Breeding one at a time?

[TheJenners]

Tentatively posting because I know we (as a group) have strong opinions. Zipping on my flame suit for reasons

My plan was to have three mares, to breed (or try) two at a time so I had one to ride or more realistically have out on a show lease (I don’t have the time, I work to make to this all happen) and rotate, but… well, we all know about plans and horses. I currently already have two lovely mares, one that I fell into, one that I carefully selected and imported. Conceivably I could go every other year or second year with both. But it occurred to me that I could just breed one mare at a time. Is there a downside? Baby development not having a peer? Weaning buddy? Yes, no? I’ve handled breeding and babies and weaning but never solo babies so I honestly have no clue, but once the thought popped in my head I can’t help but think it sure is an attractive idea because I’m doing this venture alone. Handling one mare and baby at feeding time before work? Versus two? Winning for sure.

[Montanas_Girl]

I had one foal in 2021, one in 2022, and am only expecting one this year (though I planned on three…). I haven’t had any “only child” issues, though my '21 and '22 fillies did have big sister Sydney, who was 3 and 4 when they were born, to play with.

At 7 now, Sydney may be too old to play with this year’s foal, but little sister Addy (the '22) filly will hopefully fill that role.

[TheJenners]

That reminds me, I should add that I will be marketing and hopefully selling them as weanlings, so won’t have them to play with the following year’s baby assuming all things go well! I suppose that’s an important thing to know

Your babies are adorable!

[exvet]

I was breeding 2 to 3 mares at a time in order to have a small number of cohorts to wean off together. Unfortunately I ended up one year with only one mare carry to term. I did not have too much trouble in terms of a weaning buddy, though, because I had an adult gelding, a 13 hand pony, who was and is one of the best baby sitters in the world. He baby sat my stallion, horses new to hauling, my nervous nelly FEI gelding and the babies. He was great with my last foal (now 11 years old). He helped put manners on him in a firm but not dangerous way. Despite that foal ending up larger than the stinker pony, that foal, later adult, always minded his manners around the boss/uncle. I will also add that having juggled full-time employment, competing and training those under saddle, it was definitely easier to put all the focus of baby handling on just one foal at a time. I wouldn’t hesitate to plan it out that way (still have that stinker pony though he’s in his early 20s now).

[TheJenners]

Thanks. I do currently have two little mini donk geldings, tho they are getting up there (mid-teens with arthritis even with equioxx and early/mid-20s with PPID), who can grudgingly play sympathy buddy while also not allowing bad behavior. Okay, since no one seems horrified by the idea, I can explore this option further. Thanks.

[Arlomine]

As long as the baby has a suitable playmate. Not a big deal. I purchased a weanling Pony because I did not have another baby available. Being the same age was perfect Because they really have huge play Drive which will drive the older horses sometimes crazy. Pony is far less maintenance than a young horse, and an older pony, or even a donkey can’t go out on pasture with a baby warm blood. They will founder. They were and are still perfect buddies and now I can’t sell the Pony because you know… I got my kid a pony, and the pony is his.

[Annie10]

I’ve had 3 homebreds, each one was an only child. I kept each of them , one is now 6, one is 22, the third would be 10 this year but was put down at 18 months old after breaking his leg in a pasture accident.
They all developed just fine and i spent tons of time with them from day 1 teaching them all the things they should know to be good equine citizens lol.

It’s fun to watch them
Playing and so forth but it’s just as much fun to play with them yourself too

[TheJenners]

@Arlomine

I purchased a weanling Pony because I did not have another baby available.

Hmm that’s not exactly a fiscally sound decision in my situation. In fact, the opposite. Ponies still need their feet done every six weeks, see the vet, need to be dewormed, get injured, need care and time spent with them… I’m a solo operator. Adding more work in the form of a new purchase isn’t what I want

[4horses]

My last colt was a solo baby. He would have loved a friend the same age to play with. I will say he absolutely loves me and he loves attention, even negative attention. I would assume solo babies are more people oriented as they get all the attention.

I can’t say he had any real issues being an only child. But he would have loved a play buddy. My mares allow him some room to play within reason but they constantly chase him off.

[skydy]

While having another youngster to play with is ideal, as long as the foal has a buddy of some sort for weaning company he/she will be fine. They can entertain themselves quite well even when no one else joins in.

Do you have a stallion in mind or is it too early in the planning stages for that?

[TheJenners]

Ohhh umm… ha I actually have been squirreling away some frozen when it’s come available in auctions here and there, scored some from a traditional C1ID who has passed that I’ll use to add to the breeding herd later with my more modern type ID mare (I also have frozen KWPN and TB sport-bred) but I have a couple ID stallions on my first-in-line list for fresh cooled that will cross very well on my girls for pedigree, conformation, and sport, and for my spicier mare, temperament . And since this is a market-driven world, should also be flashy so I’m looking forward to it. If my straight ID mare gave me a filly the first time around, I might retain her unless someone waved a big check under my nose because the stallion I have picked for her is incredible.

[skydy]

OK.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing you in the Foal Watch thread on the breeding forum at some point in time.

[TheJenners]

The waiting is killing me I could technically breed my 5 yo now and get rolling. BUT I personally feel like she should prove herself and I’m holding myself to that standard, so I’m going to get her going better this year after getting her started last year and half-assed riding, then sending her off on a show lease if I can source one for 2026 (probably start looking winter 2025). This will give my 2 yo time to continue to grow into the moose she is turning into and get inspected and started herself . She’s already double registered and I have no doubts she’ll go Class 1 and I suspect she’ll be very easy to start. By breeding in singles it means I can bring my sport mare home from a lease and breed and not wait until my ID mare is five like I was thinking as well, so the wait won’t be as long

[Arlomine]

Maybe you could board someone else’s Winley? And make money on the deal

[TheJenners]

Assuming you got autocorrected for weanling, my other option was to board out my weanling if it hadn’t sold. I didn’t want to bring in a boarder as that opens a can of worms of its own.

[horsegirl2341]

I think solo babies are fine sometimes/depending on the baby. We had a solo baby a few years ago that was put out with a great babysitter but when you compare him to the next years group it is very apparent of what he missed out on. The solo foal is a literal lap dog, which isn’t necessarily bad but he is also huge. He was much more difficult to teach personal space and just general manners than the ones that grew up together. I think babies can be a little rougher on each other than a babysitter or a mare would be (while still not hurting each other) and it teaches them boundaries. They also have a friend to play with which generally speaking keeps them out of trouble. The solo foal was our problem child…he kept jumping out and getting himself into stuff.

I know this isn’t really your plan but could you do 2 every other year.

[TheJenners]

I could, which I mentioned. But since I’m doing this by myself, man wrestling just one mama and baby at turn out sure would make life easier. I may bounce back and forth. Or I may breed once or twice and decide it’s not for me at all.

[Texarkana]

In 2022 I bought a mare who was whoops pregnant.

Because I wasn’t planning for a foal at the time, baby was raised in a herd with 2 no-nonsense teenage mares and a playful donkey.

She has grown up to be the most obnoxious equine in existence.

And before anyone comes at me and blames it solely on me, I’ve raised a lot of foals. I’ve raised literally every equine on my propety at the moment since birth (with the exception of the donkey who I got as a weanling).

I’ve known plenty of single foals over the years and the majority were fine, but pssssh, after my experience with this one’s mayhem-making personality, it will forever give me pause. I truly feel like if she had another young horse to rough-house with, she wouldn’t feel the need to rough-house with every inanimate object she comes across.

[Festivity]

Last year my plan was to have two babies to play together. Unfortunately the second one was born blind and with other issues and so was put down not long after birth. So Max has been growing up as an only child living with the herd. He has the older pony and my older gelding to play with, the rest of the mares tolerate him but don’t really play. My mom bought a weanling filly and I kept her for a few weeks and then took them both to her house for winter camp with grandma/Max weaning time. The two babies hung out and liked each other but that filly wasn’t interested in playing rough like Max. So no guarantee that if you foal out two that they’ll play together if you get a colt and a filly. So far Max has been fine without another baby to play with.

[ASBJumper]

I only do 1 at a time, as i only ever have 1 main broodmare at any given time. My most challenging foal (filly) was the one born in a group of mares & foals at a boarding & breeding farm. Did not matter one bit that she had playmates and other mares to keep her in line, she was FIERY and opinionated, testy, bold and got into everything (climbed over my 2ft high tack box at 3 days old when i was using it to block the stall door while mucking). She became an awesome partner eventually (backed and started her myself with zero issues), but yeah… she was a LOT.

My last 3 were solo foals, and it’s been totally fine. One was a bit saucier than the others, but that’s just going to be her personality - she’s full of herself, has to be the centre of attention at all times. She’s going to be an incredible partner under saddle, i can tell - she absolutely THRIVES when she has a job (right now it’s just groundwork and ponying, but she loves it all!).

If you’re a one-woman outfit, i wholeheartedly recommend doing 1 at a time. If they’re laidback angels from Day 1, it’s pretty easy, but if they’re not, and require extensive desensitizing and handling, well… it becomes very labour-intensive.