Turning a Hobby Farm into a Business

[HorsinAroundEm]

My husband and I purchased a horse farm last year. It has a 10-stall barn, riding arenas (small indoor & outdoor), and pastures. I work from home part-time and he has a full-time career.

I would love to do something with our farm, outside of keeping 2-3 hobby horses. It has been my lifelong dream to work in the industry. I’ve been riding casually for 25+ years.

I’ve looked into breeding, buying and reselling horses, or teaching beginner lessons. I would really like to pick a direction (at least to start with), but don’t have a lot of experience in any one particular area. I’m very much so willing to work under breeders/trainers in my local area to get more hands-on experience. I’m not hoping to get rich, but I would at least like the farm to pay for itself eventually. I know start-up costs can be big.

I’m looking for advice. Has anyone done something similar? I would love to hear your experiences. I’m not even really sure where to begin.

[Texarkana]

Following.

I would love to make a little income off my farm. I’m not even talking about profit, it would just be nice to bring in a tiny bit of money to offset some of the losses. I’m constantly mulling over ideas. Some I have considered:

1. Buying/selling project horses: BTDT. I hate hate hate selling horses, or selling anything for that matter. I do not like the hustle of sales.

2. Boarding: neither me nor my husband are jazzed about the idea of allowing someone free access to our home, so it would have to be some kind of niche boarding like retirees or layups where owners aren’t visiting regularly. And my facilities would need significant upgrades.

3. Lessons: this appeals to me most. It has the same problem of allowing people on our property, but at least it’s in a more controlled manner. It would require a pretty significant start-up investment to square away a suitable school horse, insurance, and facility improvement.

4. Breeding: also appealing… until I realize I would have to sell my young stock to actually bring in money. I’d love to stand a stallion or offer mare/foal raising services… but in addition to needing improved facilities for that, first hand experience has taught me my day job is not very compatible with breeding.

5. Something else: birthday pony rides? Petting zoo? Taking up carriage driving? What other horsey gigs can you run on your farm?

6. Non-horse related stuff: I love my chickens, but I don’t think I want as many as I’d need to sell eggs or birds. Same goes for other livestock, although leasing goats for vegetation control has a strange appeal to me. I’m not sure I’m a good enough gardener to profit off veggies or flowers, though even with my subpar gardening skills, my vegetable garden still yields an abundance. I’d love to get into bees and honey, but I’m allergic to stings. I’m not crafty so I can’t see myself getting into wool or fleece.

So I keep pondering this topic…

[ParadoxFarm]

Not to be negative, but it’s really, really hard to make money in the horse industry if you want to make enough to cover the farm. Really continue to do this heavy research and have a good business plan when you pinpoint your area of interest. Many very good horse people are very bad business people. And some very good business people are not very good horse people. My other piece of advice, don’t make the farm so much work that you stop enjoying it and don’t have the time or energy to enjoy your own horses.

[Pico_Banana]

I’m in the same boat, although all I have considered is letting out my one extra stall for a boarder. Just haven’t been able to get over the “person in my back yard” thing yet, though.

[NoSuchPerson]

@HorsinAroundEm

I’m not hoping to get rich, but I would at least like the farm to pay for itself eventually.

This is highly unlikely.

Decades ago, when I was in college, for my advanced horse science class, we had to do a business plan for a horse farm, type of farm our choice. In later years, I joked that the entire purpose of the assignment was to bring a dose of reality to those of us who had delusions of someday running our own farm. It certainly cured me.

I suggest you do some proper business plans for a couple of the options you have in mind. The Small Business Administration and USDA both offer online info on how to do this.

You know the old joke:

How do you make a million dollars in the horse business?

Start with two million.

[kaya842]

Agree with the others regarding running numbers (then run them again, then once more for luck) before taking ANY action. Start up costs on any business are not insignificant (incorporating, registering with the SOS, purchasing GL insurance and WC if needed, evaluating potential hires and training them, marketing, etc) add in the not insignificant costs of anything horse related and it’s damn hard to make any money (even enough to cover your costs). The business ideas I have kicked around as being potentially profitable: Christmas tree farm (combine with a niche Airbnb and use part of the farm as wedding venue), breeding and raising niche cattle such as Highland minis, using the barn amenities for clinics or other events, or renting the barn out. None are “traditional” horse “jobs” and none are without drawbacks.

[Scribbler]

@HorsinAroundEm

My husband and I purchased a horse farm last year. It has a 10-stall barn, riding arenas (small indoor & outdoor), and pastures. I work from home part-time and he has a full-time career.

I would love to do something with our farm, outside of keeping 2-3 hobby horses. It has been my lifelong dream to work in the industry. I’ve been riding casually for 25+ years.

I’ve looked into breeding, buying and reselling horses, or teaching beginner lessons. I would really like to pick a direction (at least to start with), but don’t have a lot of experience in any one particular area. I’m very much so willing to work under breeders/trainers in my local area to get more hands-on experience. I’m not hoping to get rich, but I would at least like the farm to pay for itself eventually. I know start-up costs can be big.

I’m looking for advice. Has anyone done something similar? I would love to hear your experiences. I’m not even really sure where to begin.

I feel like there’s not much money to be made on the side in horses if you don’t have loads of skill and a presence in the industry. You won’t be able to charge as much for breeding or for training and reselling horses as someone with a strong track record in a discipline.

Flipping horses requires being able to find the diamond in the rough (emphasis on rough) and get it polished and ammie safe in the shortest amount of time, for the lowest carrying cost. How many OTTB or fallen through the cracks unbroken adult horses or mustang projects or weedy spooky 3 year olds have you successfully turned into solid citizens? What’s your rusk tolerance for being lawn darted? What’s your medical insurance plan like? Are you going to be trying to ride these critters home alone in the afternoon? Do you have skilled ground help?

There might be more of a niche in growing something small-scale and organic for local restaurants. Like herbs or salad greens or something.

[moonlitoaksranch]

Hobby breeding horses really won’t make you money. Especially now when the prices are high. If you’re serious about making money from your farm, you’ll need to have a chunk of money to invest and do market research in your area. What do people need? Eggs? Turkeys? Goats (is there an ethnic market nearby?), flowers? Then, you have to decide if you have the knowledge, or can get the knowledge to be successful at fulfilling that need.

I made money on our old hobby farm for a time selling halter trained and gentle registered heifers ready to be someone’s family milk cow. I sold them for $1,200 at weaning or $1,500 once they were old enough to have been bred to our bull. I also sold young bulls (if they met my criteria) or freezer beef (if they didn’t). We made a tidy sum for a few years and paid for the cattle and some of the horse expenses. That didn’t last because the market changed. The cattle market dropped in 2017 and I sold off the herd (except an old pet cow).

I switched to raising hair sheep and made a tidy profit from them during Covid. If we hadn’t had to move to another state, I would’ve stayed with raising sheep. Sadly, my flock were better suited for hot climates, so I sold them off to pet homes before moving north.

Fortunately for me, I have a strong animal science background from college and I worked for large animals vets, so I know something about the care of various livestock species. I also continued to look for opportunities to learn more from mentors and through my county extension service. Continuing education is real when raising animals or crops.

We had to start over again here. So far, we’re still working on infrastructure improvements on the farm before we bring home a new flock. I contacted the extension agent when we first moved here to see what he thought the market needs were. Sheep might just work well for us again.

[clanter]

@Texarkana

Something else: birthday pony rides?

one of our miniatures has made many trips to birthday parties as a unicorn, not cheap appearances as he commands $400 to $500 per appearance

[GreyDes]

I know someone who has switched her business model from h/j lessons to pony camps and events. She says it’s lower stress and better money, but I don’t know the specifics.

She does low key themed weekly kid camps in the summer - think pony rides, grooming, crafts, costumes, birthday parties and themed events during the year (fairies & unicorns, etc.)

Every time I’ve even casually looked at numbers I’ve come to the conclusion that anything horse related is not a business I want to be in

[candyappy]

Are you close to a major highway Interstate?

Overnight stabling for people doing long hauls is something we utilized decades ago when we moved my horses across the country. Coggins, proof of vaccinations and health certificates ( of course).

Temporary stabling if someone is going on vacation?

If the arenas are nice you can open them up to outside riders or trainers or someone wanting to do a clinic type thing or even a fun show?

Just trying to think of things that don’t require a huge output to get started and may actually generate income.

[Demerara_Stables]

I would not breed. I have massive respect for breeders but it is hard and heartbreaking.

Not sure what part of the country you’re in but I would do boarding if high quality board is a need in your area.

When I was in Florida, there were tons of hobby farms and backyard barns that I boarded at over the years. I made great friends and ended up staying at some lovely places. The nice thing about already having the barn and not really needing the money is that you can be incredibly picky. Only accept boarders that you can see becoming your friends. You may have to do a little bit of work to upgrade footing/tack room/etc, but if you advertise as excellent care and facilities, you can charge enough to cover expenses and maybe make a little profit (that you will put into savings until one day you inevitably have a huge repair bill. But I digress). The bonus is, if you find these really great people, you might have built in farm sitters! I’ve boarded at a few backyard barns that I ended up farm sitting at when the owner was traveling, and a few others where I just split chores with the owner or other boarders instead of paying full board. It really can become a great environment with friendly people if you’re picky!

[173north]

It’s really, really hard to make money off breeding, sales or lessons on a small scale. I’d look at into avenues to create income from your land and property, rather than from horses themselves.

I have a friend with a smallish farm near a major horse show that does more or less pay for itself. She rents the equine facilities to a trainer, rents out spare bedrooms in the main house, rents out a back house, and also rents out camper hookups.

You could rent out your arenas for clinics or demonstrations or dog agility practicies/competitions. Trailer parking/boat storage is always a big need in my area. You also might be able to lease an area to someone farming in a different capacity? I have a friend with a flower farming business who rents/leases a few fields within a bigger farm, though I don’t know any more details.

I’d also start getting looped into the local horse community and talking to people about what your area needs. A lot of this is very location dependent.

[GraceLikeRain]

If you’re willing to invest in a nice barn bathroom and break room and live in a suburban area I think there’s a huge market for doing BYOB sip and paint, yoga, etc by partnering with local providers. Your crew gets to eat grass and serve as the serene backdrop.

If your horses are really good natured there could also be opportunities to partner with someone who does EGALA work and corporate training and team building.

[luvmyhackney]

My barn is being rebuilt to house race horses. I should make enough with the dry stalls and limited turnout to cover my horse costs plus mortgage. This is doable because I’m 7 miles from a training track.

Other avenues I’ve looked at is a veggie/flower garden and goats.

The biggest money maker would be after school and summer programs for kids. Especially if you could incorporate some type of technology in the program.

I’ve thought about pony lessons but they don’t scale well and still use my limited time.

[Bicoastal]

You can take a few minutes to research what qualifies as a horse business in your county/state and what is considered a hobby. In my county, the land use tax break only applies to specific horse businesses (breeding, for example). If you wanted to start a chicken business, you would need XXX number of birds. When you are wide open to ideas, seeing what ag business qualifies for land use in your country is a starting point.

@moonlitoaksranch I’d love to have a sidebar about how you operated a profit-making sheep business. How many head did you have to run? What was your market? How did you advertise your product? I’m specifically curious to learn if registered sheep are more profitable than commercial; if the trendy niche breeds would be something to capitalize on, etc. I’ve also heard alpacas are coming back.

Can we PM?

[kaya842]

@luvmyhackney

My barn is being rebuilt to house race horses. I should make enough with the dry stalls and limited turnout to cover my horse costs plus mortgage. This is doable because I’m 7 miles from a training track.

So curious about this! We too are close to a track (though current property is not set up for any type of shared or commercial use). How many stalls? Do you have a training track? Or the trainer takes horses back and forth? Or maybe only in the off-season? I’d love to learn more!

[clanter]

@Bicoastal

You can take a few minutes to research what qualifies as a horse business in your county/state and what is considered a hobby. In my county, the land use tax break only applies to specific horse businesses (breeding, for example). If you wanted to start a chicken business, you would need XXX number of birds. When you are wide open to ideas, seeing what ag business qualifies for land use in your country is a starting point.

that would be for property tax evolution only, here a farm/ranch has to have at least ten acres to qualify for an agriculture tax exception, that never stopped us from setting up a boarding operation that was set up as a C Corp. It always made money, paid its taxes.

The business leased the land/buildings from us. We were able to deprecate the property improvements (barns/fences/equipment) which was a great benefit to us than an ag exception.

Also the income from the lease was not subject to social security or Medicare taxes

[SMF11]

I board retired horses on my farm. It’s a great niche – the horses and owners are usually very sweet.

[luvmyhackney]

I have 24 available stalls, exerciser, and a huge aisle way for hand walking. Really 28 but I’m using 4. Farm previously housed race horses but it was . So we have slowly been ripping everything out and redoing it.

My husband golfs with a bunch of trainers and people in the know and they have been advising us on it. We are doing a ton of improvements to bring it up to my standard of care. We just had all new water lines put in and pulled all the stall fronts to measure for the new ones that hopefully will go on in January. Once stall fronts are in, we can finish the electrical.