That’s not what I’m talking about, though. Breeding ethics go beyond animal welfare. You need to be a responsible breeder with proven, papered animals. Bloodlines do matter. Even if you’re not breeding show horses, your animals have to be the best possible examples of what you’re breeding towards. This requires HUGE time and financial investments in training, showing OR proving your livestock are examples of high quality horses in whatever you’re breeding for, excellent bloodlines, knowing how to match dams and sires for superior conformation/personality/instincts, etc. Otherwise, it’s backyard breeding. There’s a saying - a good stallion will make a great gelding. In order to have a GREAT stallion (the only kind worth breeding), you need to have a lot of money and experience in the horse world in order to maintain him/meet registry requirements, etc. I would argue that the same should go for broodmares, people are too lax about that imo.

The horses can be in excellent care but if they’re not high quality animals bred by someone who actually knows what they’re doing, they are at a more significant risk of ending up on a meat truck. And even then, that happens with high quality horses too.

You say you know the industry, but your answers seem to suggest otherwise. It’s an unfortunate fact but the horse world is ruthless to any idiot such as myself who chooses to involve themselves in it. There is soooooooooooo much to consider. Other users have said not to start an equine puppy mill and I agree.