22yr TB Should I Breed?

[alibi_18]

@AppyLover95

Where I live it’s very hard to find an exceptional breeder who sells horses/foals that can do what I need and that are handled/worked with regularly.

Would you consider yourself an exceptional breeder?

• I don’t think consciencious breeders would cross deliberately a TB and a Friesian for the eventing market to start with.

What is it that you need that is so exceptional that no breeders are offering?

• You can find everything at almost any price. I highly doubt you cannot find something at a decent budget that wouldn’t suit your needs.

What type of work/handling are you thinking of?

• More than often, youngsters are better when not being harassed too much and left to live in pasture with same sex/age herd.

Regarding the

I’d look for stallions that would compliment her while also improve any flaws to insure that the foal would be well proportioned.

With such cross, you cannot insure that the foal would be well proportioned.

ETA : The 15.5 is odd.

[ThirdCharm]

Quite frankly a decently built Quarter Horse would be just as suitable for dressage or eventing as a TB/FresianX. TBs are not (generally) particularly amazing in dressage, and Fresians as a rule are not the most apt jumpers. You will probably end up with something middling at both. Plenty of nice athletic QHs out there. Hair extensions are cheaper than raising a foal.

Jennifer

[OneTwoMany]

@alibi_18

ETA : The 15.5 is odd.

Yes!

[cnm161]

@ThirdCharm

Quite frankly a decently built Quarter Horse would be just as suitable for dressage or eventing as a TB/FresianX. TBs are not (generally) particularly amazing in dressage, and Fresians as a rule are not the most apt jumpers. You will probably end up with something middling at both. Plenty of nice athletic QHs out there. Hair extensions are cheaper than raising a foal.

Jennifer

Additionally, Freisians are (generally) hard to get and keep fit, and some have issues with failing to sweat. None of those traits are good for an eventual eventing career.

[WildLittleWren]

@RPM

The “15.5 hands” in the OP bothers me. Did anyone else notice it? Most people would have put “15.2 hands.”

That, and the desire to breed the TB mare to a Friesian, says “not-very-knowledgeable horse person” to me. It also reminds me of a dialogue I overheard at a show one day: one person mentioned he’d like to have a TB-Friesian cross, and the other person said, “WHY?”

I was wondering if I was the only one bothered by the 15.5 hands :lol: . There is no such thing as 15.5 hands

[bt1]

@Laurierace

So many no’s in one post.

MMMMM Yeeeeahhhh NO NO NA NO NO NO to the HELLLZ NO…not only does the world not need another basically back yard foal your mare does not need another baby at her age

[Greypolopony]

I’ve seen this exact cross…it was eventually given away for free because it was both spooky like a TB but lazy like a draft. I can’t see something like that being a fun eventing prospect.

[Redlei44]

Others have wisely answered three different questions for you, OP.

Should you breed a 22 year old mare? Maybe, depending primarily on the vet’s assessment, and on your tolerance for increased risk to the mare/foal and increased likelihood that it will be an expensive project.

Should you breed this 22 year old mare? Maybe, but you mentioned that this mare has foaled race babies in the past - do you know that they became nice sport/pleasure horses after racing? If not, you have little evidence this mare will give you what you’re after. And that’s before branching out into non-traditional breeds for the sire.

Should you breed this 22 year old mare to a Fresian to get an eventing prospect? Probably not, based on all the advice here from experienced folks who know eventing and know Fresians. Also, no matter the sire, one has to assume that a foal is just as likely to acquire the below-average traits from both parents as they are the above-average traits. That’s just statistics!

I commend you for asking these great questions and aspiring to be a responsible breeder.

[Scribbler]

Interesting discussion of Friesian health issues here. No idea if they are a risk in crossbreds too.

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/10186939-friesian-longevity-health-advice

[Calamber]

There are three red flags, breeding to a Friesian in an older TB mare unless she is quite large, the foal would be better than 50% chance being too large for the mare to foal easily, actually first is why anyone ever would breed a 22 year old mare if they loved her, and 3, the reference to the horses height unless that is a typo, such Greenie errors in breeding would equal a catastrophe to me. As for Friesian crosses, I do not like Friesians much myself because of their height and their high heads, that being said, I have seen several Friesian/Arab crosses when we were living in Washington State and either one of them I would absolutely have loved to have had in my barn if I had a barn,haha!

[Megaladon]

I didn’t really like the TB/Friesian crosses I worked with. They were quite spooky and difficult. Now, I don’t know what the dams were like, but the sires (Friesian) were all very tractable. I really, really like the Friesian/Holsteiner though! So, if you were going to breed your mare (though 22 is really pushing it) for an eventer, I’d look at TB, Irish or Warmblood.

And thank you MysticOakRanch for always coming to the Friesian’s defense. I feel like the breed gets dragged through the mud a lot and you always so eloquently laud their desirable traits in a way that escapes me.

[MysticOakRanch]

@Megaladon

And thank you MysticOakRanch for always coming to the Friesian’s defense. I feel like the breed gets dragged through the mud a lot and you always so eloquently laud their desirable traits in a way that escapes me.

On THIS forum, the Friesian gets beat up a lot, and I don’t understand why. I see a lot of misinformation on this forum about this specific breed, and a lot of people who dislike Friesians without even KNOWING anything about the breed. If I slung mud at Warmbloods the way people here put down Friesians, I’d probably be banned from COTH!

[skydy]

@MysticOakRanch

On THIS forum, the Friesian gets beat up a lot, and I don’t understand why. I see a lot of misinformation on this forum about this specific breed, and a lot of people who dislike Friesians without even KNOWING anything about the breed. If I slung mud at Warmbloods the way people here put down Friesians, I’d probably be banned from COTH!

I think that you, as a professional breeder are much more educated and experienced than the OP. Apples and oranges really. My opinion that the OP should not breed a 22 year old TB mare to a Friesian in hopes of getting an animal suitable for eventing, stressed the amateur status of the OP.

I certainly did not mean to sling mud at Friesians, only to say that such a breeding would probably be unwise for a novice and would not likely have as much of a chance of producing an eventer than one of the more traditional crosses used to produce a horse that will go well cross country. :yes: