21 year old Companion Sec B Free

since the start of this thread has been removed I can only comment on the 21 yr old aspect. Which can on some horses be too old to breed from and not on others. It depends entirely on the individual horses health and fitness. Also if they have had a foal earlier in life the calcification of the pubic symphesis will not be as heavy as say a 21 yr old maiden. The latter is more likely to encounter difficulties due to this. We have a 28 yr old ridden mare at our yard who looks like an 18 yr old, likewise I've seen 18 yr old mares look like they are 28!!!

But I don't agree with continually trying year in year out either.
 
having worked at a stud i know that some mares are happier when in foal and seem to miss having a job, ie a foal to look after,.so i cant see whats wrong with trying a mare every year ,once when in season.if she doesnt take she gets a year off...
the mare then chooses so its not cruel or evil.
also why is the ad for a free 21 year old companion so bad....whats wrong with a stud changing their policy and not wanting to breed section B's so giving away there mares....Surely its better to give them away than profit on them by selling.
horses are not human and do not think like humans so dont look at it with a human perspective and slate breeders who do things like the above.
 
well i guess every ones entitled to their opinion but i think theres far worse things happening to horses in this world than mares being allowed to get in foal as older broodmares yearly.....
 
"I have a Sec B mare free to a good home as a companion ONLY.

Has been running out with a Sec A stallion since June so could potentially be in foal.

Lovely mare, best home possible only.

She's 12hh and 21yo - if she is given away and then she ends up somewhere unscrupulous I would be very annoyed, the only reason I have offered her on here ONLY is because I am no longer keeping Sec B"

Whether she is in foal or not is irrelevant... at 21 I personally (and I have bred many foals) think she is a tad too old... my point is if she is given away how can the current owner get annoyed if she ends up somewhere unscrupulous...? surely the mare deserves better...

So sad....
 
I do not really see the problem with this? At least the pony isnt being sent to a horrible sale where the meatman would be.

I was given a 24 year old mare 2 years ago, in foal, she gave me a wonderful fit and healthy filly, I thought I would be "kind" and give her a year off, huge huge HUGE mistake, she saw the other foals and lost her mind, she acted as if she had lost a foal, it was heartbreaking to see, I moved her as far away from the foals as possible but she still just stood gazing in their direction, she stopped eating, would just pick at her food. After all those years of having her own baby to love, she didnt know what to do when she didnt have her baby. I had to take on extra grazing so I could move my mares and foals out of the yard totally, I then turned my old girl out with my stallion and she got in foal, this year she gave me another wonderful filly, who she adores, shes fit, fat and happy, this time last year she was ribby and just sad.

When she was given to me, the lady made me promise that if I couldnt keep her, I would offer her back to her and if she could not take her back that I would make sure she went to a good home, she was very stick on that she was not to be sold on or to be allowed to go anywhere nasty, I really respected the lady for this, she could not keep the old girl but she gave her the chance of finding a nice new home.

My horses are my world and I would never breed from an old sick pony, but this girl at 26 is perfectly fit and healthy, she still flys around the field. I also own a 32 year old ex broodmare, who was gifted to me at 21, she was bred from until 28, now she lives out with my yearlings and she still gives them a run for their money if the mood takes her. How many people can claim to have a fit and healthy 32 year old pony? Which goes to prove being a broodmare did her no harm what so ever.

I am hugely grateful for the people who gave me these two old mares, with their wonderful bloodlines which no one could ever replace, they owe me nothing and I owe them everything and they will be here until the day they die, so being given away did not land them in a bad place, it found them somewhere where they are treated like Queens and very much loved.

It would be different if the pony was sick or in pain but if they are fit and healthy why not offer them to someone else to love? Just because they arent young does not mean they should be cast aside and classed as useless, these old ponies have a lot to offer!
 
thankyou serenityj thats exactly the point i was trying to make.our mare is the same if she has a year off and the others have foals so its kinder for her to be infoal as well.
shes 18 and fit and healthy, but if people want to slate us for letting her have a foal yearly rather than be stressy and/or try to steal other mares foals then so be it.we know our mare better than anyone and do what we feel is right for her.
im sure the poster whos looking for a home for the older mare is a considerate owner whos trying to do right by her pony too.
 
lizzypeg said:
well i guess every ones entitled to their opinion but i think theres far worse things happening to horses in this world than mares being allowed to get in foal as older broodmares yearly.....
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Yes there are far worse things, like the colt foals that are unwanted being sent to market every year, if they are lucky they get bought by a genuine home but if not they can end up in the hands of dealers or the meatman, personally the meatman is preferable to some of the dealers. Yours is a totally irresponsible attitude towards breeding in times like these, breeders need to be stopping until there is a market for them, which there isnt at the moment. As for her being a section B, i watched a lovely section B 2yr old colt go through the sales ring last month, he fetched the grand sum of 10guineas, not worth the cost of registering him really.
 
the breed im interested in and that our mare is is actually a rare british native so letting her breed yearly is not irresponsible as these are rare ponies who all sell for very good money and dont end up going through markets for pittence like a lot of welsh and other natives do.
so no my attitude isnt irresponsible as there is always a market for our mares foals.
 
I do understand your point Navaho but not all breeders are irresponsible, I only breed what I can keep but I could have sold my 26 year old mares foal 5 times over this year and one of those people has already said she wants the mares next years foal be it colt or filly.

None of my foals in 35 years of breeding have ever been sold through a sale, we have cut back the number of foals we breed due to the financial climate but as I said, I have had no trouble selling my wonderful babies.
 
Perhaps one of these 'breed because it makes the mare happy' people would kindly tell me where all the homes for these foals are going to come from?

All you people who keep breeding, or think it is ok to keep breeding - do you keep each and every one of these foals?

Would these mares be happy to know their foals are largely surplus to requirement, and undoubtedly some end up at markets and in the food chain?

I have a delightful sec A who was thrown in as a job lot when I bought a sports mare, he has a passport listing all his illustrious relatives, but he proved to be a little nervous for a small jockey. He spent a few years as a field companion, the owner lost her grazing, no-one wanted him. She was desperate for me to take him, as his next stop was the meat man.

Is that the future you want or expect for these little foals? Get real, there just are not enough good homes these days - it's a sad future for many of them, and you are not helping by keep breeding.
 
like iv already said.our mare is a rare registered breed.she has a foal a year usually.all her foals each year sell before weaning.none of her foals ever go through sales as being a rare breed they command good money.
if we couldnt sell a foal one year(never been a problem so far), then the foal would be run on and sold the year after or once backed.
we dont do it on a large scale and i dont agree with the large scale pony breeders who breed common breeds who are two a penny and flood the market with poor stock but we are not all like those people and i get sick of people tarring all people who breed with the same brush.
all ours mares colts in recent year have been stallion quality and we have no problems finding then good homes for decent prices.
 
if you check my profile iv been a member on here for years.
just because someone doesnt agree with your view it doesnt give you the right to label them as TROLLS.
 
oops on the other forum of 'breeding experts' we're being dubbed tree-huggers ;) that we are not ...
and somebody stated that no one on here knows anything about breeding or similar..i would love to let them talk to the experienced breeders on here...

but people on HHO have many opinions they wish to express and a younger mare could easily do her job..
 
Sorry Crazy_Caz I thought the idea of these websites were to share opinions? Are we not really meant to when we first join? I am far too old to know the etiquette for internet websites, my one finger typing and general lack of computer knowledge have kept me behind the times I am afraid, so please expect my apologies if I have spoken out of place. I have posted on posts which I have an opinion on and due to having older broodmares who were given to me, this is something which I have a view on.

Llewelyn I do not breed welsh ponies and I presume it is a very different ball game to what we breed so I can only speak personally but our foals only go to good homes, if I am in doubt the foal will not leave our farm, we are lucky to have the space to keep what we breed and often we keep them until they are old enough to be broken as that is what I love doing, I get great joy out of breaking and training our youngsters and watching them grow but often we do have people wanting to buy the foals, so if it is a good home, we let them go but I like to keep one or two a year.
 
I know the young so called breeder to which this advert refers too and I can safely say that there would be 2 reasons she would be giving this mare away ... 1) she has already said the mare was covered by a section A stallion, well I know for a fact that this particular covering would have been by accident because there is no way on this earth would she or any other section B breeder who wanted to breed full up section B's for the show ring would put the mare to a section A stallion ... not a chance !!!! ... and 2) this particular young lady has managed to rack up quite a few dislikes of professional breeders of section B ponies in the south east, a very well know section B judge in particular to be precise, hence she will never be placed at county level in a section B breed class ever again !!!! ... and SerenityJ aka Sam you are not old enough to have been breeding for 35 yrs huni ... it's silly young ladies and I use the term ladies loosely like her that really shouldn't be breeding at all !!!!
 
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So if anyone is looking for a 21 year old -possibly in foal Sec B mare ...who is healthy albeit slightly arthritic on the back fetlocks hence companion/broodmare. She was given this mare free a year ago so now this mare is looking for yet another good home.....

So sad... heres hoping she finds her forever home..... :(
 
Tazhazzamouse but why should an old mare be cast aside because a younger mare comes along? As long as they are fit, healthy and happy should that not be the main concern?

I am sorry Wenna, am I correct in thinking by Sen J you mean myself? If so you seem to have mistaken me for someone. I do wish I was not old enough to have been breeding for 35 years.

If that is the case, then maybe it is best for the mare if she is given away and finds a better home
 
SerenityJ said:
Tazhazzamouse but why should an old mare be cast aside because a younger mare comes along? As long as they are fit, healthy and happy should that not be the main concern?

I am sorry Wenna, am I correct in thinking by Sen J you mean myself? If so you seem to have mistaken me for someone. I do wish I was not old enough to have been breeding for 35 years.

If that is the case, then maybe it is best for the mare if she is given away and finds a better home
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Oh dear .... whatever huni ... lol .... :)
 
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