Should I breed from my mare?

[Beca owen]

Hiya, looking for honest opinions.
Considering breeding my 14.2 11y/o Welsh D mare. She’s got good breeding and temperament. She isn’t happy under saddle due to bad experiences but think it’s a shame to leave her as a field ornament.
Wondering if u think her confirmation etc is good enough. If so, any stallion recommendations?
Thanks very much
Photos of her showing as a 4y/o and recent one ridden.

 

[BeckyFlowers]

She is lovely but it's very difficult to critique her conformation with any degree of accuracy from those pics.

Have you had any experience with breeding? Do you have a good stud or repro vet near you? Do you have the funds to breed and then keep a mare and foal? Do you have the facilities to keep a mare and foal? Are you prepared to take the risk (financial and emotional) that the foal could die or be born with defects that could render it unusable? Are you prepared to take the risk that the mare could die from foaling complications? Do you think that passing on her genes will be beneficial to the breed? Are you prepared and experienced enough to "bring up" a youngster and then either start it and back it, or send it away to a professional for starting and backing?

If you are considering breeding her so you can keep the foal for yourself, you are probably better off buying a youngster. This makes sense financially, and regarding risk in the sense that you can get a youngster vetted and you can examine their confirmation and temperament.

 

[minesadouble]

The sensible answer is always no! The saying that fools breed horses for wise men to ride is very true.

It can be a rewarding experience, it can also be excruciatingly expensive and heartbreaking.

If you have the money, facilities and motivation and plan to keep the foal then go for it.

 

[TheMule]

There is never any shame in not breeding from a mare. As she hasn’t managed to sustain her own ridden career I would be reluctant to breed from her personally but if you have time and money to throw away and don’t particularly mind what you get out of the experience (a dead mare and foal being one of the possible outcomes) then consider what you want the offspring to do and pick a stallion that is out there doing that job well.

 

[Bellaboo18]

It seems the go to when any mare is retired is to breed from it but I never see the appeal.
She's not stood up to work herself.
You need the right set up, a stud basically.
When the foal is weaned it'll need turnout out with other youngsters.
If shes happy as a field ornament why is that a waste.
Her foal could turn it to pretty much anything, a big gamble just to give this mare something to do.
Buying a yearling would be far cheaper.

We should be breeding from proven, quality mares.

 

[AmyMay]

You’ve had four absolutely excellent responses, all of which I absolutely agree with.

However, if the foal would be for you (and taking on board all the comments above), then why not. She looks a nice sort.

 

[tristar]

we think she is fabulous, good luck whatever you decide

 

[HappyHorses:)]

She’s gorgeous! What did you decide to do?