Why do you breed?

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Beatrice5

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Another pondering !

Having found out first hand how stressful, expensive, time consuming and such damn hard work this breeding business is why do all you seasoned breeders put yourselves through it?

I know mine was slightly different as I don't have the set up nor did I go into this by choice so therfore didn't have the appropriate facilities, back up, knowledge etc but even so unless you are producing for yourself to have something you couldn't afford to buy why would you put yourself through this year after year? Everyone also says there is no money in breeding horses which I can see at the lower end of the market this is probably true so how do you afford it?

And before you ask "No" I have no intensions of doing this again this is just a question bourne of curiosity.
 
Umm good question!
After losing one of my mares and her foal a few weeks ago and waiting fro my other 2 to foal I am seriously wondering why I do it at all...BUT I know (God willing) if my 2 remaining mares foal safely (one may be twinning but thats another story) then I will do it all over again

There is nothing like the process of selecting your stallion to complement your mare, waiting a long long time...watching the mare change shape/temprement and then the weeks of anticipation waiting for foaling. Then the really magic bit - watching the birth (hopefully...I have managed to catch all but 1 of mine being born) and the first few hours of a new life.

Dealing with foals and allowing them to grow into nice people ready to go and do a job with someone else - despite the fact foals are harder work and sometimes unpredictable and seem intent on finding trouble - I just love it!

Sitting in my 'office' working I can lift my head and look out at them playing/sleeping etc I the paddocks (very very distracting!)

Hard parts are obviously when it goes wrong - I have had mares slip foals at 7 and 7.5 months, the heartbreak of a stillborn and more recently the loss of both mare and foal.

Anyway sorry for the ramble - short answer..I do it because I think I am insane!
 
I am lucky in as much as it is a hobby, not a job and I am producing for myself - and hoping to produce something special that I couldn't otherwise afford in one lump sum. I am not blind to the fact that by the time my boy is ready to ride he will have cost me several thousands - but paying out each month doesn't seem so painful. In addition he will become what I make him, there will be no real surprises and after many many years of having horses that were already mature it is this aspect in particular that I am looking forward to.

I enjoyed the process so much that we are doing at all again and I have another due this summer
 
Its a business for me, pure and simple, and I select my mares carefully to breed specifically to my stallion

I have always bred TB to TB to get the dilute colours and in many cases combined with the sabino colouring as well, and now I am branching out a bit and have purchased a lovely ISH mare to breed to my stalion as well, and will also have a Westphalian mare by Heisman that I will breed to him also. I also just bought a Trakhener/TB filly by Zarr that I am picking up this week and I am mulling over whether I simpyl show her a bit and sell her or hang onto her instead and breed her down the road as well

So - my business is very fluid and we sell what we produce each year - many times 1-2 years in advance on an in utero basis. So hopefully - crossing fingers - it will continue to be a profitable and fun business for us to be in ... :)
 
We are hobby breeders, with 5 dales mares. We haven't got any foals due this year as our last two colts (now geldings) have yet to sell.
We breed as the Dales is a rare breed and we love youngsters........
 
Breeding is a passion. It is a job that combines the creative design of a possible future horse with the husbandry of the mare and foal. It is intellectually stretching...you have to sift the most important data to get your strategy right and balance "intuition" with hard facts (because the `"hard facts" are not very reliable.

We are just breeding our 250ish foal and the excitement never lessens.

It's not for everybody as there is plenty of heartbreak and physical and financial challenge but as the UK has a deep tradition of horsekeeping, we must have the courage to breed with the best and from the best to deliver great prospects for performance in our olympic disciplines.
 
We breed because we love it and fortunately there has been a job for much of our produce. Also most horse breeders live to a ripe old age as they are always waiting for next years foal(s)!

But as the old horse men used to say 'You buy what you fancy and breed what you get'

There are no rules in horse breeding: best + best doesn't always = best!
 
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It is just a retirement hobby for me. I have rare breeds Clevelands and Shagya Arabs and wanted to do my bit for their survival.
 
We breed to produce sports ponies and they stay with me mostly until backed and ridden on, every year we aim to improve, bloodlines, movement and foals on the ground, which we feel by careful selection we are doing. The mares are chosen carefully and stallions are matched to our best abilities to compliment.

We have huge amounts of financial outlay, but wow what a feeling when these foals start to arrive!!!!!!!!! It is fantastic to see what weve got, where we can improve and what has "really" suited our mares!!!! It is a fantastic feeling to look down the fields with the mares and foals and watching them playing and how they develop!!!!

We love them all dearly on a one to one basis and in real terms miss them when they actually go to new homes!!!!!

We want to just breed useful good tempered ponies with movement and good bloodlines for future generations to enjoy!!!! We do grade most of our mares with the SPSS and/or have proven bloodlines or good competition results.
 
Beatrice5,

I ask myself the very same question on a regular basis, but then, as Waterborn, when I have a standing and feeding foal, then I know exactly why!!

The honest answer for most of us, I suppose, is self indulgence!!

Alec.
 
For the glory, obviously. Why else would you do it?


Lying aside, it's addictive. The work of studying bloodlines and performance records, blended with the art of knowing what physically works with your mares is the intellectual side of it. Then the long wait to see if you were right is delayed gratification combined with the adrenaline rush of foaling. Playing god is addictive. Creating life, making your mark on the world etc; it's a form of immortality.

And foals are unbelievably cute :D
 
JRR said:
For the glory, obviously. Why else would you do it?


Lying aside, it's addictive. The work of studying bloodlines and performance records, blended with the art of knowing what physically works with your mares is the intellectual side of it. Then the long wait to see if you were right is delayed gratification combined with the adrenaline rush of foaling. Playing god is addictive. Creating life, making your mark on the world etc; it's a form of immortality.

And foals are unbelievably cute :D
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How Beautifully said thank you I really enjoyed reading that,
I Started breeding as I have always wanted to get Coloured horses (Tobianos) in to the GSB, as this is possible and produce 8 generations of crosses with colour to Achive my goal, yes as you said Glory, but also Because you can how simply wonderful that you can choose a dream and live it!
we will be watching our dreams that has four legs going flat racing, wearing his own colours! a Potential coloured racehorse!
wont be able to miss him thats if of cause he is fast enough.
if he is then other will want to use him in the future and then my dream of our bloodline will one day make it to the GSB.
 
WHy DId I Breed. I have bred horses for 17 years, and have loved it and created some beautiful horses for other people and myself to enjoy, but I am now giving up breeding, their is an old saying Fools Breed for Wise Men to Buy. I have had my heart broken so many times it has now become unbearable. This year I lost the first mare I bred with a breech foaling, a wonderful Pure Cleveland with a heart of gold. Their is no assurances of getting what you expect, but that is part of the joy, but selling your babes is a hard business and a worry. It is a very expensive hobby and should not be regarded as a means of making money. But THe Highlight is in future years if I here that some of them have done well...
 
Breeding horses is in my blood. My family have been breeding horses for generations so it was something that I automatically continued on with. I very enjoy chosing stallions which I hope will compliment my mares and its always very exciting to see the results of these matches. Handling the foals and being the first to start them off on the right track is the best and then to hear or see how they are doing years down the line is so great. Its then that you know it is all worth the time and effort you put into making these amazing animals. Selling the foals is fun too. When the right person enquires you just know that foal is going to have the best of everything. Breeding is a very lucrative business. Profit margins are high but that isnt why I do it.
 
JRR said:
Then the long wait to see if you were right is delayed gratification combined with the adrenaline rush of foaling. Playing god is addictive. Creating life, making your mark on the world etc; it's a form of immortality.

And foals are unbelievably cute :D
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I had never thought of it like that, but yes, I get a huge buzz out of the whole thing. Although in my case it is choosing the right mares for my stallion.

I only breed registerable horses as that is what people want, and yes, I do enjoy seeing my name on those papers.

I just enjoy having foals in my paddocks and it gives me a great deal of satisfaction to produce nicely mannered little horses for other people to enjoy.
 
My reason is because I've got a wonderful, kind, athletic mare who allowed me to learn and train at the same time, she never got cross when I made mistakes. Together we progressed through the levels of dressage till we were competing at PSG and schooling some of the Grand Prix moves including piaffe and one time changes. She also jumps like a stag, 5 foot was no problem for her and she stayed sound throughout her competition career.

I want another horse like her. Well I want her all over again. And the only way to have a chance of getting that is to breed with her. So I did. Clearly I'm breeding for myself and I'm thrilled with this years foal but she had a colt and I'd love a filly so my mare is back in foal for next year with a special request for a filly next time.

What saddens me is that although on paper the offspring from this mare should be what everyone wants (kind, easy, sound, athletic) and she is graded and her foals will get full papers I'm sure they will be difficult to sell because she isn't a warmblood. I might get peanuts for them but that would be financial madness. So unless someone approaches me and asks for a foal out of this mare once she's had foal number two she's retiring from breeding.
 
I spent most of my working life teaching owner/riders on their often totally unsuitable horses.
I saw many with huge warmbloods they hadn't a hope of managing, fiery part bred arabs and plain old Heinz variety type horses who had neither the trainable minds or ability to perform as their owners required. Of course there were also plenty of the above who were nice animals!
When we started breeding it was to provide my husband with competition horses, then later my three children.
We started 28 years ago and sold quite a few along the way, the results of using stallions that didn't match up to the mares we then had.
It took quite a while to iron out what for us was important, first soundness and a sort of inbuilt toughness you find some horses have. Then temperament and trainability, it's pointless having a fantastic jumper if the da** thing won't be shod or clipped sensibly.
Next came ability, and by only using the mares who either displayed that or their offspring the same, we gradually got a couple of bloodlines that seemed to work.
Some offspring were very attractive, others not, so again, you refine the traits you don't like out.
In the very beginning we had dreams of breeding top class SJ, that went out of the window somewhere down the line and we instead decided to breed true all rounders, the type the average DIY owner requires. We competed our horses including the stallion ourselves and found they did anything asked from BD/BE to long distance riding, and when sold the same for their new owners too.
My aim is to breed something sound, trainable, attractive with an effortless jump and a nice personality.
Often buyers return for their second horse which to me proves I'm getting it right.
I don't make any money, I would be lying if I pretended I did, though one horse has had two offers of five figures so if we wanted to sell him, then he would be profitable.
Breeding for us is merely a hobby, we retired early (husband before 50) having slogged all our working lives to achieve it, and keep a couple of businesses going now purely to finance our hobbies.
I do get cross that people won't pay fair prices for the special horses we now have, but looking back if I had advertised widely, got a couple of professionals to ride etc it would be a different matter, but the satisfaction for me comes in the photos and updates I regularly receive from all over the place, telling me they've qualified for this or that, won a class etc, or just happy they have at last found a friend for life to enjoy.
Breeding is definitely not a money maker unless you start with at least twenty mares and your own stallions, land and rider to produce the horses.
My rider has gone off to work for one of the top eventers, so we have decided to scale down by selling 12 of the stock, even if for low prices, as it just isn't feasible to continue without her. I'm actually very proud of her, (don't get me wrong!), especially when she asserts the horse she has here is as good if not better than some of the top horses she rides daily, but a farm in the wilds is no fun when you are young so I do understand why.
I hope that answers your question.
 
We had a really good performance mare and it would have been a waste not to breed from her. We have 2 fillies out of her and the 4 yr old seems to have as much if not more talant than her so would maybe breed from her in the future.
In the present market I definately would not be breeding to sell at the moment.
 
Henryhorn I wish you did advertise a bit more because when I was looking for a young horse I couldn't come and look at yours because I didn't know they existed. You are breeding the sort of horses most people do want and are so very hard to find.
 
I work full time and spend the majority of my salary on my horses. I do not own my land any more, and show jump in my spare time because i love it. I could have lovely car instead- my horse cost more than my current mortgage!

I bought the mare to breed as my "horse of a lifetime" is getting on and not in the best of health anymore, she is his half sister. I love studying pedigrees- the combinations of world class lines proven is so interesting.

One day i will have to slow down on it and have my own family, but i will do it again later on x
 
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