[SlickasMom]

***This is for people who do not care about registery and pure bred horses.***


Now, before I get on with this, I would just like to tell you a bit about myself.
I have a 150 horse ranch, here we breed, train, sell, rehabilitate, and board horses. We have been doing this for 20 years now, we rescue horses and we breed horses, is that hard to get? Now, I bought a rescued colt, the sweetest palomino colt which I might use for breeding. He is a heinz'57, but do I care? No way! I love the fact that he has all these breeds in him, thats how some of the best kinds of breeds were formed!

I realy couldn't care less if one of my horses is a dokeys cousin, or is part ape. In my books, a good horse is a good horse and I do not care about reg one bit.
Anyways, I live on vancouver island and overhere there aren't as many horses and thier are no meat lot auctions here where you can go save horses, however, there are alot of those in alberta. Now when I say part rescue, I mean we get neglected and abused horses and we fix them up, get past thier issues and then give them to a family that suites thier needs.
If I could, I would go to alberta and bring back as many feed lot foals and horses as I could, but the gas prices are rising and I was lucky that I even got this colt before the trailoring costs shot up!
Now, we were looking for a new stallion as our old one is now a retired gelding. So anyways, I found this new colt. and I've been wondering if he'll even have good quality foals, in other words I've been wondering I should geld him or not. So I went and posted on another website about my new prospect and asked if I should geld or keep...

Well, lets just say I'm never going back to that site again! The people told me that I was a horrible person for even considering getting a stud when I'll probley send al my foals to feed lots! Well, that hit the heart. I was very P.O.-ed from then on in , infact someone left this comment

"GELD ASAP!! "If" you run a small rescue operation (and who's to say you do) why oh why would you want to bring another horse into the world when there are so many suffering and dying ....Use your time and resources in the rescue area and leave the breeding to the professionals!!"

Now I agree that if I did live in alberta that i shouldn't have even thought of getting a stud colt, but I don't! I live in a town were there are way less horses who need homes! Infact there is a bigger demand here, rather than supply! I feel realy bad now, but I do not have the time and money to go and get a bunch of new projects that may not even turn out good!

Am I realy that bad of a person if I would rather past this foals genes on, rather than go and spend a couple grand to get another foal that has past abuse issues, out here and work with it? I mean, sure I would do it in a heart beat if I had the money, but I don't, giving rehabilitaed horses away for free and then selling the couple odds foals every couple years realy doesn't rake in the money .

Someone else wrote a comment mocking me about how I thought he was so great for an untrained foal that just got off a trailor a long ways from home.

"I say geld him - and fast.

I had a mule baby who would follow me anywhere. There are no mountains around here but he would climb and/or jump a 5' creek bank for me. He walked over tarps and whatever I could get him to do I did. He was only 7 months old.

I had a little filly who was about 10 months old and a cat jumped from my arms to her back... and dug in a hold... All she did was to raise her head a bit and then she went back to eating.

I had another filly who would follow me around the pasture... didn't matter where I was, she was there, too. My 15yo daughter gave her her very first ride last weekend at the age of 3... w/t/c that very first time, no buck no nothing. Looked like a broke horse.

All three are grade and, while wonderful horses, are worthless in breeding. I love them all but there is a world of difference in a well-bred horse and your average, run-of-the-mill back-yard breedings. It's like having a bunch of mutts. They're grand little dogs but there's really no reason to make more of them.

My point is that this little boy isn't really all that special. Don't get me wrong, He IS special (to you) but there are tons of horses who follow their people around and who 'climb mountains'. I say if your gonna get a stuipid mutt, don't breed it for the sake of the horse race, it is useless and probley not much to look at either."




Now this person can go **** off because they must not think very highly of most horses, and anyone who would actualy say that about thier own horse is no good! Even if I had the most ugly horse ion the world, I would never tell anyone it is a mutt, I would atleast sugar coat it and say that my horse in "Unique"!!

Well, I don't know what to think. Am I being an arogent idiot, or did these people just decide to make my day a lot worse?

[chocchipcookie]

That was an incerdibly rude way of wording something, whatever their opinion.
IMO (no-one bash me) if a horse is of good quality (ie, breeding quality) then yes it can be bred if there is a sufficient demand within the area, regardless of whether it's registered or not. Regd horses can still be mutts as far as looks go, it's all in the eye of the beholder.
Personally I congratulate you in trying to help horses! Everyone else can just go stuff themselves if they are going to be rude.

[Miss Neigh]

Well firstly, you did ask for people's opinions. Alot of people dont beleive in breeding "mutts" some people beleive that in order to get a good horse it must be reg. and have outstanding bloodlines, now the only way i see this being true is when it comes to breeding racehorses. I personally beleive in cross bred horses, they are versitile, hardy and all of them are unique. Some of the best mounts are crossed. However i don't beleive in breeding any horse just because it has the ability to reproduce or produce colour, both stud and mare must have good conformation and outstanding temperaments.

[Miss Neigh]

could you possibly post a pic of your colt

[Kiwi Filly]

I have no problems with cross breds, I have three of my own and two are in foal to my purebred QH I dont care if people say ' presserve the bloodlines, bla bla bla', and no doubt they will, I like cross breds, they have everything going for them just as much as a purebred, unless your breeding them to go to the 'top' in the compeditive world, I guess.

Of course if you breed rubbish you'll most likely get rubbish, same if it's a purebred, just because something is called a purebred does not mean it has no conformation faults etc, etc.

Not saying tho, if I had too much money I wouldnt go buy a bl**dy beautiful purebred QH and a bunch of well bred mares from the US and bring them back here to NZ

Oh, I know what you mean, some people are just **** rude, I got told my beautiful 6 month old filly was 'never going to be rideable, will be unsound and the pedal bone should be about to pop thru the bottom of her foot at any minute', just by looking at one bad photo! BTW, not on this forum!

[Kiwi Filly]

Yeah, do you have a pic of your fella?

[Arabians4ME]

I agree with the rest if he is of nice conformation then by all means if you want to breed him do so. However I would be selective as what I bred to. That is the key in so many breeding operations. Mares need to be as good as quality as the stallion. Not taking sides or anything just the other people are partially correct do you realize how many suffering horses there are out there? That's why people are so against breeding unwanted horses (not saying yours are) and you will get similar comments on here. IMO people are looking out for the long term outcome for horses not just their feelings. I too have my share of mutts and love them dealy all of them but one that kinda got accidently created I got out of a rescue type situation. Not counting several of my Reg. PB mares came out of worse conditions. Horrible things just don't happen to mutts they happen to all horses. I really get sick of people breeding their stallions because of their color or how they move there is more important things.

IMHO if you want to keep a horse a stallion that is fine make sure you have facilities to keep him safe and happy. Then be selective in the mares you breed. Maybe find registd. mares of nice quality to test him out on and see what he produces. You may not be happy with his foals.

I don't know how horse living conditions are for the area you live but around here I will see anywhere from 100+ horses go to slaughter every other week. Sure some of them are broke down but most there is nothing wrong with just unwanted many of them are mustangs and I have seen several TBs. I've seen horses paralyzed in the hind drag themselves through the ring and bring 12 dollars. Then you go about 2 miles from my house and there is some weirdo living in his barn with currently 11 horses standing in a 2 acre lot of nothing but manure with rotten haybales to eat. Just so on the weekends his friends can all come over and get drunk and ride them down the highway in 80 degree weather at a full blown gallop or rack or something and to be turned out a few hours later with absolutely no care at all.

Now I am just saying all of this to give you an idea WHY people said what they did. I am all for keeping a horse a stallion if you think it's the quality you want and will care for him correctly. Especailly if you are going to assume the offsprings care. Yet at this point right now us with quality foals are having enough trouble selling them. Do you see what I mean? Let me say this again in no way am I trying to offend anyone just trying to give you a reason why you were treated that way EVEN THOUGH they shouldn't have done it!

I would love to see a picture of your stallion also.

Good Luck!

[Jenje!]

So basically you asked for people's opinions and didn't like the results, so you left the forum and came here to ask us the same question (and complain about people on the other forum)?

Honestly... no offense, but you've made it pretty clear in this post that you don't want to hear other people's opinions if they don't run the same line as your own. You've even gone so far as to preface this thread with a disclaimer that it's "only" for people who don't care about registration or purebred horses. Why, because the "mutt" advocates will agree with you and make you feel better and the people who find value in knowing their horse's lineage and in breeding purebreds won't?

Did you do something horribly wrong? What, in buying this colt? No. But you need to be ready to meet some opposition if you're going to breed him. You'll also have a very limited number of people who will want to breed to him unless you take him out and make him a star in open shows locally... even then the majority of mare owners would rather put their good money towards the best horse who is bred well (i.e. has great parents with great conformation, not just "papers") and who can consistantly produce a horse equal to him in equality or higher. A Heinz 57 horse is not likely to be a popular stallion these days. You have no idea what his parents were like, and he has "all these breeds in him", so there's no telling what he'll produce! And that's the way mare owners will look at it, even if you don't.

You can stand him to your own mares only, but think about it this way... you got him at a feed lot where there are many, many babies just like him needing homes. You can't make a profit when people can get the same "product" just down the road at their local feed lot/auction for $300 on the expensive end unless you lower your prices to match a "good deal" at the auction. When it comes right down to it, you'd just be running your own feed lot, wouldn't you? And depending on the homes that they go to, the foals you produce could easily wind up being someone else's rehabilitation project on down the road.

It's not fair to the foals, it's not particularly fair to the market and it's not going to make you any money. And that's the realistic view of the situation, zero sugar-coating. Do you want to hear that he's special? He probably is! He could make a very special pleasure gelding for you.

[BornToRide]

Originally Posted by Jenje!

So basically you asked for people's opinions and didn't like the results, so you left the forum and came here to ask us the same question (and complain about people on the other forum)?

Honestly... no offense, but you've made it pretty clear in this post that you don't want to hear other people's opinions if they don't run the same line as your own. You've even gone so far as to preface this thread with a disclaimer that it's "only" for people who don't care about registration or purebred horses. Why, because the "mutt" advocates will agree with you and make you feel better and the people who find value in knowing their horse's lineage and in breeding purebreds won't?

Did you do something horribly wrong? What, in buying this colt? No. But you need to be ready to meet some opposition if you're going to breed him. You'll also have a very limited number of people who will want to breed to him unless you take him out and make him a star in open shows locally... even then the majority of mare owners would rather put their good money towards the best horse who is bred well (i.e. has great parents with great conformation, not just "papers") and who can consistantly produce a horse equal to him in equality or higher. A Heinz 57 horse is not likely to be a popular stallion these days. You have no idea what his parents were like, and he has "all these breeds in him", so there's no telling what he'll produce! And that's the way mare owners will look at it, even if you don't.

You can stand him to your own mares only, but think about it this way... you got him at a feed lot where there are many, many babies just like him needing homes. You can't make a profit when people can get the same "product" just down the road at their local feed lot/auction for $300 on the expensive end unless you lower your prices to match a "good deal" at the auction. When it comes right down to it, you'd just be running your own feed lot, wouldn't you? And depending on the homes that they go to, the foals you produce could easily wind up being someone else's rehabilitation project on down the road.

It's not fair to the foals, it's not particularly fair to the market and it's not going to make you any money. And that's the realistic view of the situation, zero sugar-coating. Do you want to hear that he's special? He probably is! He could make a very special pleasure gelding for you.

well put !!!!!

[3WishesDun]

Jenje... that was a beautiful post. Could not have said it better.