Everyone who is paying attention to the horse market has by now probably realized that the market is flooded and that there are far many more horses available than potential buyers out there. This is the same for pretty much every breed, even the more „exotic“ breeds are affected by now. But nonetheless many so called breeders don’t seem to pay attention and breed every mare every year, no matter the quality, age and health.
There are people who say they breed all their mares every year because they don’t do anything else with them, anyway. They have neither time nor interest in showing or driving or many of the other things that can be done with a horse so the mares spend their lives as „laying hens“. It doesn’t seem to matter that said mares have never been correct enough to have proven themselves in the show ring or that they scratch their mane off during summer time. The foal will hopefully inherit the sire’s straight legs and long mane. And when it gets sold the „breeder“ catches two birds with one stone: the mare has a purpose and he makes a little money (at least that’s what some people think). if the price for the foal is low enough it will find a buyer for sure. Doesn’t everyone love to make a bargain? Just keep your eyes open, you will see the ads all over the internet and social media: „price reduced“, „special price“ or „small price if sold before …“. Makes sense, since next year’s foal crop is already under way.
Some say „in order to raise the best, you have to bring the best“. My motto for breeding horses is quality rather than quantity. Without investing in top quality horses there will be no top quality foals. And breeding horses for me means improvement, not just producing more horses. For this reason I have searched for horses that have above average quality. I am proud to own a small but high quality collection of horses coming from outstanding and proven bloodlines and who did and are doing very well in the show ring themselves. None of my horses will used for breeding already as a 2 year old. Not every mare will be bred every year.
By this we will hopefully get a small but high quality foal crop, horses that are correct from everywhere and leave not much to be desired. And without the pressure of having to sell cheap because we are running out of space in the barn we are able to keep the horses until the right buyer comes along.
This doesn’t mean we are selling for phantasy prices, on the contrary. But every horse owner soon realizes that the purchase price was the least of all the investments during a horse’s lifetime. There is also the saying „If it’s free, it can’t be any good.“. Probably every breeder is willing to give a discount for a five star home or a show home. Especially the latter is usually a win-win situation for all parties involved.
It only remains for me to add that we are hoping for a very small (compared to other breeders) but nonetheless outstanding foal crop in 2018.