Talk me out of wanting to put my mare in foal, please

[Tia]

I looked at the photo of your mare and yes she is stunning and sleek and very good looking for a 19 year old ... but ... she is still a 19 year old ... and as the breeding season for this year is pretty much done with, she will be a 20 year old when you put her in foal next Spring ... and she will be 21 when she foals. Is that good enough? I think she is too old, sorry.

 

[JanetGeorge]

[ QUOTE ]


Unfortunately thats not always the case often mares that have a foal at a young age and then try again when they are much older are the most difficult to get in foal.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep - I had a mother and daughter come to stud last year. Mother was 17, the daughter was 10 and was the old mare's most recent foal - and a maiden. 10 year old maiden got in second attempt - twin successfully pinched. The 17 year old had already had 3 unsuccessful cycles at another stud and been sold to my client as a result. It took three attempts and a lot of attention to get her in foal!

The good news was that they both had healthy fillies!

But it wasn't cheap!

 

[htobago]

Gosh - I didn't know that! Interesting. Thanks ken, sallyf and JG - I learn something new every time I come on here!

 

[maestro]

It is one of the main discussions I have with my vet is the fertility % in sports mares, as most the mares that come to us are middle aged ex eventers and by far the hardest are those that had a foal at a young age. I must confess when I started breeding 20 years ago I bred from mares before competing thinking it showed their fertility- I now know that is only a small part of the picture.