Putting mare in foal

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What is the oldest that you would put a mare, that has never had a foal before, in foal? At what point would you consider the risks to have increased to much?

And would you put a 15.1hh mare to a 16.2hh stallion for her first foal?
 
My 2 mares are both maiden mares at 14 and 15, both are 13.2 and in-foal to a 16hh stallion.

I wouldn't see a problem with putting a 15.1 in-foal to a 16.2.

I think most breeders say 15 is the latest but you do get a lot of older mares. I've known a maiden mare have a foal at 18.
 
Thanks for that!!
I'm thinking of breeding from her when she is 14 so that should be ok - obviously will be speaking to my vet nearer the time but just wanted some opinions! She's only 10 at the moment so I could breed earlier but I will retire her when she has foal so want to leave it as late as possible without increasing the risks of breeding!!!
 
I would have a vet check done on any mare before putting her in foal for the first time, but particularly for an older mare to ensure everything is in the right place.
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I've heard of far too many dead foals/mares to even consider putting a mare to anything more than 4" bigger than she is. I know there is a school of thought that the mare dictates the size of the foal, but I have heard enough stories firsthand from breeders to make me err on the side of caution.

On a personal note, I witnessed a 13hh mare giving birth to a very large foal on a yard a few years ago - the foal was already dead and the mare was very, very stressed and was lucky to survive. The mating had been a mistake (before pony had been bought) and vet reckoned the stallion would have been around 16hh.
 
Yes, she would have full check over.
She is my pet and I think the world of her so I will be doing everything on the cautious side - if something happened to her that could have been prevented I would never forgive myself.
I am unsure whether to breed from this particular mare as I have been around a fair bit of breeding so although 90% of the time it goes well, i have seen the bad side and this horse is my pet not just a normal brood mare (and they have all been bred from quite young so that is why 14yrs is unknown teritory to me).
 
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