Breeding does anyone else feel like this

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bugaboo

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I am in no way having a pop at anyone here,its just i notice alot of posts from people with mares in foal and its always a similar story.
Asking if the mare is in labour etc,i cant help but feel that if you cant recognise signs of foaling etc and your first idea of advice is a forum instead of a vet,well should you be breeding in the first place??????????????????????????????????????

I ask because i had a similar conversation while i was out last night,i got talking to a girl who had put her mare in foal and did not have the slightest idea what she was doing.
I think she saod something along the lines of ''oh i will learn as i go'' and when i asked her if she knew the basic signs of labour she shrugged her shoulders.

I dont think this ends at horses though i feel it goes into cats and dogs etc too,i cant help but feel that if it was left to well established studs etc that it could be alot more managed and controlled.

As i said im not having a pop at anyone just want to know other peoples views,i personally dont see why there are so many animals been bred at the moment either but ho hum.
 
Just to add i know some people breed if say they have a mare who cant be ridden for whatever reason yet has good lines etc,and they would very much like another version of that horse for the future.

And schools ect that breed for future horses for the school i understand that too.
 
I understand your point, i think that some people should not breed the same as i think some people should not have children.

Like with anything, you must try and learn the basics and then obviously you learn more as you go along, we used to breed welsh cobs so i have experience also in this sphere.

I think sometimes people are given too much of a hard time for not being experts as we all have to start somewhere. But in the case of this girl who was breeding from her mare you mentioned, i feel she should have done some more reading perhaps into signs of labour etc to prepare
 
Absoluteley, I see what you are getting at - it's plain irresponsible. What also irritates me is people who say you should not breed if you've not done it before (how does that work in practice then?!). I know the first time my family bred, we all read the books, spoke to the vet the entire way through the pregnancy, took experienced peoples advice, etc.

I guess my point is you HAVE to be motivated to learn and try to avoid making as many mistakes as you can.
Also, we never had any intention of ever selling the foal which I think probably makes a difference.
 
Trouble is...alot of people buy horses unaware they are preggars in the first place so not always their fault...

I do think it is all too easy to just go out and get your mare pregnant without any knowledge whatsoever.

It really should be up to the individual to learn as much as they are able to before even thinking about it and forums such as these are great ways to do this, alongside your vet, books and t'internet.

I think as with everything, the responsible thing is to arm yourself with as much info as possible alongside good ol fashioned common sense.
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I would definitely agree on the cat and dog front. Horse owners generally seem to be a little better informed.

As a vet I get frequent calls from worried owners with whelping bitches. A good proportion of them are ill-informed and have no real idea of what is going on or how long to expect it to take (lets face it, when your labrador is having 12 pups it ain't gonna be over in half an hour). I have seen a fair few bitches in labour who basically needed to be left in peace for nature to do its job.

I did have one woman with a young foal admit that she didn't know a lot about them. Well love, you chose to put your mare in foal and then you had 11 months to think about things, did it not occur to you to read a book or maybe talk to someone experienced during that time?

Many of these ill informed people go into breeding for the money - especially with dogs. They see it as 10 pups sell for £500 each =5 grand in pocket. However they do not often budget for potential problems such as bitch needs caesarean and all pups dead!

There are definitely a lot of unwanted animals out there. Our local rescue centre is always full, and it's fair to say the majority of the inmates are staffies or staff-x.
 
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Trouble is...alot of people buy horses unaware they are preggars in the first place so not always their fault...



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Which is exactly the case with the lady looking for help now.
Give her a chance peeps
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she's not had it 100% confirmed the mare is in foal - vet took blood tests couple of days ago and those results are still being waited for. It's all very new to her.
Horse was bought in April not known to be in foal.
 
I can fully appreciate that happenes it happened to F with flight hense me having to be cheaky and find a buyer for her on here,and sell her very quickly.
 
Yes i also agree with that im not condeming everyone who breeds but i do feel that alot of background work should be done first.

Even if its as simple as reading alot of books etc,i just feel a big majority of people go into it with pound signs in there eyes.

However dog and cat breeding annoys me alot worse than equine breeding its almost always for money,and as someone pointed out very few except experienced breeders etc actually take the time to find out what they are doing.
 
Yes I totally agree and i'm the one asking the questions! Someone has knowingly sold me a 18 year old maiden apparently in foal as a happy hack. We are still waiting on the blood test results and the cost is already spiralling. Its absolutely terrifying and I really apreciate all the help from people on here.
We have gone from last week thinking we had a horse being slowly brought back into work with a weight issue to this. The old owner (well known, respected locally in hunt etc) refuses to talk to us now so we have no idea what the sire might be either. There is an excitment element obviously but who knows what we might end up with if the mare & foal is ok? We have had horses for years and I used to be an event groom but breeding is completely new to us and so i'm affraid other than scouring internet and asking on here we are rather stuck as vet is saying wait and see.
It has hit home if nothing else how stressful this situation is and expensive as we are now facing taking Mare to livery at cost of x per month (if all is ok) as we keep them at home and brought old plod cause of lack of facilities other than hacking. She is a nice mare but nothing amazing confo wise etc so what we will get after expense, no horse to ride etc..who knows....
 
You have done everything you can to be prepared (just in case!) as you still have had no definate answer from the vet and all on VERY short notice! Who knows what is going to happen, youve asked for help on here and had some great advice in the breeding section. You have had the vet etc etc its a huge learning curve and a very quick one too!! Its been a rollercoaster over the last few days and your handling it really well, Blossom is ok and has everything she needs, vet on hand etc Im sure all will be ok! Dont get any more stressed B needs a calm mummy!!
 
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Yes I totally agree and i'm the one asking the questions! Someone has knowingly sold me a 18 year old maiden apparently in foal as a happy hack. We are still waiting on the blood test results and the cost is already spiralling. Its absolutely terrifying and I really apreciate all the help from people on here.
We have gone from last week thinking we had a horse being slowly brought back into work with a weight issue to this. The old owner (well known, respected locally in hunt etc) refuses to talk to us now so we have no idea what the sire might be either. There is an excitment element obviously but who knows what we might end up with if the mare & foal is ok? We have had horses for years and I used to be an event groom but breeding is completely new to us and so i'm affraid other than scouring internet and asking on here we are rather stuck as vet is saying wait and see.
It has hit home if nothing else how stressful this situation is and expensive as we are now facing taking Mare to livery at cost of x per month (if all is ok) as we keep them at home and brought old plod cause of lack of facilities other than hacking. She is a nice mare but nothing amazing confo wise etc so what we will get after expense, no horse to ride etc..who knows....

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Gosh, I certainly think it'd be silly to criticise someone in your postion - it's happened to an awful lot of people I know, so don't beat yourself up. I hope you get all the help you need and good luck with everything!
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Would agree to a degree but there are many reasons for people breeding their horses and everyone has to start somewhere.

I have just bred my first foal from a maiden mare. Tried to read every book there was, visited friends who had mares foaling so I would have an idea of what to expect, it wasn't possible to send my mare away so with no experience was foaling her at home - very scary. I was very lucky and the foaling went without any disasters.

But as with everything in life, you can't buy experience and if you've never done it before what do you have to compare it to?

I probably asked some really daft questions when my mare was pregnant and I most definitely read every thread in breeding
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so give people a chance, just because they ask questions it doesn't make them unfit to breed a foal.

Likewise, I'm sure the mother having her first child has read every book, talked to all her "mummy" friends for advice & knowledge, does that make her unfit to be a mother? Of course it doesn't, I think what I'm trying to say is that each and every one of us will do something for the first time
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I once got told by a teenage girl that she was going to put her pony in foal. I asked her if she was prepared to have nothing to ride for at least 6 months, prepared to bottle-feed the foal every few hours (from school???) if the mare rejected it, or worse, accept potentially losing her pony if she bled-out while in labour, cope with selling the foal at a later date. Thankfully she changed her mind.
 
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