Mare who has had a foal

Sarah Sum1

Sarah Sum1

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I am looking to buy a horse and i have seen a mare who has had a couple of foals before she was broken in. She is 7. I can't remember exactly but i am sure i read that you should steer clear of mares who have had foals. Is this true? why would this be? I am looking to do jumping and general schooling, hacks etc.
 
A mare that had had foals wouldn't put me off, so long as she didn't have them too young, as that can affect the joints ect if the mare has them before she has stopped growing.
 
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I have no idea why would you steer clear TBH
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Thanks, Yes i am not feeling put off either, i just remember reading it somewhere. I guess she would of been quite young as she had two foals and is just 7.
 
Is she broken in already? I know when I was breaking one of my broodmares in at 8, people said I was going to have a nightmare as they can be very set in their ways and difficult to bring on as they have been left to their own devices whilst breeding. She is the best horse I have ever broken and such an easy and willing mare.
 
Our cob had 7 foals by the age of 10 (before she came to us), was very ill with the last one and hasn't had any since. She was ride & drive, now retired (following a bad case of colic). She is 27 and the farrier commented on how supple she is the last time he trimmed her feet.
So I can't really see why it should put you off.
 
well then I would say if anything it's a good thing. you know she is fertile and capable of carrying full term. Who is she registered with? If I search for my mare on the Irish draught society I can see all of her foals and the year they were born (obviously the foal breeders had to register the offspring) You might be able to find out that way.
 
Yes thats great advice! thanks so much. I feel much happier now knowing i wouldn't be making a huge mistake that i wasn't aware of. Thanks to everyones replies
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Yes,, far too many, too close together, in a short time, starting too young. She wasn't supposed to be in foal when we got her but turned out to be. We lost the foal and nearly lost her. It was a very difficult time, she was at livery and we spent a month taking it in turns to sleep in the stable next to her, milking her and bottle-feeding the foal. The vet did say that part of the problem was her history (and the foal was very big).
 
I thought it used to be quite a common thing to do on the continent, to break a mare very lightly and then breed a foal or 2 before putting her back into work. The theory being that you could see what sort of foals she bred and if they turned out to be very good then her competitive career could be cut short in order to concentrate on breeding.
I'm sure several of the top European showjumping mares of the 70s and 80s had foals before competing.

This was in the days before Embryo Transfer, so I suppose it's not so common now
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I would not be put off at all, i have had alot of brood mares in the past. I broke a welsh D of ours years ago after her first foal, she was 5/6yrs old, she was a good horse.
My mare, who is a superstar has had 6 foals, never detracted from her ridden work in subsequent years and between foals when having a break as she did
 
Our Welsh D had a foal at 4, after she was broken to drive and before being broken to ride, and our other mare had her first foal at 15. I can't see what the problem is as long as the mare wasn't breeding when she was just a baby herself.
 
what a load of twaddle!! I have seen some fantastic mares under saddle that have had a foal or two before being broken...as long as the mare is in good condition and is 3 or over i can't see the problem with breeding before breaking as long as she is a good temprement of course. I have a 4 year old who has just had a lovely foal whom i am selling as she is too small for me, but i don't want to breed again for a while - i cannot see that she will be any different to break in than any other 4 year old...
 
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