Your farm's first bred, first born

[vickie gee]

Just curious. Did you keep your farm's first? We have ours, finally. Blue roan colt sired by a blue roan stallion. We are probably a one stallion farm. If we added a second it would be for our two tiniest girls. Although our stallion is very refined there is some height in the upline. This colt looks like a long legged deer. He hit the ground at 22" with the tiniest head I have ever seen. Cannot wait to get our camera fixed and get pix posted. My first inclination is to get him gelded and keep him. I have my eyes on a very tiny, tiny boy in case we add a second stallion. Still, I hate to see him wasted when he could be such a great herd sire for somebody. I hate being indecisive. What would you do??????? I am serious. I am so smitten by him I cannot think straight. What makes good business sense?? We only have 3 acres and I still work a full time job. Life is so complicated. I just thank God we finally got a healthy baby and he is gorgeous to boot!!! I cannot even think straight. Every day I have to get home to love him. He is so funny. He takes every step his five year old half sister takes. He runs like the wind. I cannot see me letting him go. I know this sounds crazy. Still, he is going to grow up and I have to make plans. I have three years invested in his sire and it just makes sense to let him remain the herd sire. I think I should have this baby gelded and let him be our little prince. What say you?

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

i havent bred any mares yet but next year i'll be breeding my 2yr old(she'll be 3 when i breed her) and i'm planning on keeping the foal regardless if its a colt or a filly, but secretly i'm hoping for a filly

i think you should do whatever you think is right with him, i don't think hed mind being a prince

 

[REO]

We did not breed him, though the studbook says we did. We bought a bred mare in 1993 and still have our first ever foal.

He just turned 16

 

[Jill]

First born, no. She was out of a mare I bought despite that she was pregnant. She was a cremello filly that has a great home where she's learned to do tricks, etc. First homebred, yep. We showed him as a gelding and it's hard to believe but he's 7yo now. We love him... Oh, man... I love ALL our babies. This is not how we'd planned it LOL

 

[targetsmom]

I know what you are going through!! It took 3 years for us to get our firstborn, Max, so after all that waiting, it is especially hard to decide, especially when it is a colt. Like you, we are a very small farm and really can't handle more than one stallion. Plus the colt is LWO+ so even if we considered breeding him to his dam, we would never cross two LWO+ so that would be out.

For us, we are planning to show the colt (with our co-owners, who sold us his sire) which should help promote both our farms. I just hope his sire (SRF Buckshot) remembers what he did and can do it again!!! So bottom line, we do not plan to keep him and hope he finds a home where he can improve someone's else's herd.

In our case, age figures into our decision too. We are of an age where it doesn't make a lot of sense to keep foals and then wait 3 -4 years for them to breed. So our general plan is to sell foals and keep the breeding stock, as long as they produce what we (or someone) want.

 

[normajeanbaker]

Our first 2 foals were born here in 2005. Both are still here. Both have forever homes here. We had full intentions of selling both of them when we planned the breedings, but both turned out to be everything we wanted and things worked out that we had 2 empty stalls at weaning time, so we kept them both. They have not let us down at all and have done really well for us in the show ring.

~Jen~

 

[chandab]

So far, yes, I'm keeping her, but its only been a year. She's my first homebred and raised, live healthy thriving foal. [First foal out of a mare I bought bred didn't make it, he was premature.]

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

First foal that was born on our farm (we did not breed, mare was bought in foal) was sold.. Our first homebred was sold as a weanling and I just ended up taking her back last fall (she's now a 5 year old) as the couple that bought her from us could no longer keep the horses due to a growing family, which is fine with me as I've always had a small regret for selling her!

 

[Katiean]

Our first born? No! the mare was bred just like so many others. Second born? yes so far we have kept him even though again the mare was bought pregnant. We now have 3 home bred due and I am afraid we have to sell them all. I can't afford any more the way feed is going up and each horse costs $30 for a trim. It is going to be tough because we sold our first born and I do regret it because I know he is not still in that home and have no idea where he is. I hate that.

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

Hmm first born that I owned I did keep but she wasnt kept at my own home yet and I bought the mare in foal. The first one born here by two of my own horses I did not keep him but so far I have kept the next two colts. And the next ones are the ones that were just born so they arent sold yet and a few of them prolly wont be either LOL! I am a collector

!

 

[wrs]

We kept are first homebred foal. She is now 3 years old. Follow your heart on your little guy.

 

[MindyLee]

Nope! I sold my 1st 2006 home bred foal. I sold my 2nd 2008 foal as well. BUT I kept my 3rd 2009 home bred and added her to my show string and LOVE her to death.

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]Yes.... she foaled out here in 2005. However, we're dispersing our herd and I just placed her along with her 2010 colt over the weekend. Needless to say after her new owner drove off with her my granddaughter and I broke down into tears. Although, I know that she's going to a wonderful home I'll still miss "Allure's Boomers Pristine Aprina" dearly.[/SIZE]

 

[bevann]

Scooter, our first foal, was bought with her sire and dam when she was 1 day old.Karl picked her up and carried her into the trailer.Her sire and dam have crossed the Rainbow Bridge,but Scooter and her 2 full sisters will live here until they die.Scooter is now 21 and she is the Queen here.I almost lost her twice-once a severe colic impaction at age 5 months and 1 to a kick from another mare which caused bleeding into the abdomen.No going anywhere for her.I do get attached to my critters.

 

[AnnaC]

The first mare I purchased was a 4 year old in foal - she had a colt, which I did not keep. The following year she produced a snowflake filly from my old spotted stallion, which I did keep. I now have many daughters/grand daughters from both of them - original Momma now being 20 and daughter 15 years old. This year Momma is in foal to my Falabella for a 'repeat' of a daughter we already have, and Daughter is expecting a foal by Dragon (we are very excited!!) Neither of these mares will ever leave here, nor will several of their female offsprings. We are hoping to get Momma mare to give us a Dragon foal next year or the year after, then she will be retired to do what she does best -- organising and bossing all the other horses on the place LOL!!

Anna

 

[Manyspots]

We have our first bred, first born here with us and she will stay here until she crosses the Rainbow Bridge. Her name is Sweet Pea and she is retired. She was foaled in 1994 and is very special to us!

 

[PromiseAcres]

We too are in a similar situation with only 3 acres and 9 horses... but our first born colt has stayed and stayed a stallion. Our other stallion is 12 yrs so... And we keep the 3 yr stud with the geldings (he's not been used for breeding yet) We may change our minds and geld him but til we make a firm decision he stays as he is. He's the most well mannered and I've shown him some locally. But sometimes I wonder... is it just infatuation???? but my hubby likes him a lot too. So

 

[Equuisize]

We have all of our babies, all fillies, except one (#3 baby girl) that went to live with my

farrier and his/my girlfriend.

I don't do well letting go. Once I held them and rocked them for weeks they became my 'kids'.

Originally, we wanted a single colt, maybe 2, just like their Dad...I'd have been delighted

with a pasture of geldings. 5 fillies later, I never knew I liked girls so much.

None of the fillies have been bred. I think about it but am not comfortable, yet,

with how I'd deal if something bad happened. We'd feel equally bad if something happened

to the Mom's but the babies are here by our choice - we didn't go out and buy them with a

thought of breeding them.

We have thought off and on of selling one or two but not sure anyone wants to go thru what

would be an awful qualifying process LOL

 

[Tab]

Sure did! She is now 8-years-old, 29" and still beautiful. It will be hard to ever part with her. In fact I never have bred her because she is so tiny. I haven't found a stallion tiny enough or refined enough to pair up with her (and I won't use her sire).

 

[RockRiverTiff]

Well our first bred and born was a big chestnut colt born in 1984, named Rock Rivers Bucky. We gelded him and showed him for many years, but ultimately he lived out the rest of his days in a pet home (and was just as happy). My grandparents took a step back and started again, and in 1986 they got what they were looking for in our second bred and born - Rock Rivers Fibber Mc Gee. We did keep him until he passed in 2006 and I still have a son, two granddaughters and a great-granddaughter on the farm (with one more on the way any day now). I take great pride in the heritage behind our horses, but if my grandparents had kept and bred that first colt then we'd be a totally different farm today.