Looking for a nice stallion...

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Mini Horse Lover

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Hello everyone!

I am interested and have done tons of research and talked to many quality breeders and I was interested in starting a breeding and having my own farm now. I have breeders standing by in case I need help. But I know all the Miniature lovers here have tons of experience! I know that even if you breed the champion to champion horses you might not always get a pretty baby..it could be the opposite. I've had that happen in rabbits. So does anyone have any advice on starting a breeding program and farm? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks!
 
Buy the best possible stallion. There are TONS of mediocre stallions out there that produce even more tons of mediocre babies. A stallion must have it ALL - CONFORMATION, TEMPERMENT, BLOODLINES, SHOW RECORD. Do not settle for less.

Pay attention to what's winning and look for stallions with those traits (and have someone who's not emotionally invested help you. Sometimes its hard to see the faults when you're convinced you're in love). Or better yet, BUY the stallion that's winning.

When in doubt, it's much easier and cheaper to purchase quality mares and breed them to outside stallions.
 
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Know what your interest is (halter, driving, etc) and find the stallion with all the above qualifications that is bred for it.....and that you like. I've had horses that were just wonderful but that for whatever reasons I just didn't like that much. They need to appeal to you....AND pass the conformation / ability test! Not much to ask
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Jan
 
I am looking for a nice stallion to get into halter and get the show "experience" if you know what I mean. Then onto performance..I've always been interested in the hunter/jumper classes. That help?
 
I haven't read all the responses, but what I would do first is make sure there is a market in your area.
 
Getting show experience.....hmmm. If you are looking for show experience, my advice is start out with a good mare or gelding. While I do have a couple stallions in the barn that are calm enough to be a good halter lesson horses, I also have a couple that EAT ME ALIVE when I show them. Stallions are not the best sex to start out with when looking for show experience.

Most stallions you see that are competitive in the show ring and in the breeding shed (producing winners) are champions themselves in halter and driving. There isn't a lot of emphasis on the other performance classes such as obstacle, hunter, jumper, and liberty. That said, we're currently standing a stallion at stud that excels in obstacle, hunter, jumper and is beginning his driving career.

I stress to clients and those just entering our industry, that a stallion MUST have a show record these days to make the foals marketable in this flooded market. And they need to be better than just "nice".
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I'm not trying to bust your bubble just trying to prevent you down the road from saying, "you know, he's a nice stallion but I could have bought better".
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I see what you mean..I want to start a program and such..but to show I could start off with a mare or gelding..and in Minnesota here there is a lot of nice farms around that have great prospects for sale. Then possibly get into breeding?
 
[SIZE=12pt]I think I'm the odd one out, even though I have an exceptional stallion for sale right now~LOL[/SIZE]

I'd say buy, or even better lease, a few TOP QUALITY mares and breed them to the BEST stallions out there that are standing at stud (and that you can afford)..and breed all mares to DIFFERENT stallions if at all possible.

You may double your herd size that way and will infuse top bloodlines into your herd. You may very well end up with a phenomenal colt you can retain as your herd sire AND he will be unrelated to all of your herd except for his Dam! Don't breed inferior mares EVER and don't breed to "fix" conformational or movement flaws. It often doesn't work out the way you hope or it may come back in the get of those horses.
 
I see what you mean..I want to start a program and such..but to show I could start off with a mare or gelding..and in Minnesota here there is a lot of nice farms around that have great prospects for sale. Then possibly get into breeding?

NOW, that's an EXCELLENT idea!
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I started out with a very nice mare and now have several nice ponies in my herd. Its best to start slow, research the industry, decide what YOU like, and then jump in.
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Hmmm...yes I have heard of trying to fix faults and it usually doesn't work..I'm possibly looking at a few mares right now that will be great members to a herd..any advice there?
 
I have been minis since 1994 and breeding since 1997. I only have 2-3 babies every couple of years, I have been fortunate and they sell. They are good quality and I have been proud of them.

I want to add this:

Breeding is not for the faint of heart. When everything is fine, its GREAT, but when things are bad its terrible. I have lost my best mare, have lost several foals, right now I have two that are sick, one is in ICU and may or may not make it. It is heartbreaking at times. It is horribly expensive MOST of the time. Don't think you are going to make money. most of us don't. Most of us are in a hole and do it out of LOVE of the horse not for money.

You MUST be there for foalings, if you can''t plan on being there, you have no business doing this. Its not fair to the mare or foal. Oh, I know that some are born as surprises, and are unassisted, it happens and sometimes ppeople get lucky. It can happen that a mare foals and surprises you. I am not talking about that. I am just saying don't think that they have babies easily.You have to try to do everything in your power to be there and to help. There is no time to call a vet. You have to take care of things yourself. It doesn't matter if you are tired, or your kids are sick or screaming etc.

Since I am on a roll, you will need a barn cam and a breeder alert to do this or you will be totally absolutley exhausted.

Ok, I will stop carrying on....except to say, there are many times that I( and probably many of us) wonder why we do this? For money? Nope! For fun? well its not as much FUN as most people think, its WORK!) For the love and betterment of the breed? YES!

Robin

ps.. I am not writing this to pick on you, just stating facts to people that want to get into this. Maybe if I had know how hard it really is, I would have just one or two horses and show them and just ENJOY them. BUT I am invested in this and I do LOVE it, but the other way would be just FUN and EASY.
 
Excellent post Robin! And I can attest to how exhausted you'll be without some sort of foaling monitor! I'm on foal watch right now and it's exhausting to get up several times a night to check on mares.

As far as buying mares to start your herd, the same qualities that you look for in a stallion you also look for in mare. With mares, some traits are little more forgivable than in stallions (ie temperment). You're best bet is to find someone you trust that has no interest in the mares to help you pick them apart so you know what their faults are. And then you can make an informed descision.
 
Hmmm...yes I have heard of trying to fix faults and it usually doesn't work..I'm possibly looking at a few mares right now that will be great members to a herd..any advice there?
[SIZE=12pt]Get LOTS of reviews of EVERY horse you want to purchase from several people you respect and be objective. Barn blindness comes soon enough
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Take the time to go to a few shows. The World or the Natioanls or better yet, both, should be a must on your schedual. This way you can see what you like (not necessarly what is winning at that time). Talk to breeders, put your hands on the horses. Read a few books and get a good idea about what puts a good horse together.Only then should you go looking for horses.

I would suggest getting some quality mares first. You can always pay stud fees till you find that perfect stud.(who knows, you may just produce that perfect stud) Do not just pick top winning farms, they have the money to advertise and win, and they also charge a lot for some not so great foals. There are many smaller farms that have some real quality foals that will be going for a lot less money. Many of these foals, with trainers, could go all the way. Do not go after the fad of the week, because next week he will no longer be a fad, and you have now spent $10,000 or more on something that is now worth $3,000 or less.

BUY QUALITY NOT QUANTITY!!! If you can only afford one good brrodmare for now, so be it, get that one good broodmare. Then perhaps next year you can get another. Remember, it costs as much to feed a poor quality horse as it does to feed a good one, but the good one will pay out in the end by giving you some quality foals that you can keep to build your herd or sell to cover expenses or help you to buy another quality mare.

When shopping for a stud to breed to your mare/mares, look around the WHOLE UNITED STATES, not just what is close to you. Paying out the extra money now will pay you back in spades later. Breeding to an inferior stallion will only give you inferior foals.

The most important thing to remember, the quality of the foal is 65% to 75% of the dam, NOT THE STALLION. So be sure to get QUALITY mares FIRST!! Once you are on your way, then look for the best breeding stallion you can afford.
 
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"The most important thing to remember, the quality of the foal is 65% to 75% of the dam, NOT THE STALLION."

I would be interested in the research on this statement? 50/50 makes more sense to me.... Not trying to be argumentative, I am genuinely interested in the research behind this.
 
"The most important thing to remember, the quality of the foal is 65% to 75% of the dam, NOT THE STALLION."

I would be interested in the research on this statement? 50/50 makes more sense to me.... Not trying to be argumentative, I am genuinely interested in the research behind this.

Genetics is 50/50 but it is found in the horse breeding industry that you really need to have quality mares to produce quality foals.

I have bred Morgans for over 10 years ( my very first foal that went to the Morgan World show was a Reserve World Champion in halter) before I got into Minis. Before that I was into hunter jumpers for over 20 years. I have worked and talked with many breedrs of many different breeds over the years and that is one of the first things they will tell you when putting together a breeding program.

Your farm is based upon its mare quality, not the stallion quality. You do need to have quality stallions, but do not let the mare herd slide because you have a good stlalion.
 
FIRST learn good conformation.

Don't go with the flavor/color/style of the week it will bite you in the butt fairly quickly.

Good conformation NEVER goes out of style.

Buy what YOU LOVE and have always LOVED, even if they don't sell they will give you a smile everytime you look at them in the field.

I like Lauras idea and it worked for me with my Q.H's., however I ran into a problem with it and minis. There are VERY FEW local stallions that I would breed to and of them they didn't stand to outside mares. I am unwilling to relinquish my mare to someones elses care for months for breeding, so I found Trystan.
 
Your in luck, you live in MN and they have some exceptional farms and quite a few of them. The first place I would start is with the MN Club.

MN Miniature Club

From there you will be able to access dozens of farms, many would be more than happy with a customer that emails saying they want a mare to show. Most farms would bend over backwards to get there horses out in the ring. Of course there are farms that promise you a national champion and sell you a plug so make sure you know what you are looking for.
 
Trust me I know of a lot of the Miniature horse farms around Minnesota...But I know you guys are just giving advice and I appreciate it! I really do! I was thinking of showing with Toys Miniatures or something this year..
 
I too am looking for a stud. I have one but I think he is going to be 33"-34" I want a pinto that is 29"-30". He is also going to have to be close to the conformation of my last mare. While all 3 of my mares are different, my first mare has a real stocky quaterhorse build. My second mare is nice but her bone is just a bit heavier than I was hopping for. My 3re mare is a BTU grand daughter and it shows. My belief is if you can take a picture of the horse with nothing size defining around it and it infact looks like a well put together horse and not a pony That is what I am looking for. But pinto wouldn't hurt. My colt is well put together is is he is 3"-4" taller than I want.
 

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