I sent my 16.2h TB mare to a shire (talked to vets first tho!). She was fine & foal (another unsold home bred) is now 6yrs old 17.3 & jumping 1.10m tracks with ease.
Topper (who incidently was 1/2 Uncle to the lad that Zebedee mentions above) was out of a 15.1hh TB and by an 18.1hh Shire. He grew to 17.1hh. Bless him, he came out a tad wonky infront and had other problems to boot. I had him for the last year and 4 days of his life. I truely believe that had the mare been bigger or the stallion smaller, he would not have had the problems he had. RIP Big Fella!
I think that was T's problem from the beginning tbh J! His main problem was his RF - off set knee and axial twist from the knee to fetlock, he always took a slightly shorter stride with that leg, as it's flight path wen t so far out side ways first, rather than forwards.....
Your girlie was what, five inches bigger than his dam? B is 16.2 (with shoes on) and there is a 17.3hh chap up North that I have my eye on for her.....
I wouldn't hesitate using a 17.3 on a 16.2. - esp not with a good 'roomy' mare like B!
My mare throws big anyway -had we known that we probably wouldn't have used the shire. The 3yr old filly by a 16h coloured is now about 16.3, and as you know the latest one is by a 14.3 & is likely be 15.2 / 15.3 at maturity!
I had a picture of this chap I have in mind, but now I can't find it anywhere - Google is NOT helping me! He's a coloured called Mojo - Coppertop knows him, or at least where he stands I think...
Oops - hope this isn't a thread hi-jack!
Not me riding. He's six but has only been in proper work since May of this year. This photo was taken in August.
Lovely forward attitude & just finds this jumping lark soooo easy, but still a bit baby clumsy!
When we first stood a stallion at stud we accepted any mare that came, and learned the hard way that often it isn't the foaling is a problem, it's the covering!
Our stallion 16.1.hh covered mares from 14 hh up to 17.2 hh and we learned to help him with a dip in the ground or a little hill. Physically covering a lightweight 14hh is tough on the mare, the sheer bulk and weight on her back isn't advisable, and we swore never to do that again. The resulting foal was beautiful and won lots of WHP classes yet the mare was awful, a 14 hh runt.
Nature seems to sort out the actual size of the foal to suit the mare (I understand one of the University hospitals has done research into impregnating shires into shetlands) but personally I would advocate a minimum size of 15hh mare to a 16.2hh stallion, and take into acount the mare's own parents' size and build.
Going back about 18 yrs ago we took a shetland to a show & she wouldn't do anything (not that this was ususual for Sue!) but the next day she had a foal!!!
No we did breed from our fell mare who we but to TB stallions anyhow her last foal Punch (he was a weadling as a yearling so we left him till he was 2 before cutting him. Unfortunetly he must of realised what his bits were for in that time! Punch rose to about 15.2hh when mature.
So Sue had a filly Zara who grew to around 12.3hh had was a cracking litlle mare a bugger to break but after that taught so many kids how to ride & me to fall off!!
We also bred from Zara later in life we put her to a Dales Stallion & had a cracking colt out of her called Herbie who grew to around 15.1hh & was a stunning chap & a dream to break.
So the mistake Zara turned out to be a good thing & we had 5 generations at onetime on the farm.
My two 13.2 NF mares are in-foal to a 16hh Warmblood, so fingers crossed all will be fine.
I've been told by loads of people that the rule is that mares can be covered by a stallion 2-3 hands bigger. The foal will only grow to the size that the mare can cope with (in the womb). Its like our corgie bitch accidently got covered by a huge labrador, and had 4 healthy pups with no problem because they didn't get too big.
Friend has bred many many foals. One was supposed to be a 12hh welsh A pony, dam and sire had bred before, shes only grown to 42 inches and is now registered as a British Minature, gorgeous though. Another was bred from a 14.1 mare to a 15.2 stallion. Foal grew to 16.3+!!! Massive, so things don't always go as planned.
LMAO MD! A stud I worked on about 12 yrs ago had a little 15.1hh WCxConnie mare and about 4 years before I was there, she had ahd twins, by a 16hh TB stallion. She had been scanned, but missed + I suppose in the sport horse world it was earlyish days for scanning.... Anyway, one grew to 16.2hh and the other 17.1hh......
Forgot to say my mares were put in-foal through AI so it is different if you're using a 16.2 stallion on a 13.2 mare through natural covering- poor thing, lol.
thanks for all ur forts we have a 15.hh mare who was an orphan so didnt grow to her full potential (shud of finished at about 16hh) she has had her first foal and we have been debating about how big to go on her, she is quite roomy for her type