experienced breeders......advice please

this is my first attempt at breeding from my mare. i am breeding for myself so i know what i want to try and achieve but what a minefield!! got 101 questions some are answered on this forum you're all v. helpful. I know this is prob very basic but does mares height determine the size of foal? Shes 15.2 and i dont want to breed some giant. also we have really bad midges where we live can anyone recommend a 'safe' repellant that could poss be used even when she feeding foal?
 
JanetGeorge

JanetGeorge

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The mare's height obviously has an influence on the foal's height - but so does the stallion's height and the height of THEIR parents. Mature height is a bit of a lottery. I have a 16.1 mare who makes a habit of 17 hh foals. And a 15.2 mare who has a 3 year old colt who is ALREADY 16.3.

The best you can do is pick a stallion who is no taller than you want the foal to end up - and hope for the best!

Most repellants are reasonably safe to use on mares with foals at foot - as long as you don't go beserk with them.
 
The mare will dictate the size of the foal at birth to a certain extent, she will also have some influence over the mature height. The mature height, however, is ultimately dictated by genetic predisposition, but then influenced by nutrition etc.

Small plus tall does not equal medium in breeding.
 
The adult height of a foal is usually genetically determined, but nutrition, or the lack of, will have an influence on the growth of the foal. Twink Allen has done some very interesting research on this subject. He has determined that the size of a mares uterus is what will predict the size of the foal at birth. A mare will not usually give birth to a foal that is larger than she can cope with. However, I have bred a 16 hand mare to a 16.3 stallion and the resulting foal (now a 5 year old) is 15.1. I also know of some arabian breeders who have used shire mares as recipient mares for embryo transplants, expecting to get bigger foals. The resulting foals were bigger at birth (more room in the uterus to grow), but by the age of 3 they were no bigger than their genetically expected height for a youngster at that age. They were also very difficult youngsters to handle as the gentle natured shire mares did not dicipline their rowdy, high spirited youngsters resulting in monsters!!!!!!!!!!! Nature 'v' nurture (but thats a whole new subject!!!!!!!!!)

I would suggest that any maiden mare is put to a stallion of equal size genetically for her first breeding, after that, in theory, you can go for a larger sire.

Nature can always throw you the curve ball when you least expect it, and horses don't read the books.

Good luck to all those expecting this years foals.
 
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A mare will not usually give birth to a foal that is larger than she can cope with.

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Wrong! Lots do - which is why vets are kept so busy at foaling time and you hear of tragedies and near disasters! I know you said 'usually' - but I HATE hearing the suggestion that mares will control the birth size of their foal. It leads to people doing stupid things like putting a 14.2 mare to a 17 hh stallion, etc. - and wshile you might be lucky and get away with it - the consequences when you don't are just too horrid for the risk to be worth it.
 
Thanks all! as i thought complete lottery! still on the hunt for a stallion so got long way to go yet. All those who have bred many times over the years in your opinion and experience do the offspring tend to inherit temperament more so from sires' line or dams or is this luck too?!
 
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All those who have bred many times over the years in your opinion and experience do the offspring tend to inherit temperament more so from sires' line or dams or is this luck too?!

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In my experience, it tends to be a bit of both. My stallion has an incredibly laidback temperament and his foals tend to be much more laidback than their dams - although there is still some variation between the foals. But how much is heredity and how much is the maternal influence and the influence of other mares in a group, I'm not so sure.

I have an old mare (Portia) that I have 5 foals from - the first by another stallion and the next 4 by my stallion. The first is a bit of a cow-bag, particularly with other horses - although she's good to handle. BUT - she was an only foal - and Mum is such a pushover that ANY foal can shove her off her feed! Surprise (the first foal) learned she could do whatever she liked wiht Mum and Mum would tolerate it. In future years, Portia and her foals were with other mares and foals - and those foals are much better with other horses.

Mares who are tough on their foals tend to have better mannered foals - they know their place. So - overall - Mum DOES have more influence. I would never use a stallion with a dodgy temperament - bu tthen I wouldn't want to breed from a nasty mare either!
 
Have found often that a dominant mare's foals are not told off enough and can turn out to be brats unless you are careful to redress the balance, I suppose that the mare sets them up to be potential stallions and herd leaders as she herself has a high rank, telling others to back off.

From personal experience too laid back stallions can have a calming effect over the personality of the foal compared to the mare, but an amount of behavior is learned and some mares can really undo a lot of the good work!!! Though if in a herd that foal can also learn from other mares and peers, so again it's a lottery.
 
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