I have not read every reply, but plan to.
I have to say that my 1 or 2 foals a year probably don't amount to MUCH, however, if every person had just 1 or 2, it does add up.
I do think about where the foals I breed will end up.
I HOPE they will end up in the show ring, CDEs, pleasure driving, etc.
At the worst, I hope they will be a beloved pet, but that's only if they have some problem preventing them from the previous hopes. I hope that in addition to their show horse/pleasure career, that they will also be treasured AS pets.
I have been both lucky and unlucky with homes I have sold to. In one case, I took a horse back, rehabilitated him and re-sold him to a wonderful home.
I have kept three of the foals that I have bred (the total number of foals born here has been 16), and two are deceased (one in the sac and the other was Kyan this year).
There are 11 foals out there that I've bred and sold. I know where half of those are, and keep in contact with the owners. The other half, I have to hope they are doing as well as they were hoped to, and being cared for. They aren't/weren't all show horses, though they were all sound for pleasure driving and/or anything one can do with a healthy Miniature.
One of the mares was a non-breeder by virtue of her underbite alone, though I suspect she had minimal dwarf characteristics. She is happily living as a pet for her owner, though she does parades and things with her.
Almost all of the colts have been gelded, not because there is anything WRONG with them, but because I feel it's almost criminal to sell colts by a quality stallion that noone will pay a decent price for. It waters down the value of a stallion to sell colts that are not as good as or better than he is and keep them intact yet sell them for a fraction of what that stallion is worth.
I wish it were easier to spay mares, for I would also do that, but gelding colts helps (IMO), to ensure that the home they get is getting them for the horse, not necessarily just to have something to impregnate their mares without thinking of the entire picture.
I realize it seems arrogant of me to think this way, but I do have control over the ones born and sold here, so I will make my little statement my own way.
I've had people tell me they admire my mindset, as they observe that a lot of my colts are better than many of the breeding stallions out there, but I also realize that what people say and do are two different things.
My " new" (as in recently gelded my colt) gelding, Pyro, for example, is VERY nice. If he had been a mare, he would stay here to replace his mother as a broodmare along with showing in her younger years. HOWEVER, being that he is male, and there's nothing wrong with him, the going price for an intact young colt with no faults and solid chestnut is pretty low, even with a nice local show record going.
I realized that as soon as he was born, so I decided NOT to breed his mother for next year, and possibly not the year after that. I will need that time to dedicate to finding him a new home, as I already have my show gelding in Mouse. He may be the nicest horse I have bred, though. I will keep him and show him, and train him to drive if he's here until he's three and beyond.
What I refuse to do is price him down to $250 just because sorrel colts/geldings are a dime a dozen and now that he's gelded he's basically worthless in some people's eyes. My horse IS better than a lot of them out there, and I'm not the only person who says it. If my "arrogance" makes it so that he's here forever, then so be it. I will simply not breed to the point of panic/fire sale mentality.
IF something happened where I could not keep them, then that is another matter entirely. However, I do not ever want to have a "make room" sale when I have re-bred without giving the foals on the ground time to sell. I truly believe that if I had a larger herd I would work the same way.
I did re-breed one mare for 2008, though it's iffy if she took. By that time, I hope that I will have sold at least one horse, but if not, I will not be breeding for 2009.
I breed for horses I would want, because if noone else wants to give me money for them, that is what they are.
Sorry I went on and on about this, but I think about this all the time. I am perfectly happy directing others to people that I know and feel are ethical and fair for purchases when I have nothing that will fill their needs. I don't believe in putting a square peg in a round hole (as in selling a horse to someone that wants something different or needs something different).
We're all trying to improve the breed, and in order to do that, we must stop ourselves from breeding the ones we know likely won't work out, and/or committing to promoting the horse and devoting ourselves to selling before we overpopulate and force ourselves to take far too little for our product, which also happens to be a living, breathing, feeling entity that deserves at least that consideration. If not, then go play a sim game, or collect model horses.
I have no problem with those that have a good market, and manage to sell to good homes (be they breeding, show or pet/pleasure).
Liz M.