all adds up too.
iconique
Well-Known Member
If it all goes well its not too bad, if there are problems then we've found it very, very expensive.
Swabs for going to stud
Stud fee
Accomodation at stud for mare, grooms fees and transport to get there
Vet fees, we usually go for the fixed package, however drugs are on top
If everything then goes to plan, then
Foal & Mare Check
Innoculations
Trimming of foals feet (in addition to mare)
Passporting & Microchipping of foal
I'd guess if I didn't have to tell my husband, between £2-3000, but then our latest covering fee was £650+vat and we send the mare away to stud until she's covered (this years is coming back on Tuesday)
When it all goes wrong - vet fees for pneumonia in foal (not covered by insurance) windswept legs, bent legs - ultrasound vet fees and remedial farrier costs, Mum was a vetran and got colic, foal orphaned and weaned at 3 months, time off work, and it goes on - including running out of vet fees for foal when that then got ill.
To us its not just about cost, its also the welfare of the mare and the cost to her or potential loss. Also what then happens to the foal if it doesn't all go to plan.
We've had the rough end of it but have 2 out of 3 that have been easy, we are breeding to keep not sell. We also keep ours at home and don't have livery apart from when the mare is away. I have my own business and help with my horses so can be there when it goes wrong and have spent many nights without sleep up checking, even the healthy ones can scour.
Dont' get me wrong, its very rewarding when it goes right and b... hard work and expensive when it doesn't. I quite honestly don't know how people make it pay commercially!
Swabs for going to stud
Stud fee
Accomodation at stud for mare, grooms fees and transport to get there
Vet fees, we usually go for the fixed package, however drugs are on top
If everything then goes to plan, then
Foal & Mare Check
Innoculations
Trimming of foals feet (in addition to mare)
Passporting & Microchipping of foal
I'd guess if I didn't have to tell my husband, between £2-3000, but then our latest covering fee was £650+vat and we send the mare away to stud until she's covered (this years is coming back on Tuesday)
When it all goes wrong - vet fees for pneumonia in foal (not covered by insurance) windswept legs, bent legs - ultrasound vet fees and remedial farrier costs, Mum was a vetran and got colic, foal orphaned and weaned at 3 months, time off work, and it goes on - including running out of vet fees for foal when that then got ill.
To us its not just about cost, its also the welfare of the mare and the cost to her or potential loss. Also what then happens to the foal if it doesn't all go to plan.
We've had the rough end of it but have 2 out of 3 that have been easy, we are breeding to keep not sell. We also keep ours at home and don't have livery apart from when the mare is away. I have my own business and help with my horses so can be there when it goes wrong and have spent many nights without sleep up checking, even the healthy ones can scour.
Dont' get me wrong, its very rewarding when it goes right and b... hard work and expensive when it doesn't. I quite honestly don't know how people make it pay commercially!
competitiondiva
Well-Known Member
Aside from the keep and livery of my mare during the pregnancy as I'd have been paying for these anyway, I never did tot it up in total but it was about £1700+ to get him on the ground, plus passporting, microchipping, vaccinations, worming, farrier, insurance for the 6 months post foaling, then of course castration, but this wouldn't necessarily be in the first 6 months, had mine done at 18 months! And also with these costs baring in mind my mare got pregnant on her first ai cycle and had no major issues at foaling, BUT then I used the best stallion I could afford as I wanted the best possible foal from her, stallion stud fee at the time I think was £750. Still to buy a foal by this stallion I'd have had to have forked out £3K at least, so for me it worked out, BUT if she'd have taken 3 ai cycles or even more to get pregnant then it wouldn't have been a financially good idea!!
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Sunny08
Well-Known Member
This is really interesting. My thinking is that I have recently brought an extremely nice mare to reschool. She is extremely sweet, great confo, wonderful temperament, great paces etc, and has already bred one very beautiful foal. I was planning on schooling her up and selling her but I am re-thinking the plan as she is so nice. I am thinking about breeding her with the aim of a nice allrounder foal as the outcome for me to keep, as well as keeping her longterm. We have our own farm so keep costs are at least a little better!
Tnavas
Well-Known Member
It is not cheap and unless you breed a very sought after blood line then often you end up making a loss when selling. I breed sporthorses - just one every couple of years the oldest is now 4 and away on lease. He will be on the market in a years time - hopefully I will at least cover my costs then.
If you wait until they are old enough to break in people seem to think they should have them cheap because they have to add on the cost of breaking.
Try to sell them newly broken and they don't want to pay what its even cost you to produce them to this age - because they are green.
Ideally sell as a weanling - I got offered $10,000 for my filly at three months and decided to turn it down. There is probebly no way that I will get that money now until she is at least a year under saddle. In the mean time she has cost me more to raise her. But I had a plan for her and a talented young rider to take her on.
It is great fun to breed a foal but there are serious things to consider
1 Is your mares conformation, temperement and trainability excellent - if not then you may end up with a foal with conformation problems as well.
2 Have you got safe facilities to raise a foal - they are really good at finding ways f getting into fixes.
3 Can you afford all the extra vet fees and feed bills to provide for the mare - all the extra vet care and innoculations for mare and foal get really expensive - especially when the mare hs to go away to stud. My now 2½yr old cost $6000 before she was born. The mare went to a public stud standing a TB stallion so she had to have all the extra innoculations to ensure she and all the other mares stayed protected.
4 Have you the knowledge to foal the mare or the finances to cover the cost of sending her away to be foaled. It's extemely exhausting sitting up night after night keeping an eye on the mare. They foal really fast so if there are problems you need to be able to act fast.
5 Is the sire likely to be popular and also is his conformation and temperement to die for - most important as you want your foal to be easy to sell and one with an attitude can be difficult to pass on.
6 Have you the time to put into the foal to ensure that it is well educated prior to selling, he needs time spent handling, teaching him to lead well in Walk and Trot, load onto a trailer, be happy to stand in the stable, be groomed, have his feet picked up and picked out. Easy to catch.
If you have all these then you are well on the way to breeding your foal.
Most of all try to stick to the old rule 'Put Blood over Bone' so use a TB or Arabian or a to improve the quality of the offspring.
My first foal was a free service to a Holstein the sire plain headed, but with good conformation & temperement - put over my Clydesdale mare I have a heavier version of dad with his mothers head, the filly had a TB sire - she is pretty, has a dainty head and limbs as long as a TB but with more bone. Coat of a TB in summer but grows a beard and hairy legs in winter like her mum.
If you wait until they are old enough to break in people seem to think they should have them cheap because they have to add on the cost of breaking.
Try to sell them newly broken and they don't want to pay what its even cost you to produce them to this age - because they are green.
Ideally sell as a weanling - I got offered $10,000 for my filly at three months and decided to turn it down. There is probebly no way that I will get that money now until she is at least a year under saddle. In the mean time she has cost me more to raise her. But I had a plan for her and a talented young rider to take her on.
It is great fun to breed a foal but there are serious things to consider
1 Is your mares conformation, temperement and trainability excellent - if not then you may end up with a foal with conformation problems as well.
2 Have you got safe facilities to raise a foal - they are really good at finding ways f getting into fixes.
3 Can you afford all the extra vet fees and feed bills to provide for the mare - all the extra vet care and innoculations for mare and foal get really expensive - especially when the mare hs to go away to stud. My now 2½yr old cost $6000 before she was born. The mare went to a public stud standing a TB stallion so she had to have all the extra innoculations to ensure she and all the other mares stayed protected.
4 Have you the knowledge to foal the mare or the finances to cover the cost of sending her away to be foaled. It's extemely exhausting sitting up night after night keeping an eye on the mare. They foal really fast so if there are problems you need to be able to act fast.
5 Is the sire likely to be popular and also is his conformation and temperement to die for - most important as you want your foal to be easy to sell and one with an attitude can be difficult to pass on.
6 Have you the time to put into the foal to ensure that it is well educated prior to selling, he needs time spent handling, teaching him to lead well in Walk and Trot, load onto a trailer, be happy to stand in the stable, be groomed, have his feet picked up and picked out. Easy to catch.
If you have all these then you are well on the way to breeding your foal.
Most of all try to stick to the old rule 'Put Blood over Bone' so use a TB or Arabian or a to improve the quality of the offspring.
My first foal was a free service to a Holstein the sire plain headed, but with good conformation & temperement - put over my Clydesdale mare I have a heavier version of dad with his mothers head, the filly had a TB sire - she is pretty, has a dainty head and limbs as long as a TB but with more bone. Coat of a TB in summer but grows a beard and hairy legs in winter like her mum.
Kiribati_uk
Well-Known Member
FOOLS BREED FOALS AND WISE MEN BUY THEM!!!!!!
Says it all really, you need to breed something special to make anything out of it, it has cost me roughly a grand a year for the first 4years of her life. But It is quite special to breed your own pony!!!!
Says it all really, you need to breed something special to make anything out of it, it has cost me roughly a grand a year for the first 4years of her life. But It is quite special to breed your own pony!!!!
Maesfen
Extremely Old Nag!
I kept a record once of costs for natural cover to weaning and frightened myself to death, have never done it again - and we do have our own land, make our own haylage etc!
You have stud fee (far cheaper option is natural cover when you only pay the stud fee for the stallion), any keep charges at the stud and any vet charges for scans etc. Each stud will have their own charges but those are the basic costs and depend on which stallion/stud you use.
AI seems to me to cost far more as you pay for insemination charges, possible postage of semen , many more scans and so on. You can keep costs down (in theory!) by keeping mare at home but then you need many more vet visits for pre scans, actual AI plus pregnancy scans so sometimes it's better to send the mare either to the stud or an AI centre where she can be kept a close eye on and everything is done for you. Beware the ones that actually charge you if they get your mare in foal which is on top of all their keep charges plus the stud fee to use that stallion and vet fees too; it's not a small amount either! It's a shame that centre is less than 5 miles away from me because it's excellent but that is just taking the pi$$ to me because that is their job and they charge enough for keep as it is.
After that, you have normal costs on top, perhaps extra feed for the mare some weeks before foaling; foaling expenses (vet help if needed, jabs for mare and foal afterwards plus health checks - and that's if it goes plain sailing, far more if anything goes wrong) Good safe keep for mare and foal preferably with other mares and foals as foals do like to play and it teaches them a lot to play with their own age group (same as for when weaning/yearlings, older youngsters seem to adapt better to being with older company) They will probably need supplementary feeding too, then you need to think about weaning when you'll probably need to pay for another box/field if you're at livery. Not to mention inoculations for the foal, farrier etc etc.
I'm sure others will come up with things I've forgotten so my advice is - Start saving!
You have stud fee (far cheaper option is natural cover when you only pay the stud fee for the stallion), any keep charges at the stud and any vet charges for scans etc. Each stud will have their own charges but those are the basic costs and depend on which stallion/stud you use.
AI seems to me to cost far more as you pay for insemination charges, possible postage of semen , many more scans and so on. You can keep costs down (in theory!) by keeping mare at home but then you need many more vet visits for pre scans, actual AI plus pregnancy scans so sometimes it's better to send the mare either to the stud or an AI centre where she can be kept a close eye on and everything is done for you. Beware the ones that actually charge you if they get your mare in foal which is on top of all their keep charges plus the stud fee to use that stallion and vet fees too; it's not a small amount either! It's a shame that centre is less than 5 miles away from me because it's excellent but that is just taking the pi$$ to me because that is their job and they charge enough for keep as it is.
After that, you have normal costs on top, perhaps extra feed for the mare some weeks before foaling; foaling expenses (vet help if needed, jabs for mare and foal afterwards plus health checks - and that's if it goes plain sailing, far more if anything goes wrong) Good safe keep for mare and foal preferably with other mares and foals as foals do like to play and it teaches them a lot to play with their own age group (same as for when weaning/yearlings, older youngsters seem to adapt better to being with older company) They will probably need supplementary feeding too, then you need to think about weaning when you'll probably need to pay for another box/field if you're at livery. Not to mention inoculations for the foal, farrier etc etc.
I'm sure others will come up with things I've forgotten so my advice is - Start saving!
Spyda
Well-Known Member
Depends if you have your own land or have to pay 'livery' like I do. I breed and would guestimate it costs about £5k to breed and raise a youngster to turn 3 - and that's if nothing untowards occurs and the stud fee is a straight covering of around £600.
IMO it's DEFINITELY cheaper and more reliable to buy a youngster that someone else has bred and produced for a year or two!
IMO it's DEFINITELY cheaper and more reliable to buy a youngster that someone else has bred and produced for a year or two!
orionstar
Well-Known Member
2 years ago I finally realised my dream of breeding from my mare after being told by a vet she would never conceive.
Swab £60
Stud fee + groom £390
Veterinary package £290 (vets bill would have been £800 had I not taken this as it includes 2xAI plus 5 scans)
Sedation and extras £190
Regumate £40
Retained afterbirth £170
Vaccinations and gelding £210
Passport £70
Transport to and from stud farm £200
Cost to keep them both - gave up counting.
He's worth every penny but I wouldnt do it again, even now when the anxiety and stress of the situation has worn off and he's blowing in my ear and breaking the stable roof!
Swab £60
Stud fee + groom £390
Veterinary package £290 (vets bill would have been £800 had I not taken this as it includes 2xAI plus 5 scans)
Sedation and extras £190
Regumate £40
Retained afterbirth £170
Vaccinations and gelding £210
Passport £70
Transport to and from stud farm £200
Cost to keep them both - gave up counting.
He's worth every penny but I wouldnt do it again, even now when the anxiety and stress of the situation has worn off and he's blowing in my ear and breaking the stable roof!
babymare
Well-Known Member
sorry not sure if this has been asked - but why do you want to breed from mare - you are asking how much it will cost? is it to make some money as unless very lucky you wont - or to breed for your future horse? thats great but if goes wrong( and it does friends foal has de formed front legs and grwth issues - mare beautiful well bred /good stallion)then what. My mare is well bred / beautiful but breed from her - nope not at all - to many breeding and to few homes. sorry but just my thoughts - if you do breed hope all goes well hun xx
jeeve
Well-Known Member
We made a loss on the two foals I bred, 1 of which I still have. A local instructor bred a foal out of her mare, first foal no issues, 2nd foal a $15 000AUD vet bill.
The service fee plus vet fees plus agistment for mare at stud and then the cost of raising the foal to whatever age you sell it at, outweigh the likely sale price, most of the time.
Another friend bred a foal, sold it at 3 months old but was keeping it till weaning, for $5000 AUD, it was bitten by a snake and died about 3-4 weeks before due to be collected.
Having said that after 15 years, since the last time we bred a foal, we have put one of our mares in foal, she is due to foal in December. We more than likely will keep the foal, we did not breed for the purposes of sale.
The service fee plus vet fees plus agistment for mare at stud and then the cost of raising the foal to whatever age you sell it at, outweigh the likely sale price, most of the time.
Another friend bred a foal, sold it at 3 months old but was keeping it till weaning, for $5000 AUD, it was bitten by a snake and died about 3-4 weeks before due to be collected.
Having said that after 15 years, since the last time we bred a foal, we have put one of our mares in foal, she is due to foal in December. We more than likely will keep the foal, we did not breed for the purposes of sale.
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hayinamanger
Well-Known Member
A hell of a lot more than it costs to go out and buy one
Faithkat
Well-Known Member
Echo Spyda. I have only bred one and kept all the bills which make terrifying reading. Mine cost just over £2k to get on the ground and register (and with no problems). As Spyda says, by the time you then factor in keep, time, vaccs, worming etc, you are easily looking at £5 to aged 3.
Sunny08
Well-Known Member
My reasons for breeding would not be profit but for personal satisfaction (it has always been my goal) and for my own future horse. I do understand what you are saying here.
Thank you for the all honest replies, it is an eye-opener!
Miss L Toe
Well-Known Member
Better to go and buy what you want, breeding is great if all goes well but you have put all your eggs in one basket, and you have to wait 6 years to see what you 've got, not many peeps have a six year plan.
cptrayes
Well-Known Member
I've done the sums time and again and I always come out with the answer that I could buy a 4 year old ready to work for less than it would cost me to get it there from conception, and that's with my own land too.
And you don't have the risk that:
it will be born dead
it will be born bent
it will injure itself and not be rideable
it will injure itself and cost you an arm and a leg to keep alive
it will grow too small or too big or too heavy or too light
etc
etc
A friend of mine bred two to keep from her mare. Once is a write-off at 6 with stifle problems. The other is nice but very physically backward for 5 and the jury is still out about his robustness.
Having said that, I once bought a yearling and it was very satisfying making a hedgehopper hunter out of him. If money is no object and you can bear the disappointment of failing to bred a good one or breeding a good one and not getting it in one piece to fully grown, then it could be very rewarding.
And you don't have the risk that:
it will be born dead
it will be born bent
it will injure itself and not be rideable
it will injure itself and cost you an arm and a leg to keep alive
it will grow too small or too big or too heavy or too light
etc
etc
A friend of mine bred two to keep from her mare. Once is a write-off at 6 with stifle problems. The other is nice but very physically backward for 5 and the jury is still out about his robustness.
Having said that, I once bought a yearling and it was very satisfying making a hedgehopper hunter out of him. If money is no object and you can bear the disappointment of failing to bred a good one or breeding a good one and not getting it in one piece to fully grown, then it could be very rewarding.
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