Foal Sharing

[quickhorse]

Can someone let me know how common it is to foal share and some of the rules or typical arraingements. I have a mare that has never been bred and I'd like to keep her but share the risk her 1st year.

[madelyn]

Foal sharing is done quite a bit, as is broodmare leasing. I am doing two foal shares this year for my new stallion, Rocking Trick. The mares are both big$$ winners, top bred, and have had foals before. In lieu of stud fees, the owner of the mares receives half of the foals. More common is for the stallion owner to get the first foal, and the mare owner to get the second, or for either to have first choice, depending on whether it is the stallion or the mare bringing the quality to the table. In a broodmare lease, you pay no expenses, your mare gets bred, etc., the lessee gets the foal (and will sometimes return the mare to you in foal), but this can be advantageous because first foals can be small and eventually, if she throws a "great" horse, you still own the mare...

[edaselro]

Or the commercial version:

Mare owner and stallion owner split the proceeds of the foal sold at public auction (alternatively, the mare itself can be sold, and the proceeds of that split between mare and stallion owner - this is called a mare share). The standard is 50-50 but can vary according to the quality of the mare.

[quickhorse]

Thanks for responding with your thoughts. We have a nice maiden mare who has tremendous upside, and we would like to keep her for as long as possible. This might be the way to go.

[bcassidy]

young mares with high quality pedigrees are a great way to go, put her in foal to a freshman stallion, (the owner or syndicate of a freshman stallion should be very eager to negotiate a reasonable deal to get a young, high quality broodmare to their stallion). Plan on selling the foal as a yearling.

[camohn]

I have done this a couple ways. For going in with one a friend owns a nice mare: I put up the stud fee (not my stallion)/breeding expenses, she supplied the mare and the keep on the mare. We will own the foal 50/50 with the intent of selling the foal. Another lady with a very nice mare wants to breed her to my colt. We will breed her twice. Assuming we get 2 healthy foals we each get one foal from her mare. If for some reason we only get 1 foal then the foal is hers and the stud fee is owed to me. I do like her mare but also have plenty of foals of my own coming. If push comes to shove I would rather have the money.