Should I let my horse have a baby?

Question

i was wonderin if it would be a good idea to let my 9 year old mare have a baby. i've only had her about 1 year so im not sure if it would be her 1st baby or not. but if it was her 1st baby, should i get a vet to look her over first?

Answer 1

i think it would be a great idea they do it in the wild so why would it be bad  its a perfitly normal thing for every thing to do so i would say let her

Answer 2

A foal? Yes she would be at the perfect age to have her first foal, but any later and it can be dangerous (I know from personal experience) You need to have her checked by a vet and swobbed before you can put her to a stallion.  Does she have good conformation? There is no point breeding off a  bad mare, there are plenty of unsound and unwanted horses out there already!

Answer 3

nah

Answer 4

Why?  It is not something that every mare has to do.  She will not suffer ill health or anything if she doesn't have a foal.

There are too many horses out there that have been bred because the owner wants a foal to play with.  Trust me, they are only cute and furry for abut 6 weeks, and then they get strong, start to bite and generally try to walk all over you.  If you've never handled a foal before you could get hurt or even end up training the foal incorrectly.

Having a foal is a big responsibility - they need just as much care as a full-grown horse, but you have to wait years to get any of the benefits, like riding.  They are also expensive: you have all the vet bills to look after the mare during the pregnancy, the extra feed she needs to support the pregnancy and milk production, etc.  It is not something you should enter into without careful thought.

If you are adament you want to go ahead with it, then yes get your vet to check her over and start thinking about the stallion you want to use.  You should pick a stallion that compliments your mare: if she is small, maybe use a bigger stallion; if she is a stocky type maybe use a fine boned stallion, etc.

Unless your mare is very talented in her field of work and you are looking to pass that on, I'd recommend that you DON'T breed from her.

Answer 5

no never,,, but you could let her have a foal

Answer 6

Breeding is just adding to the horrible overpopulation of horses we have right now. But if you want to do that you'd want to have her vet checked, learn about conformation and maybe join a horse forum ask around and see what knowledgeable people think about her, big breeders know a lot about conformation they can tell you a lot.  Honestly, you can buy a horse cheaper than breeding one (plus the risks to your mare).

bigrey