08/31/2026
I’ve seen a lot of discussion lately about “backyard breeding,” and I want to make something clear: I am absolutely against irresponsible backyard breeding.
Breeding animals with no thought toward health, temperament, genetics, quality, proper care, or where those animals will ultimately end up is not something I support. Producing foal after foal, puppy or kitty after puppy or kitty, simply because you can, with no real plan or responsibility for what you produce, is a problem.
And unfortunately, I think we see this far too often within all animals, but we have seen it become more common in Gypsy horses as well.
One response I frequently hear in our breed is, “A horse doesn’t have to be shown to be a quality horse.” And I actually agree with that, to a point. A show record is certainly not the only measure of a horse’s quality, and there are excellent horses that never step foot inside a show ring.
But I also think that argument can become a convenient excuse for people who don’t want to invest anything into proving, evaluating, or improving their breeding stock beyond the fact that one is a male, one is a female, and together they can produce something that can be sold.
Showing is only one avenue. There are inspections, performance testing, evaluations, genetic and health testing, training, and other ways to objectively assess breeding stock. The point isn’t that every breeding horse needs a wall full of ribbons. The point is that a breeder should be able to explain why those particular animals deserve to reproduce and what they are contributing to the next generation.
However, I’ve also seen the argument shift from “stop backyard breeding” to “eliminate breeding for profit,” and I think those are two very different conversations.
I’ve been breeding horses for over 13 years. Of course part of the purpose of breeding is to eventually sell what you produce and hopefully make some money, or, at the very least, break even. There is nothing inherently unethical about that. Responsible breeding is expensive. There are breeding fees, reproductive work, veterinary care, health and genetic testing, feed, farrier care, registration, training, showing, and years invested into developing and proving quality breeding stock.
And anyone who has bred horses very long knows the saying: If you want to make a small fortune in horses, start with a large fortune. 😂
I’ve admittedly “hoarded” quite a few lately because the market has been less than ideal, and I refuse to feel pressured into sending one somewhere simply because it is time for it to sell. I would rather continue feeding, training, and caring for them until the right situation comes along. But yes, the ultimate goal with most foals we produce is still to sell them. That income helps offset the enormous expense involved in producing them responsibly and allows a breeding program to continue.
And I think responsibility after the sale is another piece of this conversation that gets overlooked.
There are breeders who produce a horse, sell it, collect the money, and essentially consider their responsibility finished. I have never been able to look at horses that way. I feel responsible for where my horses end up long after they leave my farm. In fact, I have sold adult horses that I originally purchased from someone else years earlier, and I still felt responsible for making sure they landed somewhere appropriate and worried about what happened to them afterward. I didn’t even breed those horses, yet once they were in my care, I felt a responsibility to them that didn’t simply disappear when money changed hands.
To me, that should be part of responsible horsemanship and responsible breeding. When you intentionally bring an animal into this world, there should be some degree of accountability for what happens to it beyond the day the check clears.
Making money from breeding does not automatically make someone a backyard breeder. The better question is what that breeder is willing to invest before expecting to make money, and how much responsibility they are willing to accept afterward.
Are they health testing? Carefully selecting pairings? Evaluating conformation and temperament? Proving their horses in some meaningful way? Investing in veterinary care, nutrition, farrier work, training, registration, and education? Are they breeding toward a standard and a purpose? And are they willing to stand behind what they produce, even years later?
There is a tremendous difference between breeding responsibly with the hope of making a profit and breeding because you own two intact animals and see an opportunity to make money, or you’re in the business of flipping horses.
Responsible breeders shouldn’t be expected to operate at a permanent financial loss. But profit should be the result of producing something thoughtfully and responsibly, not the only reason it was produced in the first place. 🐎💚
