Who to put in foal?

[toriaconnolly]

I own 3 horses, and i am thinking of putting one of them in foal, i have a 12.2 mare called Dolly who i don’t want to put in foal.
So i have a 15.3 Belgium warm blood mare called Mo, bay, black mane and tail, one white sock. she is 14 now, very well schooled, lovely paces and just about the kindest safest horse i have ever had.
Then there is molly. she is sec D X thoroughbred, almost black, perfectly symmetrical white hind socks and a perfect blaze on her face. The only problem with molly is that she has a jumpers bum. Everything molly does is fast, she walks fast, trots fast etc, she has slowed down alot lately though. She is a very good looking mare, but i am worried that her foal will have a jumpers bum.
So do i go for looks or character?
Anything will be taken on board. Thanx

 

[flyingfeet]

First question - why do you want a foal?
Might sound harsh, but breeding for the sake of it is not a great idea.

I bred from one of ours as she had a fantastic temprement and at 14.1hh could jump 3ft 6". I have kept all 3 of her foals.

I have a mare now that is doing nothing, but I will not breed from her as I would rather buy a foal.

 

[sallyg84]

I agree, shouldnt breed just for the sake of it, the reason british breeding is in such a state, no offence meant.
You need to think what you want the foal for? If to sell, which mare has the most marketable qualities to pass to a foal. If to keep what do you want the foal for yourself?
I always believe that a mare with a sound attiude is the best as lessons can be taught and learnt but temperament is something passed form mother to offspring and is the most important thing in my eyes.

 

[toriaconnolly]

No i completly understand. every horse i have ever owned i have kept till there dying day, that is just one but the 3 i have now i will also keep forever. I want a foal of one of them to break in and keep as my own. My horses are my life they are my family, i would not just sell them when thay get too old or ill etc. I understand what you men though there are way too many mares in foal that no one wants.

 

[Alibear]

Has Mo had a foal before? How old is Molly?

I was told that at 12 my mare was pushing it and we thought she may have had one foal early on in here life.

Could help with the decision? Any thoughts as to Dad? Would you need to stick to local stallions if so would they suit one more than the other?

 

[toriaconnolly]

thats exactly what i think, but my sis thinks that molly is the better looking one. I would keep the foal i really enjoy ridden and inhand showing so that is what i would aim to do.

 

[Lynne21]

I agree too. If you can't decide which one to put in foal, maybe none of them are suitable. It isn't about which one is the prettiest colour it's about which one would produce the best offspring with the best conformation and temperament possible. If you are just putting a mare in foal for 'what the hell!' you could be condemming an animal to a life of misery. I don't mean any offence by my sweeping statements but breeding should not be done lightly and you need to think about why you want a foal - they aren't cheap!!!

 

[toriaconnolly]

I dont think she has, mo has done BSJA for alot of her life but i could try to find out. Molly is about 7, we bought her thinking she was 5 but she was infact 3. not had any thoughts on the dad to tell you the truth. i hav a trailer and i am willing to travel. how much bigger can the stallion be?

 

[toriaconnolly]

yes belive me i know they are not. Mo has the best conformation, the best character. The only reason y i have asked is so i can show my sis. she thinks mol is the better looking one so will have the nicer foal. This foal will be kept with me all its life.

 

[Lynne21]

If you are guaranteeing to keep the foal all its life and are breeding specifically for yourself then you must go with your own instincts, only you know the mares. Good luck, I hope it all goes well for you.

 

[Always_late]

Please think carefully before you breed. Its a stressful experience for you as well as your mare. You think having your own children is worrying - then wait until your mare has them! I ummmd and arrd for quite a while before I finally put my mare in foal. she is a Hackney X ID/TB - odd mix but still british! I retired her from competition when she was 16 but as we were still really busy doing other activities there never seemed a free year in which to turn her away to have a foal. In fact she was 20 by time I finally decided! I put her to an advanced Primitve Rising event stallion as my daughter BE's and my mare had done pretty well in her time, good ability & wonderful temprement and I thought it would be really nice for her to [eventually] compete on my mare baby. She produced a beautify chestnut filly foal Apr 2006. Everything was going so well and then suddenly our filly litterally dropped dead just before Christmas. A complete disaster for our mare and total devastation for us. We were not prepared for this at all. The vet said it was a brain haemorrage after initally diagnosing tetanus(!!!). Could have been congenital - we will never know. We didn't have an autopsy as I couldn't bear the thought of a very junior vet making a complete mess of my precious filly. Another Vet (now our regular) said it was a flook and it should not put us off. Anyway, to cut a long story short, you could go to alot of expense and end up with alot of tears and memories. Please, please don't breed for breedings sake unless your mare has good attributes to pass on to her progeny.

 

[amandaco2]

i agree with always late
breeding for purely sentimental reasons from a much loved mare is risky
are you willing to risk her life for a foal you want purely for sentimental reasons?!

 

[toriaconnolly]

sorry am bit confused y would i be risking her life?

 

[amandaco2]

breeding is risky
you have to be prepared you may lose both mare and foal.are you willing to do that in order to breed a sentimental foal?

 

[S_N]

[ QUOTE ]
sorry am bit confused y would i be risking her life?

[/ QUOTE ]

Breeding is extremely risky! For both the mare and the foal that she carries. May I ask how much experience you have with mares and foals? Also, if you have little experience, may I take the liberty of recommending some reading - "The Horse from Conception to Maturity" by Peter Rossdale is an excellent, no nonsense, clearly written book all about breeding. If you really want to know about the dangers of breeding horses, I'm sure that there are a few on here, as well as myself, who could tell you some shocking stories. However, I am not going to go there on open forum. I will say that I personally, have never lost a mare when foaling and I've only lost 1 foal (she was nearly 7 weeks premature and had no hair and some other problems and had to be PTS).

 

[Shilasdair]

You need to think about what sort of job your foal will be bred to do...what sort of stallion you are going to use...too.
A great exercise is to sit and write down how much it will cost you to breed - stud fee, vet visits, insurance, extra feed for mare, stud mix for mare and youngster, feet, teeth worming etc for the year prior to foaling, and the 4 years afterwards....you'll be horrified how much it is and will be cheaper buying a smart 4 year old from a stud!
I've bred one foal...for eventing...but it is expensive in time, labour as well as money.
S

 

[lennysmith]

Having had this 'situation' forced upon me ( i bought Josie unknowingly in foal!), could I just add my 2 pennyworth here?

I was overjoyed if a little shocked when I found out J was in foal. But it all went horribly wrong and stressful very quickly. Josie developed placentitus and if it weren't for a few people on here who recognised the signs, i may very well have lost both Josie and the foal. Luckily we caught it in time, however, it meant daily injections for 2 weeks at a small fortune of £800 for the whole treatment!!!

What I guess I'm trying to say is, i had no choice, but I didn't know half as much as I needed to when Josie was in foal. I had to learn very quickly. Although I wouldn't change baby D for the world, it was hard, expensive and stressful.

Please think seriously about putting any mare of yours in foal, for whatever reason, amd make sure you read and ask as many questions as you can. Knowledge is power and all that

Whatever you decide, good luck with everything xxxxx

 

[vickyconnolly]

I have no experiance with mares and foals, and i really do appriciete all your advise. i am definatly not just going ahead with it it seems alot more complicated than first thought. Maybe it would b better to buy a youngster. am glad i came on this forum, you all say it like it is and i like that.
Thanks for the sound advise x x

 

[amandaco2]

yes buying is much safer and cheaper!!!!especially if you are a total novice when it comes to breeding
its something i feel quite strongly about having had a few friends who have lost mares and foals for no reason other than bad luckand just wanted to make sure you were fully aware of the risks to the mare seeing as you are obviously very attatched to them

 

[_daisy_]

would it not just be easier to buy one. WIth the recent problems that have gone off on here it is enough to put a lot of people off breeding. Read Chambons post about Dream and JAGS post about Sirrius. It is so upsetting when things like this happen especially when you have waited 11 months for it to arrive.

I openly admit that I didnt have the knowledge about breeding but when my mare was diagnosed with ringbone and was advised by my vet to put her in foal, I bought lots of books and read up on it. I was very lucky with my foal. Ebi suffered with mastitis when Willow arrived. It looked like Ebi wouldnt be able to feed her. After around 6 courses of different antibiotics the mastitis went, however she now doesnt have use of the left side of her bag. Willow has done wonders with only one side of Ebi so it hasnt caused that many problems, but you just have to think about what couldve happened.

Like SN mentioned - the horse from conception to maturity is a very good book. I have also got a book about breeding (cant remember its name off the top of my head) There are some very disturbing pictures etc in these books but it simply tells you what can go wrong with breeding.

What amandaco2 is trying to say is that breeding is not simple and can in the worse case, mean that you can loose both the mare and foal.

If I was deciding to put one of my mares in foal but didnt know which one then I would end up doing a pros/cons list for each of them. List their qualities and their failing. Just because they look nice doesnt really make them good enough to breed from.