Rod and Barb Zimmerman started raising Arabian horses in 1968. Then in 1988, Rod and Dave Newgard, his partner, sold an Arabian stallion that Rod said was one of the highest-selling Arabians in North America that year.

Rod said they used some of the money from that sale to begin raising thoroughbred horses. While they bred competitive Arabians, thoroughbred breeders can make money more consistently.

Rod said they’ve raised about eight stakes horses in the Midwest. Rod and Barb have five thoroughbred mares, a few Arabians and a stallion, but they no longer use him to breed. Two foals have been born this year with three more on the way.

Now breeding only thoroughbreds, Rod said his foals have typically sold from about $2,900 to $7,500 in the last few years, and the horse industry has been down recently. One of the most important things buyers look for is the foal’s history.

“I would say that they wouldn’t even look if they didn’t like the lines,” Rod said. “Once they see the lines, it has to be a good individual. … If there’s no pedigree on it, you won’t get more than $1,000 for it. The pedigree comes first.”

Most of Rod and Barb’s mares have come out of Kentucky, and Rod said one is the daughter of a Kentucky Derby winner, another is the daughter of a Breeder’s Cup winner and another is the daughter of a horse that won two Eclipse Awards. Another mare is the granddaughter of Northern Dancer, a Kentucky Derby winner and one of the most successful breeding stallions of the 20th century.

About seven years ago, Rod bought breeding shares in Ghazi, a stallion purchased out of Kentucky that now lives in Waverly. There are 44 shares in him, and each share receives two breeding fees a year.

Rod said three of his five foals coming this year are through Ghazi.

Breeding fees in Minnesota can run from $500 to $5,000, Rod said, and they’re not guaranteed to be successful.

“You look to see if their offspring have run,” Rod said of how they choose horses to breed. “You look to see if their offspring have good confirmation, especially legs, and if they have good breathing capacity.”

Rod said at about a month old, he can tell if a foal has good legs and will be strong horse, though you can’t tell if it’s going to race until training begins at around the age of 2.

Rod has had foals born with weak legs in the past because of how a foal is positioned in the womb, but he said a foal’s legs often strengthen within a few weeks. If they don’t, Rod said he’ll sell a horse that’s not racing quality as a riding horse.

Rod said most of their foals are sold through the Minnesota Thoroughbred Association sale at Canterbury.

“The trainers from the Upper Midwest and the owners that are interested in racing come to that sale, look over all the horses and bid on what they think, based on pedigree and confirmation, is going to be a runner. They never know if it’s going to be a runner, however, until after they get it started in training,” Rod said.

Many of the horses they sell stay in the Midwest, but Rod said he and Barb watched horse races on television over the winter and saw horses they raised and sold racing in places like New York, Ohio and Florida.

Some buyers show interest in foals before they’re born. Rod said one buyer is interested in a foal expected to be born soon, because that buyer has had success racing a horse from the same mare, Rod said.

Rod and Newgard have two horses preparing with trainers to race at Canterbury Park in Shakopee this year. Rod said about eight horses he either owns a share in or bred will race at Canterbury this year.

Once a horse goes to the trainer, most of the decisions, like choosing a jockey, are in the trainer’s hands, since he or she is with the horse every day, Rod said.

“They’re just like track athletes,” Rod said. “It takes you about 120 days to get them ready for their first race, because they have to be in shape, they have to have their legs in, they have to have air in them. … They’re athletes and they need to be trained like athletes.”

To be prepared to train, a foal needs to be born at the correct time. Breeders have to be accurate because the breeding season ends in June, and Rod said he aims for foals to be born in March and early April. Since thoroughbreds are trained to race, it’s difficult for a foal born in July to compete with a foal born in the spring.

Thoroughbreds have a gestation period of 345 days, and Rod said breeders can lose a year of breeding if a horse isn’t bred correctly.

Thoroughbreds racing prime is from age 3 to 6, and after their racing days, some horses become riding horses and others are used to breed. Rod said few horses become breeding stallions, but he said the ones that do make a good deal of money.

If mares are taken care of and given a year off once and while, Rod said they can breed into their early 20s. Thoroughbreds can live to a little over 30 years.

Rod said he plans to continue raising thoroughbreds as long as he’s physically able to do the work that goes along with it.

“I don’t know what I’d do with my time if I didn’t do it,” Rod said. “Sometimes we make money and sometimes we don’t.”