How many horses is enough

[newyorkmary]

Last night our last mare of the year had a foal - that makes 11 horses in total for us. When we first bought broodmares in 2006 we thought 3 or 4 would be the right number, some diversification but not too many to handle. I didn't fully appreciate that 4 mares means 12 horses for at least part of each year - hopefully we'll sell 4 yearlings this summer. I know, the math isn't that tough but i didn't get it. Now of course, we want to buy another mare this fall, that'll make 15.

I'm curious what others on this forum think - how many mares is a good number for a small breeder? How many of you feel like you have too many horses?

[Sock Monkey]

Congratulations on your new foal!

I've noticed how they multiply, too. It's weird, isn't it?

I don't think there is a magic number for a small breeder. To some extent it is a numbers game - it's tough with just one or two mares. But, you can also get too big too fast. I get nervous when people are advised to load up on mares in order to make a stallion, etc. So, I think it's just whatever you are comfortable with.

I have too many horses, but it's not mares and youngstock that makes me feel that way. I have a couple of retired runners that need to go to a home where they would do more than eat.

[madelyn]

I had way too many this year. My goal is to get down to 8-10 mares.

[Derby Lyn]

I've gotten down to 3 tb mares and 1 hanoverian mare. Thats enough for me Of course that doesn't include the young colts, and the future broodmares (that are yearlings now), and my show horse. I want to try and keep it under 10.

[KBEquine]

Mares = 11; three for sale, two in foal to Ecclesiastic, the new stallion Walmac is standing in PA; the 3rd should be in foal to Lite The Fuse & there are 2 others who could be bought, although we're not especially eager to sell them.

We have 4 yearlings & expect to end up with 4 foals in 2008. All will be offered for sale.

In addition to the 2 mares in foal to Ecclesiastic & the one hopefully in foal to Lite The Fuse, we expect to breed 1 mare to Fastness [IRE] & 3 other mares here at home & would sell 1 or 2 of those mares, too, although we'd be just as happy to foal them out here. So we expect to foal 4 mares next year, too.

We don't breed every mare, every year. We can handle 4 yearlings/4 foals/year, although we seem to actually breed 5, knowing not all will carry to term & produce a live foal.

We don't board out, so our costs are less than where you have to pay a day rate. But if you don't have help, it is a lot of work.

We also buy mares specifically to match our stallion [Hi Sock Monkey - I don't mean to make him commercial - just hoping for quality offspring from him, not quantity. I will occasionally offer a complimentary or low-cost season to outside mares, but only mares who are darned near perfect for him on paper, with conformation to match - and whose owners want to breed a racehorse for the PA tracks]. We're abundantly aware that we will need to get most of those foals to the track ourselves [anyone interested in a racing partnership of PA-sired PA-breds in PA????? ]

[klbash2000]

A couple of years ago I had horses spread over 4 farms and tracks in 2 states. It was just too much to keep up with. Sucked the joy right out of the whole thing. The horse management wasn't that bad (the out of state part was hard though) but the number of people that had to be juggled and followed behind with those numbers was just a nightmare. I'm down to under 25 between one farm and the track and it's still a bit unwieldy but much more workable. Financially, I would like to have just the training horses and youngsters but the mares are calming just watching them graze and do their thing. Depending on the day, the ideal number changes from "I could handle one or two more" to "this is about all I can handle" to "Why do I have this f***** b******, I should cut back to just a pair of riding horses".
I wish I had a better answer for you but basically I'd suggest just taking an overall view and sell any horse that irritates you more often than not or that you can make a reasonable profit on or that you can find a good home for that keeps being put on the back burner with you. It's easy to add and multiply but cutting back en masse is hard to do without basically dumping them.

[LB]

Our goal is to have 5 or 6 broodmares and a couple of fillies racing, which has been a pretty comfortable number for us. But as you've pointed out, that leads to lots of horses. Our 5 mares currently have 5 yearlings and 4 foals. So we're up to 14 before we even start counting the ones at the track.

The easiest rule of thumb, I think, is that when it stops being fun, you have too many.

[KBEquine]

. . . Financially, I would like to have just the training horses and youngsters but the mares are calming just watching them graze and do their thing. Depending on the day, the ideal number changes from "I could handle one or two more" to "this is about all I can handle" to "Why do I have this f***** b******, I should cut back to just a pair of riding horses".
I wish I had a better answer for you but basically I'd suggest just taking an overall view and sell any horse that irritates you more often than not . . .

Well said. One of the mares we have for sale is big & beautiful, but when she's not in foal, she's a real rip - would be just another broodie on a big farm, but here, when she's open, she's high maintenance. Since we don't breed every year, by plan & not bad luck, she's open as often as not. Nothing really wrong with her, so better she go live with someone who doesn't find her annoying [or who boards out & pays someone else to deal with her].

[Dave C]

I'll offer a rule of thumb for the cattle industry: have 20% fewer animals than you think you can handle. On the horse side where herds are smaller you can change that up to one fewer mare than you think you can handle if the total is under 5. If you approach it this way then you are always in position to take advantage of a good deal when it arises as well as not being over stressed on a daily basis, and particularly not overstressed in the event of a drought. It is also easier to manage severe storm events that may be over much more quickly than a drought. Just some thoughts.

[newyorkmary]

I guess when it comes down to it, as long as we are at least breaking even(or not losing too much money) and having fun, the number doesn't matter.

But I still think I'll want to sell 1 or 2 next year just so I can buy another.

[henthorn]

I was wise enough last year to start having some controls on my numbers and cash outflow. I was up to five pregnant mares this spring, with two to three foals per crop in development. I'm just now realizing how few planned pregnancies actually end up with useful racehorses. Now I've culled down to two mares, a 3yo, two 2yo's, two yearlings, and three babies.

I've decided to buy proven racehorses in the future when these have gotten to the races-- more likely to make a profit.

[pembroke]

Hey KBEquine....what are you offerring for sale?

[teb]

I have 5 broodmares 3 for racehorses, 2 for sporthorses. The first 2 mare's progeny are 2 and with their trainer. Only have one yearling as the other one killed herself by running full tilt into the gate. Not really the way to keep the numbers down! Only have 2 foals this year as one mare wasn't covered last year and won't go into the other one. But it is safe to say that one of my broodmares can't ever be in company with another foal other than hers. Then there's an ex racehorse who's now 13, my husband's sporthorse, a 3yo warmblood whom has been sold since he was a foal. I think it's safe to say he is going to be with us for a bit as his owner is an idiot and will only sell for big money. He was here today and we had this discussion. I said well I hope you have big money because it's gonna cost you to keep this lad for many years as you sure aren't going to sell him at that price. So that's 12 in total. I have a 2yo warmblood too. I do like to keep the warmbloods through their 3yo year and get them out doing a bit of showing in hand.

We started with one mare back in 2002, she was bred in 2003. I will say they do all leave for their career's, everybody is broken by us, and at least we have a bit of control over where they go at this point.

Terri