Thoroughbreds and other breeds are often identified by brands, these days applied via freezebranding as opposed to previously branding with a hot iron.

Was having a think the other day while out on the feed run and came to the conclusion being a brander would be another job with horses that pays well for a small amount of work, far as I can see.

Once all the babies are weaned, it’s time to ID them so we get in a guy by the name of Carter-Smith to come out for an afternoon and brand all the young horses. Now on rough figures, a whole heap of horses may cost say $40 to brand. On a small farm, there may be about 40 weanlings to do.

$40 x 40 = $1600 – this can be achieved in a couple of hours work. Now is this can be made on a small breeding property, imagine a thoroughbred stud that’s practically a production line.

Downside? You’d need a lot of clients to keep yourself going as a brander as it’s a once in a lifetime thing. However, if you managed around 1500-2000 horses a year (perhaps your client base could be made up of Thoroughbred, Quarter Horse and Standardbred breeders to reach these numbers) you’d be bringing in $60,000 – $80,000.

Sure, there are costs – travel and therefore time and petrol, plus the dry ice/liquid nitrogen needed for branding; but they seem to be minimal.

Check out:
http://www.freeze-branding.com.au/

“Unless you are the lead horse the view is always the same.”

tag: australia, job, horse stud, horse breeds, branding

Was chatting with the boss the other day while pulling apart “The Hilton” – a group of roomy boxes that have a roof on top but otherwise are quite open; they’re great for foals that come up with scours or need treatment but we don’t want to shut them and their mum’s up in a box.

He’s redoing a lot of it, replacing old boards and the like and this required the use of tools hooked up to a generator. He informed me this would be a great investment for my property. Now, I love it when anyone talks like this – it gives me the impression that they believe I’m going to achieve my extremely expensive goal!

A day later and he’s saying there was one second hand not too long ago for around $150 and if he sees another, he’ll buy it for me to put away for future use. Very nice indeed! Got me to thinking about how much I see now that would work perfectly for my property.

Some things aren’t viable to collect and put away somewhere – like all the fallen trees on the side of the road that if cut properly would make great log jumps in a paddock someday! However, I like the idea of being able to pick up things along the way at a reasonable price that really will come in handy and add to my place when I get it.

One huge addiction for me at the moment is my horse library and I’m having a field day on Ebay purchasing books – nearly up to 100! Another thing I’d love to do is plant all the seeds I’ve got from other’s properties and have trees ready to go in when I have my place… just a bit harder to store a heap of plants than it is to store books!

I’ve recently done a trial on the product Appearance to improve your horse’s coat and on account of this will be supplied with a $65 voucher to use on their products – thinking I’ll stock up on vetrap, elastoplast, etc… stuff to put away for future use! Gotta love it.

If you have big goals for the future and see little ways of stepping toward them, consider getting a hold of things that can add to your dream.

“And He shall come in, riding a white horse…” – Revelations

tag: horse stud, property design