Breeding to Decrease Height

[Richters Mom]

Hi All:

I am seriously considering purchasing an ASPC yearling filly. She is already 37.5 inches. I have been told that the liklihood is that she will end up between 41 to 42 inches. Here are my questions:

a) to get under the 38 inches, is it feasible to breed her to an 'A' stallion so that the resulting foal could be registered as AMHR?

b) what about being bred to a 36 inch male?

c) if the size doesn't decrease in the 1st generation, then how many generations does it typically take?

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Richter's mom.

 

[kaykay]

Its usually not that simple.

You really have to look at the extended pedigree of the stallion and mare and even then it wont always add up.

My stallion black is 36". For some reason he is a downsizing stallion, because even when I breed him to much taller mares the foals stay on the small side

Black x 46" shetland offspring is 40"

Black X 38" aspc/amhr mare 2 foals 1 is 35 at 2 and 1 is 33.5 at a year (this mare also has a long pedigree of small ponies)

Black x 37" mare 2 foals both in the 35" range

Sometimes you just dont know.

 

[alphahorses]

Most breeders will tell you that the mare has more to do with determining height than the stallion. There are those stallions who will "downsize", and those rare mares who will downsize. But in general, it has more to do with the mare. One person who has been breeding for decades told me that, in their experience, foals will almost always be within 2" of the dam no matter what they are bred to.

We acquired or held back some taller ASPC/AMHR mares at the beginning thinking that we could breed them to smaller stallions and downsize the foals. The reason I wanted the bigger mares because they generally have fewer issues with conceiving and foaling. I quickly found out that, with one exception, it didn't matter what I breed them to. They still produce foals close to their own height.

Personally, I like the taller horses much better than the smaller ones. If I had my choice, everything I own would mature at 37.5". But because is so hard to downsize a mare, I'm trying to keep new mares down to 36" or under. The trend seems to be for horses to get taller, not smaller, each generation (assuming proper nutrition and care). That is why a stallion that does downsize has value.

 

[chandab]

You also need to look at the registration side of it, if you want registered foals. Unless the stallion is also ASPC registered (not just AMHR or AMHA), the resulting foal can't be registered. Both parents have to be in the same registry. So you'd need a small APSC stallion, and if the foal happens to mature under 38", then it could be "hardshipped" into AMHR.

 

[HGFarm]

Hahaha, I wish I had an easy answer for you! After looking at tiny horses with generations of small A breeding produce horses that produced offspring that at times topped out at 36", unfortunately there is NO way to tell what type or size offspring you will EVER get. And one small stallion may not downsize foals whereas another one does.... There is no way to know!! Only God knows the answer to that one. And I have seen the opposite too, where bigger horses produced tinier ones...... It just never makes sense and is always a 'crap shoot'!

 

[ohmt]

I have a 30.25" whose foals have all matured under 30" for me including 3 fillies out of 33"-34" mares and a yearling colt who is currently 28" out of a 33.75" mare.

I have another stallion who is 29.75" and I bred him to a 28.25" mare whose 4 previous foals had all matured 28" or under bred to that stallion's 31" sire. Resulting foal was a 23.5" filly who is now 33" as a 2 yr. old.

My few spot appy stallion produces VERY leggy foals no matter what size the mare. They are all born about 22"-24" but then top out 31"-33" (so far).

It's a crap shoot!!

 

[disneyhorse]

What is your "goal" with this horse and your breeding program?

If you just love, love, love this yearling filly and wouldn't mind showing her ASPC, or producing ASPC-only foals, then take the risk!

If you are just breeding AMHR, I'd continue to look around for an ASPC horse that's already AMHR registered and is under the 38" or will mature under the 38" mark. There are plenty of them around.

That said, you COULD breed her to a SMALL stallion that is ASPC/AMHR double registered, and hope that the offspring stays under 38". It would only have ASPC papers like it's dam, but then you could hardship it when its old enough due to size.

Andrea