13hhX17hh

I am a total novice when it comes to breeding but am currently swatting up ready for when I breed my mare.

I read that you shouldn't use a stallion that is a lot bigger (like 4h!!) as it would obviously be a much larger foal and would make the pregnancy and birth far more risky for the mare especially if its her first.

Plus its bound to look terrible I cant think of one 13h and 17h that would look compatible what would it be something like a section a/b and a ID? its like breeding a great dane with a yorkshire terrier!!
 
Apparently the foal will only grow to the size the Dam can carry, so if the Dam is the 13hh pony you may get a 14hh foal but it won't get huge... if the Dam is 17hh then, first of all big congratulations to the 13hh stallion for his acrobatic ability ;) :D , and I guess the foal would probably get to 15hh?
 
My mare who I'm currently waiting to foal in about 8 weeks is absolutely humoungously huge but after seeing vet last week he told me that the foal will only grow to the size of the mare's ability to carry it and so not to worry, i'm assuming thats the same for when big versus little are crossed.

Although if the mare is the smaller of them think i'd worry more about her getting hurt in the covering process if it is natural cover.
 
lol! I was just wondering. with ai, lots of options. Although I have been told of ramps too. But do you think the resulting equine may have a horse head, pony neck, horse body pony legs etc? or would it actually even out? Does anyone know of any similar situation? I am just curious. My mare is 17.1hh, stallions i like are from 14hands minimum. I would like to have something 16hh, if it wasnt going to look odd.
 
I think they will tend to look like the Sire or Dam, so you could end up with a huge version of the stallion or a dinky version of your mare- but I think most horses are in proportion- fortunately!!
 
I have a 16.2 mare who had a foal by a 14.2 welsh stallion a few years ago. Apparently the resulting offspring was 16.2 and perfect. Same mare has had a foal by a 16.1 tb this year and the foal looks as if it will be a lot smaller than both parents. Her first foal, by a Holstein, eneded up 16.3. Depends on the mare/stallion and a bit of luck.
 
This yearling is out of a 17hh mare by my 12.2hh stallion Thistledown Copper Lustre (To make 15.2ish) Both are in my signature (chestnut on left and ridden bay 3rd from right)

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This two year old is out of a Section B mare by Chateau De Brion (to make 14.2hh)

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It is said that the foal can only grow to the size of the mares uterus so it is possible to use a big stallion on a small mare safely. Probably by AI!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The mares uterus is the deciding factor to foal size at birth, but mares as they get saggier from having a good few foals can have large babies as the uterus is saggy too, which can lead to problems, so nothing to do with stallion size. The only thing that would worry me would be amount of bone - for example if you crossed a very fine arab mare with a small pelvis or a maiden mare to a huuuge breton she might have problems as the foal could be chunky, although some of the draft breeds have quite fine foals when they are born and they chunk up as they grow - friesians are a good example of that - so you'd need to research first!
I think doing AI with 2 very differently sized horses is no problem but obviously with live cover you would not want a huge stallion covering a diddy mare - it might get skewered or squashed!!!:D
There is also a chance you do get odd proportions, and height can be very varied, usually it is somewhere in the middle but occasionally it can be smaller than both or waaay bigger!!
But as long as both conformationally compliment each other for the discipline you are aiming at then personally I wouldn't be put off doing it.
 
The mare may well only carry as big as she is physically capable, however WHY risk it? Too many problems can occur foaling when breeding 2 horses of a comparable size, so why increase the odds? Also, just because the smaller mare carries and safely delivers the foal by the much larger stallion, doesn't mean that the foal will be ok! They have to catch up on the growing stakes once outside the womb (genetic potential) which can lead to all kinds of problems, not least OCD's and also arthritis later in life. Limb deformities are more likely too. I was given a horse a few years ago, he was out of a 15.1hh TB, by and 18.1hh Shire. He was LOVELY, but his legs weren't! He was offset and had axial twist in one fore leg, making him take a shorter stride with that leg, as it swung outwards way before it travelled forwards.
 
My yearling is out of a 14.2hh, (although she looks a bit smaller to me) mare, arab x connie but very solid, by a 17.2hh irish sports horse who has Oberon lines so is a big chunky stallion. I wouldnt have bred him but hes fab. I reckon he'll make an absolutely minimum of 16hands of middle weight hunter type, although I'm not ruling out bigger by the time hes 7yrs old. I'm lucky in that hes perfectly in proportion. Well as perfectly in proportion as yearlings ever are! Mum was a maiden as well.

I'm that pleased with him that I'm going to buy his mum when shes weaned this years foal and try and breed really good quality sports ponies from her.
 
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