Horse breeding: how to do business right, is it profitable or not and features

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 And today, when horses have been replaced by mechanisms, these beautiful and strong animals continue to enjoy the love and respect of people of nomadic and sedentary peoples.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

Breeding purposes

Reproduction and breeding of horses has the following goals:

1. Obtaining horses for sports, racing and dressage competitions.
2. For use in tourism, including for walks in nature, popular in the fashion direction - eco-tourism.
3. Selection work, breeding of new breeds.
4. Creation of labor force in the subsidiary, household or farm.
5. Growing and fattening for meat.

It is difficult and expensive to breed horses for the listed purposes. 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 only proceed to the practical implementation of the goal - breeding horses.

Profitable or not?

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

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

Investments and expected returns

The highest profits can come from breeding thoroughbred racehorses and fattening animals for meat. While these directions take a different approach to knights, they both require a lot of investment.

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

1. Purchase of land for a horse farm. It should be large, because, in addition to the stable, 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 places for slaughtering and carcass processing, if this is planned as an activity. An extensive pasture may also be required when breeding horses in the open. During construction, it is beneficial to immediately lay out space for expanding the stable, because it will be more difficult and expensive to do this later. The cost of construction depends on the size of the premises, the selected materials, the use of hired labor.
2. Purchasing horses for breeding. The costs here are also related to the chosen activity. The highest spending will be required for breeding pedigree and racehorses - thoroughbreds are expensive.
3. Feed. Horses eat and drink a lot, while being picky about the quality of water and food. For the winter, the herd will have to harvest hay, oats, wheat, bran, and mineral supplements. Breeding horses will incur significant costs throughout their stay on the farm.
4. Veterinary services needed for vaccinations, treatment, pregnancy and delivery.
5. Slaughter specialist if the horses will not be sold alive, but raised for meat for processing at their own facility or for sale by net weight.

All investments will pay off if there is demand for products, regardless of the profile of the farm. Breeding 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 the consumption of horse meat for food is the norm.

The following figures can be used as an example:

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

If you add all the other expenses, the amount is impressive - about 25 million rubles. The investment in breeding horses will not pay off soon. To begin with, you will have to get the first offspring, create popularity for the farm, and with meat horse breeding, achieve high quality products and develop a clientele.

Horse farm equipment

In addition to the construction of the stables, you will have to build the following structures:

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 recruiting experienced professional staff:

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

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

Choose the breed of horses

The most expensive purchase of breeding horses will cost when breeding horses and breeding work. Prices per animal can vary significantly, as they depend on the rarity and value of the breed.

For breeding "workhorses" it is best to focus on local breeds. They are perfectly adapted to natural conditions and familiar to the food supply.

For meat production, horses are also selected that are able to quickly gain weight, unpretentious, with an accommodating character. Horses of native breeds are considered the best: Yakut, Kazakh, Novo altay and so on.

Buying horses

It is most profitable to buy horses in herds or to buy foal mares, so you can ensure the fastest possible offspring at minimal cost. At the same time, animals must be vaccinated, they must be strong and he althy. It is worth buying only from trusted sellers, and taking an experienced specialist, veterinarian or livestock specialist with you.

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

For tender fatty meat, it is preferable to fatten horses in stables, for more lean - free-range.

Coating and insemination

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

The stallions assigned for mating are checked for sperm quality. Take three samples, the most important is the third of them. Also, sperm is used for reproduction, which meets GOST 2368-79.

The age of the mare for mating for the first time is 4 years. For stallions of this age, the number of matings is limited to two per day; a three-year-old is allowed one cage. Adult stallions have an individual workload in terms of sperm quality and physical performance.

Basic principles of fattening

Young animals begin to fatten after weaning. The diet should include the following foods:

1. Grass (hay).
2. Juicy food (potatoes, carrots, beets). A horse needs 15 to 50 kilograms of this feed per day.
3. Concentrates (mainly oats, but also added wheat or bran, barley, corn and other grains).

Horses should have constant access to clean drinking water and s alt. Concentrated feeds are given in the last fattening period so that the meat is not overly fatty.

Production and sale of horsemeat

Horses naturally put on weight and fat closer to winter, so slaughter is most often timed for this time of year. Horses are slaughtered at the age of 2-3 years with a mass of 400 kilograms. If a cold winter is coming and there is little food, animals over 1 year old are slaughtered.

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

Horse meat is in high demand in traditionally eaten regions, but holds great promise compared to other meats.Horse meat is hypoallergenic, therefore suitable for feeding young children and allergy sufferers, it is nutritious and contains little harmful cholesterol.

It is most advantageous to find a regular buyer who will buy meat in bulk (in large-scale production). If few animals are fed and there is demand in the local market, you can try to retail the meat yourself - it costs more. Breeding horses is not exactly a business, but rather a worldview. This job requires dedication, diligence, hard work, but can pay off with high profits.

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