"Homebred" in ads: Good, bad or indifferent?

Ample Prosecco

Ample Prosecco

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I often see 'home-bred' when browsing ads so I assume it is meant to be a selling point. But unless it's a well set up outfit so the foal had appropriate socialisation in its early years it could actually be off putting not encouraging. I happen to know a foal who was an unexpcted BOGOF when the mare was bought at auction and was described as 'home-bred' when put up for sale at 5.

Not looking to buy - just curious about why people put that and whether it means anything at all to anyone. Or is is just one of those meaningless 'never sick or sorry', 'sold through no fault of her own', 'would go far in the right hands' type phrases that don't really mean a lot. I guess it's nice to have a full history, though.
 
Studs and professional/competition breeders wouldn't really advertise them as homebred. I would assume it's a spoiled brat if they've only bred one or two foals
 
The only homebreds I've know have been overindulged, spolit, horrible, bratty examples of horses so I wouldn't even consider one.
Disclaimer: I'm sure some people raise lovely, properly mannered and socialised, horses at home but it's very rare to come across one, IME.
 
I don't think I'd pay it any attention at all in an ad, tbh. I've known some lovely well-adjusted homebreds, and some horrible ones, same as any other horse ;)
 
I'm with the others having always assumed its a bad thing and it would be a spoilt brat BUT now I know a few home bred horses I'm inclined to keep an open mind. At some point or another a horse is born in a home so surely they are all home bred? So yes, used to put me off, now potentially wouldnt.
 
Indifferent. Pros and cons, I’d judge the horse on its merits.
But if I were advertising a homebred I wouldn’t declare it as such in the advert, for the very reason some of the responses here demonstrate. As it is mine is ferel in a field and in no danger of being molly coddled, quite the opposite!
 
Oh wow, this thread is a bit of a low blow :(.

Why the fook do us numpties breed anything for snooty folk to sneer at? I'm really going off horsey types big time.

*toddles off to cuddle her well brought up, well produced, talented homebred 7yo mare*
 
Tiddlypom said:
Why the fook do us numpties breed anything for snooty folk to sneer at? I'm really going off horsey types big time.
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Are you home bred by any chance?
Sorry, couldn't resist :p

To answer OP. I wouldn't make any difference to me either way other than full vet history would be known. I judge the horse in front of / under me. Not what is said about it.
 
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Tiddlypom said:
Oh wow, this thread is a bit of a low blow :(.

Why the fook do us numpties breed anything for snooty folk to sneer at? I'm really going off horsey types big time.

*toddles off to cuddle her well brought up, well produced, talented homebred 7yo mare*
Click to expand...

Sorry it was not meant to be snooty at all. I was genuinely wondering why it was seen as a selling point on an ad that was all. Some foals are reared beautifully and are a pleasure but the word 'home-bred' alone does not guarantee that so I don't know why so many ads say it without elaborating.

"Never sick or sorry" does not mean much whereas "no illnesses or injuries requiring veterinary care, open to any vet and full vet history available on request" does.
"Home bred" does not mean much whereas "home-bred, well socialised and carefully produced" does.

My YO has several fabulous home-bred horses including this year's 3 day old foal!!!! I am not against responsible breeding in general and did not mean to cause any offence.
 
I think it is a positive as long as the seller is honest and they are probably more likely to be, they know the horse inside out and will usually want what is best for it. Just because they have bred it doesnt mean it hs been over indulged and a spoiled brat. In fact a horse that has been passed around is usually more likely to be a brat as it has had inconsistent handling
 
I would rather buy a homebred than one that had passed from home to home in it's formative years, one or two homes is fine but so many horses on the market seem to have little genuine history by the time they are 5 or 6, of the ones in my yard currently one I bought from his breeder, he was very well brought up and is at 26 possibly the best mannered horse I have ever owned.
The others are all registered and have full histories that can be verified apart from my ISH who has a gap of 2 years after being sold by his breeder, he came over here aged 4 and had no jabs recorded in England so could have moved about a fair bit which may explain why he was rather tricky in many ways or it may be because he was tricky he got moved about.

I did have one livery come from his breeder that was a basically nice horse but had been totally spoilt and took 12 months before he understood how to be a horse in his "spare" time, ridden he was easy enough to train but on the ground he could be a brat.
 
That's interesting. Amber was born in Co Cavan and washed up in Durham at aged 7 having been bought at auction by the Durham dealer. Between birth and 7 nothing is known at all. She is not overly tricky but certainly not the easiest horse in the world.

On the other hand, I once had a fell pony mare who was born on the fells, stayed on them till aged 2 then was brought down and halter trained before I bought her. She was the easiest horse I have ever worked with. Just a joy to back and bring on. So curious and trusting as nothing had ever happened to her to make her suspicious of humans/new experiences. So she had her natural wariness but was very willing to embrace new learning as long as it was presented to her in ways she was ok with.

Of the home-breds on our yard there are 2 full brothers born a year apart and raised exactly the same way. One is very straightforward, the other really really difficult.

So basically I agree with whoever said just focus on the horse in front of you and ignore the history!
 
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Puts me off. Especially when older (7+ years old) as it implys it has been in the same home it’s whole life, possibly same rider. It may be perfectly behaved with them but have no idea what it would be like being away from home in a different environment for the first time ever. Obviously not all homebreds are on the same yard their whole life but that’s what springs to mind. Lack of adaptability is my worry.

As others have mentioned potentially spoilt or needy. However I think this depends on the type of horse and it’s current job.

ETA: Also I don’t support breeding of horses for personal pleasure or of average animals. So it would discourage me buying a homebred incase it was just bred as ‘the mare was their favourite horse’ or (worse) ‘mare went lame so bred a foal’.
 
A Coolmore horse won at the weekend and he was described as a homebred, I doubt Mrs Magnier spends a lot of time one on one with them. And The Billy horses are homebred apparently. I think home bred means you have a mare and you breed from it, not you own a stud and breed 500 'at home'
 
Clodagh said:
A Coolmore horse won at the weekend and he was described as a homebred, I doubt Mrs Magnier spends a lot of time one on one with them. And The Billy horses are homebred apparently. I think home bred means you have a mare and you breed from it, not you own a stud and breed 500 'at home'
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^ I agree. I equate homebred with someone that has maybe one foal a year. In some situations this also means that the foal won't have playmates of its own age and so doesn't tend to learn proper horse manners.

Tiddlypom said:
Oh wow, this thread is a bit of a low blow :(.

Why the fook do us numpties breed anything for snooty folk to sneer at? I'm really going off horsey types big time.

*toddles off to cuddle her well brought up, well produced, talented homebred 7yo mare*
Click to expand...

I wasn't sneering, just giving an opinion based on experience.
Tbh I think a lot of it is related to the horse-keeping and rearing ethos of the breeder. If they're a cuddly type that lets horses get away with running off, rearing in their face, pulling away, etc because they're 'expressing themselves' (genuine quote!) then the foals are going to grow up into nightmare horses because they've never been taught the meaning of 'no'.
If the breeder has some horse-sense and is more workmanlike with them then the foals will likely be fine.

Unfortunately you don't know which 'type' the owner/breeder is from an advert so it's easier to avoid completely.
 
I don't consider it a positive selling point, if it was well adjusted and proving its worth I wouldn't hold it against it but I wouldn't actively look for one. I have to say my first thought when someone says homebred is a lame and untried mare bred because the owner wants a foal and they happen to have a mare. I know that's certainly not always the case but there's a lot of dross in the market that has no value and was needlessly bred. That's not to say commercial breeders get it right all the time but they tend to make such decisions with a business hat on rather than from the heart.
 
saddleoversofa said:
ETA: Also I don’t support breeding of horses for personal pleasure or of average animals. So it would discourage me buying a homebred incase it was just bred as ‘the mare was their favourite horse’ or (worse) ‘mare went lame so bred a foal’.
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But most people want a horse for pleasure or an "average" horse to enjoy so someone has to breed them and if they produce a well rounded yet average horse they will never have problems finding them a home , most of the professional breeders are trying to breed top quality competition stock many of which fail to make the grade and end up in homes as pleasure horses yet they are often unsuitable for the average rider or don't stand up to even average work.
I would support breeding from a favourite mare if it had good conformation, done a job and retired relatively sound put to a sensible ID or native stallion the result could be the type most people want, breeding from an unwanted mare of unknown breeding that has never done anything useful, using the coloured cob stallion because they want to breed a coloured foal to add to the already over population of that type is a different matter.
 
It wouldn't be a selling point for me. Most of the "homebreds" I have come across are over-confident (no sense of personal space) around humans, have limited life experience - no idea how they will cope moving away from their home environment when they're sold - and usually a year or two behind in their education. They have often only ever been ridden by one or two people in their life as well, so it can make it harder for them adjusting to a new owner and new routines etc.

Doesn't mean that there aren't properly socialised, well brought up ones, just I rarely come across them!
 
I’ve never bought one but I thought it might be a positive in that they’ve invested time and money into the horse because they loved it and want a good home. As opposed to churning out a lot of purpose bred competition horses of which the duds are sold to to the average Joe.

I was apparently totally off base :D . One perhaps to avoid in future.
 
Tiddlypom said:
Oh wow, this thread is a bit of a low blow :(.

Why the fook do us numpties breed anything for snooty folk to sneer at? I'm really going off horsey types big time.

*toddles off to cuddle her well brought up, well produced, talented homebred 7yo mare*
Click to expand...

I bred a foal at home, and bought him a companion pony and raised him to be a beautifully behaved horse. If he was sound, and I was selling him, I would not put home bred in the ad! Not that home breeders can't do it properly but I don't think the general buyer thinks we do. As you can see here. If I was buying home bred wouldn't matter one way or the other.
 
Clodagh said:
And The Billy horses are homebred apparently. I think home bred means you have a mare and you breed from it, not you own a stud and breed 500 'at home'
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But by that criteria the Billy horses wouldn't count as homebred. There are gazillions of them! Or do you mean they own the mares, rather than having mares in from outside?
 
Be positive - Sorry I think I wasn’t clear as what you said is what I agree with on a whole. :)

I believe we should only breed well conformed, preferably proven horses (whether this be riding club allrounder, eventer etc) with good blood lines and no known congenital defects. It being someone’s favourite animal is just a bonus that comes after all this.

For personal pleasure I meant breeding just so they could have a foal or their own homebred, not taking into account above.
And by ‘average horse’ I mean that with little of the above. I would ask, if you had no personal connection to the animal then would you still breed it? If no perhaps morals should be consulted.

Personally I don’t believe animals enjoy pregnancy and it must be a fairly painful and exhausting process carrying a foal. And with so many poorly conformed and unwanted horses there should be more of an strive towards responsible breeding.
 
be positive said:
But most people want a horse for pleasure or an "average" horse to enjoy so someone has to breed them and if they produce a well rounded yet average horse they will never have problems finding them a home , most of the professional breeders are trying to breed top quality competition stock many of which fail to make the grade and end up in homes as pleasure horses yet they are often unsuitable for the average rider or don't stand up to even average work.
I would support breeding from a favourite mare if it had good conformation, done a job and retired relatively sound put to a sensible ID or native stallion the result could be the type most people want, breeding from an unwanted mare of unknown breeding that has never done anything useful, using the coloured cob stallion because they want to breed a coloured foal to add to the already over population of that type is a different matter.
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I do absolutely agree with this. So many horse problems are caused by people wanting beautiful warmbloods, or OTT TBs when a nice little allrounder is just what they need. Still there are as many numpties with highly bred mares as nice allrounders I suppose.
 
I'd far rather have a British homebred than any imported continental warmblood which is likely to have been farmed. I see it as a positive when looking at young horses.
My homebred is my absolute baby, but he isn't spoilt (he also won't ever be for sale!)
 
It means that you know its full history and likely its full veterinary history.
You will know its breeding and that its passport belongs to it.
You know that the owners have managed to back break and ride it away plus any competition record.
You will know it has lived in one home and believe it or not there are plenty of breeders who do not mollycoddle their horses and produce them to attain the most of their natural talents so that they can sell to the most appropriate home.
You can probably deduce in most cases that it is not a dealer selling who has bought it cheap or in px for another horse and doped it so you can ride it.
However in view of the fact that most of you would prefer not to buy a 'homebred' I rather hope you continue to buy the c..p that is imported - it is what you all deserve.
 
HashRouge said:
But by that criteria the Billy horses wouldn't count as homebred. There are gazillions of them! Or do you mean they own the mares, rather than having mares in from outside?
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Sorry, that was what I meant. Neither the Billy horses nor anythinmg from Coolmore could even be remotely described as a homebred.
 
I like to buy from the breeder. All three of my current horses I bought direct from breeder, one I would describe as a homebred. I like knowing full history and where they've come from, and ideally I like to meet the parents. I don't much care whether they come from a stud or a private individual.

So in summary 'homebred' doesn't mean much to me, but I'm more likely to buy a 'homebred' than a random horse with patchy unknown history
 
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