How many of you DID NOT breed for the season..

[rockin r]

This may have been asked already and I missed it, if so sorry for the double post. We did not breed for this year for the fact that we had decided to take a year off. Glad we did! We usually breed one or two mares a year. Although I will miss having a young'n running around and causing havock, I do have Ziggi and she will stay small, so it is like having a baby all over again when I clip her

 

[frekles93]

[SIZE=12pt] The reason I did not breed LAST year for babies this year is because I need to sell some and saw no reason to breed for more if I was able to sell the ones I had. I did get a new stud last year and am just DIEING to see what I get from him.... but as it looks I will not be breed THIS year either. Not unless I move about 5 horses SOON.[/SIZE]

April

 

[sfmini]

We didn't breed either as we are cutting down on numbers, so breeding didn't make any sense.

We are thinking of breeding a mare or two this year, but first we must sell some, like April.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

None over here. Sold many of our mares and gelded our stallion. Most of the horses we sold are now going to be showing this year including the gelding and even 2 mares. It helps that they were trained to do something like drive.

This year my friend is breeding her big mare and I intend to keep the baby, yep getting a big horse, not looking to breed them just want one to ride.

 

[Candice]

We didn't put any mares in foal last year. Many factors contributed to that decision. The economy, a full barn and the arrival of our new herd sire in mid June all played a part in our decison. Things are tight and we wrestled long and hard over our decision to breed for next year. Hopefully the Lord will bless us with a few gorgeous Echo babies.

 

[Devon]

I didnt breed miss Fashion ; I planned on dirving this year but not too sure about that one; But also I plan to take her to nationals my dream hope I'll get the money and her a ride by then

I do have her set up to "date" a stallion this year and my Favorite aspc/amhr stallion in 2010 which I honestly cannot wait for..

 

[bevann]

I usually in the past have bred 10 or so mares every year and had 6 live foals if I was lucky even with intense mare watching.No babies here this year or next and lots less stress.After 20 years of being on foal watch I am hanging it up.I was offered $300 for really nice foals with all shots, farrier work done, wormed, lead broke, trailer broke and a right of first refusal to buy back if things didn't work out. I couldn't even get decent prices for my horses.I can't raise them for even $300 a foal the way I did it and I'm not going to change my standards.My last foals were in 2007 and I will miss it.I am getting my foal fix from this board.

 

[Joanne]

Bev you did raise wonderful foals. One of which I was lucky enough to own. It was a pleasure dealing with you.

I am so sorry you will not be having any more foals. But I certainly understand. Just wish I was not 3000 miles away from you and I could have visited you in person.

We have fortunately continued to sell our foals and horses, so we have bred for 2009 and are looking forward to the foaling season. 11 months of waiting and you cannot drag me off the ranch when a foal is due. It is like THE BEST Christmas gift you could ever open.

 

[crponies]

I did not because I am not sure I have any mares really worthy of breeding, I do not want to add to the surplus of animals out there right now, and I do not have the right facilities for foaling/foals currently. I am hoping to breed some horses/ponies at some point down the road but I'm not sure when that will be. I actually have not had a foal born since 2006 and I do miss it!

 

[Katiean]

We did not breed for 08 or 09. We may be having a foal from our older mare because I didn't think she could get in foal after her difficult birth in 06 and she lives with our stud. But it is nothing we planed for and we did not breed because there are just too many horses out there with a bad economey.

 

[Miniv]

Only half of our mares are bred for this year and not all have taken. It just made sense........with the economy and frankly I'm getting OLD.

 

[Versatility Farm & Training]

I have 1 foal on the ground already, and 4 more coming. I breed so that I can have my foals on the ground before show season. Which means last year I got 5 of my mares in foal before the economy really went... bad. I'm glad I only chose to breed 5 and not more than that. The previous years I was able to sell as many horses as i had foals coming and able to keep my numbers constant, I had my mares in foal early, but never got any horses sold.

This year I am breeding 3 mares, my 23 year old mare to keep her going, my 15 year old mare to keep her going, and maybe one of my other mares who always produces a show quality foal. Hopefully I can get something sold and get my numbers back down before all of this year's foals arrive, or soon after.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

We tried to get all our mares in foal, but missed 3 out of 22, but are expecting 19 foals, we had no trouble last year selling, and have had alot of intrest in our coming foals this year. Hopefully we will have another booming year!!

 

[bluerogue]

We are expecting 3 this year... 2 planned and one "oops". We had someone trespass last October, and they opened gates. Apparently our 5 year old tiny silver buckskin is a one shot wonder, because he managed to get her bred on one cover! These three foals are all potential keepers, and we did breed with the intention of keeping these foals (well, the two we planned anyway! The third is a potential keeper because we love the parents, but it was not a cross I had planned). While we are not averse to selling these foals, we are really hoping they will be what we want (pinto filly from my chestnut mare, and colored anything from our Orion mare... the oops I just want alive, as she lost her first foal in birth).

Quite frankly, after losing my only foal last year to being stillborn, I really couldn't care less if they were green, with purple stripes, as long as they hit the ground live and healthy. Of course I wish they were all fillies (out of 7 foals, a whopping 1 has been a filly), and colored, but that would be icing on the cake, and just make me more happy. I'm going to be on pins and needles till Missy foals in September.

 

[LC Farm]

No foals for me in 2009 by choice. I usually only have two a year so they have a weaning buddie. I sold one of last years colts to a great home and I am keeping the other colt. Daughter and son-in-law will be having two Percheron foals soon. The first will be going under camera this weekend and it is our first year using mare stare. I will get my baby fix from the big guys this year. I hope some of you guys like watching the BIGGIES.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Hi! Hope you are feeling well today!

Last year, I exposed a couple of mares for only a few days, then I pulled the mares from the stallion as I chickened out. I started worrying about the economy being bad and getting worse, worry that I would not sell the 2008 foals and thought about how many horse there are out there for sale. So as far as I know, there are no foals due for me for 2009.

I have a homozygous pinto mare that I have not bred in a couple of years, and now that my new stallion is turning 3,(He is a black pinto that is homozygous for pinto also) I may breed her to him this year, and maybe one more as I hate babies being alone. I would like a foal from her and would probably want to keep it.

Robin

 

[Jill]

We only had/have 3 mares bred for this year, with one having already foaled, an awesome little buckskin filly. Honestly I'm happy we did breed some mares for this season -- I wouldn't mind a couple more just like the 1st

 

[Little Indian Acres]

[SIZE=12pt] The reason I did not breed LAST year for babies this year is because I need to sell some and saw no reason to breed for more if I was able to sell the ones I had. I did get a new stud last year and am just DIEING to see what I get from him.... but as it looks I will not be breed THIS year either. Not unless I move about 5 horses SOON.[/SIZE]

April

Hee Hee, of course that post made me click on her website to see what she has for sale.

I like the gelding!

 

[WLS]

My mares made the decision NOT to have any foals this year; they either voted for a year of vacation, or maybe they heard about the economy!! But this will only be the second year since we starting breeding these horses 16 years ago that we will have a spring with NO foals. I am very disappointed, as will be my friends and relatives that show up in the spring expecting to see babies. But the offset, we are expecting our first two legged grandchild in July, so this will have to be my "baby fix" for the year. Hopefully the mares will get their act together for next year.

 

[backwoodsnanny]

We only bred for one foal last year and no foals for 2009 but may breed for at least one foal this year I promised our herdsire that he could finally breed a mare he is four. Last year we showed him locally all season and just didnt get around to it. I do have to move some horses as we continue to prepare to move somewhere warmer but do want to get a foal from him soon.