Warranrt on brood mare?

[dga3240]

Not sure where to post this but a hypothetical question anyway! If selling a maiden mare as a "brood mare". i.e. for breeding but not already bred from, is there an implied warranty that it would be fertile? There is obviously a risk in buying any horse for breeding but if it is specifically stated that it is purchased for breeding, and so a brood mare and guaranteed to foal, has the purchaser any come back if it doesn't have a foal? I am guessing it would have an implied warranty to be "fit for purpose" but that would be difficult even for a vet to define. Was the failure to get in foat because of some other reason, e.g. disease, condition, poor management, infertile stallion, etc? Anyway, you get my drift! Has anyone specific experience of this sort of thing? I have always accepted that there's a risk and proceeded accordingly, if it doesn't work out, tough. But maybe I'm wrong?

 

[ihatework]

Im not sure of the legal position and if your question is preloaded because you have either bought or sold a horse that has failed to conceive then you should probably get proper legal advice.

However, Personally, if I were specifically buying as a broodmare then I’d want to ascertain if the horse had any recent failed breeding attempts and if so (or if a maiden) I’d probably get a vet check to assess suitability for breeding. Then if it didn’t happen would have to chalk it up to experience.

 

[Melody Grey]

In a maiden mare, I think the best you could do is blood work to determine hormone levels looking potentially in the right range and no underlying health conditions that would compromise a successful (or ethical) foaling.

Could be worth asking about the mare’s dam history if known….i.e if the dam had been lost foaling a normal sized/ presented foal? ….clutching at straws, but basically there’s a level of risk in that the mare is ‘unproven’, just like buying an unbacked youngster, there is the risk of the unknown that is inevitable.

Maybe ensuring that the mare isn’t a brood mare through a hereditary condition ending their ridden career?

But I can’t see how you can guarantee fertility any more than guaranteeing the mare is going to produce the next national winner.

 

[druid]

Breeding check at vetting with u/s of utereus and ovaries plus a visual of cervix is the industry standard as "suitable for breeding" when selling a broodmare prospect. Have a look at some of the TB sale rules/regs which are much more regulated for this sort of thing

 

[Jenko109]

If they used that term, that she is 'guaranteed to foal' in their advert, then yes, I would imagine you would have a chance in court if you could suitably evidence that the mare was unable to have a foal due to XYZ.

 

[Kaylum]

Well there is also a lot inbetween like which stud you use, how you get the mare in foal, AI etc. The mare maybe fertile but errors along the way may occur. We used to do no foal no fee but it was a standard statement many years ago, as we were happy our stallion was fertile and our staff knew what they were doing. This was for natural coverings. Looking back it was a stupid statement to make although we never had anyone come back.