Anne Peters
P.O. Box 3926
Midway, KY 40347
(859) 846 - 9794
pedgoddess
@yahoo.com

You have a mare and you want to breed a Kentucky Derby winner out of her. Now what do you do?

First, you need to decide who to breed her to. If it's your first time, or if you're not that familiar with interpreting pedigrees, conformation, race records and stallion records, call in some help. Otherwise, there are a lot of tools out there to help you or just confuse you.

Get an updated pedigree of your mare so you know what's happened in her family most recently, which will give you ideas on what bloodlines she might work with. Look for stallions with bloodlines that have worked with her parents, and reverse the process, to see if those stallions have worked with her pedigree. Keep it up close. The further back you go in a pedigree, the less the influence. It reduces by half each generation. One cross of La Troienne in the seventh generation is not enough to base a mating on. Please, don't limit your search to a good nick rating. You want the whole pedigree working together, not just the tail male lines.

Make a list of potential stallions and if possible, go see them in person. If that's not possible, find photos to see if their conformation is acceptable and compatible with your mare. Don't use a stallion just because he has a good pedigree. Don't use a stallion just because he's standing for free in your neighbor's back yard.

Once you decide on a stallion, you have to arrange for a contract to breed your mare. There are several options. 1. You can call the farm where the horse stands directly and make the arrangements yourself.
2. You can call an agent or a breeder who might have a season available to the same horse.
3. You can purchase a season through one of the stallion season auctions that take place anytime between December and February before the breeding season. (See far left column.)
4. You can buy a share or breeding right in the stallion, which will give you lifetime access to the horse. This is expensive and usually costs more than a single season price.
5. Out of proceeds or "breed secure". A special arrangement in which the stallion farm takes the stud fee out of the auction sale of the pregnant mare, resulting weanling or yearling. This delays payment on the stud fee for the breeder. Specific terms and conditions may vary. The stud fee due depending on the sales price. The mare owner usually assumes all expenses, including veterinary.
6. Mare share or foal share. A special arrangement in which the stallion farm or syndicate becomes a partner with the breeder and splits the proceeds of the sale of the pregnant mare, resulting weanling or yearling. If the resulting sale brings more than twice the stud fee, for instance, the stallion farm will also get more than the advertized fee as a reward for their patience. Specific terms and conditions may vary from a straight up 50/50 split of the sale price to something else. The mare owner usually assumes all expenses, including veterinary.

You can have your advisor or farm manager make the arrangements for you, in which case most stallion farms will pay your agent a commission (5% of the stud fee) payable to them after you pay the stud fee, at no expense to the mare owner. This is a nice way to thank the person who advises you or takes care of your mare, but it's not mandatory. Out of proceeds, mare shares and foal shares usually don't pay commission.

Once you have located a season, ask for their "best price" since the season may be discounted to move it quicker. There may be package deals available that you could use with another mare to get the discount. Ask for the payment terms of the contract. The most common is "live foal guaranteed, payable when the foal stands and nurses." If the mare doesn't produce a live foal, no fee is due. There may also be "no guarantee" seasons available at a reduced fee (usually 60 to 70% off the live foal price) but these are paid in advance and are not refundable.

Your mare will be subject to approval, which is totally up to the owner of the season. They want to make sure the mare will produce a live foal as early as possible, so mares with a lot of blank years in their reproductive records will be suspect, as will mares with late breeding dates from last year, and old mares may also be questioned. Some farms don't care and just want as many mares bred as possible. On more elite stallions whose books fill up quickly, farms may discriminate on quality of the mare's race record and pedigree as well, to ensure a high quality book of mares.

If your mare is approved and a contract is sent, READ IT. All stallions standing in Kentucky are subject to a 6% sales tax. The stallion farms have to pay that to the state, so there's no negotiating that away. Don't be surprised when you see it on the bill, even from a private season owner.

Be aware that if the pregnant mare goes through a sale or changes hands before she foals, the stud fee will be due immediately with no guarantee. This is something a lot of breeders aren't aware of and so run into some last minute scrambling to get the mare through the ring. No payment, no stallion service certificate, and no sale company will sell her without one.

Make sure the contract is what you want, then sign it and return it as soon as possible. Most contracts are void if not returned after 30 days. Farms do not appreciate clients who request a contract and sit on it for weeks or months, or don't inform them if they've decided to go with another stallion. A quick turn around with the contract, or a simple call or email to cancel the contract is polite and appreciated.

When the mare foals, pay the stud fee and any tax. Your prompt payment (usually within 30 days of foaling) will result in the farm releasing the "stallion service certificate" which is required to complete the registration of the foal. It's The Jockey Club's way of confirming with the stallion farm that your mare was bred to their stallion legitimately and all is right with the world. If you have no service certificate, you can't complete the registration process, and with no registration papers, so you can't race or sell the foal as a thoroughbred.

Because stud fee payment terms are made very clear in the contracts, stallion farms or season owners expect payment in full and by the due date or they can resort to unpleasantness. They can withhold the stallion service certificate so you can not sell the pregnant mare, or register the foal until paid. They can also place a lien on the mare, foal or other thoroughbreds you own to get their money. If you've used an agent in this process and not paid on time, he or she will not get their commission, which will make them annoyed as well and they may not choose to do business with you in the future. So pay your bill on time and everyone will be happy.

If the mare didn't produce a foal, send a vet certificate to let the farm know why. If the mare had a live foal but the foal died shortly after birth, call the farm and they will often be understanding and not demand the fee.

Copyright by Anne Peters 2018.