[KBA6]

Hello all

A lady I ride with and have been good friends with was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and I have inherited her mare. She is a Palomino quarter horse, maybe 16yo (could be 1 or 2 years older). I do not know her exact DOB, but I know that she has never had a foal.

I am having a vet come out in a month to do the yearly vet check, and I'll bring it up with them as well, but just thought I would see what the community had to say.

Is she too old to have a foal? Would it be too hard for her since she is getting up in years? She goes into season EVERY MONTH ... so I know she is still capable.

I'm a newbie to breeding. It's been 20 years since I've last had a pregnant mare so I'm just throwing around the idea. I also just watched videos of foals on youtube so I'm baby crazy right now!

 

[cbako01]

Would be boarder-line I'd imagine and depend a lot on her overall physical health. Older maiden mares are often very difficult to get in-foal as they tend to have delayed uterine clearance and retain fluid after breeding (so frozen is not usually recommended). Not impossible to get them in-foal, but they can require more intensive vet care than the young maidens or mares who have recently foaled. Also, coming into season every month throughout the year is not normal and may indicate something amiss with her hormones. Some mares do come into season year round, but I would certainly mention it to the vet and have a pre-breeding exam done. All this being considered, you could probably pick up a nice weanling for the same cost or less it would take to breed this particular mare. With her being an older maiden I would expect her to take a few cycles to catch. Either way, discuss it with your vet and if you are serious about breeding her, have a pre-breeding exam done and then go from there.

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

As a 16 yo maiden, I would expect her to take several times of AI to catch. She may or may not settle because at her age she may not produce enough of the hormones to make the embryo 'stick'. She's also more likely to have a 'dummy' foal and that comes with its own set of issues, near term and far reaching. My rule of thumb is pretty much 13 years old as the oldest maiden I'd breed. She could catch on the first time with live cover, but retention could still be an issue. I'd have to be in the 'buy a foal' camp. I'm sure she's pretty, but do you even know her pedigree? Her 5 panel status? There are a LOT of reasons why I would not breed and very few for why I would.

 

[ApuetsoT]

What would be the purpose of breeding her?

 

[SilverMaple]

Unless she's truly stellar, it might be more trouble and risk than it's worth. You can buy a weanling for a lot less risk and cost than getting this mare in foal.

Now, if she is truly an outstanding individual in temperament, breeding, and conformation, the easiest way to get an older mare in-foal is live cover. It comes with its own set of risks, but the success rate tends to be higher. Many breeders will do a breeding soundness exam, and if all is well, simply turn mares like this out in a broodmare band with a stallion to pasture breed, and if she settles, great. If she doesn't, her likelihood of settling with AI is near zero.

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

I have hand bred older mares like this one, but have not had great success with pasture breeding. They can be pretty 'shy' and may not stand for the stallion. That's where the 'whole nuther set of problems' comes into play.

 

[SilverMaple]

I have hand bred older mares like this one, but have not had great success with pasture breeding. They can be pretty 'shy' and may not stand for the stallion. That's where the 'whole nuther set of problems' comes into play.

A friend who discovered a treasure trove of rare older lines of Appaloosa in a herd of maiden mares that appeared on her local Craigslist and were all nearly unhandled and 15 - 20 years old got all but one settled with no trouble turning them out to pasture with her stud. It just depends on the mares in question and the stallion whether to hand-breed or pasture breed, but my main point is that AI with an older mare may be much less successful than live cover.

 

[Kaifyre]

Is she papered? Is she perfectly broke? Does she have a fantastic show record? Will the resulting foal sell for good money?

If the answers to any of these questions are a 'no' there's absolutely no reason to breed this mare. There are enough horses in the world already. This mare's age makes complications to her and her foal both much much more likely. The foal would likely cost you more to produce than it would sell for, so any monetary gains you might be hoping for are going to be slight, if at all. Unless this mare has phenomenal bloodlines (unlikely since you don't know the DOB so I'm guessing she's not papered) and you're planning on breeding her to a real winner of a stud, you'll be breeding "just some mare" to "just some stud" and you'll get "just another horse". I hate to be the bearer of bad news but America at least is inundated with crap horses, and more are bred every day by yahoos who don't take bloodlines, show records, temperament or conformation into consideration and just want to produce "just another horse". I'm not saying that you are one of these people, but those people have made it even harder for decent breeders to get decent horses onto the market. It's unfortunate, but it is the truth.

-- Kai

 

[KBA6]

What would be the purpose of breeding her?

Honestly ... nostalgia. And to have another foal to have from birth.

I've had my gelding since he hit the ground. We had his mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, uncle, father, grandfather and great-grandfather ... so I grew up with a family of horses in my life. When my family talks about "the horses", it's like we are talking about family. I grew up on a cattle farm.

My boy is the last of that family of horses, and he is around 20 now. This mare is my only other horse and I just had the spark of an idea of starting another family of horses ... but I don't have cattle anymore so it would just be to have another horse since they are getting older.

She is papered (I just don't have them yet). Her bloodlines are supposed to be good, but I've never really cared about that ... like I said, the horses were our family. They were amazing, well trained/bred Arabs and I still have their papers. But I wouldn't have sold them for any amount of money. I wouldn't be breeding her to sell the foal, just to have another horse from birth.

After reading all of these replies, I think I'm sold on buying a foal or young horse. It would be too risky for her, and possibly above my expertise to care for an older pregnant mare.

Thanks for all the replies!!