How much work is having a foal?

It takes a lot of time and work, i breed ISH and it is lots of hard work, time and patience are something you have to have in abundance.
Also you have to be extremely consitant with praise and correction, my 5 month old has just gone throught the nipping stage and have to be very strict with repremanding him with our making him headshy.
It will probably be cheaper to buy, as the cost is not small, and you have no guarantees of getting the height you want.
A foal can only grown to the size a mare can accomodate, and if you do breed to a stallion that is bigger in size and build you do have the chance of the foal not surviving.
Please think long and hard before breeding from your mare the foal may not get her temperment.
As there are many unwanted foals out in the market place at the moment i have only put 1 of my 6 broodmares into foal this year.
 
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Wanted to add after reading you last post i find it rather ignorant and stupid staement, just because your mare has had 2 foals already does not amount to there being no problems any other time.
You really need to think long and hard about doing this as it seems you do not take advice easily.
Sorry in advance if i have got your character all wrong but i have seen mares lost on many occasions due to ignorant owners thinking along the lines you are, with the she will be fine, and it really angers me
 
Very wise answer from jaypeebee, height wise it's a bit of a lottery, we have been breeding from the same mares for years to different stallions, and height wise one 15 2 hh mare always throws between 15 2 hh and 15 3 hh regardless of the stallion's height, the other 16 hh , throws anything from 16 hh to 16 3 hh. (even to smaller stallions)
If your mare is 15 hh and you use a 16 2 hh
stallion, the chances are you will end up somewhere in the middle, but of course if her ancestors were huge, you could end up with a much bigger horse !
We have never had one mature smaller than it's dam.
It's great fun breeding a foal and I would never say no, but do take things into account.
Even if you own your own land, by the time that foal is four it will have been kept for five years by you already (11 months in the mare), it will need clear knowlegeable training from the start, and it may not be what you hoped in the end.
Fools like me breed lovely horses for others to enjoy without making a penny profit as a rule, the advice many have given such as buying exactly what you want needs to be thought about first, plus heaven forbid, your mare might die foaling. I know of someone who agonised for months which stallion to use and still lost her mare when it foaled early..no reason why, sometimes it just happens.
I would say make temperament and soundness one of your highest requirements when choosing your stallion; from experience they need to be top of the list, it's no good having a wonderful comp prospect if it's a lunatic, or has lousy feet...
Try and see lots of youngsters by your chosen stallion and look up some of the records on BE and BD, we bought an in foal mare who foaled to a stallion unknown to me, when I checked BE results it had several youngsters winning Novice Classes age 6, and one of our top riders was doing well with another, if the stock are doing well, hopefully your foal will be similar.
One of the other things to consider is where you will rear your foal, they need other youngsters to socialise with and places like a DIY yard really aren't suitable at all. One kick from a shod foot and all those months of waiting goes out the window..
So to sum up; think carefully, choose your stallion and place to rear the foal with care, and learn everything you can. There is a wonderful forum horsebreeders which has lots of small (and large) breeders on it, ask there for advice.
Our own HH forum sadly suffers from being a little over-adminned at times, but you can find useful advice there too.(just don't post pics of any horses!)
 
I have thought long and hard about putting her in foal, was going to this spring just passed but decided to compete her another year as she was enjoying herself.
I'd want her to breed a foal to keep ideally.
And i really am taking on everyone's comments about experiences, downsides and disappointment.
Also to answer some other questions the mare and foal would be perfectly well looked after and cared for at our home yard as we have a full time groom and both my parents work from home, so there will always be someone around.
And its not possible to put my horse out on loan as i'd want to ride her whenever i came home and over christmas and summer and that's obviously not fair to any loaner, plus she is a very difficult ride with new people.
I really am completely undecided right now so please do keep your comments coming :)
 
If you're off to Uni is breeding a good idea? There are a lot of horses in desperate need of a home at the moment. You're not going to have the time to spend looking after the mare or to put the groundwork in with the foal and it's a lot of extra expense to have to cover as a student. Also, bear in mind that after Uni you may need to move to find a job and again there's cost to consider of looking after two horses, wages aren't usually great when first starting out! Sorry put a downer on it but need to be practical
 
OK - loads of work, loads of feed and hay to keep mare even remotely near a good body score. You cannot ride or enjoy your mare - she could change temperament completely like mine did (hopefully to change back post weaning....) cost of pre covering vet checks, covering fees, vet fees to check in foal then repeat if she does not take. More vet fees - more fees because of extra injections required. More feed and hay - vet fees when foal is due, when foal is born and then possibly when problems arise or you just panic as a first timer. Then you have to wait at least 4 years before you can have any kind of fun riding the animal.

Oh, of course on top of that is all the unwanted foals going to feed zoo animals due to indescriminate breeding - erm perhaps I am against the idea.....
 
Is it really a good idea to put her in foal whilst you are at uni? You will not be around very much to put in all the ground work with the foal that it will require. Also I do not believe it is a good idea to just have your mare and the foal as companions to only each other if this is your plan. A foal needs to be weaned from it's dam and to be with other foals/youngsters to play and learn and grow up together.

A good temperament is one thing, but the foal may not end up with one just because the mare is a sweetie. Also you need to think about does your mare have good conformation, health problems, a good track record as an all rounder/hunter/show horse etc. These are the things i would think about if I was to breed from my mare.

I know a mare who had foaled fine all her life with no problems. She died during birth at about 12 years old for no reason other than birthing complications. We also lost the foal. So don't believe that just because your mare has foaled twice fine before that it will all go smoothly.

Is there no way you can find a livery yard near your uni and take your mare with you if you can't think of anything to do with her and won't loan her out?
 
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