The breeding of horses today is an incredible business. Many stallions are seen as investments that have the potential to generate a substantial income over the short term. In fact, a lot of people invest in a stallion with the view to generate over three years, the sum that was initially paid for the horse.
Protecting the Investment
Consider one of Australia’s most expensive stallions. Redoute’s Choice stands at a fee of $137,500 Australian dollars for the 2011 breeding season. In a time where 100 – 200 mares are easily bred in the 5 month breeding season, consider the figure that would be earned on 100 mares getting in foal.
This would result in a return of $13.75 million from one horse. Of course, not all stallions have such incredible service fees. However, for a stallion that stands at a fee of around $5,000 with a book of 60 mares, $30,000 is still a substantial sum to be earned by the owners of that stallion. For this reason, the health of a stallion and his resulting fertility is highly important.