How old would a mare be before you considered breeding from her?

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mollymurphy

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As the title really. Now i have not got a CLUE (not even a teeny tiny one
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) about breeding, so i'm not trying to offend any body. But....there seem to be quite a few people who are putting mares (well, fillies) in foal at the moment. I always thought that they shouldnt be put in foal until they're physically matured??
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But then, i suppose in the wild they'll be preggers as soon as they're fertile.
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Are there any problems associated with breeding from a young mare?

What's the youngest you've bred from?

Lou. x
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It depends on how mature the filly is, I personally only breed from 3yos upwards and they have to be a mature looking 3yo for me but I have known people put 2yos in foal. It comes down to the individual mare.
 
There's a thread running on here entitled 'Not breeding 3yo filly...' that is about this issue - you might want to have a look at that one as well.
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I would say 3, if the mare is mature enough.
 
I know of studs that breed from 2y.o's. Most have to be a minimum of 24 months to be able to register the foal with a breed society but 3 is probably best.
 
Ooops, sorry htobago - should have read yours first!!

It's just that i know of 3 in-foal fillies at the moment who were put in foal as yearlings! That's not right is it? Will that have any detrimental effects on them?
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Ooops, sorry htobago - should have read yours first!!

It's just that i know of 3 in-foal fillies at the moment who were put in foal as yearlings! That's not right is it? Will that have any detrimental effects on them?
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Omigod! Yearlings!?! Yes, I would say that is waaaay too young, and will surely cause some harm. No wonder you were concerned. Breeding at 2 is bad enough, but breeding a yearling filly should be illegal, IMO.
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Def way too young but in the trakehner world a very well known Italian stud owner ran off with the secretary and left the horses (who were in a state - bit like the Gucci incident Tobago) one of the colts caught a yearling filly and she and the colts/mares/fillies were bought by my old boss, she foaled a little filly (as a 2y.o) and grew big (she was taller than her dam and not by a big stallion), I broke her in and she was the sweetest mare!

But as rule of thumb yearling should definitely not be bred from, very irresponsible.
 
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