10/11/2025
Yup
Some totally informal research, not backed up by any absolute evidence, has come up with some ideas about what it ACTUALLY COSTS to keep one horse for one year, whether it’s a horse in work or a complete pasture ornament.
I started by trying to figure out actual costs, hay, grain, board, vet care, foot care, dental care, labor, the most basic basics, and most of those I asked said that they felt that ten dollars a day was about rock bottom minimum in most places, which comes to $3, 650, a year.
So, going up by 5 dollars a day---
$15=$5,475 a year,
$20=$7,300 a year
$25=$9,125 a year
$30=$10,950 a year
And so on, up and up if the horse is boarded at a suburban barn, and so forth.
What triggered this was reading some of the comments about what a 4 year old should sell for, and what it probably took to get the c**t to the fall of its 3 year old year. And how many felt that ten thousand would be "too high."
So, one year while the mare is in foal, minimum, $3, 650. Then 3 years of the c**t’s expenses, minimum, comes to another $10,680. Then add the mare’s in foal year, and rock bottom minimum it has cost the breeder $14,330 to get the foal to this place.
That doesn’t include any extras like stud fee, handling, training, just the most basic of basics. So if the c**t got sold for, say $20,000 the owner is probably breaking even---MAYBE---For any hope of profit on investment, a price in the high twenties MIGHT deliver some profit, and that, right there, are some HARD REALITIES about USA horse breeding.
