I am almost finsihed building my dream farm. I will have 7 stalls when it is complete. Since I am starting from scratch, I am trying to figure out how I can make it work from a business sense. I know there are a lot of risks and I have a full time job to support me while I am trying but is there anyone out there who is making money (big or small) and making it work.
My question is how would you start. (I am located in PA.) Would you use the farm to foal for out of state people? Use it for Layups for racehorses? Breed, pinhook or something else.
Any shared learnings would be greatly appreciated. Please don't respond if it is not sincere.
How would you Proceed
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster
Re: How would you Proceed
wgc517 wrote:I am almost finsihed building my dream farm. I will have 7 stalls when it is complete. Since I am starting from scratch, I am trying to figure out how I can make it work from a business sense. I know there are a lot of risks and I have a full time job to support me while I am trying but is there anyone out there who is making money (big or small) and making it work.
My question is how would you start. (I am located in PA.) Would you use the farm to foal for out of state people? Use it for Layups for racehorses? Breed, pinhook or something else.
Any shared learnings would be greatly appreciated. Please don't respond if it is not sincere.
It is always easier and a more dependable profit to provide a service for fee, than tying up $ in your own stock. You will need more than just facillities - you will have to have someone that people will trust is knowledgable to leave their stock with.
Re: How would you Proceed
cng wrote:It is always easier and a more dependable profit to provide a service for fee, than tying up $ in your own stock. You will need more than just facillities - you will have to have someone that people will trust is knowledgable to leave their stock with.
This is a key point. I see sooo many people advertising for layups who have no references. They are attracted by the $750 month board as opposed to the $400 they see for riding horses. IMHO, to give someone an injured horse to rehab or a fit horse to rest, you need to have been an trainer, groom, exercise person at a track or have worked at a "good" farm who will give you references. I would think if you don't have quality experience foaling TBs, I would also not give you business. Any success in the racehorse world, perhaps any horse world, relies on trusting the investment is in good hands.
You need advice from someone near you who is successfully doing what you would like to do.
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fivenranch
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springboro
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fivenranch wrote:Stop now!! Get out of the business before you lose everything. making it in any horse industry is very hard to do .Before you lose everything stop. Keep your own as pets , enjoy them, love them, but don't try to make a living off them.1 out of a million make it. I wish someone had told me.
I have to agree 100% with this post. Granted, I'm in a really bad place right now, but I used to love riding my horses. Someone talked me into making money with horses (LOL.... RIGHT!) and convinced me to run it as a business. I went from having fun with them to trying to make a profit.
I wish I just had one old gelding to poke around on now... and NOTHING else.
First, be glad that you have another job. Do your best to keep it. Next, do nothing without a business plan that is well thought out -- and written down. This is important for tax reasons. 2009 is a terrible time to go into any business, let alone the horse business, so be very cautious. You do not indicate what experience you have with horses, but the comments already made are very sound. If you are determined to proceed, and can afford to lose money, maybe this would be a good time to buy two good broodmares at bargain prices for the PA bred program? The FT sale is coming up and if it is like Keeneland, they will be almost giving them away. I would think that is your best chance, if you have good luck and patience. Just my opinion.
Bedouwia
Bedouwia
With only 7 stalls, two broodmares might be overload. One pregnant broodmare becomes two horses at weaning time. Bred back, you could have a yearling and then the mare and weanling. It multiplies out to three stalls for a while. Leaving no room for paying horses.
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
springboro wrote:fivenranch wrote:Stop now!! Get out of the business before you lose everything. making it in any horse industry is very hard to do .Before you lose everything stop. Keep your own as pets , enjoy them, love them, but don't try to make a living off them.1 out of a million make it. I wish someone had told me.
I have to agree 100% with this post. Granted, I'm in a really bad place right now, but I used to love riding my horses. Someone talked me into making money with horses (LOL.... RIGHT!) and convinced me to run it as a business. I went from having fun with them to trying to make a profit.
I wish I just had one old gelding to poke around on now... and NOTHING else.
I hate to be negative if this is something you REALLY want to do, but I have to agree. Getting into the horse business--a lifelong dream for us--was costly in both the monetary and stress sense. It's not the glorious lifestyle it's fantasized to be. Our Thoroughbred breeding business went belly-up after four years and we lost tens of thousands of dollars.
If you think this is the way you want to go, talk to (a lot of) people in the industry and plan very carefully. I think the best way to make money in the horse industry may be to offer a valuable product rather than to try to breed, raise, house or train horses. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't.