Broodmare Breeeding

[TuffyLynn]

Well......I thought I would put the discussion out there....

what are thoughts on breeding your broodmare.... do you prefer to breed her yearly....do you alternate years... ...just thought I would get some forum members responses...have a great day!

 

[mightymiracles]

As far as my mare since she was a rescue and not sure her back ground I would opt not to breed her again (she came bred). She gave me a wonderful filly but the broodmare has hoof deformaties that are getting better with good trimming but so far not sure if they are due to neglect or genetics. When we did breed our light horses we gave them a year off in between. It seems to let them get back into shape and to get let their bodies recoupe before doing it all over again.

 

[eagles ring farm]

We breed our mares every year so far

we only have 6

unless we have a late foal then wait to breed early for the

following year

Our mares seem to feel left out or not as happy when

they don't have a foal. At least it seems that way

then they end up being babysitters for the ther mares

 

[Jill]

I only plan to breed for 3-4 foals most years and have 12 mares / fillies (seven are older than 3yo, one is 2yo, two are 1yo, two are sucklings)... So often my girls will have years off. Part of it here though revolves around when Destiny is here and when he is with Erica in AR. Two of my favorite mares are paternal sisters to DunIT, my other stallion. So in their cases, they are having 2-3 foals back to back to take advantage of how nicely they cross to Destiny.

Once mares start getting older, I think if they have breaks it can be harder to get them back in foal so that is one thing to keep in mind, depending on the age of your mares.

 

[Riverdance]

Often my mares decide for themselves. I have several who seem to like to get pregnant every other year.

I do give mares time off, usually every third year. That also allows me to get them to the stallions earlier so that I do not have all of my mares foaling at once.

I agree with Jill though older mares should be kept in foal each year that you can, otherwise it may be hard or impossible to get them pregnant again.

 

[~Amanda~]

I don't breed at the moment, but I wanted to ask a related question.

I have heard that if you give mares off, it can make it harder to get them back in foal? Has anyone else heard this or had experience with this?

I believe its supposed to mainly be true for older mares, as in that the older the mare is the harder it can be to get her back in foal if you give her a year off?

 

[Katiean]

I am not breeding until the economy picks up. I have one mare that I keep with my stud but I don't think she can carry another foal. She could surprise me and get in foal but it isn't something I am real worried about. But I would never breed a mare year after year. Every other year or every couple of years would do.

 

[nnadams]

Okay, I have this mare that I bought last September. She came to me already bred. She is 15 years old on the 30th of this month. She has been an awesome broodmare, putting a foal on the ground every year with no problems and very nice foals at that. The thing is, she looks very stretched out to me. She looks like she could be having twins! I was going to give her this year off or possibly the rest of her life, but I really would like to breed her to one of my stallions at least once. If I give her this year off, do you really think it would be that hard to get her in foal the next year? or possibly impossible?

 

[JWC sr.]

Over the years we have found that to give an older mare a year off makes it much harder to try and get her back in foal after a year or so off.

Our Repro. Vet explained it this way to us, in that as a mare becomes older her uterus becomes less elastic and the lining becomes harder for an ovum to implant thereby starting a pregnancy. This is the normal course of aging, it become exasperated by the older mare not having the hormones etc. coursing thru her and dramatically speeds up this condition when not in foal.

His advice is pretty simple, if you have an aging mare that you want foals out of keep her cycling and in foal if at all possible. Maintain proper weight (erring on the thinner side of things, as versus the fatter mare), feed supplements and have her checked for any needed things such as flushing etc.

The problem comes in for us when we are breeding our mares and they start getting later in the year. We try and breed all of our mares to have the foals in Feb.- May of each year. Preferably in February and March. This allows the babies to be on the mature end of the classes they show in and does not put them at that disadvantage. Every 4 or 5 years it seems we have to skip a season on a few of the mares to get them back on the proper time table. Invariably when we have to do that we always have a few mares that are hard to get back in foal.

 

[ontherisefarm]

We are a small farm so usually we breed our mares every year as we only have around 3 that we do breed anyway. This year will probably be a bit different as I am retiring one from breeding after she foals and also have some up coming mares. Older mares that you want to continue to get foals out of should be bred every year as has been stated so she can continue to get in foal easily. Sometimes nature decides how many foals you get even if you breed say 5 mares you may only end up with 1 or 2. You never know how it is gonna work out as many have found out. Breeding is always a risk, it can be the most rewarding thing you ever do and it can also be the most heartbreaking.

 

[mama 'n me minis]

We breed our mares every year unless there is a medical reason not to. I would not breed a mare if she was in poor condition from her last pregnancy or nursing but luckily my girls stay in good shape without much tweeking. We did skip a year on a mare that had small tear during her delivery. Our vet recommended waiting a few months and by that time frame it was too late in the year for us to be breeding.

I have often heard that sometimes letting an older mare stay open a year might make it more difficult to get her in foal the next time. I don't know if that is proven or if there is some "science" behind it or if it is one of those things you hear. Have any of you heard that same thing ?

 

[barnbum]

I only have two mares--they are due to foal with their last foals. I only bred them every other year for several reasons. My mares don't give me the impression they like to be bred--like to be pregnant--or necessarily care if they have a foal with them. They are awesome broodmares--but I think they'd heartily vote for this early retirement.

Another reason for every other is the amount of time I have to spend with foals, the number of horses I can fit comfortably in stalls/pastures, and it gave me a lot of time to find perfect homes. I never wanted to be in a position to have to sell.

 

[Magic]

I have nineteen breeding age mares (ages 3 to 13). There's no way I'm going to keep all of them bred every year! OH! We'll have a total of eight foals this year, when all is done, the most ever, and it's a lot. I had to set up temporary stalls in the hay barn to keep mares and foals dry and warm, with the awful weather we've been having. Every one of my mares goes under camera to foal and I watch them like a hawk, and every mare and foal is stalled at night until the weather is warm and the foals have a little age on them. I like to keep a close eye on them to make sure all is going well. It takes time to halter and lead train them, and spend time playing with them so they know that people are friends, etc.

Some of our older brood mares are trained up and brought out to show, like my Mountain Meadows mare-- she was trained to drive last year and will be driving again this year.

Several of our four year old mares will be showing this year. The mares that aren't showing will enjoy a break, as we plan to breed just a few mares for next year. In this economy, if we all cut back on breeding some, it would surely benefit the market in the long run (and the short run too)

 

[TuffyLynn]

thanks for all your input! i only have one mare(7years)....and has had a couple foals already with previous owner and one now with me... late breeding....so summer baby

 

[sedeh]

I only have a few mares but I only want 1-2 foals a year. I'm trying to get them on an every other year cycle. I also only expose them to my stallion for a couple of months as I want to be done foaling before show season starts. Of course the best laid plans always get messed up! I have a new mare that's pregnant and it's her 3rd pregnancy in as many years. My plan is to not breed her until next year.....but I'd really like to see what she produces with my stallion! Waiting is sooooo hard.