Does age matter??

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maddie07

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My mare has just turned 15, I've had her for two years and she has never had a foal (that I know of!)
I was thinking of putting her in foal next year, so she would probably be nearly 16. She is quite nice and fit at the moment and is generally very good for her age.
I don't really know much about this so I was just wondering if her age would be an issue as far as getting her back into work after the foal. I really would like a foal from her but don't know if having one at her age would mean that she wouldn't get back to the same level of fitness and condition after having it?
Sorry if I sound a bit ignorant here but I really wasn't sure on this.
 
Well - if you put her in foal at 16, she'll be nearly 18 when foal is weaned. That's not OLD - assuming she's sound and well in herself - but will probably take a little longer to get her fit after 18 months off.

The main thing you need to ask yourself though is do you REALLY want to breed from her (and risk losing her!) Chances are it will cost you more to breed a foal than to buy a nice weanling!
 
My mare is 17 now and due anyday. I thought long and hard about it and spoke at length to my vet, they also checked her over when they came to do her vacs, swabs etc. For me it was now or never, i wouldn't have left it any later for a maiden. The foal is for me to keep and bringing sentiment in to it i wanted a bit of my mare to last me my horsey lifetime.
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Only problem we had getting her in foal was getting her in season in the first place, she had to have pg but caught first time and has had no real problems (ask me after the birth!)
 
You wont know til you try and you must assume that she will go in foal, just make sure you use a "user friendly" stud which will be able to talk you through your options about the conception and then once in foal, be on hand when foaling time comes around. 16 is definitely not too old to start.
 
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