365 Days in Horse Country – Should You Breed Your Horse?
Many horse owners believe that if they have a mare, they
should breed her at some point in her life.
After all, wouldn’t it be fun to have a foal around?
Before you breed your mare, you must make some considerations.
Just like with dogs and cats, more horses exist than homes. Thousands of horses go to slaughter each year because they are unwanted, and most of them are not old or lame. They simply have nowhere else to go. You must have a good reason to breed your mare if you plan to contribute to the horse population. Here are some contributions to consider.
Your contribution to the breed. Does your mare contribute something important or unique to her breed, and will there be a lifelong market for your foal? If your mare is not registered with a breed registry, you shouldn’t even consider breeding her unless you plan to keep the resulting foal for the rest of its natural life. The market for grade horses (the term used for horses of unknown breeding) is small, and many of these horses end up in slaughterhouses.
Also, unless your mare has great conformation and terrific skills that should be preserved and passed down to another generation, it’s better to leave her a maiden, especially if you can’t find a suitable stallion to complement whatever faults your mare possesses.
Cost in Time and Money. There are several costs involved in having a foal. Your first will be the stud fee. Next, you’ll be spending money on prenatal care. Once the foal is born, you’ll have to have a vet check the baby over. All this expense is to be expected, but what happens if something goes wrong with mom or baby? You could spend a fortune in vet bills, and worst case scenario, you could lose both the foal and your beloved mare in a medical emergency.
Before you go out looking for a stallion to breed your mare to, please be responsible and refrain from breeding your mare just for the fun of it.
Michael