Stallion suggestions

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jklda

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I have two TB chestnut mares - both really sweet natured with beautiful paces, I am considering putting them into foal with the intention of selling their offspring - can someone recommend a good stallion - preferably dressage or eventing - I am in East Yorkshire although we could use AI
 
I'm here to be the mean voice of doom and say don't do it.
Unless you're breeding top quality, profit margins are very small, so the chances of you making money are very low. Plus the market is saturated with youngstock, many selling to poor homes and owners without the adequate experience. Besides, by the time you get the necessary vet checks and choose on a stallion it'll probably be too late to do it this season anyway...

Edit: might be reading between the lines, but from your past posts it seems to me like you want to give the mares something to do while your busy raising a young family - trust me, it isn't easy to get a mare in foal, keep her in foal, help her give birth and raise a foal, let alone do it twice, and have a young child!
 
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If they are quality then can I recommend Z Concorde of Pennine View Stud, top eventing prospect with some beautiful foals and youngstock that you can see. Based in Harrogate :)
 
No I wasn't thinking of doing it this season to be honest, I was looking more for next year, and yes you are correct - I have a young family and it is a case of giving the mares a purpose. One has lymphangitis and the other has recently had a bad cut in the field - the alternatives are to have them as pet rabbits (which I am quite prepared to do) or have them pts which is not really an option.

The reason I am asking around now is so I can make a balanced well judged decision as to whether to breed from them or not - I don't think I am just jumping on the "lets make a quick buck" bandwagon - or at least I don't think I am!!
 
jklda said:
Yes - it was he who suggested putting her in foal to be honest - it is a mild case but enough to get her spun at dressage competitions
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Interesting.

Well, if you have two nicely bred little mare's, that have something to show in one career or another why not?

Although I would be put off by the lymphangits personally.
 
jklda said:
Yes - it was he who suggested putting her in foal to be honest - it is a mild case but enough to get her spun at dressage competitions
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How are you treating it, and has there been any improvement.
To be honest, unless it was an actual repro or stud vet I would not take their word as gospel. Recently I met a mare with severe kissing spines and a recently broken pelvis (and a rank temperament to go with it!) that an owner put in foal on vet recommendation. Both mare and foal died.

Is the mare is chronically sore I would not put her in foal. If she requires frequent antibiotics or anti-inflammatories, I would not breed her.

As for the other mare, I believe my worry about how over populated the horse world is, still stands. There are amazingly bred foals going for an absolute pittance in the UK, I'm sure if I looked on UK sites I could find event bred youngsters for less than £500...
 
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jklda said:
Yes - it was he who suggested putting her in foal to be honest - it is a mild case but enough to get her spun at dressage competitions
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Ha! Revenue! Look after the client's income potential.

As others have said - look around and see how many top-class (line) foals are going into their first winter unsold and the lottery the also-rans face in term of a future.

If you don't mind selling for peanuts (and probably not covering your breeding costs) and likely casting your foal out into a saturated market full of numpties with a few hundred quid to spend but stuff-all knowledge or experience, then fine. Go ahead.

Sorry to be harsh, but that is currently 'how it is' out there. Even very good foals are not selling, and for every foal born another loses a potential home. There are a finite number of homes anyway.

PLEASE reconsider.
 
Unfortunaltly, breeding is not as simple as finding a stallion to put to your mare, then waiting 11 months. Things can and do go wrong. If you are prepared to take the chance of losing the mare, or foal, or both, or huge vet's bills saving one or the others lives (in your case, twice), then I wouldn't recommend it.

Either AI or natural covering costs money, as do scans, swabs, livery or vet call out fees etc and no garentee of a foal at the end of it.

Currently, not much is selling, would you be prepared to keep a foal for months (after the six months until they can be weaned) until they sell?
 
Sorry OP this is not meant to be a rant at you directly but it really pees me off when people just put a mare into foal that is a, complete rubbish, b, half dead, or c, out of work. I know someone whos mare has kissing spines and she now thinks its ok to breed from her. What the hell is wrong with these people?!?!!?!?!?
Breeding isnt easy, there’s too much cr*p on the market and people selling foals/youngsters for pennies. Unless you have something that is super talented and worth a decent amount I wouldn’t bother, and even then I would think twice!
 
Thanks for all your thoughts - I have had quite a bit of experience with breeding (we bred one of my other competition horses for example) so I am not completely "blind" to the potential pitfalls

I was really just "casting the net" to help me make a decision - like I say they can both be pet rabbits if that is the best thing to do

The one with lympangitis has only started this summer - she got a thorn in her leg on a hack and the bacteria got in that way - she has had one dose of antibacs and touch wood she is perfectly sound just the leg is slightly larger than the other one
 
jklda said:
No I wasn't thinking of doing it this season to be honest, I was looking more for next year, and yes you are correct - I have a young family and it is a case of giving the mares a purpose. One has lymphangitis and the other has recently had a bad cut in the field - the alternatives are to have them as pet rabbits (which I am quite prepared to do) or have them pts which is not really an option.

The reason I am asking around now is so I can make a balanced well judged decision as to whether to breed from them or not - I don't think I am just jumping on the "lets make a quick buck" bandwagon - or at least I don't think I am!!
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They will both be perfectly happy being field ornaments - I can guarantee that, we have 14 of them due to being delivered of a ready made (and large) young family via social services 3 years ago. Ours are quite happy with a scratch during daily checks and being let to feed their faces the rest of the time.
 
Argh - don't breed! Ditto every elses comments that are against it. It's pointless. Even if they were top horses (and with all due respect, it doesn't sound like they are) there are enough youngsters on the market without adding 2 more to it. Too many people seem to think that the solution to every mares problem is to put in in foal. And something else, all that added weight isn't going to help a foot or leg problem.
 
If you are just doing it to sell, then don't do it. There is no money in it (you will probably make a loss) and there are too many youngsters on the market as it is. On the other hand if you are breeding to keep the foals for yourself, then by all means go ahead. This would be the only reason I would breed right now, but as I don't have a young enough mare, I won't be breeding, I will just enjoy the delightful foal that one of my liveries has bred. He's a stunner, and with the temperament to match. :)
 
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