In short
- All six keep breeding records; they differ on stallion contracts, shipped semen and billing mare care.
- Mare care billed by the day, the thing breeders ask about most, is described only by CRIO and HFMS.
- None of the six mention a public booking site, texting or answering the phone for mare owners.
What breeders ask
On the Chronicle of the Horse forum, breeders ask the same things every season: what mare care should cost, when to start charging more board once a mare is bred or a foal arrives, how to work out a due date, and what belongs in a breeding contract and a live foal guarantee. Gestation runs about 11 months, so a due date set from the first or the last cover can differ by weeks; pick one rule and use it every time.
The six, side by side
| Product | Price as listed | Mare records | Contracts | Shipped semen | Mare care billing | Trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| equineGenie Breeder | $449 once, desktop | Teasing, checks, foaling stages | Yes, with booking and service fees | Cooled and frozen, with documents | Billing included; per day not mentioned | Not mentioned |
| StallionApp | Mares: 3 free, then $20 to $80 a month; stallions $7.99 each | Ultrasounds, cultures, foal watch | Yes, shared with the other party | Requests with tracking | Breeding billing; per day not mentioned | First 3 mares free |
| HorseBook | $4.99 to $39.99 a month | Heat cycles, covers, foaling | Business plan, signed from a link | Business plan | Deposit and balance schedules | 14 days |
| CRIO Online | $15.90 to $95.90 a month | Professional plan | Not mentioned | Enterprise plan | Recurring daily charges (Enterprise) | 30 days |
| Wise Option | Breeding facility from $650 a month | Palpation, breeding log, pregnancies | Yes, with DocuSign | Requests and frozen inventory | Recurring billing | Demo |
| Jockey Club HFMS | $1,550 to $6,350 once (2015 price list) | Teasing, breeding, foaling | Bookings; contracts not mentioned | Not mentioned | Board calculated and split by owner | Evaluation copy |
Notes on each
equineGenie Breeder
Desktop software, bought once, with detailed reproduction records (teasing, ultrasound findings, foaling stages), contracts, shipped semen documentation, billing and accounting, and registration reminders. It leaves out showing, training and lessons, and ships on a flash drive in the US.
StallionApp
A shared network for mare and stallion owners: contracts with live foal terms and fee due dates both sides can see, semen requests with tracking numbers and pregnancy timelines. Priced by number of mares and per stallion.
HorseBook
An inexpensive records app for small breeders. Its Business plan adds a stallion book, contracts signed online from a link, and which mares each collection was shipped to. It never holds funds.
CRIO Online
Low-cost cloud barn software. Mare breeding is on its Professional plan; stallions, frozen semen and recurring daily charges for boarding are on Enterprise. Online payments are US only.
Wise Option
Reproduction clinic software for stallion stations, embryo transfer centers and reproduction vets, with contracts, shipped semen and frozen inventory. Built for vets, and priced to match.
Jockey Club HFMS
A long-standing Windows system for broodmare and board operations that calculates board and allocates charges to owners. Its published price list is from 2015; ask for current prices.
How to choose
- Start with how you bill. If mare care and board are most of the money, test daily charges and splits by owner first.
- Stand at the stallion's side or the mare's. A stallion station needs contracts, semen orders and dose inventory; a mare owner needs cycles, checks and due dates.
- Write the contract terms down first, including the live foal guarantee, then check the software can hold them.
- Import last season. CRIO and others take spreadsheets; ask before you type it in again.
Where Kavalo fits
Breeding software keeps the records. It does not answer the mare owner who calls to ask about a booking, send the reminder before the next check, or follow up the inquiry from your website. Kavalo Front Office does: your website, a customer list that follows up every inquiry, reminders by text and email, invoices with text-to-pay and online payments, and a text back to every missed call; AI Ranch Hand answers the phone. Mare, stallion and foal records, breeding and due dates, mare care billed by the day and the owner portal are not part of Front Office; White Glove sets those up with the customer side in one system. See also our guide to boarding billing.
Questions people ask
How do I bill mare care by the day?
CRIO's Enterprise plan describes recurring daily charges for boarding, and HFMS calculates board and allocates it to owners. With other tools, ask to see a month of daily charges on one owner's statement.
When should board go up for a mare and foal?
Breeders differ; some charge more from foaling, some from weaning. Decide, write it in the boarding agreement, and set it as a charge rule.
From which cover do I set the due date?
Breeders count from the first or the last cover. Choose one rule; BreederHQ, still invite only, describes milestone alerts on a 340-day count.
Can the mare owner sign the contract online?
HorseBook's Business plan sends contracts to sign from a link; Wise Option lists a DocuSign connection; StallionApp shows contracts to both parties.
Can I track shipped semen?
equineGenie, StallionApp, HorseBook Business, CRIO Enterprise and Wise Option all describe it.
Sources
Every price and feature above is as listed on each company's own pages, checked October 26, 2026. A feature marked "not mentioned" may still exist; ask the company.
