Why does the stallion always get credit!?

HJ_lilbit · 08-30-2006, 03:15 AM

Why when you look at a stallions baby, you say he throws such wonderful babies! No mention to the mare eh?
(now im not sayin everyone does this, but i just caught myself doing it, so im thinkin other people do too)

all gender put aside, if i push something out of my body, im going to get credit.

tightpaycheck · 08-30-2006, 03:29 AM

Some stallions do throw wonderful babies, repeatedly. Other times the baby seems to take more after the mare.There was a local Paint stallion a few years ago that was really nice. I met him in person and thought he was amazing. Then I saw his foals....everyone was just ok. He never had one single baby nice enough to be show quality, and these people really tried hard. But the stallion I bred my black and white mare to throws cookie-cutter babies ...everyone looks exactly the same. Big hip, great hocks, awesome neck, great shoulder and pretty face no matter what he is bred to. And he is nice, but I wouldn't have bred a mare to him based just on his looks.

Commanderkins · 08-30-2006, 07:53 AM

Good point! that is the trend, but I know it is also up to the mare owner to make sure that she has a great mare not just an ok one to breed to...if I were a stallion owner, I would be very selective about the mares I bred to, they would have to be approved.(and yes I do take credit for my son that I squeezed out! LOL)

aqh88 · 08-30-2006, 11:53 AM

Because you can only get 1 baby a year from a mare so it takes several years to know how consistent her babies will be. With a stallion you can get many foals in 1 year from many different mares so if all the babies come out really nice you can say the stallion throws nice foals. You have a large sample from mares with various personalities and conformation to compare to. With the mare unless she's been used as a broodmare all her life and is now 15 or so years old you don't know if she will throw consistently good babies from several stallions. Of course the mare and stallion always both add to it and a good stallion bred to good mares is going to give better foals than if he were bred to bad mares but people don't think that way since it's much harder or at least more time consuming to know if a mare throws good foals.

Morganhorse321 · 09-02-2006, 05:04 AM

I've never really thought of all this before, but I do know that at the breeding farm I used to ride at, we always gave credit to the stallions...except for one mare who has had about 10 or more babies...all of whom are huge with a beautiful arab face...which is surprising...because she isn't tall...and she doesn't have the typical arab face...but no matter what stallion she was bred to...her babies always looked the same.

shell · 09-02-2006, 07:31 PM

A LOT of Arabian mares get credit for good foals. It is just that mares are much more limites as to what they produce then stallions are. A stallion can have hundreds or more foals so his odds of producing good foals are much better then a mare who is limited to maybe 15 to 18 foals in her life time.

shandi · 09-03-2006, 05:05 PM

When I went looking for a new colt last year, I had a list of stallions I liked, but my final decision in my purchase came down to the dam and the grand dam. When I saw the quality behind the females, I just had to have the colt I purchased.

Lindsayanne · 09-03-2006, 05:13 PM

I absolutely agree! I bred Ebony to a nice, stallion- not near as quality as her though- and guess who will get the credit?

wrightdanes · 09-03-2006, 08:51 PM

It takes two to tango, but you're right.... Maybe it's because so many mares are just broodmmares, they are not heavily shown and raced before they start their reproductive years. I don't agree with that, but it seems to be the way it is. Personally, if I was to breed, I'd pore a lot of money into the mares conformation, attitiude, and pedigree THEN find a stud was related back one to two generations - basically line breed the girls to get the traits I like. Sounds like incest, and you do run the risk of homozygous recessive problems popping up, but it works so well with dogs...

08-30-2006, 03:15 AM	#1
HJ_lilbit Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: NC, USA Posts: 1,182 Images: 64 Blog Entries: 1	Why does the stallion always get credit!? Why when you look at a stallions baby, you say he throws such wonderful babies! No mention to the mare eh? (now im not sayin everyone does this, but i just caught myself doing it, so im thinkin other people do too) all gender put aside, if i push something out of my body, im going to get credit. __________________ I generally try to maintain silence.

09-02-2006, 07:31 PM	#6
shell Senior Member+ Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: The Great North West Posts: 8,930 Images: 313	A LOT of Arabian mares get credit for good foals. It is just that mares are much more limites as to what they produce then stallions are. A stallion can have hundreds or more foals so his odds of producing good foals are much better then a mare who is limited to maybe 15 to 18 foals in her life time. __________________ “Look, what a horse should have he did not lack, save a proud rider on so proud back.” -Shakespear Marshalltown, Iowa, it is against the law for a horse to eat a fire hydrant.

09-03-2006, 05:13 PM	#8
Lindsayanne Senior Member+ Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Joplin, MO Posts: 9,732 Images: 394	I absolutely agree! I bred Ebony to a nice, stallion- not near as quality as her though- and guess who will get the credit? __________________ Bashkir Curly Poster Child NE Prime Time Regal - 2006 ABCR National Champion & 2008 Breyerfest Demo Horse HAVE YOU SEEN MY STOLEN PONY EXPRESS HORSE TRAILER?*

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08-30-2006, 03:29 AM	#2
tightpaycheck Senior Member+ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NE PA Posts: 1,808 Images: 2	Some stallions do throw wonderful babies, repeatedly. Other times the baby seems to take more after the mare.There was a local Paint stallion a few years ago that was really nice. I met him in person and thought he was amazing. Then I saw his foals....everyone was just ok. He never had one single baby nice enough to be show quality, and these people really tried hard. But the stallion I bred my black and white mare to throws cookie-cutter babies ...everyone looks exactly the same. Big hip, great hocks, awesome neck, great shoulder and pretty face no matter what he is bred to. And he is nice, but I wouldn't have bred a mare to him based just on his looks.

08-30-2006, 07:53 AM	#3
Commanderkins Senior Member+ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: I'm Canadian, So right on Eh! Posts: 2,668 Images: 40	Good point! that is the trend, but I know it is also up to the mare owner to make sure that she has a great mare not just an ok one to breed to...if I were a stallion owner, I would be very selective about the mares I bred to, they would have to be approved.(and yes I do take credit for my son that I squeezed out! LOL)

08-30-2006, 11:53 AM	#4
aqh88 Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Iowa Posts: 610	Because you can only get 1 baby a year from a mare so it takes several years to know how consistent her babies will be. With a stallion you can get many foals in 1 year from many different mares so if all the babies come out really nice you can say the stallion throws nice foals. You have a large sample from mares with various personalities and conformation to compare to. With the mare unless she's been used as a broodmare all her life and is now 15 or so years old you don't know if she will throw consistently good babies from several stallions. Of course the mare and stallion always both add to it and a good stallion bred to good mares is going to give better foals than if he were bred to bad mares but people don't think that way since it's much harder or at least more time consuming to know if a mare throws good foals.

09-02-2006, 05:04 AM	#5
Morganhorse321 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: South Carolina Posts: 689 Images: 26	I've never really thought of all this before, but I do know that at the breeding farm I used to ride at, we always gave credit to the stallions...except for one mare who has had about 10 or more babies...all of whom are huge with a beautiful arab face...which is surprising...because she isn't tall...and she doesn't have the typical arab face...but no matter what stallion she was bred to...her babies always looked the same.

09-03-2006, 05:05 PM	#7
shandi Full Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 50 Images: 5	When I went looking for a new colt last year, I had a list of stallions I liked, but my final decision in my purchase came down to the dam and the grand dam. When I saw the quality behind the females, I just had to have the colt I purchased.

09-03-2006, 08:51 PM	#9
wrightdanes Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 921 Images: 1	It takes two to tango, but you're right.... Maybe it's because so many mares are just broodmmares, they are not heavily shown and raced before they start their reproductive years. I don't agree with that, but it seems to be the way it is. Personally, if I was to breed, I'd pore a lot of money into the mares conformation, attitiude, and pedigree THEN find a stud was related back one to two generations - basically line breed the girls to get the traits I like. Sounds like incest, and you do run the risk of homozygous recessive problems popping up, but it works so well with dogs...