do i breed her?

seriously why breed? I have a wonderful Jack Russell terrier that has a perfect tempermant and everyone begs me to breed her and have puppies, but really I don't want to put her through the stress. As much as I would like to breed her I know there are enough dogs w/o homes and I would not want anything to happen to her during birthing.

I don't know you or your horse but I def would listen to the other posters. Do you have the time and $ to devote to the mom and baby? Is there really a reason to breed the two horses in question, do you believe they will produce a really exceptional horse? There are so many full horse rescues, etc. Just really think about it. good luck

Do you have the time for a foal...I mean really have the time? We bought my boys a pony in Jan and we did not know she was in foal. I am a full time nursing student, mom, wife...i do not have the time for this baby. I mean I try and work with her every day but sometimes it is just a lot. i know nothing about foals. She still isn't halter broken because i haven't had the time to go out there and wrestle her. I should have had it on her after a couple of days but like I said with my lack of knowledge i didn't know and now I have to wrestle a nearly 3 month old. Also now my boys have no pony to ride. They have no expierence riding and so I can't safety wise let them ride with baby along side. Vet bill after baby was $250 and the ultrasound to confirm pregnancy was $50. Now if I had known she was pregnant before i would have incurred vaccination costs ect. When baby gets old enough to start on feed the junior feed is $18 a bag! Now granted it will probably take her a while to go through one but ouch.I also don't have a lot of room. it was a push bringing in the pony on the amount of land we have and now we have 4. then when it comes time a few years down the road I will have to send her out to be trained under saddle because I am to big to ride a pony. Please think carefully. The lady i bought my pony from offered me to breed her to an Arab stud and while it sounded like fun to have a baby I knew that we couldn't do it.
With your mare having arthritis I would really think about what this is going to do to her body. Think of how hard pregnancy is on a woman. It is just as hard for a horse...especially with all that we ask of them.

Horses and people are not the same pregnant or other wise. The only one that can know if you should breed your mare is you everyone elses situation is different. I raise 10 to 15 foals a year and they take very little time until I wean them. I never halter break them until after being weaned then I spend about two weeks halter breaking, teaching to pick up feet, and loading. After that they get turned out until their two year olds we halter them for farrier work, worming and vaccinating but other wise they run in pastures till fall of their two year old year when we start formal training.

We've never found the need for a special diet at all we feed oats, alfalfa/grass hay, salt free choice, and min/via free choice. Foals certainly aren't for everyone but its not exactly rocket science work raising them either. Compared to raising children their a cake walk.

Maybe it isn't hard for you as someone who is a professional and obviously does this for a living. However with someone that has no knowledge of foaling or foals, weanlings or whatever it can be overwhelming and time consuming.

Everytime i post something on here asking for advice I get conflicting ways of doing things. I have been told I am wrogn for not having a halter on my foal already, wrong for wanting to get a halter on her, wrong for this and that. Everyone has a different way of doing things and for someone who doesn't know what they are doing yes it is hard work. Even if it isn't hands on with the foal it is researching what you should be doing.

Oh and I see you are a guy and have obviously NOT been pregnant. I am sorry but being pregnant does change your body and the way it works whether you are a horse, human, dog, cat, ect.

Agreed, stacie. Good post.


I am concerned for his mare as Chelle posted that the mare has arthritis, and decided against breeding her for that exact reason.

For that alone I say don't breed her.

There is no right or wrong way to do things only different ways. And ya I'm a guy but my repro vet I work with is a woman with two kids. Shes the one that told me horses and people are nothing alike as far as being pregnant. Now I suppose I could go with what someone on the internet says versus one of the top repro vets in this state but call me crazy I'll stick to the vet on the subject.

Well doesn't sound like the original poster is a regular breeder. Just take a look at all the rescue websites and and wonderful horses being given away. So the question is why bring another horse into the world? Even really high end horses are not moving in lots of markets. I know quite a few people who have bred for many years and now they are having a huge issue getting horses sold. Also the time factor is a huge thing for many people.

Stacieandtheboys you make good points. Also as for getting conflicting opinions on how to handle the baby, yes its like that on these forums, everyone has a different opinion. There are so many different theories and methods.

I would say there would have to be avery specific reason to breed right now. I just hate to think of all the horses w/o homes already

as far as pregnancy of course its very different for people/dogs/horses, etc. but it still does take its toll on the body regardless of the animal. So a horse with arthritis are probably not a great candidate. But to me its still more about why are you making another horse? what will be its purpose and do you have lots of time and extra cash if needed to care for it?

I don't know of anyone that was experianced until the first time they do something. Why breed a mare? The list of reasons people do is long and unless something on it is illegal theres no reason they shouldn't. Maybe someone else wouldn't do so and thats totally their business just as its someone elses business if they decide to breed.

Except for the fact that this mare has a health condition that should be very concerning even for a first time breeder.