A hard horse decision-what to do??

[lil'turkeymama]

I do agree there are too many homeless horses at this time.But I'm glad I have grandkids from my mare.I do have room for them.I would pass on the 'new stud'.The one you have looks very nice,I'll try to post a pic of my stallion.I have geldings,too,but I'm waiting about having this fellow gelded.He doesn't have a stack of papers,but he is a nice horse that came from papers.We're gonna wait and see.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

As long as you're prepared, have done your homework, and will be holding on to the babies, I really don't see any problem with breeding. It's a lot of work, but the whole experience of raising a baby yourself is rewarding when done right!

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Personally I would cut them both, but that is just me. Right now, in this market, the last thing the world needs is more horses. If we are not careful we will soon have a problem as bad as the dog people have with unwanted animals, so unless an animal so stellar that he's has won everything in sight, I'd cut him to help avoid overbreeding. I would not go breeding an unshown baby to an unshown mare. Sadly, those days are gone. Now it's just NOT responsible breeding.

And, yes, I have stallions, but I'm not breeding them either. And I have have a mare who is 24. Breeding her would be cruel.

All of the above is JMO, of course.


Rusty

 

[pinkyglory123]

I foxhunt and there are some pretty fancy $25,000 horses out there doing just that. It gives me great pleasure to be hunting two previously slaughter bound TBs alongside them. What does not give me pleasure is seeing all the nice horses going to slaughter. Many of them colored. Well trained, pretty, with their sad notes attached to them. If you are experienced and careful you can find anything you want out there. Driving horses are a dime a dozen. Luckily if you do choose to breed your two backyard horses together you will only get one that you can keep. Not like a litter of pups where some will be out of your control. And hopefully your life will remain stable and everyone safe.

 

[Egg Rookie 2010]

because sometimes forever is shorter than what we plan on.

Isnt that the truth!?!

 

[serendipityfarm]

With the older mare, you are certainly taking a risk. I work for an equine vet, and when pregnancy & foaling go well, there is nothing better, but when things go wrong, the go so very horribly wrong! I have a mare I tried to breed a few years back but it didn't take. Now I am grateful because if something went wrong and I lost her because I just "had to have a baby out of her" then I would never forgive myself.
So my question when people ask about breeding their mares... Is it worth risking the life of your mare to have a baby out of her? If not, buy a baby (that's what I did and I adore him!) and give the mare a nice quiet retirement.
Just my $.02.
~Terry

 

[RiverOtter]

Was it me and I was breeding my old mare just for my own pleasure;
She's papered and she has performed the way that I want her to perform, that's why she's my favorite. I wouldn't "waste" her last foal on an unproven young stud. I'd find the nicest stallion I could afford (and with the market you can afford some nice ones, look further then a 20 mile radius) even if I had to AI her.

If I'm going to have a foal for my pleasure - I want a beauty. I want a beauty with a good mind and good work ethic who's bred to do what I like best. It would be worth it to me, even if I had to sell the stud colt to afford the breeding - unless you're really attached to the stud colt in his own right.
Now me personally, no way I'd breed another mare so the foal I want would have "company". I would want the major influences in the youngster's life to be me and the old mare, not some other bratty foal. Me and my favorite would be company enough for it and the foal would look to us for direction.

 

[WIChookchick]

Quote:
Well said!
I was given for FREE an 11 yr old broke, registered arab gelding, there are so many free horses out there... If I were going to breed, (which I am) my husband's KY mtn mare, to a cremello Rocky mtn stallion my friend stands... he is a proven show horse, was originally offered for sale at $20,000, and was sold for half that to my friend. WHY am I breeding. I have a great friend that has had some life threatening pregnancies, had selfish, drug using/drinking parents, she went into an apprenticeship horse trainer program. Put miles on DH's mare when she was green, and has always wanted a gaited horse.
This is my very late wedding gift to her. A horse she can love, ride, and I know will be registered.

 

[Celtic Hill]

Quote:
It was probally up untill two months ago that I wanted to breed my Mare, and a friend of mine and Terry asked me if I was willing to loose my mare for a foal that i didn't know the quality was going to be. Why do you want to breed your mare? What has your stud done that makes him stand out? Not only one parent should be really nice, both parents should be very nice! Has he gone out and won top then at worlds? These are all things that should be thought about. Don't just breed "Because I want a foal from my favorite horse" <-- All of us do! I do, but i realize the reality, I would rather have my mare until she dies then run the chance of killing her because was greedy and wanted a foal from her. It's going to take you 5+ years before you will have the foal ready for anything. Breeding isn't something that should be done, just to be done.

Call the kettle black, but i have done a lot of research about this. The person I work for now used to manage a breeding facility. It's nice you have your own stud but it dosn't mean it's right to breed your mares just because you have a stallion.

You can probably go to the local auction and pick up a foal and train it to be a fab game horse, or even your colt now, you never know! But our world dosn't need another so-so horse, the only horses that should be bred today are ones that come from world champion-Horses with a show record up the wazzo.

Im done.

 

[danischi24]

Quote:
I agree with this.