I've owned horses now for a bit over 20 years. Not once have I considered it as a path to make money. It is an enjoyable way to spend money. I've likely lost less money than most who have tried to make money from horses.
This got long but I'll post it anyway: I've picked up weanlings from an outfit over in East Central Montana that the way they were able to start their breeding program is by buying a ton of mostly worthless land, putting a barn and corrals up on it and a tiny cabin. Note that they didn't run electricity all the way out there so their well runs on a fuel generator that they only turn on when it comes time to fill stock tanks. They built insulated tanks, so they must break ice in the coldest parts of winter, but it never gets very thick. They add on to their place as they get the money to do so. He works as a trucker hauling cattle and she runs the horse side of their outfit. I think they run around 60 mares and three or four studs. They are the second most profitable horse breeding program I have seen in person in my lifetime so far that started from the ground up. At the rate they are going they are never going to be millionaires, nor will they probably ever be able to retire. I expect they will be doing what they are doing until they die, but they love doing it so that to me is even better than retirement. I expect they will get electricity out there when they are much older but maybe not. A lot of places in Montana never connect to the grid. The most profitable horse outfit I have ever seen was the ranch five miles north of mine. They had a weanling breeding program very similar to the other outfit BUT (and this is a big one) they made their money in timber and timber land by running a mill out east in PA and every time they had a profit, they bought more timber land. They are and were millionaires by their 40s and they started the horse thing in their retirement in their 50s by selling off some of their mature hardwood timberland back east where they came from. When they reached their late 70s, they kept two geldings from their breeding program for personal riding horses and fully retired and sold off the rest of their stock. They are in their mid-80s now and the owner told me on multiple occasions that they tried every aspect of the horse industry from showing to competing to training and resale etc. and the only way they were able to make good money with horses consistently was breeding and selling the weanlings literally as soon as they were weaned once they had established a solid breeding program with proven winners. They too were off grid running off a generator until about 15 years ago, but their water is flowing through their property, so they didn't need to pump from a well for anything but house water. Their place now is probably worth an easy 25 - 30 million dollars, but a lot of that has to do with where it is at and the tremendous amount of work, they put into the place itself. They have also grown the land from the original 300 acres up to over 800 acres now by buying adjacent property as their horse business turned a profit and sometimes by timber or land sales of property they still hold back east. Given what I have seen play out I would recommend starting in a state further south if you want to do horses for a living and actually turn a profit. Montana's six plus month long winters are really hard on trying to get a business like that started. I think the location you pick to start in will have a lot to do with your eventual success or failure as I have seen so many fail up here for various reasons that I have lost count of the number of failures I have seen. Working in brands enforcement I probably see fifty or more complete failures for every one marginal success in the horse industry. True total or near total successes are as rare as hen's teeth, but they do happen and every time I have seen it they have these things in common: a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice to achieve what they want, an unbelievable amount of really hard work, and a refusal to give up no matter how bad it gets. Usually, the success comes after many years (20 - 30) of barely getting by.
Living in the midwest , mainly quarter horse country , the economy , expenses & overhead like insurance , taxes , etc. have now made horse owning a luxury . Only folks w/ money can own horses , let alone make a profit ; it's either a hobby or a tax write off . The smaller barns w/quality care , trustworthy staff & well-respected trainers & teachers , & local shows are quickly disappearing which in turn , means less access for beginning riders whether for showing or even local trail riding . I was in show horses, lessons , etc. professionally for 30+ years then segued into two new disciplines as an amateur / non-pro & have seen the rise , then decline of the "affordable " horse business . Now it's either " go big or go home " - expensive barn , horse , trainer . show circuits , etc.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with you on the price that has to be paid to get there. I may just be lucky in being surrounded by people that have done it in 10 years or less working oil field jobs, tech jobs, or training cutting horses. In every case those individuals started out broke but their net worth when considering their land valuations less debts total well over a million dollars. Land rich cash poor is the name of this game but that’s not totally a bad thing.
Thanks so much for this. Love how you are down to earth, authentic and so honest. I live in Quebec , Canada and I wanted to slowly start a side business like this. Training people's horses that have behaviour problems at my small ranch (2-4 acres). One or two horse at a time. Side business from my full time job... cause i do have spare time. Something like on the Canadian show Heartland... any recommendations for a small ranch ?
What's the quickest way to make a million dollars in the horse industry?
Start with 2 million!
Oh , so very true ! 🤣
Very expensive hobby. I know. Never would do it for the money. Too many horses flooding the market by irresponsible breeders.
I've owned horses now for a bit over 20 years. Not once have I considered it as a path to make money. It is an enjoyable way to spend money. I've likely lost less money than most who have tried to make money from horses.
My friend's husband said of her horses : " It's like having kids at Harvard that never graduate ! " 😂
This got long but I'll post it anyway:
I've picked up weanlings from an outfit over in East Central Montana that the way they were able to start their breeding program is by buying a ton of mostly worthless land, putting a barn and corrals up on it and a tiny cabin. Note that they didn't run electricity all the way out there so their well runs on a fuel generator that they only turn on when it comes time to fill stock tanks. They built insulated tanks, so they must break ice in the coldest parts of winter, but it never gets very thick. They add on to their place as they get the money to do so. He works as a trucker hauling cattle and she runs the horse side of their outfit. I think they run around 60 mares and three or four studs. They are the second most profitable horse breeding program I have seen in person in my lifetime so far that started from the ground up. At the rate they are going they are never going to be millionaires, nor will they probably ever be able to retire. I expect they will be doing what they are doing until they die, but they love doing it so that to me is even better than retirement. I expect they will get electricity out there when they are much older but maybe not. A lot of places in Montana never connect to the grid.
The most profitable horse outfit I have ever seen was the ranch five miles north of mine. They had a weanling breeding program very similar to the other outfit BUT (and this is a big one) they made their money in timber and timber land by running a mill out east in PA and every time they had a profit, they bought more timber land. They are and were millionaires by their 40s and they started the horse thing in their retirement in their 50s by selling off some of their mature hardwood timberland back east where they came from. When they reached their late 70s, they kept two geldings from their breeding program for personal riding horses and fully retired and sold off the rest of their stock. They are in their mid-80s now and the owner told me on multiple occasions that they tried every aspect of the horse industry from showing to competing to training and resale etc. and the only way they were able to make good money with horses consistently was breeding and selling the weanlings literally as soon as they were weaned once they had established a solid breeding program with proven winners. They too were off grid running off a generator until about 15 years ago, but their water is flowing through their property, so they didn't need to pump from a well for anything but house water. Their place now is probably worth an easy 25 - 30 million dollars, but a lot of that has to do with where it is at and the tremendous amount of work, they put into the place itself. They have also grown the land from the original 300 acres up to over 800 acres now by buying adjacent property as their horse business turned a profit and sometimes by timber or land sales of property they still hold back east.
Given what I have seen play out I would recommend starting in a state further south if you want to do horses for a living and actually turn a profit. Montana's six plus month long winters are really hard on trying to get a business like that started. I think the location you pick to start in will have a lot to do with your eventual success or failure as I have seen so many fail up here for various reasons that I have lost count of the number of failures I have seen.
Working in brands enforcement I probably see fifty or more complete failures for every one marginal success in the horse industry.
True total or near total successes are as rare as hen's teeth, but they do happen and every time I have seen it they have these things in common: a tremendous amount of self-sacrifice to achieve what they want, an unbelievable amount of really hard work, and a refusal to give up no matter how bad it gets. Usually, the success comes after many years (20 - 30) of barely getting by.
Living in the midwest , mainly quarter horse country , the economy , expenses & overhead like insurance , taxes , etc. have now made horse owning a luxury . Only folks w/ money can own horses , let alone make a profit ; it's either a hobby or a tax write off . The smaller barns w/quality care , trustworthy staff & well-respected trainers & teachers , & local shows are quickly disappearing which in turn , means less access for beginning riders whether for showing or even local trail riding . I was in show horses, lessons , etc. professionally for 30+ years then segued into two new disciplines as an amateur / non-pro & have seen the rise , then decline of the "affordable " horse business . Now it's either " go big or go home " - expensive barn , horse , trainer . show circuits , etc.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree with you on the price that has to be paid to get there. I may just be lucky in being surrounded by people that have done it in 10 years or less working oil field jobs, tech jobs, or training cutting horses. In every case those individuals started out broke but their net worth when considering their land valuations less debts total well over a million dollars. Land rich cash poor is the name of this game but that’s not totally a bad thing.
Great background stories! We can learn so danged much from others' journeys. Thanks for the long post; loved it!
Thanks so much for this. Love how you are down to earth, authentic and so honest.
I live in Quebec , Canada and I wanted to slowly start a side business like this. Training people's horses that have behaviour problems at my small ranch (2-4 acres). One or two horse at a time. Side business from my full time job... cause i do have spare time. Something like on the Canadian show Heartland... any recommendations for a small ranch ?
Horses make you a millionaire if you were a billionaire before. My father said :D
Do a video on training and trading
A fuckin men brother!
Botox on a barrel racer 😆 🤣 😂
Good morning,
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