Anyone regret breeding?

[licketysplit]

@Laurierace

We are likely breeding our mare this year or next but she will have an embryo transfer and a recipient mare will carry and raise the foal if all goes well. In some ways it feels less risky since I don’t have to worry about losing my mare from the foaling but with the tremendously increased costs you want to make extra sure you choose wisely and it turns out well.

This is what I did. It was extremely expensive but allowed me to continue to compete with my mare. The recipient mare was a witch. Fortunately I got a fantastic foal who I adore and was first place at inspections. Not sure that I would do it again.

[NoSuchPerson]

If your primary goal is the experience and you feel capable of dealing with whatever physical and mental characteristics you get in the foal, then do it. Yes, there are risks, but the more common experience is a relatively trouble free pregnancy and birth that produces a healthy foal.

If your primary goal is to produce a horse for yourself, don’t do it. The last time I bred a mare, I carefully considered all the variables, previous offspring of both the dam and sire, and was confident that I had an excellent chance of getting what I wanted. I didn’t. :lol:

I mean, I still love the big butthead, but no way would I ever have bought him and I could have bought a really nice horse/mule for what I’ve spent on breeding, trainers, and hospital bills.

[shall]

If you are breeding to produce something special, then visit breeders and evaluate their programs. How do they produce results? How long did it take to mature their program, learn their mares and what worked? If you are breeding for personal enjoyment that is different. That is enjoyable, but expensive.

[exvet]

Nope I can’t say that I have had any regrets but then I owned the mares and the stallions, oh and I’m a vet. As others have said, it depends on your goals. ET might be a better solution for you. If you’re worried about the risk to your mare carrying and delivering a foal yet want a viable means of duplicating her that isn’t cloning, this might be an option. Oddly enough breeding/foaling hasn’t always been my favorite part of horse ownership. I far prefer backing/starting and training but as stated, I have no regrets with my breeding endeavors other than I wished I had been inherently wealthy so that I could have continued. Alas, it was not to be but I am grateful I pursued what dream I could.

[dynamite0319]

My parents stood 2 stallions (Quarter Horses) when I was growing up and we foaled out anywhere from 1 to 7 mares every year. One year a mare had twins and both were born (found) dead. Other than that they never had any issues. I have a 26yo QH that was born at my parent’s place when I was 13 and he was the first horse I ever taught to be ridden.

I bought a really nice weanling and bred her when she was 3. It was awful. She had a textbook pregnancy and foaled at 319 days. I found her at 2a with the foal’s nose sticking out (not what you want to see). My husband and vet worked on her to get the front legs out, but we ended up having to take her into the surgery center. She ultimately required a fetotomy and I nearly lost my mare. I regret putting my mare through that awful experience, but there really was no way of knowing this would happen.

I say I’ll never breed again, but more time might change my mind. This particular mare can’t carry a foal, she would require a surrogate, which seems dumb to breed a mare that might produce offspring that have the same issue she had (foal was too large to get through her small birth canal).

[goodmorning]

My first foal had some serious complications at 9mo and a month long vet hospital stay. Even with that cost, I could never have afforded to purchase her. An unfortunate turnout injury and surgery that went well but not well enough and now she is a broodmare. I’d be gutted to loose her, I weighed that risk, and I took it.

Now the costs of breeding - I’m not sure it makes much sense if you need to ship a mare to a clinic but unless you can offset the cost of an US machine well the vet bills are what they are.

[KyrieNZ]

My mum and I have bred 3 foals, and I’ve had an interesting situation, and a sad situation.

The three were an Arab/Welsh pony which I started and sold when I outgrew her. She’s now 32 and retired at home. The other two were by an Andalusian stallion out of my chestnut TB when I was in college. The first foal was a delight, and the second was a bitch. Full sisters, both bay, and that is where the similarity ended. First was 15.1 on a good day and had the best work ethic, the second was 16.1 and had no work ethic. All three since PTS in old age.

I decided to breed my next one so picked up a lovely TB broodmare only to have her not take to the KWPN I chose for her. I sent her to stud rather than fly semen around the countryside. The stud sent her back when she didn’t take, along with a 2 yr old of theirs that I bought. The mare was rehomed only to have a foal later, my foal, the one that didn’t ‘take’. Lawyers were involved as the person thought I should buy her back. I walked away.

Friend who I rate highly for knowledge and experience gave me a beautiful TB mare (used for TB breeding) to breed sport horses. Red bag delivery so I quit breeding then and there. Had the mare PTS as she did some internal damage, and I bought a schoolmaster, and a young horse.

When breeding goes well, it is awesome. When shit hits the fan, it is heart breaking.

[SnicklefritzG]

I had similar thoughts myself regarding a “broke horse to show”. At one point I thought about buying an older upper level schoolmaster to learn on. Ultimately I decided against it because for me, it’s not just about moving up the levels, but the process of developing a horse.

I was fortunate to find a GP schoolmaster to take lessons on so I can have my cake and eat it too.

Regarding the breeding question that the OP asked, if anyone asked me what I thought, this is what I would say:

*Don’t spent more on a breeding venture than you can afford to flush down the toilet in case things don’t work out.

*If you decide to go forward with breeding, spend the money on a good repro vet where that is all they do.

*Whether you intend to sell the foal after weaning or more particularly if you intend to keep it for yourself, decide if you feel like raising the equivalent of a human toddler with all the stages in behavior, etc.

breeding and then raising the subsequent foal can be very rewarding, but it is a lot of work!!!
My weanling is very well behaved at 8 months, stands for her baths, trims, and for any vet checks. She even lets me put dewormer right down her throat without fussing. To get to that point is a daily commitment to handle them, set boundaries where appropriate etc. and giving them a good start in life. Fortunately she gets along with my gelding who is an excellent babysitter which made things much easier.

@winter

I am with DLee, I could have done so so much more for my riding if I spent all of the money from the breeding on a broke horse to show, and a lot of the time I feel regret for that missed opportunity. Now, that I have so many youngsters, it’s hard to justify buying a horse from outside my program. I also started with a loved mare who had an injury and just wanted more of her. I bred her 5 times with 4 pregnancies and 3 resulting horses. I have kept one of those as my main riding horse for now, but he is not much like her under saddle.

[NancyM]

I’ve bred and raised foals for many years. TBs and TBX. For race and h/j. My last one is a 4 yr old this year. Just like horse racing, there are moments of the highest victory, and the lowest and most dismal feelings in the world when tragedy strikes. Don’t think you will ever be immune to tragedy, because it will strike on occasion, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. There are never any guarantees of success. That’s life, and death.

I’ve never been a proponent of AI. The vets make all the money, and it does not guarantee you of anything. Live cover, I am and have always been a Thoroughbred person, and we don’t do AI. We don’t believe it is in the best interest of the equine. It decreases the gene pool. Has already damaged several equine breeds who allow it, bringing inherited defects to light with genetic issues. Has already ruined several dog and cat breeds. Expensive, don’t go there. If the horses can’t get the job done without humans involved, it shouldn’t be done. All stallions will throw duds, no matter how much it costs to get your mare in foal to them. Don’t think that throwing money at it will make it all better, or safer.

I’ve stood a couple of stallions at stud. That involves a substantial investment of effort on both sides of the family, not just owning the mare. My last stallion broke his hind leg getting up from a pre-dinner roll in his paddock 2 years ago now, he was 25, I owned him for 18 years. He produced a few winners at the track, and they jump as well as any stallion I could have AI’d to. I probably will not have another stallion. But you neva no for sure.

The regrets happen when disaster happens during foaling. Sometimes disaster is going to strike, and you can avert it, with luck and intervention. Sometimes there is just a hell of a mess to look at and/or clean up in the morning. I still have my live abortion filly, dismature twin, ears down, immune deficient, joint infections, vet wanted to put her down twice (but she just kept on getting up and sucking, and nickering to me as I came into the stall with her injections daily for months). She’s a survivor, 13 this year, comes over for a pat on the head at feed time, that’s all she’s good for. But when things go well, winning with and enjoying a horse that you brought into the world, raised, trained, who saw you as the first thing when they opened their eyes, well, sometimes it makes it all worthwhile. My main mount currently is now 18 years old, home bred, home raised and trained, both for her race career (couple of cheap wins) and her show career (ami jumper). She is a way better jumper than she was a racehorse. She has the courage of a lion. She is (and always has been) Queen of the Universe. When she was three days old, I was visiting her with her mother in their stall, and she was laying down. And, as I tickled her, she rolled over onto her back and spread her hind legs like a dog, so that I could tickle her titties. I thought at the time, “Oh no, she’s a diva, and one must be very careful that this one does not call all the shots”. And she is a diva. She still begs for titty tickles, nothing has changed. She gets her tickle just about every morning. Is it worth it? I guess so.

[Furst_Edition_Farm]

Are you prepared to keep that healthy but “unsound for sport” foal for the rest of his life - or make the other decision? I have one of those. He is a 9 yr old Holsteiner gelding, bred out the wazoo, that is pasture sound only - since he came up lame at 5 mo old. Do I regret him - YOU come look at his absolutely adorable face and say that out loud. However, if I didn’t have my own farm, and he was costing board etc every day? There are so SO many outcomes, most of which have a very low chance, but are you prepared for all of them? Are you prepared to pay for the mare not to catch for 3 cycles? Are you prepared for a foal with angular limb deformities? Joint sepsis? Do you have the veterinary support for all of this? (Not all vets are equal - especially for neonates)

I absolutely love my foals, and having lost my mare a few years ago, having her children to remember her is a joy. But - there are so many risks, just make the decision with your brain and your heart - not one or the other!

[Nevada10]

No regrets! I absolutely love having foals. You have to be prepared for the worst — losing the mare and/or foal — and be prepared to spend $$$$$ to save them if something goes wrong. Keep in mind that the mare can produce a carbon copy of herself… so make sure you really like your mare’s conformation, temperament, vices, etc. Breed to the best stallion for you/your mare that you can. Don’t pick one based on money or location. Also be prepared to babyproof your farm… make a foaling stall, improve fencing, install cameras etc. Breeding is not an inexpensive proposition and certainly has huge risks, but I find it to be very rewarding and fun.