Thoroughbred Boarding

At the Colby Fields farm, we pride ourselves in providing the best care for the horses that come under our stable roof. Please contact Kara anytime with questions relative to our horse facilities and your boarding needs. She will be happy to discuss your options and assist you in selecting the best arrangement to support your goals.

Colby Fields Equine Boarding Services

• Breeding
• Boarding
• Training
• Mating
• Bloodstock Services
• Breaking
• Seasons & Shares

Below is a discussion accompanied by links to the quoted sources. There are some important considerations to be made before choosing a boarding operation for your Thoroughbreds. Please take a moment to review this information.

What State/Region should I board my Thoroughbreds in?

This is an important question every breeder needs to answer before purchasing and definitely before breeding mares. The varying factors between States/Regions will have a dramatic impact on your business or pleasure as you pursue your goals in either arena. At Colby Fields we recognize the strengths of several State Bred programs. The various contributions each state offers to a breeder can become particularly interesting when implemented into a breeding and boarding plan designed to couple them with the various strengths Kentucky has to offer. Kara Harrison-Tucker is available to discuss the many different aspects of varying programs and to assist you in reconciling them with your breeding goals, budget, and the current status of your equine investments. Go To The Contact Us Page To Contact Kara or email colbyfields@earthlink.net or email OR kara@colbyfields.com Kara has personal experience with several state programs. She will help you indentify the most advantageous combination of options best suited to your breeding, racing, or selling objectives. In the vast majority of cases Kentucky provides tremendous opportunity in terms of breeding and raising young Thoroughbreds.  In some cases breeding for your region makes sense and doesn’t necessarily include a Kentucky variable. But, in many cases you can take advantage of several surrounding state bred programs, Kentucky stallions, and the overall Kentucky environment for raising young horses all in one boarding plan. Kara has a good working knowledge of the New York, Canadian, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana breeding and boarding programs among others. Her approach is designed to capitalize on your options in route to obtaining your ultimate goals. Some Reasons why you will want to consider Kentucky in your boarding and breeding Plan (click on each blue link for sources):

1. Kentucky is the #1 Producer of Breeders Cup Starters by state.
2. Kentucky is the #1 Producer of Breeders Cup Winners by state.
   
3. Kentucky is the #1 Producer of Belmont Starters and Winners by state.
4. Kentucky is the #1 Producer of Preakness Winners by state. May 2007…..www.pressboxonline.com “In the specific case of the Preakness, Kentucky-breds have performed the best, with a remarkable 88 winners in 132 runnings. A distant second, Maryland-breds have won the Preakness only 8 times.”
5. Kentucky is the #1 Producer of Kentucky Derby Winners by state. Triple Crown Racing Suite 101……. “The past 3 winners of the Kentucky Derby have been bred in Kentucky.  In total, 100 of the race’s champions have hailed from the breeding barns of the Bluegrass State. Florida is the second leading state for numbers of winners of the Run for the Roses with six. Virginia claims four winners. California and Tennessee each have three KD champions. Pennsylvania,  New Jersey, and Texas each boast of two champions. Ohio has one KD winner.”
6. Kentucky boast the greatest percentage of NA purse earnings in 2008 along with the 2nd greatest average earnings per runner only to Ontario who’s purse structure  and breeders bonus program for Canadian breds is arguably the best in North America to date.
7. The 2009 Blood Horse Thoroughbred Live Foal Report
   

• Kentucky bred 20,620 mares, produced 14,257 live foals or 66%
  

• The second ranking state was Florida with 5,478 mares bred and 2,892 live foals or 53%.
  

• 3rd was California with 4,081 mares bred and 2,528 live foals or 62%

Kentucky bred nearly 4 times the number of mares bred in the second ranking state yet still produced the highest percentage of live foals. For every 10 mares foaled the statistics suggest breeders give up one or more foals when breeding and/or foaling outside of Kentucky. If you pay $30/day to board in Kentucky you will spend $3520 more annually than you will spend to board in another state for $20/day. What you have to decide is whether the number of barren mares and/or foals lost is greater or less than your savings in the long term? Cost to maintain a barren mare are generally the same or only slightly less than cost to maintain a mare infoal. The vast majority of  foals lost will easily constitute a far greater financial loss to their breeder than the $3520 saved trying to board for less.  Our rates are higher, but in general you will consistently receive the highest level of access to excellent boarding farms, a fabulous stallion selection, top class vets, highly skilled ferriers, excellent surgeons and hospitals, and highly talented horseman. While all of these resources most certainly exist in other states do these statistics make you confident of your ability to access them all at once and consistently?

We often participate in other breeding and boarding programs with our privately owned and partnership mares.  Depending on the variables associated with each mare/foal during any given breeding season the other program advantages can prove worthwhile. This is especially true when a state breeders program leaves you with the option of using outside studs and the ability to raise your foals anywhere you choose. Kentucky can be an appropriate choice for foaling some mares, particularly the high end mares bred to top stallions and expected to produce the best runners worth many thousands. The ultimate owners of these horses are often not focused on regional racing programs and prefer to travel with stables that move to the most advantageous climates and race meets throughout the year.  In this scenario a Kentucky Bred is advantageous since a breeder will be paid for MSW, Allowance, or Stakes wins anywhere in North America while most other state programs only pay on races run within their state.

While many surrounding states have become increasingly competitive with Kentucky for breeding and foaling Thoroughbreds it is not possible to pick up and move that which originally began to make Kentucky what it is today. The original breeders settling in Kentucky, for the primary reason of raising Thoroughbreds, did so for one main reason…………its climate, soil, and overall natural environment conducive to raising top class young horses “in due time the Blue Grass and limestone water were credited with being the greatest of stamina and muscle givers.”  OLD KENTUCKY AND THE THOROUGHBRED By Robert Wickliffe Woolley. While we ship several mares  of our own and those of our customers to states like Pennsylvania each fall in order to comply with the state’s residency requirements for PA breds, we believe in raising our foals in Kentucky.  The article titled The Bluegrass Region: Resources and the Equine Industry states “As this anticline weathered over time, a layer of Ordovician limestone became the parent material for the productive soil located throughout the Inner Bluegrass Region (Atlas of Kentucky).  This limestone is rich in both phosphorous and calcium, and believed to be responsible for the production of strong bones in horses and other animals grazing upon its grasslands.  This phenomenon occurs in only one other location in the U.S., the Nashville Basin of Tennessee.”

These are just a few important considerations we are willing to discuss with you in your attempt to select a Thoroughbred Boarding and Breeding Farm. Please contact Kara at your convenience. Below is a recent comment and photos on the difference Kentucky made for one of our customers in 2009!

November 17th, 2009: A  comment from one of our breeders and owner of the mare Expressway……………West Coast Jockey Kyle Kaenel “Colby Fields did a wonderful job with my mare. My mare was very under weight when I bought her and the crew at Colby Fields really turned her around.  Their attention for detail in caring for my horse was the superb.”