How much money did you spend getting your mare in foal ?

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mariond

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As the question asks what expenses did you incur getting your mare in foal. I was hoping to put a mare of mine in foal this year to a connemara stallion but when I have looked into it there is the stud fee - £250, keep at £4.50 a day and then vets fees on top (offered a vets package @£300). All this then runs to a cost in excess of £600 with no guarantee of a live foal. Much as I would love to see her with a foal (she is a well put together mare) I just don't see that financially it makes sense as the foal would need to be sold (already have a 2 year old from my other mare). I know that I only breed the occassional foal as a hobby and that nothing beats the feeling of seeing a live healthy foal (sadly not always the outcome) & seeing it grow and mature but what do others think ?
 
I have spent nearly 2k trying to get my mare in foal. There is no cheap way to do it. Although you can reduce costs significantly in some areas.

For instance I did an AI package with my vet at a cost of £400. However as she ended up having to go to stud anyway at an additional cost of £350 pounds, so I did incurr extra costs.

If I were doing it again. Mare would simply go to stud and stay there until she was in foal.
 
Have only just started, and haven't had the bills in yet for what we've done so far but....
I will be paying stud fees of £450 (n.f.f.r.) and livery of £35/week for minimum 2 weeks, probably four or five. She's having a scan on friday to check that she is in season when she's supposed to be. Previous to this she's already had one scan and full examination (of cervix etc) and a clitoral swab plus the £45 call out.
She's not very expressive about her seasons, so am expecting to have to have her scanned to know when she's ready rather than just teased, and then there's the scan to make sure she's taken. I imagine that would be the bare minimum. (And no, I'm not going to add it up!!)
I'm breeding for keeps and money doesn't really matter, but I can see why people charge so much for unbroken youngsters!
 
Right then, with my pile of bills in front of me :

Stud fee : £450 (and that was with a reduction because they know me)
1 x prostaglandin injection : £10
1 x fresh semen procedure (inc pregnancy scans) : £180
Vet's fee to express twin from right horn of uterus : £68.50 (shared visit)
6 weeks and 3 days grass livery @ £5 per day : £225
3 days stabled @ £12 a day : £36
TOTAL : £969.50

Then took mare home and fed her for 10 months, then back to stud to foal:
Livery fees up to end of April : £415.50
Foaling fee : £180

So grand total up to end of April = £1565

The foal is now nearly 4 weeks old (on Thursday) and they are still at the stud as I am seriously contemplating putting the mare in foal again but I was planning on leaving them there anyway until the foal was couple of months old so I've still got May's bill to come and they were being stabled overnight until the beginning of last week so there will be a couple of weeks at £13 a day and then £6 a day grass livery. . . . . the foal will have cost me the best part of £2k by the time she comes home and that's not counting feeding the mare etc.

and people expect a broken-in, ridden away 4 year old for under £5K . . . . . don't make me laugh
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If you have a very good vet at home, perhaps you could consider a walk in service, especially if you have a nice stallion nearby.
My dad spent £10k trying to get a mare in foal for 4 years (had had 3, 2 had won). In the end he brought a stallion and ran him with a herd of mares for a couple of years. Hence Cheekster and Squeels were born.
 
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My sentiments entirely. Its not so bad if you want to breed one foal from your beloved mare to keep but as for breeding to sell ??? I know where the saying fools breed them wise men buy them comes from but its still great to have one isn't it ? What did your mare have a colt or a filly and what is it like ?
 
Anything from £1800-£4000 (using AI and £600 stud fee)
Admitedly its a estimate......But i dare not add it up properly
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Putting 3 in foal this time.
I am however breeding from proven ADV event mares, Just make sure you really think it through, you may get somthing wonderfull or it may be something that isn't.
Can be a bit af a lottery
 
Im sorry I have to say this... It cost me the best part of £2k to get Millie in foal and then it was stillborn at full term. So be prepared for that scenario. Millie is back in foal this year and not due for another 6 weeks so fingers crossed.

This is one expenive foal.
 
my mare is 24 days in foal and i am so excited it is our first time. so far vet package £325 + vat semen £500 . i had her AI at yard so she did not have to go away. BUT THE FOAL WILL BE PRICELESS!!!!
 
I'm budgeting at least £2K but it depends on what method you use, which stallion and whether you send the mare to stud. It's not a cheap option and if you want a specific horse to do a specific job for yourself, you are probably better off buying one
 
totally agree with all the above costs - and the statement that 'fools breed horses for wise men to ride' - in that people don't see how much it costs to produce a foal

I don't have livery costs as it's my own place and I have mine done AI - vets package is 375 this year but there was the regumate on top of that and the PG injection plus the swab fee (visit shared when other neds needed flu/tet and I gave the PG injection to save a vets visit).

without keep charges and a stud fee of 450 I reckon it'll be about 1000 to get mare in foal if it all goes well and I don't need more that 2 equitainer deliveries of semen (used one 'life' so far and she's scanned in foal on the 15 day scan - next scan tomorrow).

we get no subsidy from the gov for breeding horses but I DO get something for my money.

There is Business Rates relief if you run a stud which with the BR being around 40p in the £ atm means it gives you back 1000 on your business rates.

Now - I could just forget the breeding 'cos you never make any money at it (racehorses can be an exception) BUT tbh I'd rather spend my 1000 a year on having a mare/foal/yearling than hand it over to Gordon Brown in taxes.

So I spend the same and have (hopefully) something to show for it instead of funding Labour's incompetent management of this country and its economy.

Keeping the mare doesn't come into my equation as she's at home and would be here whether in foal or not
 
miss molly.. we breed alot and it will cost you anything from £400 to £2+k dependent on stallion, there location, method, vets etc..

if you are breeding for yourself, assess your skills and chose a stallion accordingly, why pay £800 for semen for a top top horse for RC level etc...

sorry don't know you.. not assessing you in anyway..

I know a super coloured part TB in Wales we have used, he covers naturally which reduces costs and their keep is good too. Choose him to our cob mare as he has no feather and good bone and temp, shows hunts etc..

We have a lovely coloured filly by him now!

Somewhere like there would cost you around £500 ish..

Costs during and after foaling is ... how long is a piece of string!
 
PS Airedale I soooo agree with your tag! Signiture!

Waves of warmbloods being imported when we have excellent stock here... also many buy horses ridden by the creme d la creme and can't handle them when they get them home!

I have noticed of late how many super imported horses are rapidly being re-sold for very little money....

There are top studs over here people can visit and re-visit... try and try til they are certain but seems the vogue!!

We seem to be invaded by chavs!!
 
thanks - I've seen the same hence why I have my sig
sad for the horses but worse is that the continentals are prepared to sell these horses to muppets that they know are unable to ride them and the UK trainers take their clients there and get a commission (wonder if some of these UK buyers realise their 'friendly helpful' trainer is on commission from these factory farmers of horses ?!)

anyway- the continentals produce these horses cheaper 'cos they get gov. subsidies and factory farm them and yet sell them to the brits at inflated prices and laugh all the way to the bank (in euros of course)
 
yep! know most don't know about the commission and instructors would never admit to them!

and yes factory farmed is right, it's much cheaper to keep them over there until 4-5yrs than bring them over as youngsters!

They are mostly started at 2-3yrs as well which is just down right wrong.. now we have a flood of probelm, lame warmbloods!
 
Hah - the commission. One of the reasons we fell out with our old trainer! I went out and bought horses off my own bat and she was NOT amused. She told me she charged between 20 and 30% but tbh comparing the horses she found for customers compared to what I was looking at it seemed to be nearer 100%.
 
Mare (AngloArab) had a filly by Carnaval Pleasure (Carnaval Drum - mare with Voltaire and Ramiro as grandsires). herewith pic taken on Sunday - foal 3 weeks old :

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and a head shot :

FAITH200507.jpg


There are more on my Webshots thingy (see my profile)
 
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All this then runs to a cost in excess of £600 with no guarantee of a live foal. ...nothing beats the feeling of seeing a live healthy foal (sadly not always the outcome) & seeing it grow and mature but what do others think ?

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This is why my stallion's terms are Live Foal Guarantee and I don't charge any booking fee or deposit or anything. I feel that breeders should not have to pay for anything less than a live, healthy foal. So until they have a live, healthy foal, they don't pay me a penny.
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OK, they still have the cost of AI, vet's bills, etc. But at least there is no stud fee to pay unless and until they get a live foal. As far as I am concerned they are buying a foal, not a flask of semen!
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how admirable of you htobago... shame more don't do that... we could then have excellent breeding programmes here in uk....
 
you can do that when you are confident of the fertility (both natural and AI if offered) of your stallion

a lot of stallions aren't that fertile and a lot of mare owners do NOT ask (when they should) for the stallions fertility figures.

When picking a stallion to cover a mare you ought to remember that the objective is to produce a foal

Handsome is as handsome does. It's not just the conformation of the stallion you need to consider - it's his balls

you also should distinguish between fertility by AI chilled, AI frozen (if offered) and natural cover.

I used a stallion that had 'good' AI chilled figures only to find out after two failed cycles that the AI figures were good for AI done AT the stallion's own stud - i.e. the semen was useless to travel and useless when the 'extender' was added. Nowt wrong with the mare as she took first time to another stallion in the same season.

the mare is also a factor in getting a live foal as well - so if a stallion owner is prepared to offer that then they ought to either have a very potent stallion or be selective in the mares they are covering as - for example - some TB mares have conformation problems that makes getting in foal and delivering a live foal a bit more difficult than say a native mare.
 
It is very scarey when you start adding up all the bills!

Last year it cost me £2k to put 1 mare in foal. This year the same mare had slight complications post foaling which cost me over £1500. She is at the stud now and has just been covered again and I dread to think what my bills are going to be.

Breeding is not 'cheap' and I wouldn't use a stallion just because he is 'cheap'. If you are determined to breed I would advise you not to look at the stud fees but to choose a stallion that compliments your mare.
 
:-))))

comes with age - I say it like it is and I ain't very good at wrapping it up in pretty ribbons

ole father time is galloping over the horizon and I haven't got time to dress it up in pretty prose - hehehe
 
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