Breeding, only for people that do it?

Question

I thought for two years my mare was pregnant. Different times being bred.

And squat! lol.

So now i really wish i had a foal! I do plan on breeding her in a few years, or next year! lol.

IDK

but Does any one else wish they had a foal, or for those that usally have a foal a year, and didnt do it this year, do you miss raising them from birth?

And if you come in here not liking the fact that i want to and am going to breed my horse. And are just coming in here to tell me that i should just adopt then dont waist my time. It says clear as day, ONLY FOR PEOPLE THAT DO IT!

So again if you dont like then just dont come in here. Dont waist my time about how i shouldnt, and how there are to many unwanted horses already. I dont want to get a horse from somebody else, i want to raise my own, and im just wondering who else wishes they raised a foal from birth, or just misses it.

Answer 1

samething happened to me. we bred my appy to another appy and the first time we thought that it took but when we were on vacation the person that bred our horse and that was watching our horses, ( who personally i think is a con and just wants money) said that our horse went in to heat so she said that we lost the baby. and the second time we took he over. the woman said that it took again but, we waited for a while and she got no fatter, and she never had the baby. then we tried again and she said it took, nothing happened. we paid her 1,200 dollars total for the stud fee only. She also stole feed from us and fixed our hose (which was fine as it was it did not need fixed) and told us that we had to pay for that. 5,200 dollars we paid total all for preganacy and taking care of them. And now we think she is barren, and cant get pregant. listen dont be a fool like us get a vet to see if she can accually have a baby before you spend a lot of money on nothing. But otherwise yahaa it would love to have a foal and we are thinking of breeding another one of our mares. so go for it.

Answer 2

I love having a foals around. Don't have any currently and not 'expecting' either.

Raising one from the get go is awesome and time consuming, have fun.

I prefer the AI way to go for breeding my mares. I have had a lot of success that way.

Answer 3

I bought a mare back in 2004 for $900 with the thought that I'd train her and eventually breed her.  She could be registered Spotted Saddle horse and KY Mountain Saddle horse.  I had her for 5 months when my husband noticed she was so much fatter than the other horses.  She was pregnant and was bred when we bought her.  On Father's Day of 2005, she had a beautiful blue roan colt.  He is fabulous!

Last year, we bought a blue roan and white medicine hat saddle horse mare.  This past spring we bred her to our stallion just before gelding him.  She is in foal and is due in March.  We are excited and are hoping for a roan colt (which we will geld more quickly since we won't need anymore horses at that point).

Raising a horse from birth is wonderful because you know the exact history of the horse and know he was never mistreated, abused or involved in any weird accidents.  You can train them the way you want to train them and they haven't already been ruined when you get them.

I hope you get your wish and I hope you enjoy raising a horse to keep for yourself.

Answer 4

I have a 22 year old Arab gelding that I bred.  He is one of my biggest joys and has provided years of happiness to me.  Go ahead and breed your mare.  Raising a foal is a great experience and training your own horse guarantees that you will have a unique relationship for many years.

Answer 5

Take it from a person who's bred horses for years - so I have done it and I know.

These are the facts:

1.  You can purchase a well trained horse cheaper than you can breed and raise one to the same extent.

2.  You should only breed if you have extensive experience raising and handling foals.

3.  Only breed if you have the proper facilties - a foaling stall at least 14 x 18, a paddock with horse fence, not woven wire, hot wire or two rails of board fence.

4.  Only breed if you have a good $3000 to get that foal on the ground and raise it - a $500 stud fee can cost anywhere from $1000 to $3000 depending on cost of vet care and mare care during breeding.

Now - I know you didn't want to hear from people who tell you now to do it.  But that's what makes a responsible person - one who listens to the facts then makes a responsible decision.  Someoone who has their heart dead-set on doing something whether it's right or wrong when hundreds of much more wise people who've been through it tell you not to is NOT a responsible person.

I am not trying to hurt your feelings but facts are facts - the slaughter horses were a majority horses that did not have a proper start in life - now there are no slaughter houses so irresponsible people can't put them out of their misery, instead they are allowed to abuse, neglect and abandoned them - and we hope rescue efforts will find them before they're too horribly abused or neglected.  These are horses whom people thought they could raise their own better or cheaper than purchasing one - they didn't know what they should have and the foal either was injured so is now un-sound and value-less or they (unknowingly) taught it bad habits which turned it mean or dangerous because they didn't understand the nature of the animal.

This is NOT a puppy or a kitten that you can pick up and manage or lock away in a kennel and forget about it - this will hit the ground at 300 lbs and quickly become a 1200 animal that doesn't know the difference between you and another 1200 animal.  You can't go hitting on it, yelling at it, talking too it or babying it into becoming this wonderful critter.  YOU MUST know how they interact with each other in order to properly handle them as a member of their herd.  If you do not do this, if you do not know these things - I'll thank you to NOT contribute to the thousands of fractured horses out there that people like you don't want to adopt.

I'll get off my soap box now - yep - I've raised quite a few of them - I wished I had a foal, I learned how expensive and how much work they are and how easy it is to do the littlelest thing wrong with them - I don't and haven't missed breeding.  But I've learned the value of breeding vs. buying.  I've had horses all my 41 years - and I KNOW how to be responsible.

Yep - I'm a person who did that and am still affiliated with people who do that.  And try as I might to get them to have a plan for a foal, I've got at leat 3 friends right now who I know have at least 3 young horses they can't sell for anything, are not started because they haven't the thousands to get them started nor the know-how to start them.  They have pasture ponies that are nice to look at but god forbid you walk in the pasture with them without getting kicked, bitten or run over.  They won't ever do that again either and have told me they wished they'd have listened to me a few years ago.

Get the knowlege, get the experience, be around a breeding farm for a long time and get to the point where you can start and train 10 horses yourself THEN think about breeding one for yourself.  Don't contribute to another one going bad.

Answer 6

ok so take her to a well known breeder and they will physically breed your mare and their stallion. that way you have a better chance of her getting pregnant. or maybe there is something wrong with her. have you had your vet check her out? and maybe they can even help you find a breeder

Answer 7

I've raised an orphan foal once, from the time she was 2 weeks old, and I've been around a lot of broodmares and babies (my friends I board with breed their mares, and I worked for a large breeding farm).  I can tell you its a lot of fun to raise a baby, and know that its training is all up to you.  At the same time it can be really frustrating, knowing you have more than 2 years to wait before you can ride.  Its also a big risk, because you don't know how the baby will turn out.  My friend had some foals that were excellent, and made it to the show pen, and she'd had some that had horrible attitudes, conformation, and quality of movement.  The bad ones cost the same as the good ones, so its really a gamble.

After having raised my orphan baby, I decide not to breed, because for the same money that the foal will cost me by the time its ready to be started under saddle, I can buy a really nice coming 2 year old, and pick out exactly what I want.

If you just want the experience of it, and you've already taken cost into consideration....why would it hurt to try it once, and if you don't like it, or its more expensive than you had thought, just don't do it again.

Answer 8

Your mare is either not settling or reabsorbing.  If it is her first foal then my guess is the latter.  Mares will often reabsorb their first few (2 or sometimes 3) times, especially if stressed during the pregnancy by slightly lower than optimal weight (sometimes it is simply a matter of losing baby teeth and not having the adult teeth in to eat as well as they should), lack of grazing due to drought, stress from being moved, or a number of other things.

We did not have any foals this year and yes I miss it a little.  We are not exactly backyard breeders and have quality horses but it simply was not worth what it considering what it cost to raise them vs. what we sold them for.

If you want to look at our stallion or our mares go to

http://www.justwrightfarm.com/

I am sure we are far too far away but you can see what we breed.

Treehugger.  In virtually all cases a live foal gaurantee should come with the stud fee.  This means that if a live foal is not born the next stud fee is waved.  A few breeders won't give this but almost all give a discount if not and none that I know of charge a second fee if the horse does not at least preg check as pregnant at three months.  Also if surgery was performed on your horse that you did not authorize then you did not have to pay.  I am a little confused by your comment 'have our horse fixed'.  That generally means spayed to prevent future pregnancies.

And yes I give a Live Foal Gaurantee (LFG).

Answer 9

Jeff Sadler's got the info right on the breeder ethics and what's probably going on with your mare.  BTW, how old is she?

I'm at the 13 month old mark with my colt.  I wasn't going to breed my appndx QH mare but some mis-communication took care of that.

The day he was foaled, I got to see him from about 80' away as the ambulance was transporting me to S.C. to recuperate from breaking both legs.

It was four months before I got to see him again, let alone imprint, work with or bond with him.  Things don't always work out like we plan. . .

He's a really good boy and I'm glad I've got him, but no, it wouldn't bother me not to have a foal around.

Answer 10

I have two foals (both fillies) this year - one is from a mare I bought when the foal was a week old, so I didn't breed that one myself.

I should've had a colt foal, but he died shortly after birth, leaving his dam (and owner) distraught. Thankfully I have a good vet and there is a good support system so my mare got the help she needed, and moved 50 miles away to raise an orphaned filly. Due to the stress the birth and death of her foal caused her, she'll not be having another baby.

Honestly, I don't miss it when I don't have foals. I had one last year, and before then I barely missed it at all. There is so much work involved - yes, foals are cute as h**l, but god, it's such hard work, and so much can go wrong in an instant. Ultimately I do it because I love it and I love my girls, but it is far from easy.