Breeding an AQHA mare?

Question

My mom has an aqha mare that she wants to breed. We were thinking of breeding it to a paint, percheron, clydesdale or something that would be pretty, well behaved...not racing horses...have any suggestions on what to breed her too? We live in maine. Where should we get the stuff to breed the horse from?

Answer 1

Have you or your mother bred horses before?  If not, and it's supposed to be a one time thing, I strongly encourage you NOT to do this for two reasons:

1.  The horse market is so saturated right now, one can find a fitting horse within the market for less that it would cost to breed, foal, raise and start a young horse.

2.  People who haven't experience breeding, foaling, raising young horses or starting them don't realize the work and cost involved in doing this.

I have experience in breeding them for many years - it is not easy (it's quite tough) and it's quite costly.  My yearling filly has cost me close to $3000 to get her on the ground and one year old - and that's on a $500 stud fee.

Additionally, one must thoroughly understand the way a horse thinks, how their social order works and how easy it is to teach a young horse poor habits.

If you have this experience, and you KNOW without a doubt what you're getting into (not just THINK you do), you must determine what the purpose of the foal will be.

1.  Will you sell the foal for profit?  If that's what you're thinking I will bet big bucks that you DON'T make back the money you invest just getting the foal on the ground.

2.  Will you be keeping the foal for your own use?  If so, it is wise to also consider re-sale value because if something happens that the horse must be sold, a registered horse is more valuable than a grade (non-registered) one - you should always breed for value with this in mind because you don't know what the next 20+ years will bring - and horses live a good 20+ years.

Disposition (behaviour) is not a factor of breed as much as it is bloodline.  I've got a couple of beautiful paint mares who's father was a paint - but he had QH racing blood on his top side, which contains some TB.

Even draft breeds like Perchies and Clydesdales have better bloodlines than others even though they are generally a more docile breed.

So - let's say you've done your homework and you decide you wish to breed - let's talk about possibilities (in case I haven't talked you into buying rather than breeding).

Paint:  As mentioned above, know the paint bloodlines - the APHA was started to take advantage of wonderful horses that could not be AQHA registered because of them carrying too much white.  Further, a paint can be full QH blood, Jockey Registered or Thoroughbred registered (Both TB registries) that have one or both parents registered through the APHA.  You can very well have a TB or QH racing line.  That's not to say that racing lines are always more of a handful, you can find many racing lines that are very docile yet perform well.  IN fact, Paint racing is nearly bigger than QH racing out west.

Pro:  breeding to a registered paint would allow you to register the foal as a paint.

Con: you may have to pay to have the AQHA mare recognized by the APHA before allowing registration of the foal.

AQHA - a foundation QH or normal AQHA bloodlines would be a good pairing as well.  The foundation lines have been built on the traditional QH build and disposition - don't rule out another QH as a possibility.

Pro:  Registerability, again

Con: LOTS of names and lines to become familiar with

Percheron or Clydesdale (any type of draft) These horses are typically more docile than others, but eat more forage (hay) therefore may cost a bit more to feed.

Pro: They usually are a good cross for disposition, sure footedness, and ease of care (many wranglers out west that supply mounts to dude-ranches use draft crosses for the reasons listed here)

Con: Usually can't register them in a typical registry such as AQHA - there may be an offering in American Sport Horse, I don't know.  The crossing of Drafts on light horses is gaining popularity - you'd need to check into the possibilities.

Where to get the 'stuff' from?  You need to do some homework here.  Locate a stallion by watching internet ads, visiting your local tack stores, word of mouth, AQHA's Quarter Horse journal or APHA's Paint Horse Journal - these are the advertising publications for stallion service.  I would highly suggest asking local people where a horse like you are looking for can be found in your vicinity.  Due to the possibility of artificial insemination, one can breed to a horse from anywhere in the world.

Cons for AI: Add'l cost to collect, ship and administer - if the horse you are interested in is far away, you must get knowledge of him to make a good, informed decision which might cost more to travel there.

Pros: You can breed to a good match even if the animal is far away.

I think that about covers all your questions.  

Once again, I'll strongly caution against this - I feel is is more responsible to search and find another horse with the qualities you are searching for.  You CAN find one, probably locally.  You may even find on that needs a good home.  Would you rather start a youngster and take the (high) rish of creating a value-less horse likely to be mis-used or abused later in life or would you rather take a horse already born and give it a wonderful, loving home it needs?  Horses such as this are plentiful because breeding has become so easy - any ol' backyard horse owner with money can breed without full understanding of what they're getting into.

I've personally raised 3 youngsters to training and riding - I've been in a family that's raised many of them.  Trust me, when I say "It's extremely easy to make a small move with a young horse and ruin it - teaching poor habits is MUCH easier than teaching good habits - and poor habits are MUCH harder to break later in the horse's life than starting from scratch as a knowledgeable horse trainer with a green horse.  If you start a young horse, s***w it up, you'll have a useless animal on your hands destined for a life of stress and likely abuse.

Sorry to be so down on this - I know we all have dreams - but the reason the horse market is so down now is mainly because irresponsible, ill-prepared people breed low-quality horses thinking they'll have a perfect horse when it grows up or they'll make money.  Horses with issues are a dime a dozen which brings down the value of the ones worthwhile.

I can go out right now and purchase a QH of foundation breeding that's been trained to the hilt on a good ranch as a youngster of maybe 3-8 for less than $4000 right now - and you can't get a well-bred foal on the ground, broke and started as a 3 year old for that amount of money unless you're a professional horseman.

good luck!

Answer 2

I wouldn't breed the mare to anything but another quarter horse. I don't know what part of the state you live in but there are good stables here that you may visit and perhaps the way to  go is AI. Look in the phone book under stables, etc... ask questions, find out how they get it done.

If you don't go with another quarter horse, don't go larger than what she is. A Percheron is huge! I can't imagine it being a good mix, kind of like mixing a Cocker Spaniel with a BullDog, they ain't pretty...

Answer 3

I dont agree when people cross breed. I say breed her to Quarter Horse stallion. Though, if you want color, which is what people really look for, Paints would be a good choice too. Paints are stock type horses just like Quarter Horses. When looking for that stallion, look for good bloodlines. Definitely look for Impressive, Three Bars, Two Eyed Jack, Sonny Dee Bar, Conclusive, and Zips Chocolate Chip.

Answer 4

If your mare has papers with the AQHA then only breed her to another QH  Also if you have to ask what "stuff" you need then you probably shouldn't breed the horse.

  Breeding is for the enhancement or continuation of a breed standard. If you are breeding just to get a certain designer horse, do the QH breed a favor and just go look for and buy the horse you have in mind.  

  If your mare has papers and you really want to breed her, please call the AQHA or go to www.aqha.com in Texas and ask for assistance. They'll put you in contact with a breeder nearby who can help you and provide the stallion.

  You can probably find a QH stallion with large build similar to a smaller draft horse. They're not common but I had one and knew a place in Ky that bred they're QH to be like that.

Answer 5

To be realistic, I'd find a registered AQHA stallion with GREAT bloodlines, nice conformation and maybe a bit of colour(Palomino, buckskin, dun) and breed your mare to him.  You may not always have your foal and by choosing to breed your mare to something other than a QH doesn't give the foal the option of finding the best home IF you have to sell her.

I sent 2 horse north after my dad died on a use lease.  It took me 5 years to get the one surviving horse back and I couldn't have done it if I hadn't had the papers on him and the leasee, didn't have a signed transfer or bill of sale, let alone know what his registered name was.

Papers always make sure a horse gets a better home than what they could have gotten as a grade horse provided that they are sound and useable.  You'll also be able to sell them for more money if the time comes you have to sell them.

Answer 6

Right now the horse market is TERRIBLE.  If you have a well bred QH mare (parents have earned a ROM or better in AQHA) and she also has QH points - then yes, breed her.  Otherwise, realize that you're just adding to the problem of there being too many horses and not enough hay or trainers or people that want them.  Even if you intend to keep them for all 30+ years of their life - you don't know what your future entails.

Now - if your horse is a well bred horse with a good personality - then go ahead and breed her.  Breed her either to a registered QH or a registered paint.  You need to create a registerable foal.  By breeding your QH mare to a paint - you can register it as a paint (if it's solid, you can still register it as a breeding stock paint).  This would also allow your baby to be able to be shown in futurities.  Attend a "Stallion Auction" to purchase a breeding.  That money gets put into a big pot and a year later you all come back and show the babies - the best babies get BIG checks.

A percheron or clydesdale carries the possiblity of being too large of a foal for birthing.  It also would not be registerable and would never be worth very much to sell.

If you're going to breed - breed responsibly.  Find a quality stud in your area or do AI.  Only bred to a QH, Paint, Palomino, etc. that you will be able to register.  Best wishes...

Answer 7

Oh well, if you don't even know how to get the horse bred you probably shouldn't be doing it.  I promise you that you can actually buy a young horse much, much cheaper than you can breed one for.  Consider that you will need to pay a stud fee to the owner of the stallion and pay for mare care, then you need to feed the mare a higher quality and quantity of feed for the 11 month pregnancy, then, assuming you get a healthy foal and the mare doesn't die you have to feed the baby for 3 years before you can even think of riding it...Then you have to pay for training...the costs just keep adding up.

Answer 8

umm...

if it is not going to be a racing horse than I would breed with a paint. I really like paints but not as a rodeo horse.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Answer 9

quarter horses paint crosses are usually well rounded horses....my 4-h leader's paint mare just had a QH x Paint baby and she is drop dead gorgeous and well behaved for a 2 month old horse

Answer 10

There should be some info on RFD-TV's website. or you can go to the AQHA website. There are also sites available to use to buy s***n for artifical insemination or to use a stud. good luck. your lucky to own an AQHA horse.

Answer 11

my barn is big on QH and we sent a QH mare to texas to be bred with a AQHAxPaint the foal is very cute and tall! he is dark bay and the mom was a cherry bay.

hope this helps please best answer!

p.s. I would not do a clysdale or percheron he will looked deformed? try a breed with close body ttypes!

Answer 12

Don't cross breed.  Breed for a registerable foal...either APHA or AQHA, and make sure the stallion is registered and perferably has a show record. You want to know that the stallion has made use of his bloodlines, plus knowing that the stallion has a show record usually means the stallion is easy to work with and has a decent personality.