Ten things I did wrong when starting my horse ranchIn thinking about the things I did wrong when starting my horse ranch, there are some things I wish I could do over again. I have come up with this list of ten things I did wrong. I hope that you can benefit from my mistakes. Also, don't miss my list of things I did right when starting my horse ranch. 10. Purchasing land instead of leasing it - I purchased as much land as I could afford. Then I built a house on it. Now I have a large mortgage payment that I cannot walk away from. A better approach would have been to lease the land - preferably with a house on it. Then spend a couple of years building up the business to a point where it could pay for the land. If it never reaches that point, you are not tied to a mortgage. 9. Purchasing too many horses - Like an idiot I purchased 8 brood mares and proceeded to breed all of them. Lucky for me, only 6 of them had babies. We had beautiful babies of every color, but we had 6 of them to wean, halter break, and teach all of the basics. This on top of working a job in town to pay for everything was just too much. Next time - start small. One or two mares at a time. This allows you to keep the size manageable. Unless, of course, you can hire help to do all of this for you. Unfortunately, since all of my money is going to pay the mortgage, I can't afford to hire the help. 8. One of the worst things I did wrong was borrowing on credit cards to purchase large ticket items - like fencing and barns and equipment. Long after the purchase, I am still paying for these items. 7. Rationalizing the purchase of large ticket items because they were 100% tax deductible with accelerated depreciation. Not a good reason to accelerate the purchase of these items. See item number eight. 6. Expecting to have lots of leisure to time to enjoy being in the country. Let's face it - owning any property comes with maintenance like mowing and cleaning. Multiply the mowing by 22 acres. In addition, every weekend is spent building or fixing something. I have spent exactly 1 hour riding a horse in the last 4 years because every waking moment is spent doing something else. 5. Expecting to have lots of help from friends and family. Just about the time I started this venture, everyone moved to a different city. I wonder if there is a connection there somewhere.... 4. Expecting internet advertising to work. I have received a number of responses from my internet ads, but most are what I would consider "tire kickers". Folks, if you have no real plans to buy a horse, please do not send me outside to take more current pictures, or a video, or ask me to measure my horse, or spend my time responding to your questions. I am more than happy to do these things for a serious buyer, but in most cases my responses to any of these requests have been met with silence. Please do not waste my time if you are not seriously considering my horse. If I have gone to the time and trouble to respond to your request for more pictures, I am more than happy for you to provide feedback to me that says my horse does not meet your needs for whatever reason. At least, I know you looked at the results of my efforts. 3. Under-estimating the cost of maintaining the horses. Folks, it costs lots of money to feed horses. Feed and hay is increasing in cost due to increases in the cost of fuel. In addition, there are costs for a farrier every 6 weeks ($35 - $40 per head), shots ($100 - $150 per head annually), and wormer ($10 per head every 8 weeks). For injuries or sickness, veterinarians expect to get paid well for the services they provide. Expect to spend $3000 annually for each horse to cover all of these costs. Heaven forbid that something catastrophic happens. 2. Over-estimating the market for horses with good bloodlines. I have carefully selected the broodmares and have bred to good stallions, however, because I am not willing to spend the time or money required to haul horses to horse shows, I have not yet found a good market for my horses. The people who have found my horses and taken the time to come look at them have been amazed at the quality. 1. Expecting to actually make money with horses. Forces at work in the marketplace have made this impossible. Learn more about me and my thoughts about these market forces. I am really not as negative as this sounds. These are just some of the things I did wrong and wish I could do over again. I do love my horses, and would probably do it all over again. You may also want to see my list of the top ten things that I did right when I started my horse ranch. Hopefully, you will be able to learn something from the things I did wrong when starting your horse ranch. Please share your horse tips with us here.
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