my welsh D x arab mare is 18 this year. she has had a foal in the past with previous owners. she has such fantastic bloodlines and a brilliant personality and i feel i want the challenge of a foal..its been a dream of mine. The thing is i love her to bits and dont want to threaten her wellbeing. she is physically fit and well. If i was to breed her i would want her to throw a larger foal (she is 14.2 and i would want something around 15.2) would this ordeal be too traumatic...anyone bred from an older mare or knows anything? all help appreciated.
Answers:
Our mare had her last foal at 18. And was fine. But having an older mare (or any mare in foal for that matter) that a little more than just upping her feed intake. Think about this. To get a mare in foal and a baby on the ground will cost you about $2000 minimum. Breeding fee to a good stallion $1000 - $1500. Mare care while she is at the stud farm. $200. Routine vet work while she is in foal. $500. Do you know how to foal out a mare and what to look for if trouble arises? Vet to get the baby here with no problems - $150. Any complications, and the price goes up from there. And hopefully the baby does not have any health issues, such as a hernia that needs to be repaired, or the mare rejects him and he has to be bottle fed, etc. And what is you wanted a black filly and got a sorrel stud colt? As cheap as horses are right now, I would not even think about breeding. If you want to breed her, go ahead. But please do not romanticize the process. It takes a lot of work just getting a foal on the ground. And it not like you see in the movies.
i wouldn't push it. after something like that the mare may become extremely weak, refuse to eat, and die.
ask the vet
We've had positive outcomes from breeding older mares, although they had foaled many times previously. If she settles after breeding and she is in good health, it probably wouldn't endanger her. Check with your vet, though. S/he will know best about this particular animal.
Your best bet would be to have the vet come out and check her. She is not too old, I've known horses that have foaled in their 20s and one in her 30s. Your biggest concern is weather she is barren or not. The size I don't think will be an issue because a 15.2 HH horse is really not that big. I have a 3 y/o that is 16.1, and she was a decent sized foal, but not abnormally big, but she is out of a huge mare 16.3HH. Just take your time selecting a stud, pick one with breeding that will complement the mare, not just on size alone. I would rather have a quality foal that would be a smaller horse than a piece of junk that will be the size I want it to. Take an honest look at your mare, and find what you don't like about her, find a stallion that has the desired traits and is known for passing them along. Say if your mare has a straight profile on her face for being half Arab, you would want a stud that is known for passing along his head. That is of course an example. Be very particular about breeding your mare, it will pay off with a beautiful foal.
It's so hard to say without any certainty because it really depends on the horse. I think it's a combination of the overall health of the horse, soundess, etc. My family has been breeding horses over 20 years - I can definitely recall a few broodmares who were in the 13 and 14yr range who still acted like 6 yr olds, were healthy, sound and had no problems being re-bred or foaling.
The best advice I can offer (since I'm not sure how long you've had your mare or how well you know her) is to set up an appointment with your vet to come down and have a look at her. Let he/she know you have been thinking about breeding her but you're concerned about her age and you'd like him/her to check her over and give you their opinion.
Best of luck to you!
I'll address another issue. If you want a 15.2hh horse, you are very likely NOT going to get it out of this mare. Even if you breed her to a 16.2hh stud. At best, you may get a 15hh foal.
If you want something of that size, go buy a foal. Then you don't have to worry about all the problems of breeding. Prices are rock bottom right now in the horse world. It would be cheaper to buy a weanling or yearling than to breed your mare and get a foal on the ground and to the point it is ready to work.
Go to some of the studs that you like, talk with the owners. They often have a couple of young horses sitting around that they would rather sell cheap to someone who will use them and show them than to sell them at a sale.
Good luck hun.
She's not too old, and the fact that she is not a maiden mare is to your advantage. Start with a full reproductive exam- an ultrasound and collection of a sample from her uterus which can be cultured for bacteria. This will determine if the mare is reproductively healthy to rebreed. Chronic, low-grade uterine infections, quite common in horses, need be taken care of before the mare can be successfully bred.
And it is a common misconception that the size of the stallion effects the size of the FETUS. It does not. If you bred her to a larger stallion, the fetus will not become so big that the mare cannot foal out. I used to work at a barn that bred shires to smaller mares all the time - thoroughbreds, pains %26 quarter horses - even a morgan, and I have been in other barns that have had mares well into their 20's still being active broodmares.
how long has it been since she had a baby? if its been more then 2 years or so i wouldnt try it, i tried with my mare 2 times and the first one as a stillborn and the second time she aborted the baby
My 14.1 hand Arabian mare was bred to a 16.1 hand Paint stallion. She has a daughter who is 15.1 and a son who is 15.3. Bred to a 15.3 Quarterhorse, she has a daughter who is 15.3 Bred to a 16.2 hand Arabian, she had a 14.1 daughter.
All these foals were tiny babies. The only issue I have with the small mare/large stallion is his weight if he's a natural breeder, he may be a bit much for her. As for an 18 year old mare... she needs a thorough vet exam. It is hard to settle an older mare who hasn't had a foal in years for a number of reasons. If your vet hasn't got good experience settling older mares, find a repro specialist so you get the mare in foal for the least effort for her and your wallet. She is certainly young enough to handle a pregnancy at 18, other than repro issues.
An older mare is always a chance, from about 12 years and older is always chancey depending on the mares history. 18 years old is deffinatly something that I would have her fully checked by a vet and get his professional opinion about her physical state. A baby isn't worth losing the mama over.
From my experience the oldest you would ever want to breed a mare is about 15-16 years old. I feel 18 is too old. If you want a foal that bad, why dont you buy one?
I would not breed her! normally breeding stops at least by 15 cuz they are not fit enough anymore and it could cause harm and even if the babys born fine and the mares fine the mare will lose weight cuz of the baby nursing on her! i just dont recommend breeding that old!
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