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whiskeyranch

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How many of you breed your horses this time of year??

I thought most folks bred in the spring? In order to have foals in warmer weather, to be older yearlings for shows, etc.

Also, who pasture breeds, and if you do, does your stallion leave her alone once she is covered???

Trying to make decisions here and all opinions are welcome!
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I don't breed this time of year. Most mares have their strongest cycles in the spring. I actually like to breed late spring and early summer. I pasture breed and usually once the mare(s) are out of season the stallion leaves them alone...except he's the boss and likes to herd them places! It's fun watching their behavior with each other when their in a herd....I learn a lot from them!
 
I too would prefer to breed in the spring, but I've had a few fall colts that did just fine. However I don't show much so the fact that their age is off from most colts doesn't matter to me. I have pasture and hand bred and I would prefer to pasture breed although you don't have as sure of a foaling date that way. Yes, the stallion seems to leave the mares alone once they are out of season.
 
We manage our breeding much like Sedeh (Sandy). We are also in Oregon, so the mares tend to stop cycling by October or November, our mares are usually settled well before that time.

I do know that a few Texas breeders do continue breeding this late, though. I think perhaps because you have much milder temperatures in the Fall and Winter than we do.

Again, like Sedeh, we pasture breed. And yes, once a mare is pregnant and is no longer coming back into heat, the stallion leaves her alone except to do the normal herding around.

MA
 
I have only 2 broodmares, both who were bred in the spring. One came back in cycle last month, and did not catch this year, but the other one is definitely pregnant!!!
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We are currently breeding our last mare. We do not mind late foals. We have shown foals that were born as late as October as yearlings & they held their own in the show ring......... The thing is if your mare does not take then you will not have a foal from that mare the next year.......... We tried letting a stallion run with a mare once but he aggravated her to dripping sweat. I guess if the stallion was used to pasture breeding then he would not try to breed her so much. Plus our stallions have only had a few mares to breed so "quanity" might enter into the picture here.
 
We only have 3 mares old enough to breed and we hand bred them late spring/early summer (2 foaled in june). i prefer to hand breed so i know exact breeding dates so that for foaling i can TRY to match up vacation time from my job with foaling dates. If i were not showing my stallion i might consider leaving him in the pasture with the mares after they are bred.

jennifer
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I breed a few mares for as early as April foals but I only have a three stall little foaling barn and do not like to have more than that in the spring since our springs are so nasty and cold and we often still have snow storms into June
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I really like July foals best of all because July is our month that is most truly summer here.

But I continue to breed mares who come back in heat til the end of September.

I no longer show, and our Falls are usually MUCH nicer than our Springs!

I like to pasture breed where I am close enough to always be aware who is in heat. But I also do hand breeding since I have so many stallions and can't have them all in pastures close enough to hear.

Susan O.
 
We don't breed late in the year, as I want my foals born before the show season really starts for me, so there aren't any conflicts.

When we had a mature stallion, we did pasture breed. However, he only ran with the mares 12 hours a day, and was stalled the other 12 hours. Trust me, he let us know who was ready to be bred when he was turned out. After we gelded him, we leased a mature stallion and did the same thing with him. Both stallions left the mares alone once they were in foal.

This year, we were "stallion-less" so we hand bred our mares with a friend's stallion. He needed a boost to breed the taller mare, anyway, so it worked best that way.

Ozzy will hopefully be ready to cover two of our mares next spring, and I plan to hand breed him initially. Then I'll probably start doing our version of pasture breeding when Ozzy is three, with the occasional hand breeding, just because.
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We breed early and late spring. Because in the fall and winter it would be to bad weather over here for the foals to arrive. I also want the mares & foals to have top quality pasture, and that is spring/summer time
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We do not have a stallion yet, we take the mares to the stallions (different farms). The one handbreeds, the other does pasture breeding. We never get complaints from the mares, eitherway
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We breed in the Spring. Unless its a special situation I stop breeding the end of May. It just gets too hot here for the foals being born here in the summer.

I only do hand breeding with my guys for a couple of reasons.

1. I don't want either the stallion or mare to get injured.

2. I want a very clear time frame of when that foal "should" be due.

Robin
 
I don't breed this time of the year simply because I prefer my foals to arrive Feb. thru May when I was breeding. I think the time of the year is personal preference.
 
I have been raising minis since 1994 and have never bred beyond July, and I try to get them bred so they are all due in the April/May time span, but this year, a mare came up open, so like a fool, I put her back in with the stallion for the monthm of September, for an August foal next year. WHAT was I thinking!
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I normally breed from March through June, but if I have a mare that doesn't settle, I'm likely to keep breeding her. I'd rather her have a foal the following year, though late, than not have a foal at all!

I just got through breeding two mares who had come back in heat, so if they settle, they will be due in August. I have a new mare coming in this weekend that hasn't gotten in foal last year or this and she will be put with a stallion and live with him til she gets in foal or longer.

I run my stallions with mares year round. I think it's good for the stallions mentally as well as their libido! I move mares out when they are getting closer to foaling.

I pasture breed (actually dry lot breed) and have no problems with breeding dates. I'm as accurate on my dates as if I had the stallion and mare on the end of a lead! I do hand breed occasionally, but seem to have the best conception rates when the stallions and mares breed on their own.
 
Well, I sent my mare to the breeders late last year (she was still cycling) to be bred...didn't really WANT to breed that late (I believe i sent her in late october or November). The stallion handler decided to wait until the new year to start, which was better for me as I rally prefer early foals. If I didn't want to show the resulting foal before they were two or three years old, I doubt I would care what month they were born, but for show babies, i prefer them to be born early in the year. my mare was bred once, in one cycle and took the very first time she was bred this year (YEAH!..we didn't think it would happen because the stallion was aged and hadn't bred in years). Anywho, she is due late February, ironically, the exact same day my first doctor told me I was due with my daughter!

Good luck in whatever you may decide~!
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We don't normally breed this late in the year, but we have a few that didn't settle, so they'll be pasture bred this month. We don't show much either, but I want a few foals from these particular matches.
 
Unless I was living in a Southern state, I would not breed this time of year.

If you breed this late you will have to use extra care. My main worry would be the weather when a foal is very young. But if you have a nice barn, and willing to use blankets for the foal if needed,, no problems. But if you had just run in sheds, I would worry about a small foals body warmth. Because when they are that tiny, it is hard for them to keep themselves warm when they are only a couple of months old in cold wet or snowy weather.

It is really up to you what you want to do.

I plan to breed Theia to Erin's Chip next June!
 
Mona said:
I have been raising minis since 1994 and have never bred beyond July, and I try to get them bred so they are all due in the April/May time span, but this year, a mare came up open, so like a fool, I put her back in with the stallion for the monthm of September, for an August foal next year.  WHAT was I thinking! 
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What's wrong with that Mona....I'm doing the very same thing right now...for the same reason!
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August is a great month to foal....I've had most of my best babies in August.
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I think it is a personal preferance.

I must say this year was a horrible wet muddy spring in New England and would have been a horrible time for a little foal. I think fall foals have a better time of it, those bron July/August. Less bugs, cooler weather and just s great time of the year! I love fall!!!!!!!

My stallion was only king of the castle when the mares were in season, now the mares are back in charge
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He seems happy with this situation, what can I say he is a modern man
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I prefer pasture breeding, but if you don't watch your horses, you can miss breeding dates. with the few I have I always catch who is being covered. IF a stallion is a good pasture breeder, yes he leaves the mares alone once they have settled. once in a while you find a stud who is a stinker and abuses the mares or foals. I don't call them good pasture studs and they don't get to stay here.
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I also don't care what time of year they foal, but do prefer spring. And take the stud out in the fall so that I don't have foals in the dead of winter
 
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