Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Breeding unridable mare

Dear Jessica, it seems like every week there is something just for me in your horse-sense column. Thank you very much for doing this for all of us, or should I say, "the rest of us"? Here's my problem, I have a mare that is five years old and too lame to ride. She started to have navicular really young, and she has special shoes and all but it isn't enough to make her a riding horse again. So I really only got to ride her for one and a half years, from when she was two to when she got lame. What I want to know is what do you think about breeding her? She isn't perfect, her neck is too short and and her legs are too straight but there are some good stallions right around where I live and they could probably fix those problems in the foal. What do you think? Oh, shes a Quarter Horse if that makes any difference, and the stallions are Quarter Horse stallions too. Thanks Jessica!

Sondra

Hi Sondra! You probably won't like this answer, but my suggestion is that you do NOT breed your mare. The tendency to navicular disease appears to be more heritable than we once believed, and that's not a legacy you would want to pass on to a foal. Furthermore, the too-short neck and too-straight legs aren't characteristic you want to pass along either! And although there are stallions that tend to pass on THEIR heads and necks, or THEIR hindquarters, regardless of the mare's contribution, you're going to be counting on the stallion to "fix" too many, and too important, problems. You can't count on that.

A good rule of thumb, for anyone who has a mare and is thinking about breeding her, is to ask yourself this question: Would I be happy if she cloned?

In other words, if she produced a little replica of herself, that would grow up to be just like her, would you be thrilled or would you be upset? If the answer is "I'd love it, I wish she WOULD clone", breed her. If the answer is "Well, hey, I could live with it, she's a pretty nice mare and a good performer," she's probably a good breeding prospect FOR YOU. If the answer is "Well, the foal would have to have better legs/neck/disposition/soundness," then do NOT breed her.

Your plans for the foal are another consideration. If you know that whatever you get will have a home for life -- with you -- then you have more flexibility as to what you can accept in a foal. If you know that "Lady" is not a very GOOD mare, but you love her, you want a foal of hers even if it spends its life as a pet, roaming the property, then it's up to you. But if you want to breed a horse that you can compete, or if you have ANY notion of SELLING the foal later. you have to think in terms of creating quality (not a bad idea in ANY case!). There are a lot of horses in the world, and many of them are for sale. If you want a horse to ride, you would do better to start looking for something that is already here, trained and SOUND -- something that your instructor and vet will both like, and something that you can ride and enjoy right away.

Sorry if I've rained on your parade. ;-) But truly, breeding a mare should be something that you do because you have a great mare whose traits you want to perpetuate -- NOT because you have a mare who isn't sound enough to be ridden, and whose traits you hope the stallion will change. The old saying is "breed the best to the best, and hope for the best" -- it's good advice. Even then, you don't necessarily GET the best -- but at least the cards are stacked in your favour. If the mare you're thinking about breeding is a mare you wouldn't BUY if you found her at a sale, think again.

Jessica

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