Breeding horses - what motivates you to do it?

blitznbobs

blitznbobs

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 June 2010
Messages
6,816
Location
Cheshire
Visit site
I've never bred horses (and am not about to start) I've been asked several times why I don't have a foal from my mare but I'm not going to for a hundred and one reasons... but all these foal threads have made me wonder why do you do it? I've never known it go right for anyone I know (although I'm sure it does occasionally!😉 ) - from foals being 12 hh instead of 16.2 or having a club foot, or maiming themselves on something unbelievably unlikely .... I would find it incredibly depressing! There's much less of a gamble buying a 3 year old and it's probably cheaper too ... so I was just thinking about the motivation and reward for putting yourselves thru torment and anxiety for a very uncertain result...
 
Because the joy of watching your highly researched bloodlines, months of prep and years of planning make it all worth while when that little bundle of fluff bounces about and melts your heart! Yes there are plenty of bogof stories but they are unintentional. The intentional breeders spend years and years cultivating exactly what they want. They look, they covet, they buy, they spend more money than they realistically should to get their perfect match. Watching them grow up, getting their personalities, their boldness, their curiosity is something people who have never bred a foal understands.

Basically we are all mad! Your much safer, and cheaper, to go and buy an unbroken 3 or 4yo that is a blank canvass than you are breeding your own!
 
....yes as much as I am very pleased with our filly (now 2 years) and she has turned out as I had hoped - there are so many things that can go wrong and it will have cost us in the region of £7.5k to get it from conception to ridden away (livery/passport/jabs/chip/bits and bobs/livery/hay/feed/feet/workers.... it goes on...) and we have the stallion and loaned a broodmare.

I could have bought something very nice at £7.5k! Must be mad!
 
When I was breeding dressage horses many years ago, as a fairly sizeable stud farm the motivation was to produce trainable, sound, winning athletes, cover costs (and even occasionally make a profit), to perfect the product (the offspring), to continue the bloodlines (an old breed with a noble tradition and back story), to breed graded colts and future broodmares. We achieved all of that (even the profit bit, slightly), but after 13 years I decided that the sheer, grinding effort was not worth it and moved on to pure training and competition.

Why amateur breeders do it, I have no idea as it is far better odds and makes much more sense to go and buy a nice three year old in the colour/sex/size that you want and whose personality, trainability and athleticism you can choose.
 
Well a few reasons really. crap minis are a dime a dozen, but good minis are worth a lot to the right people. I love the miniature horse, proper ones, not just ones you get for £50. I could have bought foals but none took my fancy and I quite liked the thought of my own name in them as a lot tend to have big stud names and are thus judged by the stud not the horse (sad but true)

My loan mare is a great refined mare and always has refined foals, and the stallion I had was unlike any up north (both imports from great high class American lines and both multi champions/supreme champion) so it made sense to breed them for the show ring. My own mare although a heavier type is a super driver and has a really nice Welsh look about her, and I thought her mixed to the stallion would give a really cool driving prospect.

I love the experience. I love being the one to train something from nothing, and do good at it.

Minis are a lot easier obviously due to size, I've always wanted to have that full horse life and I don't believe I would ever show or breed anything larger cause I just don't think I would have the confidence, so to me this is perfect. I'll continue to buy older already broken and mature ridden horses as that's what I'm comfortable with, but I'm perfectly happy training a mini :)

There is no money in it for me. If I sell one that's ok it will make what it makes. It is the journey for me.
 
Last edited:
It's a very good question.
I buy young stock, i love backing them and producing them, and that's my thing. I've never had much of an appetite for decent level of competition, so it would be a little pointless breeding myself a competition horse. And I've worked on a few studs (before I decided a money earning profession was a better idea), but only because of training and managing the youngstock, and I can't say I was particularly inspired by any of their breeding programmes (even though they bred some very nice competition horses).
Buuutttt, I would really like to breed one of my own one day.....no idea why, don't even know what I would breed and I know it's completely irrational. So in answer to your question, I think it's partly just a touch of madness, and partly being in search of something that can't be bought.
 
I breed TBs (to race) to sell as yearlings. I do it as I enjoy the planning of breedings, educating them and preparing them for the sales. I generally sell them as weanlings (2-3 per year) at the major sales her in Australia and pride myself on presenting very well prepared, sound, lovely types. I cant wait to see how my breeding plans do in the future! SO far they have been a success in the sales ring and the oldest are rising two and with the leading trainers in the country... so exciting times ahead.
 
Because we are bonkers!

It is a very, very special thing when it all goes right. I have only ever bred for myself but invariably have sold a few, usually the boys.

I bred my own once in a lifetime horse, she is fourteen now, she has given me so much.

I also get updates from those that I have sold, for example one has just been to Windsor and did very well, thats also quite special.
 
EKW said:
Basically we are all mad! Your much safer, and cheaper, to go and buy an unbroken 3 or 4yo that is a blank canvass than you are breeding your own!
Click to expand...

Pretty much. I have always planned to have a foal from my mare to keep - timeline is in about 4-5 years time but I'm already looking at stallions and working out who I like. She's had 1 foal already which she had to have a year out due to a tendon injury as an 8 year old and it was good timing so she went to a tb stallion that complemented her nicely. Definately turned out really well - he is gorgeous although its definately a bit of a lottery. Mom is 15'1 and dad was 15'3 - foal as a 3yo was about 16'1 and growing!
Part of it for me is that I know exactly whats happened to the horse since it was born, I can handle it the way I like and generally don't have to undo someone else's teaching
 
Idiocy!! However the days when your homebred wins a major class allow you to forget how much that horse cost both in money terms, the nights sat up waiting, the days patching up the breakages, the devastating sadness of the losses. Perhaps it makes us stronger people? Or as I started idiots?
 
I think it is because we love the start to finish you get. I have bought weanlings for years and have bred a few rare breed foals to preserve the breed I am interested in. there is something to be said for going from this
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz01011.jpg

to this
71166312-DNC130thApril20171575_zps4lzt6q8p.jpg
 
It's the whole journey. From selecting the stallion (I spent 18 months researching) to the anticipation of what you might get, to the birth and watching your foal grow up. Seeing behaviour traits from the dam etc.

But yes, crazy really. Not cost effective at all, but some things you just can't put a price on. Wish I could breed more but not realistic unfortunately.
 
And then you get the likes of a woman I know who is scared of the new horse she brought .. NOTHING wrong with the horse, cracking little SJing mare ... so has decided to breed her (there is nothing special about her breeding or conformation!) and then produce the foal herself as her own riding horse ..... even though she is scared to get on this mare when its done nothing but be a nice forward going ride but yet she thinks she will have the guts to back and ride away a youngster! The mind boggles with people like this, I cannot for the life of me understand the logic!
 
I became hooked on two rare breeds and wanted to help preserve them. Most Brits have never heard of a Shagya, although Milton's dam registered BWP was actually and anglo-shagya arab and a Grand prix Show jumper in her own right. Arabs do jump, pics of both of mine on competition and breeding forum.

When we started this stud in 2006 the French National Stud did not recognise the Cleveland Bay as a pedigree horse, it was registered as a cart horse so could not compete. Our own home bred CB filly, 4 years old, competed in a 'baby' class at Saumur last month and competes again next weekend in Angers. The first ever pure bred CB to compete in France.

My quest is to demonstrate that the CB is not just a carriage horse but a fantastic all rounder.

That Shagya Arabs don't just do endurance they are great SJ. Our first brood mare came from the Hungarian National Stud where her full brother now stands as a stallion and jumps 1.30M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top