How to properly breed horses, upcoming expenses and possible benefits

Horse breeding has an ancient history. Horses were means of transportation, draft power, family breadwinners, and favorites of warriors. And today, when machines have replaced horses, these beautiful and strong animals continue to enjoy the love and respect of people of nomadic and sedentary peoples. Modern horses are used more for sporting purposes, but they often still faithfully serve people, providing both transportation and food supplies.

Breeding goals

Reproduction and breeding of horses has the following goals:

1. Obtaining horses for sports, for horse racing and dressage competitions.
2. For use in tourism, including for walks in nature, popular in the fashionable direction - eco-tourism.
3. Selection work, breeding new breeds.
4. Creating a workforce in a subsidiary, household plot or farm.
5. Growing and fattening for meat.

Breeding horses for the above purposes is difficult and expensive. Large costs will be required at the initial stage, in particular if a person does not have experience working with animals. To begin with, you will have to spend a lot of time and effort on training, and then just begin the practical implementation of your goal - breeding horses.

Profitable or not?

As a business, horse breeding will only be profitable if you have sufficient funds, knowledge, skills and the desire to succeed. In this type of activity, it is impossible to count on rapid success, since first you will have to spend money, and only then, under successful circumstances and personal efforts, you can make an impressive profit.

Benefits from horse breeding can only be obtained with diligence and love for these animals, and the desire to devote free time to working with them. If a person has talent, the gift to feel the character of horses, the ability to understand business and correctly navigate financial flows, he will be able to achieve success.

Investment and expected profit

The highest profits can come from breeding thoroughbred racehorses and fattening animals for meat. Although these areas provide different approaches to horses, they both require large investments.

To start a business you will have to do the following:

1. Purchase of land for setting up a horse farm. It should be large because, in addition to the stables, you will have to allocate space for storing feed, walking and training horses, if we are talking about dressage and breeding work, as well as space for slaughtering and processing of carcasses, if this is planned as an activity. Extensive pasture may also be required when breeding horses outdoors. During construction, it is advantageous to immediately lay down space for expanding the stables, because doing this later will be more difficult and expensive. The cost of construction depends on the size of the room, the selected materials, and the use of hired labor.
2. Purchase of horses for breeding. Costs here are also related to the chosen type of activity. The highest expenses will be required for breeding pedigree and racehorses - thoroughbred producers are expensive.
3. Stern. Horses eat and drink a lot, and are picky about the quality of water and food. For the winter, the herd will have to stock up on hay, oats, wheat, bran, and mineral supplements. Breeding horses will require significant costs throughout the entire time they are on the farm.
4. Veterinarian services that will be needed for vaccinations, treatment, pregnancy management and childbirth.
5. A specialist in slaughter, if the horses will not be sold alive, but are raised for meat for processing at their own enterprise or for sale by net weight.

All investments will pay off if there is demand for the products, regardless of the profile of the farm. Pedigree and outbred horses need to be raised where they are in demand, and fattening for meat is promising in those areas of the country where horse meat consumption is the norm.

As an example, the following figures can be cited:

1. A stable for 2-3 horses will cost at least 150-200 thousand rubles.
2. A stable with 24 stalls will cost at least 3-4 million rubles.
3. On average, a horse costs 70-100 thousand rubles.

If you add all other expenses, the amount turns out to be impressive - about 25 million rubles. Investments in horse breeding will not pay off soon. First, you will have to get the first offspring, create popularity for the farm, and in the case of beef horse breeding, achieve high quality products and develop a clientele.

Horse farm equipment

In addition to the construction of the stables, the following structures will have to be built:

1. House for staff and/or guards.
2. Buildings for storing feed, tools, harness, and so on.
3. Equip the area for walking, pasture.

You will also have to worry about selecting experienced professional personnel:

1. Manager (if the horse farm or stud farm is large enough and the owner will not do this work himself).
2. Accountant, for accounting and all financial transactions.
3. Grooms.
4. Veterinarian (or several, if there are many animals).
5. Support workers.

If there are two or three horses, the maintenance can be handled by one family (with special knowledge).

Choosing a horse breed

The most expensive purchase of pedigree horses is for breeding horses and breeding work. Prices per animal can vary significantly as they depend on the rarity and value of the breed.

To breed “workhorses,” it is best to focus on local breeds. They are perfectly adapted to natural conditions and are accustomed to the food supply.

Horses that are able to quickly gain weight, are unpretentious, and have an easy-going character are also selected for meat production. Horses of native breeds are considered the best: Yakut, Kazakh, Novo-Altai and so on.

Buying horses

It is most profitable to buy horses in herds or to purchase mares in foal, this way you can ensure the fastest possible production of offspring with minimal costs. At the same time, animals must have vaccinations, they must be strong and healthy. You should buy only from trusted sellers, and take with you an experienced specialist, veterinarian or livestock specialist.

When purchasing purebred horses for breeding, documents must be checked especially carefully. Buying a stud stallion is the most important step. You need to make sure that he is not related to the purchased mares, otherwise the offspring will be sick and unpromising.

Raising horses in pastures and stables

When raised for meat, herd farming is considered the best method. This way the meat will have the lowest cost. This method is only suitable where there are large steppes for pasture. Otherwise, you will have to use the stable or pasture-stable method. In the warm season, horses are released onto pastures, where they graze on fresh green grass, and in winter they are kept in stables.

To obtain tender, fatty meat, it is preferable to fatten horses in stables; for leaner meat, it is preferable to feed them free-range.

Mating and insemination

If you want to reproduce and breed horses, you need to have a veterinarian examine you a month in advance to identify the most promising individuals. The beginning of mating depends on weather conditions and the availability of food. In horse breeding, mating or artificial insemination is planned for the period from February 1 to June 15 for stable and stable-pasture breeding, for herd breeding - from April 1 to June 15 or from May 1 to July 1.This is done to ensure that pregnant mares have the maximum amount of fresh, healthy feed.

The stallions nominated for breeding are checked for sperm quality. Three samples are taken, the third one being the most important. Also for reproduction, sperm that meets GOST 2368-79 is used.

The age of the mare for mating for the first time is 4 years. Stallions of this age are limited to two matings per day; three-year-old stallions are allowed one mating. Adult stallions have an individual load on sperm quality and physical performance.

Basic principles of fattening

Young animals begin to be fattened after weaning from their mother. The diet should include the following products:

1. Grass (hay).
2. Juicy feed (potatoes, carrots, beets). A horse requires from 15 to 50 kilograms of such feed per day.
3. Concentrates (mostly oats, but also add wheat or bran, barley, corn and other grains).

Horses must have constant access to clean drinking water and salt. Concentrated feed is given during the last fattening period so that the meat is not excessively fatty.

Extraction and sale of horse meat

Horses naturally gain weight and fat closer to winter, so slaughter is most often timed for this time of year. Horses aged 2-3 years weighing over 400 kilograms are slaughtered. If a cold winter is coming and there is little food, animals older than 1 year are slaughtered.

The best parts are considered to be meat from the back, and the fattest parts are found on the ribs, neck and peritoneum. Fatty horse meat is used for traditional delicacies of nomadic peoples - kazy, sudzhuk, makhan, karyn (a delicacy made from boiled horse stomach).

Horse meat is in great demand in regions where it is traditionally eaten, but it has great promise compared to other types of meat.Horse meat is hypoallergenic, therefore suitable for feeding small children and allergy sufferers, it is nutritious and contains little bad cholesterol.

It is most profitable to find a regular buyer who will purchase meat in bulk (in large-scale production). If only a few animals are fattened, and there is demand in the local market, you can try to sell the meat at retail yourself - it will cost more. Horse breeding is not really a business, but rather a worldview. This work requires dedication, diligence, hard work, but can pay off with high profits.