Walmac to offer payment options

Walmac Farm, which stands stallions in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, will offer breeders an option to pay their stud fees from proceeds of the resulting foals' sale as foals or yearlings, the farm announced Thursday.

Walmac also will give breeders the chance to accept foal-share agreements within 30 days of a foal's birth. Under a standard foal-share arrangement, a stallion owner waives the stud fee in exchange for an ownership interest in the resulting foal.

Walmac's plan is the latest response to difficult economic conditions for Thoroughbred breeders, who have seen the market drop precipitously since the fall yearling sales in September.

Many stud farms have extended their payment terms or offered foal-share deals as a way of attracting mares to their horses at a time when many breeders, pummeled by the market and the rising cost of raising horses, are considering taking mares out of production.