Thoughts on buying a horse that was put into foal at 2 years old?

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Umbongo

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Hi, I am looking for a horse to buy and have seen this mare and might be going to have a look at her:

http://www.horsemart.co.uk/advert/5_yrs_16_0_hh_dark_bay_tb_x_surrey/114689

She sounds nice, green but willing and nice natured. Apparently her canter is a bit wobbly in the school and she runs into it, but the woman thinks with lots of cantering out hacking she will be better, apparently she only really has roads to hack along. She has been jumping up to 2ft6 in the school and won a diddy 2ft 3 showjumping. They guessed TBx as do not really know her breeding, and maybe think a bit of trotter and may think that's why she finds canter a bit hard??

The only thing that bothers me a bit is that she was put into foal at 2, had it at 3. Apparently after foaling she became very skinny and the woman bought her and fed her up.

I would not put a 2 year old into foal for the obvious reasons, and I am a bit worried about the strain it put onto her growing joints and the possible difficulties we may have in the future.

Thoughts?
 
There was an interesting post by someone asking if they should put their horse in foal at 2 a while ago - i posted on it so you might find it by going back through my posts. She was looking for scientific proof that it would either harm or not harm them - you might PM her and see whether she did find anything out from the info she was given.

If you dont want to PM her, you could also try ringing the places people suggested. xxxx
 
I personally wouldn't worry, horses are sometimes put in foal as 2yo's, and providing they have sufficient nutritious feed they come out of it well. The mare looks very sweet, and has had 2 years to recover if she needed it, and more damage is done to growing youngsters joints by overfeeding. Ultimately go with your gut feeling, the ad looks very genuine and they obviously want a nice home for her hence the possible trial period.
 
flamehead said:
There was an interesting post by someone asking if they should put their horse in foal at 2 a while ago - i posted on it so you might find it by going back through my posts. She was looking for scientific proof that it would either harm or not harm them - you might PM her and see whether she did find anything out from the info she was given.

If you dont want to PM her, you could also try ringing the places people suggested. xxxx
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Thanks yes I posted on that too with some evidence I found stating that out of x number of 2 year olds, a small percentage of them took, but then out of the ones that had taken, only a small percentage actually gave birth, with most loosing the foal and so breeding at 2 years is not a great idea as the fillies are not mature enough.

I know some people may breed if the mare looks mature for her age etc, unfortunately i do not know how mature the mare was when she was put in foal and was wondering if anyone else had experiences with owning a mare that was put into foal young.
 
I wouldn't worry, I know a few mares and work with a few that have been put in foal at a young age. I find it helps the mare mature and it depends what reason she was put in foal. I would go buy your gut and what you feel like when with the horse. Don't worry about the her being put in foal at 2, it isn't uncommon! :)

x
 
Thanks, I think by the sounds of it the previous owner put her in foal because he had a mare...so why not!!!

I have loaned plenty of horses but this is the first one I'm buying so I want it to all go smoothly and in my own little world to have a 100% perfect horse with no problems...even though I know with horses there is no such thing!
 
I wouldnt worry about buying a horse that had a foal young as long as they were fit and healthy at the point of selling.
It looks like a nice mare but over priced to me especially as breeding not known. Also if has got trotter in it, it might take a hell of a long time to get the canter balanced. I have got a very nicely bred mare advertised at the mo for the same price. But hey if you like it then go with your gut feeling x.
 
Our filly was in foal at 2, (ignorance -buying a colt and a filly together, he got her in her first season couple of weeks after we got them because the vet wouldn't geld him until autumn!) and foaled just turned 3, the only thing I really noticed is that she didn't grow as quickly as we expected and really only started growing again at about 4 continuing until she was at least 6. I think it probably stunted her growth a bit and now she seems huge compared to then. She was very immature anyway as she was emaciated when we got her (wildie)and we didn't even know she was in foal until a few weeks before he arrived so she wasn't really fed for foaling. I don't think it would put me off buying one although it is not something I would ever allow again.
 
berry said:
I wouldnt worry about buying a horse that had a foal young as long as they were fit and healthy at the point of selling.
It looks like a nice mare but over priced to me especially as breeding not known. Also if has got trotter in it, it might take a hell of a long time to get the canter balanced. I have got a very nicely bred mare advertised at the mo for the same price. But hey if you like it then go with your gut feeling x.
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I thought the price was high too, but thought maybe prices vary across the country, but for a horse with unknown breeding, that is still 'wobbly' in canter and may as pointed out take quite a while and expertise to balance it if there is trotter blood there, and a horse that has pretty much done very little, I would have said the price was a little high.

But once again it all comes down to whether the horse is worth it to you as the buyer, if she's suitable in everyway and you really want her and have the money then who's to argue!!

With regard to the canter I would want to see her cantering loose or on the lunge to see what sort of canter she has naturally for you to work with. What intentions do you have for the horse?
 
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