How
to Pick and Promote a Broodmare
By Todd Martin
Recently
I have been building some broodmare bands for a couple of clients.
I thought since it was fresh on my mind, I would share a couple of
the finer points to picking a good broodmare. One is have a lot of
money and patience. Second is give it to me and trust me. Just kidding.
Seriously,
first you need to see what event you are wanting to breed for and
stick to it. Now days the show pen has become very competitive in
specific disciplines. Certain breeds definitely perform better on
average in certain disciplines than others. That being said there
are also some that cross over well into several events.
For the sake of argument the event we will use is reining since it
is the discipline I train for. When looking for a broodmare for reining,
I ideally want a mare that has bloodlines that will also cross well
for cutting and working cowhorse. This is where we have gotten most
of our reiners. It also diversifies my selling ability. For example;
I would like to find a mare that is an own daughter of Smart Chic
Olena. Why you ask? Because he is a producer of world champions in
all three events (reining, working cowhorse and cutting). If my first
foal out of her works more like a cutter or cowhorse, then I know
where I need to promote and breed her from that point on. Now you
take an own daughter of Hollywood Dun It and her foal turns out more
like a cutter. Good luck on selling it to a cutter. The reason for
this is the numbers just do not work in favor of the cutter to purchase
this horse. He is going to have a hard time getting a perspective
buyer to even come out and look at a cutting horse out of Hollywood
Dun It, unless the price is right, and by that I mean low.
Now
we have established the type of breeding and the event, next is how
much is this going to cost me. There are smart ways to do this and
sadly they all cost money. But, the first and, I feel the most important,
is how much bang for your buck are you going to get. I work on quality
not quantity. Lets say that you want to spend, oh lets get crazy and
say you have an extra $40,000 laying around that is burning a whole
in your pocket. Just joking again, sort of. Lets just start out with
$10,000. I just made a whole bunch of husbands with horse crazy wives
out there shake a little. Now, most with $10,000 are thinking that
I will go out and by three, maybe four mares with decent bloodlines
at a decent price and get started. Bad move. Four mares equals four
breeding fees, four vet bills, four vaccinations, and four mediocre
babies to raise each year. Guess what, you eventually have four to
get started under saddle while you continue with paying for the four
breedings on the mares. This spreads your money way to thin and gets
nothing accomplished. Not to mention this gets you no where because
your money is spread so thin that you have no money left to promote
your babies. You do not have enough money left over to put any of
the offspring in the hands of a good trainer that can explore their
potential. This is where the phrase horse poor comes from.
Instead
take that $10,000 and purchase a mare that has good bloodlines and
is proven in the show pen. Now instead of spending $2,000 on four
$500 breeding fees, you can spend $2,000 on breeding to a stallion
of good quality. This stallion has proven offspring on the ground
and has a performance record that gives you something to brag about.
Also take into consideration that you have just saved money on not
having an additional three more vet bills. Now you have a baby that
is from a proven mare and out of a proven father, and the chances
of selling that baby and it actually getting to the show pen is much
greater. Plus you have increased your profit margin. You will make
more money with quality. Let me give you and idea of how I price a
long yearling; I double the breeding fee and go up or down from there
depending on the quality of the mare that she is out of. If the mare
has good bloodlines, the price goes up. If she is a performer in the
show pen and successful in the show pen, the price goes up. If she
has other babies on the ground that are performers, the price again
goes up. Why? Because I am not going to gamble my money on your mares
offspring just because it is a pretty buckskin and goes back to War
Leo some five generations back.
Think of it like a business. If I purchase this mare for $10,000 and
put $4,000 into the baby between breeding and a little training, then
I can sell it as a honest to goodness prospect at $7,000. It will
take me a little over six years to pay her off and have the next two
that are on the ground making a better profit.
Another plus to purchasing a mare that has value to her, is there
are a lot of stallion owners out there that want to get some babies
on the ground that will have a chance at hitting the show pen. You
have what the stallion owners want, a proven mare and you can use
that to get a break on the breeding fee. Which also improves your
profit margin.
Truthfully,
I could go on and on about the importance of a broodmare to a successful
breeding program. The broodmare in my opinion is the most important
element to building a strong business. I have given you a few key
points to consider when starting. However, really do your homework.
If you have any questions feel free to contact me.
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