Little Wolf Ranch
Well-Known Member
Let's be honest, most of us consider our miniatures to be our hobby and while it is fun, most of us (or at least our money conscious husbands) would like to break even or better yet, make money while enjoying this hobby! So let's get a little serious for a moment.
Who here has actual broke down the costs from the initial breeding, through mare keeping, to foaling and all the way to weaning and date of sale in order to calculate the costs? I cam across a website with an amazing Excel spreadsheet (not sure if I can share it here or not, so will an admin please approve that I can or confirm that I can't??) that had you break down the costs for everything from the original cost of buying the mare, to stud fees, to caring for the mare through pregnancy, to foaling costs, etc. and it enlightened me that I should be bringing in somewhere between $850-$1200 per foal to be able to break even on all of the costs for the time from breeding to the sale date at weaning. I'm sure my husband would gasp at the sight of these numbers, so I'll keep that hush hush for now lol.
So, my point being, is who here can say they have actually been able to be "in profit range" for selling their foals, or do you even take the numbers into consideration? Keep in mind, the numbers above have nothing to do with the QUALITY of the foal. These numbers were just calculated purely by the costs put into each mare to get a live and healthy foal on the ground, and seeing as my costs are very reasonable compared to other areas of the US, I am sure it can vary much lower or much higher depending on a variety of factors.
I'm sure all of us would love for the miniatures to either maintain themselves, or better yet make a profit, which in todays market is hard to do. I do plan on using the spreadsheet to help price my foals along with their quality. Obviously a poorly bred conformational mess will not bring those prices unless you can sweet talk a fool into buying it but this is assuming that the foal is of quality, which I do hope they are based on the sires and dams. It's always a shot in the dark about what you will get, but let's talk business for a moment!
Who here has actual broke down the costs from the initial breeding, through mare keeping, to foaling and all the way to weaning and date of sale in order to calculate the costs? I cam across a website with an amazing Excel spreadsheet (not sure if I can share it here or not, so will an admin please approve that I can or confirm that I can't??) that had you break down the costs for everything from the original cost of buying the mare, to stud fees, to caring for the mare through pregnancy, to foaling costs, etc. and it enlightened me that I should be bringing in somewhere between $850-$1200 per foal to be able to break even on all of the costs for the time from breeding to the sale date at weaning. I'm sure my husband would gasp at the sight of these numbers, so I'll keep that hush hush for now lol.
So, my point being, is who here can say they have actually been able to be "in profit range" for selling their foals, or do you even take the numbers into consideration? Keep in mind, the numbers above have nothing to do with the QUALITY of the foal. These numbers were just calculated purely by the costs put into each mare to get a live and healthy foal on the ground, and seeing as my costs are very reasonable compared to other areas of the US, I am sure it can vary much lower or much higher depending on a variety of factors.
I'm sure all of us would love for the miniatures to either maintain themselves, or better yet make a profit, which in todays market is hard to do. I do plan on using the spreadsheet to help price my foals along with their quality. Obviously a poorly bred conformational mess will not bring those prices unless you can sweet talk a fool into buying it but this is assuming that the foal is of quality, which I do hope they are based on the sires and dams. It's always a shot in the dark about what you will get, but let's talk business for a moment!
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