Hi. I have a 2001 model. She had a foal in 2012 and again in 2014 and is due to foal April 2015. Do you keep them ‘going’ or give them a year off from time to time?
This mare has been an easy breeder and has never been a problem getting or keeping in foal. Just wondering what other have done. And would your answer be any different if you were looking to sell her after the 2015 foal is weaned?
I would say that at this age and the number of foals this mare has produced that it really would not matter if she gets a year off or not, but if you are planning on selling her after this foal is weaned then I would start advertizing her before she foals so the new buyer could choose the sire that she/he would like for the next foal.
Most of the time I don’t give my Career Broodmares a year off, sometimes nature decides to do that for them. You sometimes get a year where things just don’t go as planned fertility is off, bad timing, semen logistics and delay after delay can get you get very late into the year where we may decide to wait till spring. It also could be a ear where the mare may have absorbed for no reason. It happens…that’s the year when she gets some time off:)
Heh. My filly’s dam was born in 2002 and has had 12 foals and is expecting her 13th next year. Yes, she was first bred as a 2 YO, by her original owner. She is a career broodmare due to a bad wire cut that left her permanently unsound… Her breeder bred her at 2 because what else do you do with a permanently unsound filly? :no:
My filly’s breeder bought her some years back and decided to give her a year off… and discovered this was a VERY bad idea as she kept trying to steal foals from the other mares! In fact, the breeder now makes sure that she is the first mare to foal, because otherwise she steals the other mares’ foals. She is just very maternal, and it helps that she is reproductively very healthy; you would never guess that she’s had so many babies as she just doesn’t “sag” and the vet says her reproductive system looks like that of a mare who has had one or two foals. Luckily her foals are, to a one, very nice in looks and personality.
Morgan broodmares at UCONN & various other farms went forever. They lasted well into late 20s. We had one came to us that retired in mid20s, then lived to 32.
If you have a quality, proven mare it is almost a shame to skip a year. When you hit a golden cross, go with it for as long as you can.
With a “career” broodmare - that’s their job. Their “career”. To be a broodmare.
No - I don’t give them a year off “just because”. If they had a horrible foaling and needed some downtime, or had a health or lameness issue - yes - of course they would get the time off, but “just because” someone thinks it would be a nice thing to do? No way. Their revenues help run the business and that’s why I got them and invested in them in the first place. To play an integral role in keeping the breeding operation running and profitable … 
Just because, no. But when the economy tanked we had a lot of horses to feed and the buyers disappered. I took 3 years off, selling the inventory I had. But I also have an off farm day job and 3 mares. We are not a large breeding farm.
FWIW many breeders believe that it is healthier for the mare to keep her in foal and out of heat. They tend to believe that when a mare is in heat her cervix is relatively open and particularly if her reproductive conformation is not the best she could be vulnerable to infection.
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