Advice Needed re Broodmare Prospect

[Anonomously]

I own a 7 year old registered RPSI mare that I bought for my 12 year old daughter two years ago. As a 5 year old the mare was jumping 4ft easily (during turn out one day she actually jumped a 4’ fence from one paddock to another, presumably because the grass looked greener?), but also had FEI potential as a dressage horse as she is incredibly balanced and had a great ‘sit’, all with a temperament suitable for a 12 year old child. In short, she could do it all.

Unfortunately, the mare tore her deep flexor high up on her left hock and despite all the modern therapies, it healed with some scar tissue that has rendered her permanently lame. Normally, I would just turn her out to retirement, but she was incredibly talented with a sweet temperament so I think she might have promise as a broodmare. She was a gold star filly at the 2009 RPSI inspection, and was trained as an eventer, qualifying for the USEA 5 year old championships (we bought her right before then, so she never competed). However, I am no breeder and do not want to become one, although I would be first in line to buy one of her foals when it’s about 4 years old.

I am willing to offer her to a reputable breeder on a free broodmare lease, but I am concerned about ensuring she will be well treated and cared for, and would actually prefer a longer-term situation. Does anyone have any suggestions how best to go about finding a good home for my mare? Does anyone have any sample form of a lease for this situation to protect myself and my mare? What are the normal terms for such a lease? Is this even a realistic expectation?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

[Highflyer]

The only way to really ensure anything is to lease her to someone local enough that you can check up on her regularly.

[HyperionStudLLC]

Having a sport record doesn’t always matter but if she has a top pedigree from proven bloodlines she could be interesting as a breeding mare.

Having a sweet temperament and some kind of recognizable talent are certainly good points. Yet she must have a proven pedigree to make her valuable for breeding and “buy” worthy. If you’re looking to free lease her the same should still apply.

Can you link us to her pedigree?

[stoicfish]

Just a warning, some very unethical people will use a free lease and not treat the mare well. The poster that suggested local and checking on them was right. There are wonderful breeders but there are some terrible people too and sometimes it is hard to tell them apart.
Sorry about your mare.

[sid]

[QUOTE=stoicfish;8356100]
Just a warning, some very unethical people will use a free lease and not treat the mare well. The poster that suggested local and checking on them was right. There are wonderful breeders but there are some terrible people too and sometimes it is hard to tell them apart.
Sorry about your mare.[/QUOTE]

Ditto this. Can be VERY hard to tell them apart. Been there. Horrific situation with a “reputable” and well-known horse professional and breeder. I would only do an “on-farm” lease or lease where you can check on the mare’s condition and management very, very frequently.

[Zoey101]

I’m sorry to hear about your mare. I just went through the same thing- my mare was showing and had a banner year and we discovered an old bone chip and had it removed and she never came back from it- too much damage. So, I treated finding my mare her 2nd job as a job in and of itself. I created a resume for her with accomplishments, video, photos and more. I networked with all of my breeder friends and did some research on my own. I ended up finding a lovely situation for her in canada (I am in Ohio) and while it broke my heart to send her away, I knew I was doing the right thing and was able to visit her in September and will be visiting her again in June when her Prototype baby is due! Like many have said, you do have to take a bit of a leap of faith unless you know the person well, but even then, nothing is a gaurantee. If you PM me, I can share my experience and maybe reach out to a couple of people for you, and share my breeding lease contract.

[sketcher]

Another one here agreeing with the local lease and checking on her. Or make sure she goes to a reputable farm that does not breed their broodie’s into the ground and then pass them off when they get older.

What is her breeding?

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

[QUOTE=Zoey101;8359935]
I’m sorry to hear about your mare. I just went through the same thing- my mare was showing and had a banner year and we discovered an old bone chip and had it removed and she never came back from it- too much damage. So, I treated finding my mare her 2nd job as a job in and of itself. I created a resume for her with accomplishments, video, photos and more. I networked with all of my breeder friends and did some research on my own. I ended up finding a lovely situation for her in canada (I am in Ohio) and while it broke my heart to send her away, I knew I was doing the right thing and was able to visit her in September and will be visiting her again in June when her Prototype baby is due! Like many have said, you do have to take a bit of a leap of faith unless you know the person well, but even then, nothing is a gaurantee. If you PM me, I can share my experience and maybe reach out to a couple of people for you, and share my breeding lease contract.[/QUOTE]

Random, but was the bone chip site symptomatic and you removed, or was it something you just found and decided to remove and that created an issue? Thanks.

[Zoey101]

[QUOTE=TrotTrotPumpkn;8378261]
Random, but was the bone chip site symptomatic and you removed, or was it something you just found and decided to remove and that created an issue? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

The chip was old (round and smooth) but only visible on one angle of one x-ray. We also took films of her other joints to see if it was OCD or trauma, and we believe it was trauma (no chips anywhere else, just this one old one). She was starting to show signs of discomfort, and the vet thought she would be a good candidate for surgery. Went to Rood and Riddle, had it removed and we saw there was more damage that we had anticipated. she just never recovered from signs of discomfort. Could she have been a lower-level show horse? probably. but i wasn’t willing to ride her until she broke when I had an opportunity to give her a second career. It was one of those times when you want to be selfish and try to slap a band aid on the problem with maintenance, but I couldnt do it- she didn’t owe me anything and I owed her a better life than that. Sucked though, she was amazing in the show ring!

[Anonomously]

Thanks for your advice. I didn’t realize pedigree was so important. Here is a link to her pedigree: http://www.ewsz.com/EWSZ/pedigree.asp?horseID=1844