Breed again?

[Taya]

Just wanting some opinions please. I bought a mare in foal a while back. Shes a nice mare (not show quality but I like her all the same.) she came to me in foal to a stallion I would call average (I didnt buy her for the foal though). The resulting foal is a darling but not show quality but a fantastic much loved pet!

Im in 2 minds as to whether or not to breed her again. Obviously the next stallion would be my choice and have better conformation and be a nicer match for her etc than the last stallion.

What would you do

1. Cross her off your breeding program?

2. Re breed her but to a more suitable stallion and hope the resulting foal is better quality?

Either way she will stay here with me I absolutely adore her

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]You purchased her for the purpose of breeding her. Therefore, breed her to a QUALITY stallion. Then once you've seen what she'll produce when bred to something of that caliber make a decision.[/SIZE]

I personally wouldn't write her off at this point until you've given her the advantage of showing what she REALLY can produce when bred to something other than an average stallion. Just my belief system.... and I have a FEW of those average mares; an guess what those particular mares out produced their selves when bred to our former stallion "RFM BOOGERMANS ULTIMATE WARRIOR" and now there daughters have been bred to one of our other stallion's "MARYSTOWN COWBOY WILD SPIRIT" an their producing foals that will be SHOWN next season by the trainers. That's NOT a fairy tale that's a fact.

Obviously, your not barn blind and can recognize what you have to work with and I commend you on that aspect just as I knew what I was working with. Good Luck!

 

[Annabellarose]

Shes a nice mare (not show quality...
What would you do

1. Cross her off your breeding program?

2. Re breed her but to a more suitable stallion and hope the resulting foal is better quality?

Either way she will stay here with me I absolutely adore her

It sounds like you already know what you should do. If she's not show quality, why breed another "not show quality" horse like her? I suggest you find and purchase a horse that you feel is a quality horse instead of breeding another horse that is not a quality horse. If you really want to have a foal, find and buy a quality mare already bred to a quality stallion or find and buy a quality mare and breed her to a quality stallion of your choosing.

I am in a similar boat as you. I bought a mare at a sale that I adore, but I do not consider her show quality (though I do intend to show her because she has extensive training) and she should have NEVER been bred. She was bred when I bought her (I bought her for her and for her training, not for the foal that she is carrying) and I am waiting for her to foal (due any day). I adore her, I will probably adore her foal and I will ask it to become a useful member of society (I will teach it manners and I will probably train it to drive when it is time), but it will NEVER be bred (if I can help it, I will geld it as soon as possible if it is a colt) either.

 

[midnight star stables]

I'm going to go with # 1 too.

I bought a colt to be my herd stallion and when he didn't mature as perfectly as I had hoped I gelded him. No spilled milk and I'm very glad I did! He is a very nice boy and I'm sure he would have made a very good herd sire BUT why? Instead I decided to breed to other stallions of exceptional quality, for foals that I hope will be contenders at Nationals.

So from being someone who has "taken a loss" too, I recommend # 1. And I can't tell you how excited I am for my 2010 foals. Not breeding is not a bad thing

.

 

[muffntuf]

I am with Allure Ranch on this one. If she was bred to an average stallion, you will get most likely an average foal - once in a blue moon you might get magic - but generally not.

If you find an exceptional stallion that can possibly offset some of the mare's faults - you might come out with a show foal. But study carefully the stallions you look at, see if their get is in the show ring and how they are doing, etc.

Once you have done that, and the product of that mating is so so, then she is a pet.

Hard to make those decisions, but they need to be made.

 

[Littleum]

First, congrats on your honesty with yourself. It's really hard to look at a foal, realize it's not quite what you hoped for and admit it to yourself. A lot of people just can't (or won't) do that.

The prevailing wisdom on breeding a mare is not to breed her if you don't want another one just like her. You've stated she's not show quality, you want a show quality foal, she's already given you one foal that doesn't meet your standards.

It doesn't really matter how we define "show quality"- it's your mare and your goals. Only you know how far off your ideal she and her foal were. Was it not quite there? Was it REALLY off the money?

The silver lining to this is you now have a baby from her to look at. You can go look at Mum, at Dad, at all Dad's other foals and try to pick together what mom brought to the table. You can use all this info for picking the next stallion. Heck, you might even look and realize you picked the exact WRONG stallion the first time. Sometimes you just get a bad toss of the genetic dice.

Next questions to ask yourself are how much $$$ you're going to devote to this- how far are you going to ship her? How much on the stud fee? The costs of AI? Or are you going to limit yourself to local stallions that may not be really fit the bill but ARE nearby? Are you willing and able to ship her halfway across the country to breed her to Mr Perfect?

The answer really might be just go out and buy what you want. If you figure you're going to invest $2,000 into another gamble but you realize you can go buy exactly what you want for $3,000.... I'd say the $3,000 is a better deal, simply because there's no gamble. But if the investment is going to be $2,000 and you honestly believe the payoff will be a $10,000 type foal... maybe closing your eyes and crossing your finger is the way to go.

 

[midnight star stables]

Would we be able to see a picture of the girl in question? It may help give a better opinion

 

[Just Us N Texas]

Anytime you breed it is a toss of the dice IMO. Believe me, sometimes you can breed the best to the best and not come out with like. You can breed two not so good, and come out with decent. (You just got lucky, and the better traits offset the good ones). I would, if it were me, breed the mare again and see just what she throws with a better stallion. After that, I would then make my decision. It takes years for most people to build a good herd. We have a mare that is very well bred, throws a nice showy foal, and has for four foals in a row, but they all have a tendency toward one small fault that I have just put together as coming directly from her, and she will be weeded out of our herd.

I had a veterinarian once tell me that some conformation defaults aren't really all that bad, but it all comes down to if you can live with a particular fault yourself whether you keep the "factory" or get rid of it. He was speaking of cow hocks, slightly crooked legs, and things of that sort. And we all know there isn't a perfect horse.

I don't know about you, but I always forget to look for faults in other people's horses when I see pretty!

 

[Jill]

I was told a long time ago that you shouldn't breed two horses if you would not be happy with an exact duplicate of the lesser from the match and that's advice I have taken to heart.

 

[IloveMiniatureshorses]

Well, I have a whole different opinion on this; We are supposed to be improving the breed, not breeding average to average. I am not trying to burn anybody, but we need to get

1. Dwarfism out

2. Poor conformation horses (kind of like some of the horses back in the 60's-80's, even though there was some nice horses in that time period)

Well, I would not breed her to a better stallion, but yet not take her off your herd. But, at least you have a understanding of your choices. I am going to have to go with 1# choice. Again, this is just how I feel.

Alyssa

 

[wildhorses]

Just because she is a mare doesn't mean she has to be a broodmare. If she's not quality, don't breed her. Yes, you may get something nice, but you may also get something not so nice, and there are already plenty of horses in this world. Not every mare should be bred, but seems if they are born a mare they are breeding quality....we need to hold the mares to the same standards as the Colts/Stallions in the industry. Just my opinion. I wish you the best in whatever decision you make. Good luck!

 

[Taya]

First, congrats on your honesty with yourself. It's really hard to look at a foal, realize it's not quite what you hoped for and admit it to yourself. A lot of people just can't (or won't) do that.

Thankyou

hes a very much loved little man and is a great pet especially for the kids

Thankyou all so very much for your opinions and advice. I have taken all the information on board. I just wanted to state ive got a few mares that I dont breed purely because they arent quality enough they are great perfomance horses though. So I definately agree just because it has a uterus doesnt mean it needs to be bred

I will have a good think about it all. Im in no rush to breed any minis at the moment anyway. At the moment im still slightly torn but swaying towards not breeding her again. Maybe if I find a stallion in the future I think would compliment her in every way I may change my mind but we will see. Shes happy being out with the herd and hanging out with us