in this finacal climate,why put a mare in foal

[Echo Bravo]

Spoke to a friend of mine tonight,she cann't sell her mare so has decided to put her in foal so she can sell her on. So money is tight, hay in short supply. So how many youngsters will be making their to the abbiattor next year??

 

[Enfys]

I put mares in foal every year, I may not be in the UK, but people are tightening their belts here too.

The way I look at it is: I don't breed rubbish, my horses are middle of the road all rounders that suit everyone from children to pensioners that there will always be a market for, sooner or later. I have plenty of my own land, I grow my own hay or can source it cheaply locally, if I don't sell a foal as a weanling then it isn't a problem for me to keep it until I do sell it. The price increases as age and training progresses.

If your friend has a decent mare, breeds her to a compatible stallion and has the facilities to keep that foal past weaning, perhaps for 2 years, then I can't see a problem.

I am always on the lookout for well bred, registered weanlings, I don't buy unpapered stock. Decent youngsters tend not to get sent to the killpens, rather they get snapped up very cheaply at markets/private sales by people like me who grow them on, train them up a bit and sell them on again when the market is better.

 

[Capriole]

im breeding for myself and i will be keeping.so im not worried about the economic climate.
i have my own land, i have good animals, going to good stallions.
they will be saleable should i ever want to sell as they will be well bred and a popular type (barring obvious caveats like they turn out to be awful .

 

[brighteyes]

im breeding for myself and i will be keeping.so im not worried about the economic climate.
i have my own land, i have good animals, going to good stallions.
they will be saleable should i ever want to sell as they will be well bred and a popular type (barring obvious caveats like they turn out to be awful .

And then what is their future?

 

[Achinghips]

judging by the smilie, I think she meant the last bit as tounge in cheek and not to be taken seriously, Brighteyes

 

[Pearlsasinger]

It absolutely amazes me the number of adverts which say ' in-foal mare for sale due to change in circumstances/financial climate/loss of grazing' etc. Do people not plan for the foresee-able future when they put their mares in foal? The gestation period is less than a year, so it can't be that hard to plan ahead! And why do they think that a difficult to sell mare will become easier to sell when it's in foal? IMO they are just cutting the possible market down - plenty of people do NOT want an in-foal mare.

 

[Capriole]

why?

if theyre **** i wont be able to sell them. i thought it was clear but maybe not.

they are for me to keep.
if i decide to sell they should be easily saleable.
if they arent saleable i wont sell them