To buy or to breed? Dilemma..

[Aidey]

I am now at the point where I can breed from my mare next year, I have also found the stallion I would hope to use.
But..
I have also found a foal for sale which ticks my boxes and I have fallen head over heels in love with!
So the big decision, do I breed from my mare and get the homebred I have always wanted or do I buy the little guy that has stolen my heart?
This decision is starting to stress me out!
Help please, rosé wine and lemonade on offer ;-)

 

[twiggy2]

buy the little guy, you will be providing a home for one that is already here rather than adding to the numbers and it will be at no risk to you mare win win in my book

 

[PorkChop]

Hmmm, as someone who has bred several foals for myself, and ended up selling a few! the most sensible decision would of course be to buy the foal.

However I completely understand the desire for a homebred foal out of a much loved mare. The things you have to ask yourself are - Can I afford a huge amount of possible stud and vets fee's? - Do I have the time and inclination to sit up night after night whilst waiting for the mare to foal and maybe after the birth if there are problems? - Am I prepared to sell my homebred on, probably at a loss if my circumstances change? - Am I experienced enough to back my youngster or can I afford to send away to a professional?

Obviously if you are not happy with any of the above statements then I would say breeding is not for you.

However I have loved every minute of breeding the few that I have, it is the most amazing thing!

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Buy the foal! Do you really want to wait another 2 years?

Like LJR I've bred a few foals for myself (but unlike LJR, I've never been able to bring myself to sell any of them..ha!) but my last foaling experience was horrible, and although all was fine in the end, I won't be doing that again. Will def be buying a ready made one next time!

 

[Aredis]

I am now at the point where I can breed from my mare next year, I have also found the stallion I would hope to use.
But..
I have also found a foal for sale which ticks my boxes and I have fallen head over heels in love with!
So the big decision, do I breed from my mare and get the homebred I have always wanted or do I buy the little guy that has stolen my heart?
This decision is starting to stress me out!
Help please, rosé wine and lemonade on offer ;-)

Buy the one you like if it ticks all the boxes. If you breed there is every chance you will not get what you are trying to create.

 

[Doris68]

Buy the foal! You breed what you get and buy what you want! I bred from my mare and he was definitely NOT what I wanted...despite doing "all the right things".

 

[gadetra]

Buy the foal. You know what you're getting, and with breeding you could end up with something completely unsuitable and be stuck with it.
Breeding is hard, expensive and quite often disheartening.
Save yourself the time, money, drama, tears, fear and frustration and buy the foal. He ticks all your boxes and you get on with him, so why would you let that go and breed something that could potentially not tick any of your boxes? (There is always the fear of the throwback. Even if you love your mare, and she stamps her stock, there is always the chance your lovely little athletic blood type mare has a tank a la great great granduncle uncooperative Tank! or visa versa!)

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Buy the foal! You breed what you get and buy what you want! I bred from my mare and he was definitely NOT what I wanted...despite doing "all the right things".

Sorry for being nosey... but what did you want and what did you get? Have you kept him anyway?

 

[Doris68]

My mare is TB X ID (now 27) unknown Irish breeding. I put her to an RID stallion as I wanted a nice hunter type, bit of quality to show and do RC stuff. He was an a**e and grew to be much bigger than I expected with a big, bolshy attitude. Had him professionally backed late in his 3rd year, with a view to playing around with him and then turning him away til the following Spring. I had a bad fall from him in the October and fractured my spine and head of femur. I put him at livery whilst I was recovering and then had him back home at the end of the following summer - he re-bonded with his mum (who didn't want to know!) and would not let her out of his sight. They'd been apart for over a year....!!! He was a nightmare to handle because of this and so I decided to sell him. He's still with the guy who bought him as he asked him no questions and was happy to just hack him about. That's the story....a good while ago. There were other issues but I won't bore you with them!!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

What a terrible accident. I hope you didn't have any spinal cord damage.

 

[s4sugar]

Buy the foal! You breed what you get and buy what you want! I bred from my mare and he was definitely NOT what I wanted...despite doing "all the right things".

Snap!
I'm about to advertise my four year old who although a lovely boy (Gelding) is not what I expected or wanted. I planned a stock horse of about 15hh or 15.1 tops & got a middleweight show hunter type who won't be up to my weight and is over 15.2 & still growing. He is chestnut but that was a 1:16 chance from is breeding.
With a foal you know what you have.

 

[Doris68]

Thanks Faracat - fortunately, no spinal cord damage, but I was in a metal back brace for several months and then wheel-chair bound. I have one leg shorter than the other and cannot sit for long periods of time, without becoming extremely uncomfortable. Other than that, I'm just fine!
S4sugar - I totally agree - you NEVER know what you're going to get...we only have to look at TB's and all the research that is involved and they still don't get it right all of the time! I reckon, the best thing is to find a foal that you like and go for it. When you breed your own (as a singleton breeder) you really don't have that choice..other than to sell it on!

 

[bramblesmum]

I have bred from my much loved driving mare she retired as she broke her fetlock. I bred her to a cream and white 15.3hh Welsh x expecting foal to be middleweight and pale to make 14.2hh. She has infact come out bay and white finer than most show ponies and 13.2hh lol if youve found what you want as a foal buy it.

I lost this yrs foal and it was devastating and has put me off breeding

 

[elijahasgal]

I have bred a few over the years. 12 in total

Of those 12, I still own 4(!) although 2 are for sale

foal one....mistake , someone put a colt in next door field, and he jumped in....as well as the covering my mares back was injured, an injury that meant that she was PTS 2 years ago. Foal one....I sold because I had to sell something and she was what sold, and ended up buying back 6 years later!!
She got me hooked on breeding, although she was not the most straightforward to teach everyday things to.
foal 2, beautiful filly, but she and I never bonded, sold her, know where she is.ended 16.3
foal 3, georgeous colt, same sire as foal 2, who never stopped growing...16.1dad, 16.3 dam, ended nearly 18hh
foal 4 fantastic colt. got huge joints overnight. lots of stress, sold him to a lovely lady at 16months. Lovely nature. Used the stallion again...read below
Foal 5 absoloutly dream of a foal, beautiful nature, movement to die for. Sold to a pro home. had amazing hopes for him. He broke his pelvis and had to be pts as a 4yo. Found out later that his grandsire had been passing major weakness in his pelvis on.
foal 6, bred to be a mw bay dressage type. ended up a gold chestnut eventer. Lovely nature easy boy....until he was backed.
foal 7 same sire as foal 4. NIGHTMARE fantastic movement, but the most freaky temprement I have known, and dangerous. 9 days something was fine, day 10 it was going to kill her....be it rug, halter, anything. I thought it was me, so sold her to someone full disclosure, but no. I dont know where she is now.
Foal 8 (now mare 3) drop dead georgeous, mare that EVERYBODY loves. in training now, and earmarked as as potential international horse.
foal 9 same sire and dam, almost perfect foal, but didnt drop a testical, then 2k injury in field. he is with a lovely lady now, and I watch his future hopefully
foal 10, same sire dam combo again (and may again use in future) foal sold as stallion prospect. Strangly I never clicked with him either.
foal 11, another super colt that is growing nicely in my field! amazing movement, lovely temprement. very sweet, but he is not one of "mine"
foal 12, why is this one a colt?!! If he was a filly he would be going nowhere, but he is going soon to a pro home.
I have one due next year (I hope, need to get that checked soon, but she looks the right shape!) another new stallion xx
fingers crossed for a filly

reason for saying this is you dont know what you are going to get, even with the same cross, you may love the stallion and the can be 10tonnes of heartache.

 

[Spring Feather]

I breed to sell however saying that all the foals I've bred over the years have been wonderful quality foals with amazing temperaments. Sounds good eh and it is, however one thing I have NEVER felt with any of the foals I've bred (no matter how sweet or how much potential I feel they have) has been that emotional connection to their mothers. The foals have all been very much their own identity and I don't link them to their mothers. I've bred the same mares many times now so I pretty much know what I'm going to get with their youngsters but if you've never bred a mare a few times then it can be a real lottery as to what you get. If I was you I'd personally go for what's in front of you rather than take the risk that the homebred may well not be what you want.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

Buy the foal! You breed what you get and buy what you want! I bred from my mare and he was definitely NOT what I wanted...despite doing "all the right things".

Exactly this. I bred from my mare 20 years ago and ended up with a lovely filly but she was not what I wanted. I kept her and she is still with me as a very beautiful field ornament!!

 

[siffi the cat]

I would advise to buy the foal that ticks your boxes. I've been breeding for years firstly TB, then a few showjumpers, and in 2007 I changed for good to Polish Arabs... breeding is a gamble, you can (like e and others) spend months or even years studying generation back, but a horse has over 200 genetic codes so yes if you know your stuff you can predict what you get but you always have a chance of the genetics doing a turn to the unexpected.... if I was a one foal breeder and found a foal I loved I wouldn't breed my mare...