I have a rising 4 year old cob mare who I am thinking about breeding in a couple of years time to get a foal who I would be looking to keep.

There are a couple of questions - first roughly how much would I be looking at spending in vets fees, such as swabs, scanning, checks etc (not including stud fee and board as I know which stallion she would go to and how much they charge). This is as long as everything goes right - I am well aware it doesn't always and then that's lots more fees.
Preferably in £ as I'm in England, but a rough idea would be good.

I'm also wanting opinions on the benefits of breeding a foal as opposed to buying a weanling, again if I bought a weanling I know which stud I would be going to and the sort of money I'm looking at. And also the downsides to breeding, also I would like opinions on the benefits and disadvantages to buying a youngster.

My mare is a 4 (next month) year old, 15'1 or so cob mare. She has very nice confirmation, the main thing people don't like about her is she has big ears and quite a big head, but she is nicely in proportion and has good legs. Breeding wise for her I don't know much about her parents, but she definatly has some clydsdale, maybe a 1/4 at the most - you can see it in her head though, there's some thoroughbred - she has very nice legs under the feathers and other than that I think she has some dales or maybe Welsh section D or something like that.

She is a very sweet girl and moves very nicely and is a doddle to train - we just started riding her this spring and she is picking it up very quickly.

She is a maiden and I would be looking for her to foal around about 6-8 years old.
I've never bred but the owners of the yard I am on have had foals and there are a couple of big foaling boxs. I am also friends with the people who run the stud where she would go so I know she would be very well looked after and I would have them for support as well as my vet.
She is healthy but would be having a full vet check before she was put in foal, so apart from the money side of things I'm more interested in opinions of the advantages and disadvantages of buying a youngster as opposed to breeding a foal.


The stallion she would be going to is a Friesian I like a lot.

I know you need a lot of experience to breed but I have been around horses my whole life and much prefere youngsters. I have a lot of experienced friends who will be able to help should it be needed with the foaling side of things. My mare is the second youngster I have been involved in bringing up.
Sorry it's so long, thank you