Question for those of you with "Working" Farms

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Frankie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
Messages
4,430
Reaction score
36
Location
Muncie, Indiana
I am only guessing you have miniatures, as you are here.

If you have a working farm,,,,,,,,,,,,how do you make your money,,,,the most money?

Doing what? And why does it work?

If it requires acreage, how many acres?
 
Mostly I just spend lots of money on my horses,but I bought some Minis at an auction for resale,sold them to a lady for pets and they now board here so I am getting paid to take care of someone elses Minis.Included in the board is training(since they are both young)worming and farrier care along with the usual feed hay and pasture.I think it is difficult to make money in breeding horses especially if you really care about the welfare of each animal and the best for it.Many of us in this business get very attached to these little guys and put the heart before the wallet.JMO
 
I spoke to one of the bigger trainers in the industry about what it's like to be a "working farm". They said they did not make any money off of training, but that they money they made came from selling their foals breed from their champion stock. We sell our foals too, but we don't get $20 grand a piece for them so I don't think we'll be making money any time soon. :lol: If we break even on the cost of feed from selling foals then it has been a good year. hee hee

It must be very hard to be a trainer as far as the money goes. If you charge $300/mo for training then you have to spend at least $50 feeding the horse and stall shavings. That leaves $250 left over. I usually spend an hour training, grooming, and spending time with my horse (at least) so over 30 days that is only $8/hr if they have 8 horses in training. Now add in the cost of a nice truck/trailer, a place with a nice barn/paddocks, and the insurance you have to have to train other's horses and it really cuts into what they make. Most trainers have more than 8 horses of course, but then either the horse gets less individual time or the trainer is working very long hours. I had a close friend who trained horses for a living and he said he worked 18 hr days 7 days a week and loved it.
 
there are a lot of farms that also breed dogs. I know one who got out of minis and did dogs full time because they made so much money on the pups. we breed occassional litters but not a lot. But i can say there is the potential for much more profit in a puppy then in a horse. (i know ill get flamed for saying that)

I have also knew a farm the grew lavender and made pretty good money from that. they sell dried lavender and lavender oil. Another one that grows pumpkins etc

and then there are the training farms. IMO they probably make the best profit. Alot of trainers stop breeding altogether and just train and show for other people.
 
Well, let me see. I work for the State of Ohio, that is how I make my money. Judy works for Blackwing Shooting Center in Delaware, Ohio and Pete has a Conklin dealership and sells his Christmas trees in season and dug trees the rest of the time. In other words, the place is a 70 acre money pit. sigh.

I have been told the only way to make a million dollars in horses is to start with ten million.

And dogs? Only way to make money would be to skip genetic testing, socializing puppies, and breeding lots of litters. No thanks.
 
And dogs? Only way to make money would be to skip genetic testing, socializing puppies, and breeding lots of litters. No thanks.
as someone who spent a good number of years doing rescue i can only say i wish more people felt this way. :no:

unless you just breed any old thing, give it a cute name and jack the prices up high (i.e. unless you want to have a puppy mill) there isn't any more money in it then in horses. done right breeding dogs usually costs more money then it earns through sales.
 
I'm a working farm!!!!!!

I have a farm and I definfately work here very hard with it too!

But alas, I am running a non-profit organization.............(sigh)

I do make a little money when I sell miniature horse tack and my books however, my mark up is very slight and I can't even begin to keep up with the big tack stores. I don't have that kind of money to invest in stock, but it usually helps me with feed money and nothing more.
 
We have a working farm ( definition meaning a farm run for profit and fun) and don't make a lot of money, but we do see some profits from the operation. For many years we did not though, due to not having the right kind of stock to produce the type horses that would make a profit. We actually ended up keeping one stallion (Rio) and 6 mares from the original herd of about 45, when we decided to get serious about a breeding program.

We have upgraded our other stallions from a conformation and bloodline standpoint over the last 7 - 10 years. Adding Buckeroo, Patton and Baccarra ( a buckeroo son), La Vista Farms bloodlines etc. to our breeding program along with the established "Rio" line we already had. Additionally we have started offering horses for export overseas, improved our fencing, barns etc at a fairly expensive cost, at least to us.

Currently we run about 65 mares plus 8 breeding stallion on 31 acres of which probally 30 per year are bred for the most part. We are constantly culling from the bottom each year and this last year we only bred 12 mares, because they had all slipped down in the year as far as due dates. Which causes a problem when it is time for the babies to be shown, if you want them to be competitive. It is things such as that that impact the cost of running a farm and have to be considered when planning a sucessful orperation. We did not do a good job of managing it and it cost us this year. Every year we plan each and every breeding in an effort to produce the type horse we are looking for. Some crosses work, some do not and it takes time to fiqure out what will work with your particular horses.

With two people working full time outside with the horses and Cindy, plus a part time secretary to keep breeding records, registration papers etc. straight, it is a very busy place.

Trainers which we used for years, but do not use now days for a number of reasons. The main one being we wanted our horses here at home for the grandkids to work with on a daily basis. Work at basically a minimum wage type deal except for the make ready and travel charges they get. The 300 - 425.00 per month currently being charged is by no means a major profit center for them according to some of my friends that are full time trainers.

If you are thinking about opening a training center I would advise you that it is a long uphill battle to gain the reputation and experience needed to make it profitable.

If you are planning on a breeding farm, My advice would be to get the best quality conformation wise and the best blood lines combined when you start out. It will serve you better to feed and take care of two or three good horses than 10 lesser horses if you want to try and make this deal pay for itself. Even then it is a long uphill battle to carve out a niche that will be profitable for you. Even with the proper horses and techniques it still takes a lot of hard work and a little luck to be successful. Plus the money to advertise etc. to portray your horses in the market for others consider.

As a final suggestion, buy and breed what you like as far as type, colors etc., so that if the financial gains are not there for you, at least you can enjoy these little guys for the wonderful animals they are.

Realize that there are many exceptional horses produced each year from small breeders, so it is not a size thing. But rather a quality counts in all cases from marketing, to showing, to eventual sales.

Hope all that rambling helps in some way.

Good luck and if I can provide you with any more information, let us know.

:saludando:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back a few years ago when I had my riding business up I made quite a comfty profit. Also selling poultry and eggs had it's benefits of pocket change. With my minis, it's just a hobby....I enjoy showing them and in the near future would like to participate in parades. Should I decide to breed in the future, it will just be for me and hubby.....very small operation.
 
The rent I make renting extra pasture and most of my 83 tillable acres to my in-laws dairy farm pays for the farm quite nicely. One of the fringe benifits of renting out my extra acrage is I get my hay put up for free. Keeps my expenses down and allows me to turn a profit when I do sell a pony.
default_yes.gif
:
 
The majority of breeders don't do it to make a profit.......period. And if there is any sort of livelihood related to their farm it is NOT from breeding.

Yes, we have a "working" farm, but selling our horses is not the main source of income. The fact that we are mini horse breeders helps us when it comes to transporting, so one helps the other.

We also have other sources of income.......

MA
 
Pam,

my wife ask me the same question each year at tax time. She keeps insisting that the reason that I am supposed to go to work each day is to pay for her passion for horses. LOL I guess I now know my mission in life and will have to work on keeping my priorities straight.

:saludando:
 
Well John, I'd say your wife certainly has her priorities right!! :lol:

Pam
 
I have 3 working ranches, 2 in TX, 1 in SoCal. I breed alpacas and do well. Like in the horse business only the best of the best alpacas bring the profit. And a bit breeding skills

Some folks say too expensive thats true. I see it as an livestock investment. According to NY history papers its the oldest business in America. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.

Until now I have 32 horses and expect 17 foals. I don't think its a hobby anymore

I love my job, my dream of America.

Anita
 
And dogs? Only way to make money would be to skip genetic testing, socializing puppies, and breeding lots of litters. No thanks.
HERE HERE! I agree... puppymilling is NOT the way to go and if your doing that..you wont be in business very long i don't truly beleive!! I breed Australian Shepherds.. one or two litters a year. Well i do hips and eyes and vet care whenever they need it ect. You know i would make a KILLING but ONLY ONLY ONLY IF i was a puppy miller who didn't give a rats butt about what i was breeding or the care of the animals. if i never did the health certs, if i didn't feed a decent quality food, didn't do vet checks and care ect.

i'm a hobby breeder..it is NOT what i consider a business and do not treat it really as such I do it primarily because i LOVE the dogs and i LOVE dealing with them.. If you are a GOOD breeder that does care for your dogs with vet visits and health certificates then you probably wont make much!! I know it's aweful nice when you have $3-4000 roll in at once from a nice large litter of pups... it seems like a lot of money and making a killing..but if you sat down and truly figured out your costs from a business perspective, you've put an outrageous amount of money into getting that $4K.

I sat down last year and did some figuring of all the costs invested in my dogs (from a business perspective they count everything from dog food, crates, fencing ect ect). I was about $7K in the hole after 2 litters (and that was only if i never spent another penny on the dogs..the hole keeps getting deeper inbetween litters and all the stuff that is needed to care for litters when they are here!) and that was ruff figuring..i'd never really kept track of everything i've purchased for them so i'm sure it was lacking alot!!!! sure i might have made $8K off two litters (well that was if i was lucky and had a large litter) but i spent far more than that to make those two litters. Then feed for my breeding stock inbetween litters ads up, crates, fencing, upgrades VET BILLS, ect. i probably had about twice what i earned from the dogs! The nice part is with the dogs is you invest a little here and a little there at a time.. you get the price of the pups back mostly in one lump quick sum where you may not have had that much money all at one time another way.

I will say though, that usually invest the money from the puppies back into the hay and dog food for the rest of the critters on the farm and some other upkeep stuff. I wouldnt' say that i ever make enough money to even come close to making it my ONLY source of income neither with horses or dogs....
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I knew i was going to get in trouble for the dog statement. Of course i take care of my dogs and vaccinate, test, socialize. Geesh. And I am not and have never been a puppy miller. I have only 1 to 2 litters per year and have had ZERO for the last year. Although I have a huge waiting list of people wanting puppies I did not breed this year. But I am not going to sit here and lie and say I didnt make any money selling puppies. There is a responsible way to breed dogs just like there is to breed horses. I also find it a little hypocritcal to say breeding dogs is horrible by people who breed horses to sell. I have built a reputation of the dogs I breed and that is why they are in demand and why I have a waiting list. I spare no exspense on any of my animals.

We all know that there are tons of miniature horse farms that also breed dogs. Frankies question was for working farms how do they make money other then miniature horses (or thats how I took the question)

Boinky I also love my dogs and they live in the house with me. No kennels here! Just because I admit that I made money doesnt make me a bad person or a bad breeder.

Jody I dont skip anything with my dogs! You will see when you come out and meet them
default_smile.png
 
Well, I make my entire living from my miniature horses. Both as a trainer and as a breeder. I don't know that I 'make' any money, but it does pay the bills!
default_smile.png
I feel really fortunate to be able to do what I always dreamed of doing as a child; own a horse farm! I only have 5 acres and have a limited number of horses. It's a 7 day a week, sometimes 24 hours a day job, but through perserverance, correct management, lots of advertising, $$$$ and sweat, I make it work.
default_smile.png
 
Well, I tell you, this last while we've been saying here that we should have gone into raising dogs rather than Minis.

I know someone that is raising terriers. She raises 4 or 5 litters a year & sells the puppies for $2300 US before weaning. She has a breed that is difficult to get live pups & yes she puts a lot of effort & money into getting those live pups, but she is definitely making money on them. They have given her a good living for years now.
 
Oh Kay! I never meant to imply that you are a bad breeder, oh no!!!!! My comment was a general statement aimed at the puppy mill type people who see their dogs as livestock.

If you take into account ALL of the expenses, that would include the money put into your property, all vet care, feeding, etc of the dogs, you probably aren't making money on them. I would bet they aren't supporting your family. I would also bet that you would keep your puppies rather than see them go to the wrong homes, and would take back any of your puppies for any reason if the owners give them up. I would also bet you make darn sure your puppy buyers know what Border Collies are like and make sure they would be a fit. The people I was referring to would not do that, but get those puppies sold to any person that comes along, maybe even lies about the breed to do it.

I had one person who had been told by a Corgi 'breeder' that they don't shed. :new_shocked: HUH? Oh yes they do, twice a year for 7 or 8 months at a time, then really bad twice a year!

I do rescue of Pembroke Welsh Corgis and see first hand the damage done by uneducated back yard breeders and puppy millers. Our rescue saw a lot of dogs come through last year (100+) and we are starting this year off with a bang. Just got word of two older males in a shelter in Bucyrus, Ohio that have some kind of health issues the owners weren't willing to deal with so they took them to the shelter. Joy of joys, this shelter refuses to work with rescues and won't release the dogs to us. They don't understand that releasing to rescue opens up a spot for another dog in their shelter and maybe one less shelter dog euthanized.

Just placed a puppy that came from a high kill shelter in Indiana. He was very poor quality, not very good looking, overloaded with energy, but for some reason really fell in love with him. He was hard to give up, but we can't keep them or we wouldn't have room for the next rescue. I have had to put down rescue dogs with temperment problems, heck we had one that had suddenly attacked her young owner so the kid's mother put her into rescue immediately. She was so shocked by the attack, never happened before, but never bothered to find out the cause. We did, a huge bruise on her rib cage, maybe from being kicked by somebody? The story was she was lying on the floor and the kid was petting her. He probably got her bruised area and all she was saying was OW! She was a wonderful dog, and got an awsome home.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top