The steps to create a horse farm

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Are you a rider, passionate about riding and horses and want to live from your love for equines by creating your own horse breeding?

Be careful, passion, although essential, will not be enough to carry out your project. And you will need, in addition to your talent as a rider and tamer, to demonstrate legal, financial, marketing and even managerial skills. However, with seriousness, real involvement and a proven methodology, creating your own horse farm is possible.

Discover in this article the four main steps to take to start a horse farm: market study, assessment of material and human needs, realization of the business plan, search for financing.

Market research before opening a horse farm

The first step in creating a horse farm is to carry out a market study in order to validate that there is indeed a business opportunity in the area you have considered.

Indeed, the market study, which is an analysis of the major market trends, its players and its vitality, will allow you to verify the existence of a commercial opportunity at the local level and, if necessary, to adjust a few parameters so that your project meets consumer expectations and adapts to the level of competition.

It is also from the data collected within your market research that you will be able to estimate your potential turnover.

Sector analysis to take the pulse

Market research for a horse farm should begin with in-depth industry research.

You must not only know the economic situation of the sector (in growth or recession, and to what extent), but also know what are the major trends in the sector and who are the players in the sector (their number, their location, their characteristics: average number of horses per farm, service offer, prices charged, etc.).

The objective of this part is to allow you to understand the issues that will have to be faced, and to determine the most promising market segments.

In particular, you will need to ask yourself:

What is the situation in the sector: growing or shrinking? Why ?

What are the trends ?

What are the difficulties and constraints encountered by breeders?

What is the average price of a horse?

What services to offer to meet the demand?

What is the distribution of turnover?

Assess the demand and identify an area of ​​implantation

The objective here is to assess the size of the market and identify potential areas for establishment.

In particular, you should ask yourself the following questions:

Who are the buyers (equestrian center, horse butcher, individuals, etc.)?

What are the most popular breeds?

Are buyers ready to move?

Is the sale more local, national or international?

What are the characteristics of my territory (population, infrastructure, road access, etc.)?

Competition analysis

You will then need to familiarize yourself with the offer already present on the market that you wish to invest:

How many horse farms are already present?

Where are they ?

What types of horses do they breed (bred horses, racing horses, etc.)?

What is their commercial positioning?

How many matings do they do per year?

How many employees do they have?

What turnover do they make?

Always ask yourself if your project is consistent with the market or if you need to adapt it to better meet the expectations of your target and better resist existing competition.

After performing these analyses, you will be able to see if the market is large enough to support the arrival of a new entrant (i.e. your horse farm), you will have defined interesting locations, and you will have a good idea of ​​the concepts that can work given what your competitors are already doing.

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The French horse breeding market

Horse breeding: the main trends in the sector

There are 1 million horses in France, 68% of which are saddle and pony breeds, and 16% racing horses. In 2016, the sector employed 25,000 agricultural workers, 63% of whom were in the horse-riding sector, 23% in the racing sector and 15% in the livestock sector. The financial flows generated by equine racing activities represent 10,204 million euros while those of leisure activities represent 705 million euros (Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Equitation).

The economy of the sector has suffered a slight decline in speed for several years with a drop in the number of births of horses and a drop in the number of licensed riders. However, horseback riding remains a fairly popular sport in France. Even if the number of registered licenses has tended to drop since 2013, there were still 650,000 licensed riders in 2017 (Equipédia).

Horse breeding: many points of regulation to respect

Horse breeding is subject to many regulations.

First of all, you must respect the obligation to identify equidae with the national stud farms, which must take place within six months and is most often done by electronic chipping.

You will also have to respect the environmental regulations in force in your department. To do this, refer to the Departmental Health Regulations (RSD) which notably sets distance rules for the location of livestock buildings, the storage and spreading of animal waste.

You should also know that the transport of equidae is regulated, as are the leases relating to farm buildings and agricultural land, relating to equestrian activities, which are governed by the rules of the statute of tenancy.

Evaluate the human and material needs to create a horse farm

Setting up a horse farm is obviously accompanied by a considerable initial investment which must be taken into account in the financial forecast.

To develop this document with the most accurate forecasts, it is important to properly assess the material and recruitment needs of your future activity.

The material investments necessary to set up a horse farm

In addition to the land, covering an area of ​​several hectares all the same, horse breeding also requires the financing of a certain number of relatively expensive infrastructures (boxes, paddocks, tack rooms, riding school) but also, of course, the cavalry.

Since the price of a thoroughbred horse and a pony is not at all the same, the sums dedicated to the acquisition of horses may vary considerably.

Do not forget to count the fodder, the straw, the agricultural machinery, but also an office and the computer station, the telephone and the internet and telephone connections that go with it.

Les besoins en recrutement d’un élevage de chevaux

Le besoin en personnel dépendra de la taille de votre élevage. Cependant, ayez en tête que s’occuper d’un élevage de chevaux requiert une très grande polyvalence et vous devrez faire preuve de talents d’éleveur mais aussi de bricoleur, de commercial, de maréchal-ferrant, voire de vétérinaire... À vous d'évaluer précisément le nombre de personnes qu'il vous faudra.

Les services annexes nécessaires au lancement d’un élevage de chevaux

Pour monter votre élevage de chevaux, vous pourrez faire appel à certains services annexes, comme un cabinet d’expertise-comptable qui s’occupera de vos comptes. Certains services annexes sont même obligatoires, comme l’assurance responsabilité civile de votre élevage et de ses salariés, à souscrire auprès d’une compagnie d’assurance.

Pour faire jouer la concurrence et comparer les offres et les prix pratiqués sur le marché, n’hésitez pas à systématiquement demander des devis auprès de plusieurs professionnels.

Faire un business plan d'élevage de chevaux

Réaliser un business plan pour son élevage de chevaux est un indispensable de la création de votre structure.

Ce document doit vous permettre de prendre du recul sur votre projet professionnel, de vérifier sa viabilité financière et de mettre en valeur ses atouts. Ce point est particulièrement important car le business plan sert avant tout à convaincre des partenaires financiers de vous suivre.

De façon simplifiée, un business plan d'élevage de chevaux comprend deux parties :

Une partie rédigée servant à présenter le projet et mettre en avant ses atouts

Une partie chiffrée, qui est le prévisionnel financier, servant à mettre en avant le besoin de financement et le potentiel de rentabilité de votre entreprise

Lorsque l’on saisit bien les enjeux qui sont derrière le business plan, on comprend mieux l’importance à accorder à la rédaction de ce document.

Si vous n’avez jamais réalisé ce type de document et/ou que vous ne savez pas trop comment vous y prendre ni même d’ailleurs par où commencer, vous pouvez vous tourner vers un logiciel de business plan en ligne, tel que le propose The Business Plan Shop.

Faire appel à un logiciel pour réaliser le business plan de votre élevage de chevaux présente en effet plusieurs avantages :

Le logiciel s'occupe des calculs et de créer pour vous les états financiers prévisionnels (compte de résultat, bilan, tableau des flux de trésorerie, calcul du seuil de rentabilité, etc.)

Vous êtes guidé dans la rédaction grâce à des instructions pour chaque partie et des modèles de business plans déjà rédigés

Vous obtenez un document professionnel, mis en forme, et prêt à être envoyé à votre banquier

Si ce type de solution vous intéresse, sachez que vous pouvez tester gratuitement le logiciel de The Business Plan Shop en vous inscrivant ici.

The search for financing to create a horse farm

There are several means of financing that you can mobilize to create your horse farm.

Think first about equity, that is, the money that you and your potential partners can devote to your project. Even if this contribution seems modest compared to the amount of initial financing required, it is important, because institutional investors and banks will see it as a sign of your total involvement in your project.

You can then approach the banks to obtain a loan to help finance part of the infrastructure (works, box, etc.). Remember to make your request to several banking establishments, in order to maximize your chances of obtaining a favorable response to your file and an advantageous rate.

Finally, to start your horse breeding, you can also count on aid, such as classic aid for agricultural installation such as the young farmer endowment (DJA) or even subsidized loans. Check with the Chamber of Agriculture and your Regional Council to find out what aid you can benefit from.

You can find more details on the solutions mentioned above in our guide to business start-up financing.

Our guide is coming to an end, we hope that it has given you a better understanding of how to create a horse farm. If questions relating to the points mentioned above remain, do not hesitate to contact us.

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