[AllAroundRdr]

Not to be harsh, but if you have to ask the opinions of others of whether your horse is a situable breeding candidate, the answer is probably a NO.

[Haas Horse Farm]

Originally Posted by AllAroundRdr

Not to be harsh, but if you have to ask the opinions of others of whether your horse is a situable breeding candidate, the answer is probably a NO.

LOL That was my exact post! But to ad to it... WHY in the heck would you want to raise a foal from something totally unsuitable? Would you want another horse with the same attitude and cushings to boot? Why raise something that is going to try to kill you and your children... heck I have had nice mares get nasty with an offspring... why risk it with a mean one. Foals are not born mean they learn it from the dam.

Also on a side note as flat as the market is you can buy one cheaper than you can raise it. Buy one and raise it and save yourself the agony if the foaling process does not go well. I have been there for four mares that have had to be put down because of foaling issues this year alone. I also know of two mares that lost the offspring due to fescue poisoning. To me there is ZERO excuse for any foal to have fescue poisoning... if you cannot keep the mare healthy during the last three months then you should not have broodmares. End of story.

So to give you my answer to your question not no but heck NO!

[kyryah]

I am not entirely sure that the market issue applies... I think the OP is from Austrailia. Either way, everything else that has been said is very true.

Kristina

[Jess!]

The biggest consideration you must make is the answer to the question, "Why do I want to breed this mare?" The answer to that is the key to the future. There are good reasons to breed, and there are not-so-good reasons to breed, and then there are really, really bad reasons to breed! We'll start with the worse case in breeding. If your answer to "Why do I want to breed this mare" is:

"Because she's a mare" - Then stop here, don't pass go, and don't breed. This is probably the worse reason to breed a mare. Unfortunately, this is often the only reason some folks give when breeding their mares. Some mares truly aren't suitable for breeding, not to mention the welfare of the foal is at risk here. If you aren't doing anything else with her to justify keeping her, you might want to consider selling her, or leasing her out to someone who would want to work with her.

"I'd like to make some money selling the foal" - Though some folks can pull this off, it's a bad reason to sell, mainly because the theory doesn't work in most cases. That's not to say some folks don't make money selling their foals, but most of the people who do are breeding good quality babies out of good quality stock. Breeding your mare who's just been your best riding companion, and nothing more, will not likely make much extra cash, and might even set you back a bit if there are complications, or the foal doesn't sell for a while.

"I want a foal to raise and it's less expensive to breed my mare than to buy a new foal" - Actually, in many cases, this isn't true. Once you finish paying the stud fee, vet fees, and extra feed for the mare while pregnant and lactating, you'd be surprised how much less you can get a foal for!
"Because she's my favorite mare/only mare/first mare" or "Because I want to have a baby from her" - If this is your only reason, it's not the best but not the worst, and can be worked with. If you are prepared to keep the baby, and be responsible for it for the rest of it's life, then there's room for this one. But beware, just because your mare is perfect in every way, does not mean her babies will follow directly in her footsteps!

"My friend has a stallion she'll let me breed my mare to for free/reduced stud fee" - Again, not the best but can be worked with. How nice is this stallion? Even a perfect mare will not always be able to compensate for a "leaves a lot to be desired" stallion! However, if it's a nice stud, and you have a nice mare, or plan to keep the foal for your own, then it's definitely an option!

"My mare is great at what she does (trail riding, western pleasure, barrel racing, hunter/jumper - you fill in the blank here) and might throw an even better foal if bred to a similar or better quality stallion" - Yep, you guessed it, a good reason to breed. Again, you still have the chances that the baby will be nothing like either parent, but the odds are in your favor that you'll get not only a good baby, but a marketable one at that. We're not talking about mares that are champions here, with nothing but blues to show for her life, though that's not a bad thing at all! But if she does her job, whatever that might be, and does it well, it's very reasonable to expect a good baby from her. Once you've answered "Why," then you need to sit back and take a serious look at the situation. Look at your mare through a stranger's eyes instead of your own. What is her conformation like? If she has poor conformation, even breeding her to a perfect stallion won't correct it all. What is her temperament like? Yep, there's definitely a good degree of inheritance there also. If she's got a less than desirable personality, not only could her foal follow suit, but she could actually get worse after foaling. What is her health like? Does she colic with every change of weather? Do her feet fall apart without constant attention? Has she had reactions to medicines, wormers, vaccines, or feed? Does she have allergies? All these things also have some potential genetic factors that need to be considered.

Next look at her bloodlines, if you know them. We're not saying that grade mares have no place being bred; as was said before, if she does her job well, she has potential as a broodmare. But if you do have a mare with traceable bloodlines, look at what's in there - those are ingredients that will be part of your foal. Are there desirable ingredients there? If she has a show record, is it a good one?

The next consideration is your finances. You'd be surprised what all you will have to pay for when you make the big plunge into the breeding world. The obvious is your stud fee - and that can range from a couple hundred to several thousand. You have medical care, even in a healthy pregnancy. The standard of care today includes ultrasounding to detect pregnancy and help prevent twinning. Vaccinations should be kept up to date, as well as regular dewormings. Feed will increase towards the last 3 months of her pregnancy, and about double once she foals and needs the extra calories for lactation. Water consumption will also increase. If you are boarding, you might see a board increase, if not when she foals then definitely at weaning. Of course, then you have vet bills if something goes wrong....we don't even won't to go there!

Speaking of things going wrong, pregnancy does have its risks, and there's a lot of them. You could lose the foal, the mare or both. Problems at delivery in mares aren't very common, but most of the problems that do occur are serious ones!

[Heavenly Jumper]

If you can answer yes to these questions, then yes. Go for it because you know the risks and you are ready.

• Does my mare represent a good example of the breed?
• Is she free of major conformation and temperament flaws?
• Do you know whether or not she has any genetic flaws that she could pass on?
• Do I have the knowledge to choose a stallion who will compliment her?
• Will the resulting foal be bettering the breed?
• Do I want to have my mare pregnant and out of work?
• Do I have the facilities to have a foal born safely?
• Do I have the financial means to pay for:
  • Stud Fees AND mare care
  • Feed and Supplements for my mare AND foal
  • The many standard veterinary bills during the pregnancy
  • Unexpected emergency vet bills
  • The costs of raising that foal to ride-able age (feed, vet, farrier)
  • The costs of training for the foal
• Do I have 3-4 years to wait for the foal to be born and grow to trainable/ride-able age?
• Am I prepared to risk my mares death?
• In the event that she dies or rejects the foal, do I have the knowledge and means to care for the orphaned foal?
• Am I prepared to risk losing the foal?
• Am I prepared to risk losing them both?
• Am I experienced in handling and training a young foal?
• Do I have a plan for the foal if I can no longer care for it properly?
• Do I have an intended purpose for the resulting foal?
• After all this, am I willing to risk that the foal doesn't live up to my expectations?

My point is this: Look at the list above, they are the realistic responsibilities of breeding. If you said no to some of them, then you are better off saving the money, possible heartache, or whatever it is that turned you off from breeding and buy the horse that you want. I am not being mean or rude, just showing plainly things that need to be considered when lives are being created.

[AllAroundRdr]

Originally Posted by HeavenlyJumper

If you can answer yes to these questions, then yes.

• Does my mare represent a good example of the breed

When you can't even answer an accurate YES to the 1st question, I say go no further

[Buckshot]

No, you shouldn't breed her if this is the same pony you referred to in your other thread.

And I do not condone breeding of pedigree-less animals, unless they are stellar in a certain discipline.

I would not breed.

[AtomicTop]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes, it is the pony that I am suspecting may have cushings. I would certainly not breed her if she were diagnosed with that condition. The vet is coming to look at her tomorrow. (Hope my suspicion proves wrong). Yes, she does have some behavioural issues but I was hoping that this was only due tolack of handling in the last few years, as she was a good pony in the past. I have heard people say that they don't want to ride a particular horse due to lack of handling and are considering breeding instead. I guess that is a bad idea. I do agree I could probably get a good pony with less hassle and expense. Ah well, I guess one can dream about having one's own foal.

[Caterina]

Its always nice to dream....
but no, I wouldnt breed in your case.

If you really want a foal, you can probably find a little tyke for a good price.

[kyryah]

There is nothing wrong with breeding itself. If people didn't breed horses, we wouldn't have any at all.

But if you are going to breed, and breed responsibly, make sure that you have a good savings set aside before you do, for vet calls and emergencies, and find a mare to buy that has the criteria that we have outlined for you. Secondly, make sure that the stallion you choose has more going for him than just a good temperment, good color, and a cheap price. Just because Neighbor Joe has a double dilute stallion that is so sweet and has a $50 stud fee, doesn't mean that the stallion should be bred to or even deserves to be a stallion. There is much more to conformation than just looking pretty, and so many things that outline a truly high quality, breeding quality stallion or mare.

Kristina