Re: RC: Breeding and philosophy (and brag at the end!)

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 4/24/00 1:16:33 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
fasterhorses@gilanet.com writes:

<< In our case, we had to be totally business-like because in the eyes of the 
 IRS we were a business.  However, being business-like does not preclude 
 breeding with vision, and I feel that the horses that we've put out there 
 in the world as *endurance prospects* shared some characteristics we felt 
 were very important:  Temperament, great legs & conformation, and a basic 
 ability to do the job.  We bred for that, but once the new owner gets a 
 horse, there is more that has to go into the pot.  Like quality care, 
 training & conditioning.  Given all that, I believe we had the right to 
 call our horses endurance prospects.  I believe the happy owners can speak 
 more to that. >>

No argument there.  But IRS still lets you have it as a business as long as 
you "profit" two years out of seven, and even if one fails that, it is not 
difficult on a middle class income to demonstrate that one is not exactly 
using the horses as a tax dodge!  Showing SOME income routinely and having 
reasonable expenses (no Lasma-style trainer fees, no gala parties, etc.) 
seems to keep the auditors from the door.  And yes, you can do this and 
maintain a vision within a breeding program--certainly!  But odds are you 
will still be subsidizing the program with some other means of earning a 
living.  And certainly, even though I don't breed "for" endurance 
specifically, most of the horses we produce are rightfully marketed as 
endurance prospects--because those are precisely the sorts of traits we are 
breeding, endurance or no!  My main point is that you breed for the horses, 
not for the market.  Even during the "crash" of the 80's, I found that I had 
no problem selling endurance prospects that were strong, solid siblings of 
horses out there "doing" on the endurance circuit--not always for what I had 
in them, but for reasonable prices on the whole.  Prices are better now (of 
course, costs are up, too!) but it seems that serious riders ARE willing to 
pay a bit more for the "dice with the six on more faces" and that certainly 
helps to support the program!  I wish I had the time and ambition to keep a 
few more and promote them myself--but one has to content one's self with what 
one can do...

Heidi