Iowa Association Enticing Mares with $20,000 Bonus

As the Thoroughbred foal population collectively drops, several states are looking for ways to attract mares beyond the owner and breeder incentives already offered for state-bred runners.

The Iowa Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners Association is experimenting this year with a new $20,000 mare bonus to attract mares that have never had a foal in Iowa. The bonus is attached to the first Iowa-bred foal produced by either a broodmare that has never foaled in Iowa or a maiden mare.

If the resulting foal becomes the leading earner at Prairie Meadows during any season or at any age, then the breeder earns a $10,000 bonus. Once a horse earns that bonus, it is ineligible to collect again. 

"After this goes on a few years, a 3-year-old could win it or a 5-year-old could win it. We'll pay out the $10,000 every year," said Pam Schutz, vice president of the ITBOA board. "Once a horse wins the bonus, however, it is ineligible to win it again because we want to spread the money around. The same breeder could win—just do it with a different mare."

The mare bonus program offers a couple of additional kickers. If the foal out of a nominated mare has been offered through the ITBOA Fall Sale as a weanling or yearling and becomes the leading earner at Prairie Meadows, then the breeder receives an additional $5,000. The foal does not have to sell, it just needs to be offered to qualify.

Another $5,000 could be paid if the foal is also by a stallion represented by a season offered at the ITBOA Stallion Season Auction held in December 2017. The foal does not have to be the result of a season bought during the auction. As long as at least one season to a given stallion was sold, then all foals by that stallion and out of nominated mares are eligible.

Because the Iowa-bred program allows breeders to use stallions in other states, the number of mares bred in Iowa usually does not square with the number of live foals reported the following year. For example, Iowa breeders reported 109 mares bred in 2015, but 202 registered Iowa foals were reported in 2016. For the 2017 and 2018 breeding seasons, Iowa farms reported around 135 mares bred.

"Obviously, we are doing this to get our mare population up," Schutz said. "But we also looked at the numbers for the last three years and I've talked to people who foal out a lot of mares, and even after several years I don't know that we are going to see the pool get over 150 because horses join and leave. So if you have a new mare and you're one of, say, 20 mares that came in that year, I think your odds of winning the bonus are pretty good."

To qualify for the bonus, a mare's owner must nominate her to the program by July 1, 2019, at a cost of $200 for ITBOA members and $300 for non-members. Late registration is available up to Sept. 2, 2019, for a $500 fee.

Nominated mares must also be registered with the Iowa Department of Agriculture, which manages the Iowa-bred incentive program.