Taking Advantage of Owning a Well-Bred Mare
Foal Shares a Way to Break into the Thoroughbred Industry
Oct 28, 2009
The general idea of a foal share is that a stallion owner offers the owner of a mare with a great pedigree and/or race record free access to one of their stallions. The resulting foal is owned by both the mare and stallion owner.
Oftentimes, the foal is then sold as a weanling or yearling and the profits are split. If the mare owner runs a commercial property, they often also prepare the horse for sale and cover feed and agistment costs.
Why Foal Share
For the stallion owner, offering a foal share means that they can seek out particularly well-bred mares that are going to offer their stallion a higher chance of being commercial. Having foals that are well-bred from well performing mares will bode well for sales and hopefully future progeny performance.
For the mare owner, often the idea of sending your mare to such a stallion is financially out of the question, hence the appeal of the foal share. Suddenly it’s possible to have your mare get in foal to that $30,000 stallion you’ve been eyeing.
Benefits of Foal Shares for the Mare Owner
- you have access to a stallion otherwise out of reach financially
- you are able to send your mare to a proven stallion
- there is no service fee
- increasing the saleability of your mare’s progeny
- the stallion owner may cover half the cost of sale preparation
Downside to Foal Shares
- whatever the resulting foal makes at a sale is split 50/50
- often the owner has to cover costs of bringing the young horse up without guarantee of it getting to a sale and generating some form of income
There are a lot of farms that partake in foal shares, making this publicly known or perhaps they will seek out the owner of a particular mare they like. As a mare owner, it’s worth your while spending that little bit more on the mare with the view to get her to a well priced stallion in the future.
Perhaps you may even be able to generate a deal with a stud before purchasing the mare. Some of the farms that offer such deals include Segenhoe Stud, Darley, Coolmore and Eliza Park.
For someone who is considering getting into the industry of breeding racehorses, perhaps this is an avenue worth exploring. Consider this possibility as a way to justify spending that little more on the mare. After all, if you’re no longer having to put aside money to cover the cost of a service fee, why not buy a mare that is better bred? Foal shares can be a great way to get your foot in the door and maybe lower the initial financial input and therefore the risk.
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