Plan B...? An update.

MP, doing all the foot care myself, owning my own land, assuming no additional medical bills, I can't get the sums for a four year old to any lower than £4000 and I can buy an unbroken four year old for that, or less.

Every time I think about breeding my own (often!) I come up against this ten foot high brick wall, smack my head on it, and turn back.
 
Yeah the cost side always comes out at just buy one 😂, I spent £1500 getting on for 8’ish years ago with no foal at the end 🙈...
 
I'm so sorry to hear about Salty MP :(.

Re:costs - when I was thinking of breeding M I worked out costs to get the (hypothetical) foal to 4yo. It worked out somewhere around 12k (assuming nothing went wrong), though the majority of that was for youngstock livery.
 
If I was going to breed Amber, cost would be fairly irrelevant. I'd be breeding her because I wanted a foal from her who I would keep and he/she would be infinitely precious to me because they'd be Amber's.

But obviously I'd rather keep riding Amber till she's in her twenties!! But as a Plan B I can definitely see the appeal.
 
If you looked at the finances then no, you probably wouldn't do it. However, I'd rather breed and produce a well thought out foal from a mare I knew, and spend whatever on it, than spend £4k on something that someone else has bred and brought to that point, when I have no idea how it has been kept, managed and handled. And yes, I've done both, several times.

There is masses of indiscriminate breeding, loads of people who have an injured mare of no particular worth (in any sense), who decide it would be lovely to have a little baby foal ....

And then there are sensible, knowledgeable people who are perfectly able to make a decision, understand the pros and cons, have a plan for the breeding, foaling and raising of the offspring, and often produce quality animals that bring them a whole lot of joy along the way :)
 
There is one reason that stands well in favour of a home bred. People who have bought foals recently from a hobby breeder near me have unknowingly bought the offspring of mares with early onset arthritis, kissing spines, tendon breakdown for no known reason and behavioural issues.
 
ycbm said:
There is one reason that stands well in favour of a home bred. People who have bought foals recently from a hobby breeder near me have unknowingly bought the offspring of mares with early onset arthritis, kissing spines, tendon breakdown for no known reason and behavioural issues.
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Many years ago I left a stud job because they were knowingly using a TB stallion with congenital hoof problems and advertising him as a sporthorse stallion at a lowish fee - so the world and his wife were coming along with their crocked mares and breeding timebomb offspring :mad:
 
So sorry about this, MP, it's pants news about Salty. You've worked so hard with her.

Re the breeding thing. You are are clearly very capable and would do things properly, but don't underestimate how damn expensive it all is. I thought I had it all costed, but those 'extras' all mount up. ycbm quoted 4k to 4yo above, but that is a minimum spend and assumes no hiccups on the way through. Even if there are no major disasters, the progeny may not be up to much, so that the 4k 4yo may, in reality, be unusable/virtually unsaleable.

You've posted recently about being skint. Just think how much more of a drag on your finances a breeding project will be. IMHO breeding is best left to those who can afford to lose shed loads of ££££s. Maybe think of her going out on a breeeding loan?
 
Sad news, sorry to read this.
I've bred a couple of foals from my mare after she retired from a decent career. Her first died aged 18 months having cost me around 5k to breed/ keep to that point and then 6k in vets fees (we did try very hard to save her)
My next is coming 2, he is a total delight and so far- touch wood- has been cheap to keep. I have my own land and I bought a companion foal for him to grow up with. Therefore to date I reckon he has cost me about 4k all in, from stud fees, vets fees, keep during insemination, care for his mother including extra feed/ jabs etc, post foaling vet visit x2, passporting, gelding, vaccination, random bits and pieces etc
I would do it again if I needed another horse and had the money sitting around, it's an amazing process. It would undoubtedly have been cheaper to buy though!
 
could she be a surrogate mare for embryo transfer?

im not sure i would breed from her for her own offspring, just too unproven IMO.

im so sorry it wasnt a better outcome :(
 
Rowreach said:
If you looked at the finances then no, you probably wouldn't do it.
And then there are sensible, knowledgeable people who are perfectly able to make a decision, understand the pros and cons, have a plan for the breeding, foaling and raising of the offspring, and often produce quality animals that bring them a whole lot of joy along the way :)
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I'm not sure any of us would keep horses at all if we did the sums! Head vs Heart and all that. I've got two of the 'heart' horse sitting in a paddock costing me a fortune. Wouldn't not have them in my life even though I wish they had working legs.

Hope you're OK MP - probably sinking in now a bit more.
 
SEL said:
I'm not sure any of us would keep horses at all if we did the sums!...

Hope you're OK MP - probably sinking in now a bit more.
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quite! bonkers isn't it. What they do to us.
thanks SEL, yeah will be OK, getting through the bittersweet "it's her, not me" phase, fortunately for both of us she has the world's most important job of being Kira's security blanket for now anyway, so life continues as normal...ish ;)
my friend had a wobbler but it was a young gelding and she had no land, only a livery stable. So the decision was clear and immediately made for him. I don't want to do that.
 
Sorry to read this MP, but at least you have the answers, and can now do the right thing by her. How is she bred ?

there are so many pros and cons to breeding your own, but I reckon you are smart enough to make an informed choice.
In my experience it is hugely expensive, but it can also be equally rewarding, There is no greater feeling than watching a homebred born and then progress under saddle to become a useful sort. But having lost my first homebred I can assure you the lows are VERY low.
Would I do it all again knowing what I know now... too bloody right
 
sorry mp ,the ups and downs of horses.!

how is she bred ? will be interesting to follow if you go ahead.

paying to use a stallion is a big expense, if i liked a mares breeding and shape and nature i would breed from it unproven, bit not if i thought it had a problem it might pass on

i have never found youngstock cost that much to keep , its a just another horse really, the main thing is having turnout, they are smaller for a longish time anyway, can be time consuming though.

i usually breed for myself so keep youngstock anyway, sometimes you have to go for it if your gut tells to, if not don`t
 
Hard one that I used to breed some horses until common sense kicked in and I returned to enjoying myself riding .
I am so sorry it was this but at least you know .
 
I think if you can afford it, go for it. You only live once after all and it *can* be very rewarding to breed and produce your own. Obviously you own horses and are aware of the million things that could go wrong. Yes she isn't proven, but you know the breeding and clearly get along with the temperament/quirks of it. Not every decent horse was produced from 100% excellent awesome amazing mares and stallions, and there is a fair chance the resulting foal will grow up to be decent enough to do something with.

I had been for years debating breeding one of my TB mares. She had soundness issues but confirmed by several vets to be trauma related and not genetic. She died before I got the chance to (although given how arthritic she was I had 99% decided against breeding her for her comfort and welfare). I wanted to cross her over a WB stallion of the C grey jumping line, particularly with Cor de la Bryere quite close in the pedigree. I had ridden several horses with this breeding and admired many more (before I knew their breeding!). I have a TB I will probably breed at some point now for my own purposes, but am unsure if the C line will mesh well with her conformation and temperament. Back to the drawing board for the moment anyway :) Good luck with whatever you decide, and would be curious to see who you chose if you do go ahead!
 
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