What Makes a "Backyard Breeder"?

Many people like to bash and harp on backyard breeders.  But I think we are too quick to dub someone a backyard breeder based on outward appearances.  Things aren't always what they seem.  A friend taught me this with her breeding "business."  This friend of mine only has two broodmares.  They are not kept in a fancy barn, they are not groomed everyday, they do not show, and she does not treat them like they are glass.  She treats them like they are horses, well taken care of, but not locked in a padded stall on the fanciest ranch in the PNW.  A lot of people will look at her set up and see *BACKYARD BREEDER* blinking in neon lights.  This could not be further from the truth.  The truth is, her mares are extremely well bred.  She picks the best of the best stallions and sells her babies for quite a pretty penny after mere days on the market.  Her babies are rated close to the top of their breed in the world. Not the region.  Not the state.  Not the country.  But the world.  And she does it all with a small setup, on a small farm.  She studied her breed for years before buying her first mare.  She produces two babies a year, and they are both quality babies.  She can foal a mare with ease and takes every precaution along the way.  Hell, her mare's prenatal care rivals that of our prenatal care.  On the flipside of the coin, I would like to point out "high end" Thoroughbred breeders.  Now, I'm using the words "high end" loosely because nothing spells "piece of shit" quite like someone who breeds high quantity hoping to hit the jackpot and get that one-in-a-million superstar, and leaving the other babies by the wayside.  Producing many poorly conformed, confused youngsters, that have trouble acclimating to a real world home and end up on the slaughter truck, or worse, starved and humiliated because they are a "bad horse" because of the way they are treated in the beginning of their life.  While this is not happening in someones "backyard", but in high end stables, it is still, to me, the epitome of a backyard breeder.  They don't care about the mediocre, or less, babies they're shoving out into the world.  All they care about is trying to get that one-in-a-million horse. Not about the havoc they are wreaking along the way.  So please, before you judge a breeder by their appearance, stop and look at what they are producing.  People with small, high quality programs need all the help they can get.