checklist for putting horse in foal

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fornema

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Okay, so we may be putting my pony in foal while im at uni, and she will be naturally covered, so i was wondering could anyone list mee everything that has to be done before being covered including vacc, swabs etc, as i dont want to miss anything off and anything anyone thinks that hould be added and also in relation to seasons, the vet explained it too me but i think i got a little lost and cant quite remember, shesnot very showy in season, and was wondering at what point in the cycle do you think is best??
 
Don't mean to sound rude, but the first question is WHY?

Even quality horses aren't selling, the internet is flooded with horses and ponies faced with a very uncertain future, so the reasons for adding to the numbers need to be VERY good indeed.
 
The stud you send her to will normally arrange to have her swabbed and they will be able to see the best time for covering if it is natural service.They will normally put her to the stallion several times.
She will need to be up to date on flu tet .
 
Try asking on the "Breeding" forum - they will be able to answer your question accurately and also not give you any grief for wanting to breed!

Good luck! Hope you have someone knowledgeable at home who can handle all of this for you while you are off at Uni.
 
To be honest i wouldnt put her into foal for any old reason and i wouldnt be stupid enough to not decide straight off why i was putting her in foal, so that wasnt greatly helpful sorry,not to sound rude or blunt. As the foal would not be for selling it would hopefully be a future horse for me to break turn away when i finish uni in 3 yrs time and starts ridden work after i probably may go onto do more and would have plenty of groundwork done with me and my mum :)

Thank you i know she has to be vacc'd up as due now which is perfect as her teeth check up are all done at same time.
 
LittleBlackMule said:
Don't mean to sound rude, but the first question is WHY?

Even quality horses aren't selling, the internet is flooded with horses and ponies faced with a very uncertain future, so the reasons for adding to the numbers need to be VERY good indeed.
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This, unfortunately, which is why I haven't used my free breeding to Lingh :(
There is no guarantee that quality mare+stallion=a foal that is capable of the job you want, there is also no guarantee that I (or you) can keep a horse for life if it doesn't meet our expectations.

If you do choose to breed, go for the best and most complementary stallion you can afford, with proven performance, temperament and young stock on the ground to judge the market. It is a lot less risky to buy a youngster and stick in a field for a few years rather than the expense of putting your mare in foal, caring for her throughout pregnancy, associated vets bills and health risks.
 
Absolute first consideration - SHOULD you be breeding from your mare? Is it just becuse you thihk it might be nice - or do you want the offspring? are you hoping to sell the foal? Is your mare a good enough horse to breed from? (as in talent/temperament/conformation) Please dont think Im having a go - Im truly not, I bred from my first horse,becuse she did a tendon and I thought she should have something to do in her year off - her temperament was incredibly dodgy (as was the whole family) her conformation was rubbish, and with hindsight being the wonderful thing it is - theres no way Id do it if I had the time again. My current mare on the other hand, has a wonderful temperament, is a winning mare herself, and has produced winners with every foal shes had - so she is a good prospect to breed from.

At the start of the year (Im assuming you arent thinking about trying it this late in the year?If you are, you will need to get a wriggle on - time is running out!) you will need to get her a clitoral swab - they get sent away and you get a certificate back in about 10 days stating that she is clear of various STDs. Some studs dont insist on these for maiden mares - but IMO you dont want to use a stallion where the people arent insisting on clean mares!! The CEM certificate covers your mare for the calendar year - so the ones done this year will need redoing after Jan 1 and so on. When she is in season she will need an endometrial swab, this is to show that she doesnt have any infections that will stop her getting in foal (and again could transfer to the stallion)

She should start to come into season as the weather improves - there are ways you can "encorage" her to do this,keeping her in a stable under lights,keeping her well rugged and regumate can be used to bring her in, prostoglandin injections at the end of 2 weeks will make her release her eggs within a few days. If she is going to stay at stud though, quite a few mares who are nearly there will come into season just with the environment and being near a stallion !!

Hope this helps a little - what kind of stallion are you hoping to use - have you picked one? Its very exciting when you decide to breed - and as long as you arent doing it for the right reasons, its a wonderful experience !!! :)
 
-Cadence- said:
This, unfortunately, which is why I haven't used my free breeding to Lingh :(
There is no guarantee that quality mare+stallion=a foal that is capable of the job you want, there is also no guarantee that I (or you) can keep a horse for life if it doesn't meet our expectations.

If you do choose to breed, go for the best and most complementary stallion you can afford, with proven performance, temperament and young stock on the ground to judge the market.
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It not being capable is not what i worry about although this it is always a bonus :P It is though pretty much guaenteed the horse produced that there would be a home for life as both me and my mum have good finances and not set to change, i would never do it on my own in case therer was a financial problem, i work on the side to sustain the horsie habit. But have chosen the stallion, and didnt want to sound stupid if there was a glaring error in what id forgotten to do :P wheni phone them again. But stallion has proven performance and temp, although hadnt thought to think of youngstock
 
Racergirl said:
Absolute first consideration - SHOULD you be breeding from your mare? Is it just becuse you thihk it might be nice - or do you want the offspring? are you hoping to sell the foal? Is your mare a good enough horse to breed from? (as in talent/temperament/conformation) Please dont think Im having a go - Im truly not, I bred from my first horse,becuse she did a tendon and I thought she should have something to do in her year off - her temperament was incredibly dodgy (as was the whole family) her conformation was rubbish, and with hindsight being the wonderful thing it is - theres no way Id do it if I had the time again. My current mare on the other hand, has a wonderful temperament, is a winning mare herself, and has produced winners with every foal shes had - so she is a good prospect to breed from.

At the start of the year (Im assuming you arent thinking about trying it this late in the year?If you are, you will need to get a wriggle on - time is running out!) you will need to get her a clitoral swab - they get sent away and you get a certificate back in about 10 days stating that she is clear of various STDs. Some studs dont insist on these for maiden mares - but IMO you dont want to use a stallion where the people arent insisting on clean mares!! The CEM certificate covers your mare for the calendar year - so the ones done this year will need redoing after Jan 1 and so on. When she is in season she will need an endometrial swab, this is to show that she doesnt have any infections that will stop her getting in foal (and again could transfer to the stallion)

She should start to come into season as the weather improves - there are ways you can "encorage" her to do this,keeping her in a stable under lights,keeping her well rugged and regumate can be used to bring her in, prostoglandin injections at the end of 2 weeks will make her release her eggs within a few days. If she is going to stay at stud though, quite a few mares who are nearly there will come into season just with the environment and being near a stallion !!

Hope this helps a little - what kind of stallion are you hoping to use - have you picked one? Its very exciting when you decide to breed - and as long as you arent doing it for the right reasons, its a wonderful experience !!! :)
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I would never had bred from any of the other horses i had as they were not of the right quality, so am sure about it all, she has a superb record winning at least half of her classes we enter and has never been unplaced in 4 years ive had her (we sj, shes 13.2hh we sj courses to 3'6'' so not short of talent as im 5'4'') She has pretty much spot on conformation and missing the oppertunity while i have it i think would be stupid :)

She is a maiden mare but not fine or had any health roblems she has a very trustworty body in terms of injury and has nevr had a second lame.

I have picked one, but restricted to the east of england, but still a fair few quality stallions about and took a lot of looking for the right height/type so desicsion not taken lightly
 
fornema said:
It not being capable is not what i worry about although this it is always a bonus :P It is though pretty much guaenteed the horse produced that there would be a home for life as both me and my mum have good finances and not set to change, i would never do it on my own in case therer was a financial problem, i work on the side to sustain the horsie habit. But have chosen the stallion, and didnt want to sound stupid if there was a glaring error in what id forgotten to do :P wheni phone them again. But stallion has proven performance and temp, although hadnt thought to think of youngstock
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You definitely want to check out their progeny; see what traits he passes on, see how successful foals from similar mares have been etc. I've seen successful dressage stallions pass zero talent onto offspring, and not so great stallions create world-beaters.
 
Have a Vet (that does AI or is a specialist in reproduction) to have a look at her Perineal confirmation (the alignement of anus and lady area) poor confirmation in that area can significantly reduce the chance of the mare taking and/or cause infections etc.

Personally I think it is breeding for the sake of breeding even if you plan to keep the foal, can you be sure that you will/are you positive that once you've finished uni you'll have time? wouldnt it be better to find a sensible loan home or loan her to a college/university while you are away, then when you're on you're holidays she can be with you?

Whatever you decide, best of luck!
 
Have just had a look at the offspring and they are acheiving first premium elites his 2008 offspring was highest placed, his breeding is very good (out of carnival drum) but it all looks very good which im happy about :)
 
Only one on the list - don't. Unless you have a guaranteed home and can do the same for its future. Unless there is an absolutely brilliant and sound reason for bringing another equine onto this crowded planet with the current highly uncertain future for all but a very fortunate few, why would you want to do it?

Anyone got any links to the youtube footage of surplus foals and other miscellaneous equines being shot because there are no homes for them? Not bin end stuff, just surplus and unwanted?

OP think again and again and again before even starting a list. Please. For the foal's sake.

Yes, I have read the posts above, and still urge you to think carefully. We also have a brilliant, proven mare and it would be silly not to go out and try and save another like her from being shot, rather than try to reproduce her. It's no guarantee she'll have one s good as she is. Then what?
 
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fornema said:
Have just had a look at the offspring and they are acheiving first premium elites his 2008 offspring was highest placed, his breeding is very good (out of carnival drum) but it all looks very good which im happy about :)
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Actually - there is another thing, and its one of the few things that REALLY annoys me (but it might be just me!!) PLEASE dont say that your horse (in this example!) is "out of Carnival Drum" - it is BY Carnival Drum, and OUT OF the mare....

sorry - tiny thing I know, but so many people do it and it really grates on me for some random reason !!!!
 
Another for dont! There are so many realiy nice horses already that cant find homes if you really want another one why not buy one of those? No one can see what might happen in the future, our world fell apart one sunday afternoon when my hubby collapsed at the yard, the week before he had backed his horse. now he cant work, all our lives changed that day we cant know we can give a horse a home for life unless we can see into the future. We do still have horses but the numbers had to be reduced.
 
I am 100% AGAINST people breeding for the wrong reasons. But for crying out loud! The OP has given this quite a lot of thought and she's asking for useful information, not a bloody lecture on how breeding from her mare makes HER personally responsible for the world's equine welfare problem!!

People with no brains will always breed from rubbish mares. Their progeny will almost always be rubbish horses, and WILL be unwanted welfare cases. That's a fact of life!

BUT - think on it - if only the morons breed horses from rubbish mares, where will we be in 5 years time?? There will STILL be the same number of rubbish horses around - that no-one wants! But there will be very few DECENT horses left!

The OP's mare has had a good competitive career. The OP wants to breed a foal to keep! Why the HELL shouldn't she?? Yes, it will almost certainly be cheaper to buy a 2 year old in a couple of years' time! But it's not JUST about cost!

The joy of breeding your own youngster (and sometimes the heart-ache - and always the expense) is usually very worthwhile in terms of the pleasure it gives, and the opportunities to 'make' your young horse from day 1.

As a breeder, I get ENORMOUS pleasure from seeing youngsters I have bred - and sold - go on to perform well for their new owners. The pleasure would be even greater if I could keep them and compete them myself! Why should the OP deprive herself of that pleasure - as long as she knows what she is getting into - and does it right??
 
JanetGeorge said:
I am 100% AGAINST people breeding for the wrong reasons. But for crying out loud! The OP has given this quite a lot of thought and she's asking for useful information, not a bloody lecture on how breeding from her mare makes HER personally responsible for the world's equine welfare problem!!

People with no brains will always breed from rubbish mares. Their progeny will almost always be rubbish horses, and WILL be unwanted welfare cases. That's a fact of life!

BUT - think on it - if only the morons breed horses from rubbish mares, where will we be in 5 years time?? There will STILL be the same number of rubbish horses around - that no-one wants! But there will be very few DECENT horses left!

The OP's mare has had a good competitive career. The OP wants to breed a foal to keep! Why the HELL shouldn't she?? Yes, it will almost certainly be cheaper to buy a 2 year old in a couple of years' time! But it's not JUST about cost!

The joy of breeding your own youngster (and sometimes the heart-ache - and always the expense) is usually very worthwhile in terms of the pleasure it gives, and the opportunities to 'make' your young horse from day 1.

As a breeder, I get ENORMOUS pleasure from seeing youngsters I have bred - and sold - go on to perform well for their new owners. The pleasure would be even greater if I could keep them and compete them myself! Why should the OP deprive herself of that pleasure - as long as she knows what she is getting into - and does it right??
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This ^^^^^ It annoys me how people start a discussion and go off topic and not give on advice on what the OP ACTUALLY asked!! I have to agree with you raising a youngster from day 1 to the day you back it and sit on them for the first time is an amazing experience and gives an enormous sense of pride!

For the OP, you seem to have it sorted with your mum and finances etc but thats no ones business but hers!

For stud your pony will need her back shoes off, vaccs up to date, swabs done etc as others have said. Keep a diary of when she first comes into season next spring, they are normally in season for 3/4 days every 3 weeks. Keep a record to see if she's regular and it can be handy when booking a stud date. Mares who are being naturally covered are normally covered everyday that they are in season, sometimes twice but it depends on the studs procedures and routine.

After your mare has been covered it will be about 14 days (I think, I'm not entirely sure) till she has her scan to see if she's caught on or not. She will either be left at stud for this or be brought home to do(might be easier to do at stud to save unnecessary travelling if she hasn't caught!) If she has congrats! Roll on 11 months and a week!

Try getting some foaling books, when I bred my mare I read my mare's first foal cover to cover plus hours of internet research! Be prepared for the foaling in case of any mishaps(yes they do happen), foaling kit, vets number and try find someone knowledgeable you can contact if you need any advice throughout the pregnancy post foaling etc.

Hope this helps and good luck!! :D
 
To be honest its my opinion to breed, so i will do what i please and anyone posting saying no is not gonna change my mind, i have thought about this for a very long time and thought very hard. So thank you to those who have given me the answers that i need as they are really helpful :) and that is why i posted :)

IF you dont have anything helpful to add please dont add it i did say above that my descision will not change.
 
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