Each year horse breeders, regardless of the breed they nurture, make their biggest financial decisions when they decide on matings. Those decisions involve the allure of the equine business and its greatest trauma. A breeding decision is hopeful–the breeder hopes to make a mating that will result in a superior individual, whether for racing, eventing, or other pursuits. But the business person in the breeder is also taking a classic leap into the void–a breeding fee is expensive, that once-a-year opportunity to breed a mare is itself a valuable asset and the results are always uncertain.

Nothing will ever take the hope or the risks out of the equine business, but in the last generation, the marketplace has developed some ways to insure the business person that lies at different depths within each horse owner that all is not lost financially despite the vagaries of equine reproduction.

Mare fertility insurance is one form of risk reduction that has become relatively commonplace, particularly among breeders who breed commercially or who must expend money to breed, as opposed to those who own both the stallion and mare.

For those who feel the need to protect their financial outlay, there are some things to consider before buying insurance