Making a Foal a Keeper

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Tis the season for sleepless nights, gallons of coffee, dragging ourselves around the farm all day in our pj's, desperately checking udders and vulvas, enjoying the foal bellies start dragging the ground and waiting not-so-patiently for the new foals about to come! We carefully played the match game, prayed the mares caught and didn't abort and through all the hard work and praying - we have some mares in foal!

Now comes the hard part - once your bundles of wet, furry, long legged joy arrives it's time to decide. . . . .sell or keep?

For many farms (like mine) space is an issue so if we keep a foal, it has to be EXACTLY what we want for show and breeding purposes. We don't breed a lot of mares every year - and plan to only breed a maximum of 6 each year - this ensures that we spend quality time with the foals and mares, can have plenty of time for training, have a reasonable selection to pick from and most of all, if they don't sell - we have room for them all! So for a foal to be considered a "keeper", they have to be special to us.

As of right now, we are looking for that "special colt" to hit the ground that will not only be stamped with our farm name - but he must have VERY nice conformation as we plan on sending him to a pro trainer to be shown hopefully to Nationals. For a colt to be a keeper right now he must fit all of the criteria below:

**EDITED COLT KEEPER LIST TO ADD ANOTHER "MUST"

• very nice conformation
• MUST be a loud frame or splash overo (edited from loud pinto simply because we prefer frame and splash)
• blue eyes preferred but not a must
• to mature 32" and under
• nice big eyes, hooky neck and a true "eye catcher"
• refined, but solid boned and not 'fragile' looking
• would also hold his own in the driving arena with nice movement

**if he doesn't "fit the bill" in all of those areas, he'll likely gelded and won't stay. we want what we want and dont have the room to keep something that isn't exactly what we want/need especially with a colt**

We are also looking to retain several quality fillies to be retained as part of our show string and later as our broodmares once they are of age. The mares we have right now are our "foundation mares" and each one of them have a lifetime home here as I am just too attached to them. All of them, however were selected for awesome bodies, braines and bloodlines and personality and color to boot. They're whole purpose here is to produce JNK broodmares with our stamp and quality on them. We were devastated when we lost our April 2010 filly who did, in every way, fit what we were looking for in a show/broodmare "keeper".

• very nice conformation
• loud pinto
• blue eyes preferred but not a must
• to mature 34" and under
• nice doe eyes, head, etc.
• must have a nice set of hips
• refined looking but very solid in the bone, a bit more so than the stallions
• friendly and eye catching with lots of personality
• versatility to go from halter to driving to jumping to the breeding shed to raising their own foals

**exception to the rule -- I would keep any solids who were exceptionally nice in conformation and would keep a majority of the solid buckskins, cremellos, perlinos and smokey blacks

It is very correct to make "color" the icing on the cake, but when you have a smaller farm (we do plan on expanding once we move to a bigger property though!) for now, we have to be very particular in what we keep. If I had 200+ acres, I'd keep anything that I had a whim to, but selection is key for a farm who is in pursuit of producing and showing quality Miniature Horses that can stand their own in the show ring but also be a friend, a soulmate and a producer of quality foals.

So after all the "fun" of foaling season is done and over with and it's time to sit down and sift through the foals to determine who makes the cut, how do you do it and how strict are you?

 

[targetsmom]

Our plan - because we are older than many breeders - is to not keep any foals. That included our first live foal Max, that meets all the criteria on your list of "keeper" colts. He was doing fabulously well in the AMHA show ring and well on his way to being sold when he had colic surgery and ended up back here. Now we realize we should never have considered selling him and are quite pleased with the way things turned out (except for the vet bill part).

And as we are finding out, don't assume just because you have nice foals (even colorful ones) that it will be easy to find a buyer. And I just learned this morning that it will cost between $350-$450 to geld a mini colt around here. So that means it actually costs money to sell a gelding - negative profit margin!

ETA: We are keeping the filly out of the mare we bought last year because she is only distantly related to our stallion or to Max.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

And as we are finding out, don't assume just because you have nice foals (even colorful ones) that it will be easy to find a buyer. And I just learned this morning that it will cost between $350-$450 to geld a mini colt around here. So that means it actually costs money to sell a gelding - negative profit margin!

Ouch! That's a lot more expensive than what I pay for mine but I work alongside my veterinarian as I am his only Miniature Horse client. He gelds mine for $100 on site since he sees it as a "learning experience". I've got a locked in contract with him as a "deal" that I'll let him "learn" with my Miniatures so he can charge appropriately for other clients. If I had to pay what you do, I'd have a stroke!

 

[Becky]

Here, if I keep a filly, I sell a mare to keep numbers in check. I only keep those that I feel will enhance my breeding program.

None of the colts stay as I don't need additional stallions. I do have one stallion that I bought back as a 3 yr old. Redrock Magic Maker. He has now been my main herd sire for several years. It was a very wise decision.

I've added a new stallion for next years foal crop and am very excited at the possibilities!

 

[ruffian]

One thing I didn't see on your list was how related is the colt to my herd. If I have his mom, aunt, 2-3 half sisters, I really can't use him unless I want a gelding.

I don't plan on keeping any of this years foals.

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

One thing I didn't see on your list was how related is the colt to my herd. If I have his mom, aunt, 2-3 half sisters, I really can't use him unless I want a gelding.

As I said before, I am continually expanding my herd and wouldn't be a big problem for the right colt. 

 

[MindyLee]

I make my mind up before they are born, I don't keep them no matter what. I did however decided to keep my 2009 filly before she was born. I have no room for a colt and no need for a gelding so I knew if she was a filly I would keep her..

Otherwise I set my mind before they are born that way I know better. Also I have a number I want my herd at. I dont want to go over that. And as of right now keeping the 2009 filly...I am over that number by 1, so I know there will be no keepers cause of that unless I sell one to keep one.

 

[Carolyn R]

I have a slightly different take on things. I don't breed unless I have time and space for the potential foals. I am sure everyone of you make sure that you have adequate love and space, what I am getting at is I have a magic number, that is my cut off. If I am at that number, I simply don't buy and I don't breed. While I have always had it in my head that my foals will leave, I have also always had it in my head that I will keep them, raise them, play with them, tinker at the shows with them until they go. If it takes a month, a year, or 2 years to find that wonderful home, so be it. If I decide I like them too much to let them go, I can change my mind.

What my views of a keeper are at one point may change over time. I think we all have those horses that we love, but maybe they are too small, too tall, too shy, too dominate for the program we want, so in the back of our heads we consider that we may let go of that "keeper" if the right home came along. I love them all and it is never painless to let them go.

It has always been said in order to make a small fortune with horses, one must start with a large fortune. So I choose to look at things as "a VERY expensive, very passionate hobby that I have gone overboard with.". I can dream, but I am pretty certain I will never get rich

The wonderful thing is that you can always change your mind, you may get a stunning correct foal but you may not get the color you want, it may have one blue eye and one brown eye instead of two blue eyes, your outlook changes along the way.

Here's the perfect example, when I set out on a search, I was looking for a blue eyed,b/w or black based overo stallion under 32" with pedigree and looks to boot, what I got was a correct/beautiful red based overo mare, one blue one black eye (yes, it actually looks black) that is 33" with a wonderful pedigree, and a great disposition.

It is much easier to purchase that perfect horse that will compliment your program than trying to create it, you just never know what you will get.

 

[~Lisa~]

I have a different take as well. For a while we went with the if one stays another adult must go but then after a few years I really got to thinking - I was not producing the foal that met my exact criteria there was always one or two things that were not on my keep list. Which made me realize.. if I am not producing what I consider the utmost top quality then why was I breeding at all so the right decision for me was not to breed. We currenly have 8 minis/ponies 6 are geldings and honestly I personally am much happier so for me it was the right decision

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Thanks for the replies but I feel like we are venturing away from the main purpose of my post. 

I was interested in hearing from the farms that breed - what are their criteria that they go by that makes a foal a keeper at their farm. 

 

[Carolyn R]

Thanks for the replies but I feel like we are venturing away from the main purpose of my post.

I was interested in hearing from the farms that breed - what are their criteria that they go by that makes a foal a keeper at their farm.

IN THEORY

Then it is simple, Start with the best quality you can afford, then if you are wanting to stay within a certain size, you exclude the foals that are likely to go over/under. From there it is based on gender preference,conformation that is winning in the show ring/bite, show attitude/ then color. Forgot to add, on top of this, keep in mind the faults and attributes of your potential keeper and how they will cross with what you have in your program. Many of us do breed, and even though it is not large scale, many like myself, start with the best we can in hopes that the few we do produce posess their parents best attributes.

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

That is a good question and you'll likely get a myriad of responses!

When we first started breeding, the emotional attachment, we kept all of the foals (most are pets now). I tend to look at how we 'got into' Minis as doing it completely opposite to what you should do! Kinda learning in the trenches so to speak! Now there are a number of different things I consider on a foal being a 'keeper' or not. Obviously solid conformation, straight legs/bite, good attitude, movement, mature under 34", etc. I'm not a color breeder so that is a plus only.

Another thing I consider is we have a few older mares, and I want a replacement daughter for them. So, I'm likely to hold onto their daughters (assuming the quality is there) and watch them mature before making the call to sell. When I do have a filly born that is better than one I thought I was going to keep then I have more to think about!

Colts born here are generally too related to my mare lines, therefore keeping a stallion that can only be bred to a few horses isn't an option. So I've never kept one as a permanent addition. If there's something I really like about him, I may keep him for a few years, test breed. I have one that we bred that his foals are turning out just wonderfully, so he's coming back for a visit in a few months.

I wish there was a standard answer, but there is alot I consider before making that call to keep or not.

 

[kaykay]

Unfortunately we have had to sell a few last year that were keepers. With this economy it happens

Good for buyers bad for me.

First off for me to keep a foal it has to be hugely better than its sire and dam. That is the goal of all of our breeding. Normally once we keep a filly and she has been shown and becomes breeding age, we sell her dam and use the daughter to replace her.

I am a huge fan of geldings and stallions. Love them all! I have one right now I would love to keep, but can't. He is better than his sire and dam and has all the qualities I want in a stallion. Great conformation, beautiful movement and excellent disposition.

I do have one mare that her daughter is now breeding age and I have kept the mare. So I do make exceptions. This particular mare has so out produced herself with every foal that I have not let her go

In an nutshell

1. Better than sire & dam

2. Excellent conformation

3. Excellent movement

4. Great disposition

5. Show quality

6. Fits in with long range plan