Breeding my Mare?

Question

I have a 3 year old Thoroughbred mare from excellent lines and I've been wanting to breed her atleast once. We're going to wait till she is atleast 6 but I'm worried her hips are to narrow. She's 16 hands and has narrow hips and I'm worried it would cause complications. She's such a good filly, I know her foals would be AMAZING! But I'm not going to risk her life just to get a foal.

Also, if I do breed her. Should I geild a colt from such a great line? She comes from Dressage Champions and Racetrack winners. Also, her mother was killed when she was 1 so they'd like to pass on the line. Would it be wise to geild a colt from such a line? And If I don't, am I going to be misrebel with a roudy colt who is super agressive? The Aggressive gene is in her family for her sister is the devil x.x D= Please Help.

Answer 1

To me, family lines don't matter. If the mare has a great conformation and attitude, then there should be no problem-but since you think her hips are narrow then I wouldn't bother breeding her. So many horses are killed because people just have to breed their mares. If you are willing to keep the foal no matter how ugly it turns out, then go ahead and breed her if the vet says it would be safe. Yes, I would geld the colt. Anyone would be miserable with an aggressive colt, if someone sucky is handling/or not handling the foal then it will turn out poorly no matter what the gender. Since you have doubts, and it seems you don't know much about breeding at all then you shouldn't breed her.

EDIT: Do you have any pics of her?

After seeing the pic, no I wouldn't breed her. Her hips aren't as narrow as I expected, but they still are. She looks cow hocked and her shoulders also look narrow.

EDIT#2:

Us humans don't get slaughtered for overpopulation, they do. You asked for opinions, they were given. We aren't saying that your horse is a piece of p**p that needs plastic surgery, we are advising that you don't breed her because of her faults and that only about 1 in 100 foals live up to the expectations that are set for them. Horses with bad conformation end up just hurting themselves. I haven't seen one horse with bad conformation ever make it to the olympics or win a huge barrel racing contest-even on smaller scales.

Answer 2

THREE years of Nibiru we of the TRIBE ARABA hope.  Babies raise crazy.  Maturity is not a cheap prospect.   But in Wartyme do whatever is FAIR ENOUGH

Answer 3

I guess I don't understand why you would want to breed a mare who has a bad conformation fault (narrow hips) and comes from lines that have poor dispositions, (the sister got it) Just because this mare is sweet you have said that there are some genes in her lines that have aggressive behavior. So again why would you WANT to breed a mare like this.  You can't control the genes on disposition, but by golly don't start with bad conformation and then hope for the best. Breed horses that have exceptional conformation and dispositions and then hope for the best.  Based on the little bit you told me, her sire and dam bloodlines are not enough to breed her. I wouldn't breed her at all, there are enough average thoroughbreds out there. I say this with meaning because I have a colt here that is from superb breeding, his sire was imported from Australia and was a champion there, he came here and has won numerous National and Canadian National championships, is only 6 and already a Legion of Merit holder, and his dam is also a Top Ten winner at the Nationals in the ONLY time she ever showed. However should my colt decide he is going to be aggressive I would geld him in a heartbeat, despite what I know that his conformation is drop dead beautiful and correct for his discipline, aggressiveness in horses is dangerous its not a trait you want to include in a breeding program, especially if the mare already has conformation faults. I would love to see a photo of this mare. Objective people would probably be able to point out additional faults as narrow hips almost never have wide chests either. Sorry to be so blunt but you need to hear this and not be barn blind.

****Just checked out your album and found a photo that shows her chest. VERY NARROW, and her hind legs are too straight. Head is a little plain for a breeding mare and I don't like her neck either. Please don't breed this mare, I am sure she is a great horse, and that is fine, have fun but I don't think starting with all these faults is a good thing to keep in the gene pool.

Answer 4

as far as breeding your mare goes that is totally a desicion you should make. I have breed all different horses wide hips narrow hips and all have come out well. As far as a colt would go, if your mare has excellent bloodlines I would not guild him. Just look at Barbaro. I raised over a dozen colts who grew up to be fabulous studs. You can manner horses just like training dogs, you just need to have a lot of time and patience.  At our farm we had three studs we bred with and my six year old nieces could handle them. Not that I let them but they could. LOL. I would breed ur mare if YOU want to n if she has a colt try to manner him before you just assume he will be aggressive. Best of luck. Your mare is absolutely beautiful by the way.

Wow so much negativity. So I guess what everyone is saying is we as a society should never breed another animal again, because just as many cats and dogs are euthenized because people won't take care of them as horses. I hope you breed your mare, have a colt then in the future you have the best racehorse the world has ever known. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

Ok, first off, I don't like the way she looks.

True, we don't have people dictating whether we should "breed" or not, but in the wild, bad horses die. And we are overpopulated with horses as it is. Would you like her foal to wind up homeless or abused because of a surplus of horses????

Our first horse was the epitome of a perfect TB, perfect conformation. But the people didn't feel like feeding her. We got her 200 lbs underweight, and wound up having to put her down maybe 6 years later, at the young age of 14 because she wound up with melanoma cancer from the lack of care.

Is that the kind of life your horses baby MIGHT have????

Are you willing to risk that?

Answer 6

Well, you need to ask yourself this:

Has my horse accomplished anything?

Has she earned a TON of championship ribbons at rated shows?

Because bloodlines don't count necessarily- even the "best" bloodlines produce terrible horses.

Have a good horseperson (i.e. a certified trainer) look at her conformation, and if there's anything that isn't perfect, don't breed her.

Goodness knows there are too many horses out there without homes right now, so why put your mare through the stress of a pregnancy she might not survive, when you can get a perfectly good horse from the SPCA?

Everyone just HAS to breed their mare. That's the mentality I'm kind of hearing from you.

If you DO end up breeding her (although I hope you don't), geld any colts she delivers.

If you're so worried about the aggressive gene, don't breed her! People try to reason out that if they get a stud with a calm temperament, they'll get a calm foal. NOT TRUE! Just don't breed, and the world will be a much better place.

EDIT:

"I assure you, Charlie is very pretty. She's got long legs and a very nice conformation. Also, she has such a sweet nature. I took only 2 weeks to break her and she has so much personality. I'm not one of those people who just wants a foal. Charlie is such a wonderful horse I'm almost postive her foals would be the same"......................................

Okay...

Why are you breaking her at the age of three?!?!?!?!

Horses should NEVER be ridden until they are at least four! Do you want to ruin her joints forever?!?!

ALSO-

EVERY person who just HAS to breed their mare denies they are one of those people!

Prove to us that she is worth breeding!

Put up a ton of pics! If she's skinny, in a pasture surrounded by barbed wire fencing, or not squeaky clean and properly clipped, you can forget about us approving your abilities to properly care for a foal, let alone approving her conformation and worthiness to be bred!

SHOW us at least twenty REAL championship ribbons she has personally won from RATED shows!

AND... you can never predict what her foals are going to be like! The only thing you can kind of predict will be its color!

EDIT:

Thank you SO MUCH You Have to be Kidding!!!!!!!!! You're my hero of the day (and maybe tomorrow :) )

EDIT:

"Also, Why does she HAVE to be perfect? We're over populating but I don't ever see a doctor telling you your ugly and have no hope for kids! Having a foal shouldn't be about looks really. So if you were over weight or had fizzy hair you can't have kids? It's true that horses who go lame often shouldn't have foals or animals that are prone to cancer but can't something beautiful come from something average? If She doesn't meet the breed standard so what? She must have been good enough if she was born according to you peoples standards."....................

Here we go again:

You don't pass on obesity to your kids, it's the way you raise them.

Frizzy hair in horses has nothing to do with conformation.

Even the "best" racehorses have S****y hooves and thin bones... look at Eight Belles, Barbaro, and Big Brown!

She HAS to be perfect because every little fault in her and the stallion has the opportunity to become a huge problem in the foal's future, such as arthritis at an early age, and other conditions that would make it unusable, and therefore useless to you as the owner, and would have it end up on a cramped truck for days on the way to a slaughterhouse in Mexico.

And no... you cannot put together a hodge-podge of horse and expect it to be beautiful!

Fugly + Fugly = Fugly x 2!

And as for existing in the first place, the people who bred your mare sound EXACTLY like you! They just HAD to breed, even though their mare and stallion accomplished NOTHING in their lives except making more horses!

If your horse hasn't paid for itself through winning championships and if she is just the average horse out there, there's no need to breed!

Answer 7

I think you should breed her, but keep in mind that you might have to keep the foal for life. The horse market is cr*p right now, remember that. But if you do breed her, be sure to breed her to a well known and appreciated stallion, just in case your forced to sell. I'm not a TB person, so I don't know the great studs, but here are some:

~http://www.doyouhaveaminute.com/ (appendix)

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

~http://www.bloodhorse.com/stallion-regis...

Answer 8

One of every three thoroughbreds born ends up  being butchered so why risk another horse's life????

Answer 9

If you have to be asking this kind of advice on Yahoo!answers, you should not be breeding horses anyway.

Do bloodline research.  It will tell you everything that you need to know about how traits are passed on, what you'll likely get for disposition (though nothing is a guarantee), conformation, etc.

Have you done stallion research or are you just going to breed her to the first pretty stallion you see in a picture? You have to look at the stallion's conformation, temperament, bloodlines, and other offspring.  those other offspring will give you a pretty good indication of what kind of genes HE passes on.

Have you ever raised foals before?  If you don't know how to handle them they can all seem rowdy and aggressive.  Many potentially good horses have been ruined by people thinking they can raise and train them themselves, only to find out that they're in way over their heads.  And unless you're an experienced and in-charge kind of person you'll likely have a problem with any stallion.  And if you want to geld (you might also want to learn how to spell it) her offspring why would you care about her bloodlines?  A gelding can't pass those genes on, so again breeding becomes pointless if you don't intend on continuing the line because you can't deal with stallions.

I know this isn't the advice you were looking for, but it sounds like you don't know the first thing about breeding, and as such should NOT be doing so.

If her bloodlines are that impressive, you could probably get top dollar selling her to a reputed breeding operation.

Like others have said, there are too many unwanted horses in this world to in any good conscience contribute to the problem as a backyard breeder.

Answer 10

just don't breed fugly... just for the fun of it. i'd like to breed my mare too, but i'm not sure when, and what i'll do with the foal... i'm so scared of breeding fugly! there's already plenty of abondoned horses and plenty going to slaughter already, there may not be the need of another horse in the world right now. the market is bad now, especially with the rising gas (and DIESEL prices). most people right now i assume are looking for seasoned horses for showing or older, calm, reliable horses for their young or beginning children.

if you get a colt, geld it asap unless you are planning on using it for breeding. a stallion colt is usually like your passport to h**l on earth, and even when they are gelded they can be nightmares at times.

Answer 11

It should be okay. Ask your vetinarian for some advice. It's a risk though; first time mothers, especially young ones can panic when foaling, so have your vet there when she foals in case something goes wrong.

As for gelding the colt (if it's a colt) it's a good idea. Even if the mare comes from great lines, the foal could be a dud and you'll have to deal with a possibly aggressive foal. Of course, if you continue to breed the mare with care, she could be a blue hen type of horses, but until you know that for sure, geld the colts. You'll have less testosterone to deal with.

Good luck!

Answer 12

she is only 3 and is not fully developed which is why I think you are waiting but even though she is narrow When she is in foal her hips will spread her body will change to make room for the baby. It should not be a big deal. But always ask you vet horses are not to much different when it comes to pregnance. The body will natural make room and family lines do matter. The lines is how you can improve on horses which is why they are important to so many it is all about  improvment. You can breed you horse and do what every you want I am so tried of people thinking they know it  all and they can not just answer the ? they feel the need to share their personal feeling and tell you what to do. I think when you breed you mare you will consider all the ramifcations like not being able to find it a home or not being able to keep it its hole life. But even if your mare is not the prettyiest some times they throw the nicest babies and if you breed her to a realy nice stallion they baby could be beautiful. Some times the prettiest horses are crossed and thorw very ugly foal . So do what you know in your heart is best.

Answer 13

At 3 years she isn't fully mature enough to be able to know for sure how wide her hip bones are going to when she's fully grown at around 6 years. Horses, mares particulary, tend to really thicken through the body as they age and mature.

All that aside, it's always risky when ever you breed your mare. There are things you can do to make it as safe as possible of course but there's no way to remove the risks entirely. Even covering the mare to get her in foal to start with is risky in itself, since she's a TB your only option is Live Cover, or the foal doesn't qualify for registration with the Jockey Club. LIve Cover is actually risky for all involved; the stallion, the mare and the handlers involved.

Regarding the foal, if it's a colt yes it probably should be gelded. IMO about 50% (or more) of the stallions out there already should be gelded. Stallions should only remain stallions and reproduce only  if they are near perfect (pedigree wise, conformationaly and disposition/termperament wise), have accomplished some goal and can be assured to provide better qualities to inprove the mares they cover. They should also be able to contribute to the gene pool traits that are not readily available from any other cross, something special.

Same goes for mares, just because she's well bred and has nice conformation doesn't mean she should be bred. Ask yourself...Are those bloodlines rare or hard to find? Is her confirmation near perfect? Is her disposition near perfect? What has she accomplished herself? All the same criteria should apply to mares as well as stallions. Run an internet search for those bloodlines, see their accomplishments and if they do have high accomplishments to their credit, run another search to see how widespread or available those lines are. Not much point in paying x*x amount of $$ to produce a baby that has ***** (fill it in with your choice)  bloodlines when you can go out and purchase one on the ground that has those same bloodlines, without risking your mare.

Stallions are generaly more rowdy and aggressive even while still colts. Basicly they are a lot of trouble and have to properly cared for and trained or you do get the super aggressive stallions that everyone hears horror stories about. Your average horse owner simply isn't qualified to deal with them day to day nor to they generally have the proper facilities to house one. Stallions need special fencing ect just to be safe not to mention happy. So yes, if you do breed her and get a colt I do think gelding it would be a good idea.

EDITED TO ADD: I just saw your pics of her and she does look like a pretty and kind mare. I'm sure she is a wonderful mare and I understand why you love her. BUT ...Conformationally she has flaws other than narrow hips and narrow chest. She's much too straight in the back as well and her shoulder is a little straight. I don't really like her loin area, it looks too weak as well. Generally, when breeding you should pick apart both the mare and stallion, put every single one of those flaws no matter how small together and picture that as your foal, it is what you could get. It could, of course, go the other way but it is doubtful.

The reason only near perfect horses should be bred is because they're are too many mediocre horses being born already. Just because someone else does it does not make it right. 90% of those mediocre horses will find themselves thrown to side and next thing they know they are packed into a double decker trailer with 50+ more terrified "mediocre" horses all on their way to die a terrible painful death in a Mexico slaughter house. Even good horses slip through the cracks and find themselves in there as well.

And the difference between human and horses overpopulating is that horses have no control over it. Does your mare (or any other) have the option of saying "No, I think I'll wait a couple more years?" or "There's too many horse dieing I choose not to have a foal."?? No she doesn't.

And as far as humans go, yes, I've seen quite a few whom I didn't think should be allowed to reproduce either!

Answer 14

I would wait a year or two yet, wait until she stops growing.  I dont think narrow hips would cause complications, get your vet to check her if you are unsure.  I would geld the colt if he is aggressive/stupid/whatever.  Only keep a nice, willing stallion who won't accidentally kill you :P.

Answer 15

What has she done that makes her worthy to be breed (other than pedigree)? or what do you plan to do with her? As for the colt that might result, he needs to have something to pass on to his foals beside a good pedigree.