My event mare retires, tomorrow goes to stud - mixed emotions

aregona

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Tomorrow (sat) my event mare goes to stud. I am retiring her early due to a small injury, i am desperate to have a foal from her but it will be the first time in 9yrs she has been away from me. I am really lucky i have had 9 fantastic years with sadie and have decided that as she owes me nothing that it is right that i retire her on a high than try and keep her running when it may not be fair and i can not be 100% sure she is pain free.

I have mixed emotions as i am loosing my best eventer which i have had for so long i cannot imagine not bringing her in in january to start the eventing season, but i will have to get used to it. I have been blessed to have had 9yrs of competing the boldest horse i have ever sat on. Any jump i put her at the only question she ever asked is 'how high' . she as taken me from being terrified of xc due to my old horse to jumping BE novice tracks and entering a cic* which i have sadly withdrawn.

I really hope i am doing the right thing,

Anyone have any words of wisdom to settle my mind???? sorry this is a rather pointless post.
 

aregona

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Enfys

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J, you know Sadie better than anyone else and if she has a niggling injury and isn't spot on then now is the right time. She's done her best for you, now she starting a new career, that is the way I'd look at it, you aren't losing her.

She'll be back from stud in no time, where is she off to?

Super photos.

You have others coming on don't you?
 

aregona

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thank you, she is going to devon to the stud who used our mare for fostering (and once fostered our foal). i know charles will take care of her but for some reason i just want to cry each time i think of taking her and leaving her there, although i do know i am being totally stupid as you say, she will be back in no time. I think i am really worried as i am frightened of loosing her during foaling. I have weighed up the odds though and i am deserate to have a foal from her which i can hopefully continue to compete for the next 15+ years.

I am incredibly fortunate as i do have 3 geldings to event and two 4yr olds waiting in a field for me to finish backing them.
I took pilgrim xc schooling today and he gave me a great ride, getting braver and even jumped me clean out of the saddle. x
 

Irishlife

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Don't be sad, she will adapt to being a mum and thoroughly enjoy herself being a pampered girl. It is an emotional time when you have to make decisions for your horse so try not to get too hung up about "what if's".

Think of it this way, although things can happen during foaling, generally most foalings are normal otherwise we would be awfully short of horses:)
Not meaning to sound awful but she was at risk eventing too. You will miss her but you know where she is going and she will be in good hands. There is nothing more rewarding than bringing on a homebred and we have a 4 year old who is just starting his career and I am not ashamed to say that even though we backed him at home, I wept seeing him around a course of cross country fences with pride!! Also with breeding, you may well get a filly to carry on the line and that is the best legacy any mare can give us. Good luck with her new career
 

gadetra

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Hey just to say congrats on having such a lovely mare and i'm sure she feels every minute of love you gave her over yer 9 years together!!
She sounds a lovely bright thing and in my experience these kinds of mares tend to pass their personalities on. I'd say the hard thing will be letting go of some of her foalies down the line!!
Good luck with her, and enjoy the future super foaly!!
 

aregona

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yes she is going down to bovey, i havent decided on a stallion, i like catherston liberator and the young stallion he has SEA HEIR, i want a TB for her as she is CB x TB so i wanted to breed something with a little more pace for the xc.
I didnt want to spend to much money for a first foal and i didnt want a big stallion either, just to try and reduced risks on a first foal etc...., so my plan is to have a look at them both later in 'the flesh' and then decide. i will let you know. thanks for all your kind words you all make a lot of sense!!!
 

illy89

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Hi,

Just wanted to say i think you have made the right decision and are doing what is best for your horse!
I have a similar decision to make at the end of this season with my event mare and am dreading it!!

Hope everything goes well and you have a lovely foal this time next year!
 

stolensilver

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Your mare is exactly the sort of mare who should be having babies. She's clearly very special. :) This time next year you'll be so pleased because she's got a lovely foal by her side and you'll be dreaming of taking it eventing.

I took my dressage partner out of competition last year so she could have a foal. We'd reached PSG and she was 16 years old. The clock was ticking! It was a difficult decision because she hadn't reached her limit in dressage but I wanted a foal more than I wanted to get to Inter 1 etc. I put her to Silvermoon and her foal is now 18 days old. She's loving being a mum, I've never seen her look happier and her foal is simply gorgeous. I couldn't be happier either. :)

FWIW if she was mine I'd put her to the best eventing stallion I could afford. She's a special mare, she's stood up to 9 seasons of eventing and she's got a temperament and boldness that you love. Her foal is going to be a keeper so why compromise on the stallion? The cost of keeping her and her future foal will be much more expensive than a studfee. I'm not dissing Liberator BTW or Sea Heir (who I don't know at all) but I do think Liberator will be too chunky for your mare. Like a previous poster I'd go with a full TB or Anglo like Mill Law or Primitive Proposal or Weston Justice or All That Jazz or Persiflage. The good thing about living in the UK is that we are spoilt for choice when it comes to good eventing stallions. :)
 

Laura1812

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My mare is at that stud atm. She may well be turned out with mine who is in a field of 20 or so mares. Sea heir is lovely I will be interested to see which stallion you choose!
 

amy_b

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you won't regret it when you have a foal to play with and in 5 years time when your doing BYEH with her baby.
imagine if you carried on, she broke down and you had no horse and no foal to carry on her legacy.
If you have others to take your mind off competing her i bet you soon turn into the doting midwife!!!
 
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