Make Money With Horses

By Don Blazer

My daddy said, "Son, if you want a profitable business, never own anything that eats or needs painting."

If you follow that advice, which I did not, your chances of making money will increase.

If you don't follow my daddy's advice, you'll be riding the same horse I'm riding, and you'll quickly learn that making money with horses isn't always easy. I didn't say it can't be done.I said it won't always be easy.

But is anything worthwhile really easy? It can be enjoyable and still difficult.

My daddy has some other advice for making money.and it applies nicely to making money with horses.

"First, do one thing and do it well. Second, cut your losses and let your profits run."

I've said time and time again that if you want to make money with horses you must do two things--find a niche and maintain your focus. (That's kind of a different way of offering the same advice my daddy offered.)

In today's horse world, specialization is not just a key to success, it is mandatory. There is simply too much to know about a breed, or about an event, or about stable management, or about nutrition or about a hundred other things to do with horses.

You can't be successful with horses these days trying to be a Jack of all trades--you'll certainly never be a master of one.

Horses are becoming so specialized at what they do that in order to win at the highest level you have to have a "one event horse." It is the norm today for a pleasure horse to be a pleasure horse and a reiner to be a reiner and a halter horse to be a halter horse. (Fifty years ago the same horse did everything, and probably won races to boot.)

So if that is true with horses, it's true for your business. If you want to deal in pleasure horses then you have to be an expert at pleasure training, pleasure breeding, pleasure conformation and the pleasure riding style. Don't try to be an expert at pleasure horses and barrel horses, while occasionally wanting to ride a dressage test.

Do one thing and do it well. Find your niche and maintain your focus.

I bought a cute little horse the other day, because I thought he was cute and he was cheap and I thought I could make money with him even though I was out of my niche.

I was wrong. Wasn't the first time, won't be the last time. But at least I heeded my daddy's advice; I cut my losses. I sold the horse for less than I paid for him.

There is nothing wrong with losing money on a horse deal. It's the other side of the coin. In a capitalistic economy, there are both profits and losses.

I cut my losses by not going deeper into debt with something that eats. Every day that I kept the horse was costing me money and time.

After a few rides I knew he was a loser, so I took my loss. No shame in that; the shame is in continuing to lose money because you're worried about what others might think or say. Who cares? They probably aren't even in the game. But if you cut your losses as soon as you recognize them, you can stay in the game with another chance to make money.

I got another horse and let my profits run when I had a chance to lease him. I still owned him and he was producing an income--I wasn't feeding him and I surely didn't have to paint him.

So, I guess I was following my daddy's advice even if I wasn't!

Don Blazer teaches the "certificate" course, The Business of Making Money with Horses for www.HorseCoursesOnline.com

Don Blazer is an author, a teacher a trainer and a trader. For more than 40 years he's helped thousands of horses and horse owners enjoy the best of relationships based on knowledge, understanding and actions which are mutually beneficial.

Visit www.donblazer.com and www.horsecoursesonline.com to make your business and personal horse relationships successful.