In the discussion of where breeding was going in 2020, it was mentioned that a lot of the older breeders are retiring and who will replace them.
I hope to breed my first horse in 5 years or so (when my human children will start school and my equine children will be nearing retirement). I’ve bought 3 year olds before and started from there, but breeding my own foal has been a pipedream for years. Who knows if it will develop in to more than breeding for my own personal horses…
Anyway, how in the world does one get started in sport horse breeding?? There is so much to learn! Bloodlines, reproduction, raising a foal, etc. I read all that I can (currently making my way through ‘the making of the modern warmblood’, which is fascinating). I’ve read Blume Farm’s blog posts on the Hannoveraner Verband Breeders Courses many times and that is probably number 1 on my bucket list. I’m a member of a few breed associations and try to gain knowledge from there.
So how did you learn? Did you have a mentor? Trial and error? I would love to hear your stories!
Hi:
I am a few steps ahead of you and don’t really know if this can be called being in the breeding business since right now I am just breeding for myself. I have a KWPN mare that I imported as my school master (had competed FEI internationally when I bought her) AND she was a proven broodmare. She is good minded and very correct and when I retired her at the age of 17 I really wanted to have a baby out of her becaue she was such a terrific riding horse.
I would not breed a mare older than 12 who has never had a baby before (have heard this from others also). So don’t let your retirees get too old before you think about breeding them if you are looking to do this.
I spent a couple of years reading about bloodlines, going to breed shows and inpections, talking to people who were riding horses from bloodlines that I was interested in. I also tried some horses from these bloodlines. I wrote to the KWPN and got info on what my mare had produced in The Netherlands and the stallions she had been bred to previously to get an idea of what her babies were like. I also look at bloodlines on the Sporthorse Show and Breed Database. I hear Horse Telex has something similar. I call and write to breeders (both in US and in Germany, Austria and The Netherlands) and ask them for advice and they have all been helpful. I also look at the Oldenberg and Hanoverian auction catalogs (Gee, I should rally look at the KWPN auction catalogs also). I hear that some of the breed organizations have good conferences on breeding but I work full time and have not managed to make any of these. I also talked to my vet a lot and read books on equine reproduction. Like you I would love to make it to one of the courses but this is not going to happen for a while.
I also realize that I am a newbie and since my goal is to get my mare in foal and have a healthy baby, I have had my vet breed my mare, do all scheduled post-breeding checks my vet suggests and send my mare to a foaling facility where people who know what they are doing are there to help her if she needs help.
I have learned a lot by breeding her over the past 3 years and have a beautifyul 2 year old and 3 month old filly to show for it. I would be happy to share other experiences, but there are others out there that know a lot more about this than I do, so I would encourage you to reach out to them.
Now I know that you need to hear from some real breeders - but they are busy this time of year!
I got into it by dumb luck and accident. Accident - the mare that I leased for my teen daughter’s dressage education ran in the field and tore her back fetlock a month after I signed the year’s lease. Owner said to keep her. And dumb luck - everything was textbook (don’t tell anyone 
).
She was a silent heat mare so I had the vet here for floating and I said go ahead and ultrasound her. He did, he said call NOW. Semen shipped the next day, we popped her, the next US I didn’t wish or hope, kept my mind blank and he shouted out ‘we have a swimmer!’ Then she had a text book delivery, for a 12 yr old maiden mare cute story here: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0522/p18s02-hfes.html
so this happened http://s272.photobucket.com/user/JMAM_photos/media/100_1048.jpg.html?sort=6&o=159
and he turned into this http://s272.photobucket.com/user/JMAM_photos/media/Simon%20Eades%20Clinic%20Fall%202011/32492077-2011-09-18Simonday2set2570a.jpg.html?sort=6&o=0
then this happened (his little sister) http://s272.photobucket.com/user/JMAM_photos/media/DSC_457333.jpg.html?sort=6&o=141
and she turned into this: http://s272.photobucket.com/user/JMAM_photos/media/1003236.jpg.html?sort=6&o=1
so … just go for it 
Thanks for the replies!
Maybesmom - That was extremely helpful. I didn’t think about going to breed shows, but what better way to network and pick the brains of local breeders! I will have to look up whats going on in my area.
My horses are geldings, so I won’t be breeding them :winkgrin:. The main stumbling block for me is the mare. I keep hearing and reading that you must have a strong dam line… but I really don’t know what this means. A mare with lots of good bloodlines? A mare with one or two good lines but a proven producer? I’ve been toying with idea of purchasing a couple of fillies and let them mature, then have fun with them undersaddle before breeding. Or do I just wait and when I’m ready try to find a proven broodmare? It seems foals with good bloodlines are more readily available than older mares.
Pony Grandma - Your horses look great!
You may want to decide which registry floats your boat and then talk to some of the breeders that belong to it. We breeders are a talkative bunch when it comes to discussing our mares and foals, and you may even be fortunate enough to find a mare with good bloodlines that has already had a few foals that are also doing well under saddle, and start your breeding program that way.
Good luck!
Hi,
I am just getting started myself. I decided to focus on Holsteiners since they are excellent for producing exceptional show jumpers (my discipline) and also there is lots of useful, objective information available about breeding Holsteiners, as the mother lines are well documented through records by Stamm #s, and you can easily see how prolific each line has been - see here - http://www.holsteiner-stutenstaemme.com/de/deutschland.html. This way, I was able to research and feel somewhat well-informed going into purchasing my first mare to get started.
I am also lucky enough to have a mentor in Holsteiner breeding who is a good friend and has been immensely helpful.
I chose my mare very carefully after months of research and searching. She had already won several young jumper championships that included being judged on her conformation. Both her dam and sire were successful show jumpers.
I am looking forward to my first foal any day now. This is my mare’s pedigree- http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/quintini. She is bred to this stallion - Candola D- http://www.sporthorse-data.com/d?i=10708005 She was already bred when I bought her, so I didn’t select the stallion this time around, but I am very pleased with him overall.
I would be happy to share what I’ve learned anytime.
I don’t know if I would call myself a breeder per se because I am so, so small scale. However, when I went searching for a riding horse I knew I wanted a mare that I would breed in the future so a strong dam line (bloodlines and family success) was important to me. Took me over a year to find my mare.
I did not start with a specific registry in mind, just felt once I found the right mare I would stick with that registry. I chose her because she came from a long line of SPS mares that have produced not only successful offspring in sport but also stallion sons. Her dam won the prestigious Louis Wegel Show (top Hanoverian mare of that year). Her dam’s full sister is the dam of Del Piero. Two of her brothers are licensed stallions in Germany. Her half sister through the dam line is the mother of a Celle stallion.
My mare herself had very good MPT scores and has her Elite mare title. I bred her just before importation in the hopes of selling the foal to pay for part of her purchase. I was only going to keep a black filly. She had a black filly:) Then my mare injured herself and was no longer rideable so I was happy I kept her first filly. That put my idea of wanting to learn about breeding on the fast track.
I knew I wanted to breed Hanoverians but when I first started out, I couldn’t afford to buy the type of mare I wanted to breed from, so I leased a mare for one foal. I did an extraordinary amount of homework, networking, going to breed inspections and shows, visiting studs, talking with breeders and visiting European classifiers etc before settling on a stallion. No AI back in those days so the choice was sadly limited!
The resulting foal was to become a National Champion many times over and a National representative, even competing in Australia.
The people I got to know back in those days are still part of the fabric of my horsey network. It was valuable and necessary legwork. Today my goals have not changed but the type of mares and stallions I use are vastly improved. 
[QUOTE=Blume Farm;7628087]
I bred her just before importation in the hopes of selling the foal to pay for part of her purchase. I was only going to keep a black filly. She had a black filly:) Then my mare injured herself and was no longer rideable so I was happy I kept her first filly. That put my idea of wanting to learn about breeding on the fast track.[/QUOTE]
ha ha ha, that’s what you call “breeder’s luck” - we went through the same thing - bred a Darco daughter to recoup import and told everyone that we’d only keep it if we got a black filly for 4 whites…and you know who showed up on my birthday…
OP- you can also lease a really fine mare occasionally or buy an embryo in a recip mare to start your herd.
i have been breeding for 20 years and things were alot different back then
the number one thing is to buy the best mares you can afford, from a dam line that has produced other competition horses
if you have a breeder or breeder whose horses you admire for sure ask them many questions and take their advice, most breeders are happy to give it, some arent, but most are
its a big learning curve, i do things very differently from how i did them years ago
Go for depth of pedigree and a performance dam line rather than type, dont be sucked in by beautiful type mares only
if you cant afford top mares then chose pedigree and performance dam line over type and remember, not all great broodmares are wonderful types
paulamc
The horsetelex.com is one of your greatest tools. Use the mare line button and spend hours studying the patterns and crosses. An outstanding dam line will have both performance and approved stallions/predicated mares. Study the pedigrees of top horses that you admire a md stand out young horses that you wished you owned
Thank you so much for all your feedback! It has been very helpful. It looks like I need to do more research on mare lines. I’m glad I am starting this process now because I have time to really think about what I want. It has been interesting visiting different breeders websites and seeing what mare/stallion combinations are being matched. (Siegi - your Jezebel is just gorgeous!)
I’ve been a member of the AHS for a few years and in the process of sending my membership to the KWPN-NA. I’ve owned both breeds and really enjoy them. I don’t know how I will pick one! The advice to find a mare first might be the way to go.
I came to breeding as a rider first. I was always interested in the bloodlines of my own horses.
One of my favorite things was when I got to compete at Spruce Meadows. No matter the division, the daily orders of go would always put the sire x dam sire if it was known. As I would watch the horses go, I would take note of the ones I liked. I could then look to see who the sires were and also if they were producing horses that were only showing with the professionals or if there were offspring in the jr/am divisions as well.
I found time and time again that I was picking horses that were KWPN bred and so that is where I focused.
I too like to use Horsetelex for the marelines and looking at what the family has been breed to and produced. I also like to look at the use of the stallion as well - seeing the kind of mare base the stallion has been used with and then to what stallions the daughters of the stallions have been bred.
I find you are always listening, always learning!!
I breed Connemaras, not WB… so this is a bit different… I did start into them because I wanted to downsize my riding horses (previously Irish Draughts mostly) to a more manageable size without losing any athleticism. Clearly, Connemaras were the logical choice.
I looked for temperament as a HUGE top of the list requirement with everything else following.
The market for smaller, yet athletic and MENTALLY SANE animals is getting stronger. Most of my ponies have one to AA homes with the average age being 60 year old. So, with the baby boomers coming up the ranks, I think that its a good market to be in personally
My two cents from the pony side of things anyways. Not sure if its relevant or not!
Thank you, WannabeDQ for your compliment on Jezebel! I do think that filly is the cat’s meow, and just to make this applicable to this thread, this filly is also royally bred. With Jazz on the dam’s side and Lord Leatherdale/Negro on the sire’s pedigree, you couldn’t ask for much better bloodlines for dressage. Between those bloodlines I’ve covered all the requirements of my breeding program - movement, temperament, power.
You can do it!
I started with the idea to breed a horse for my daughter who was a talented and ambitious rider. She was in her early teens. At least that’s what I told myself. I had the horse bug from my earliest memories, but never had the chance to be around them until later in life, when I saw a similar passion for horses in my eldest daughter. Other than the occasional trail ride, I never rode or took lessons until my daughter started, when she was 8.
Fast forward. My health status does not permit me to ride. My daughter became an accomplished rider, training her Y/R horse (NAYRC Silver team medalist) to GP. Her competition horse, imported from the stable in Europe where she spent 2 years as a working student, is now retired, but sound and still going strong. My daughter chose a non-horse career, but is an avid rider and teaches on the side. Now that university is finally finished, and she has a full time job, she is showing interest in training one of my homebreds up the levels. Meanwhile, I have been breeding now for 17 years, and selling, keeping only a few fillies. My foundation mare was the best I could afford at the time. I realized I knew very little about horses (only my gut feel), so picked a young 2 year-old that already did well at the keurings. I listened, read a lot, looked at tons of video, and benefited from years of watching dressage lessons/clinics. KWPN-NA was my registry of choice, in large part because the first stallion I chose to breed to was Idocus, who was KWPN-NA. The registry has very high standards, but I like the challenge, and sense of accomplishment when I have succeeded. The goals of the KWPN are in sync with my own. I stick to KWPN-NA for registration purposes, but do use stallions of other European studbooks if I think they suit my mare best. My entire (small) breeding program stems from the single mare. I never bought another mare. I still use my foundation mare, who is 19 and expecting her 11th foal in 2015. Two of her daughters are broodmares, and one grandaughter has been retained for future breeding. I am limited by what I can care for myself, as quite often, during the winter months, I am on my own. It is a labour of love, or as my husband calls it, horse therapy.
Well my focus has wandered a bit over the years.I had riding horses first. Paints. And a non traditional sport too…polo. I would trail ride and go with a local Fox hunt in the winter…So we jumped but not show jumping. A few things came together : got married to hubby also with polo ponies ( how we met) . He lived on his parents farm, I sold my small property. We tried living with his parents but that lasted all of two weeks. Lol. We had ideas on modernizing both the house and the barn, his parents wanted none of it. So, we bought our own farm. As hubby said, if he wanted to love his parents in their old age…we would not continue living with them! So, had 6 horses, bought an old cow farm we gutted the cow barn which fit 13 stalls being built. Not like we would ever need that many. ( think potato chips here). Well I got pregnant and gave up polo…started taking dressage lessons on polo ponies. Figured good basic training for me. Safer while preggo. After child was born, no time to ride multiple horses.sold polo ponies. Bought a riding age dressage prospect…did not know what I was doing and trainer I was using at the time encouraged me to buy the totally wrong horse for me…way too much to handle being new to the sport. Found out lAter that trainer was on cahoots with the seller, was making a chunk of change on the sale…So his interest here was not mine. It was big commission then training dollars for himself. So I sold him and went shopping by myself. Found a Paint / WB cross mare at Nandi Farm I clicked with right away. Bought her. But her dam was older, so they asked if I would take her dam too…was nearing retirement, they didn’t want to carry a retiree. We had all this acerage now, so it planted the breeding bug. Mare was a Paint/TB cross, retired upper level show jumper that had been in the string with Idle Dice. She was Old/ ISR inspected, so started with them. And we live close to Hilltop farm, so got to go see horses at inspection there . And by now had a new trainer ( also breeder) to talk to. This was 1999,pinto WBs were a novelty, Pintos outside of Art Deco were rare. The foals sold well, the next hot thing in the APHA world was dual registered colored TBs. By now was up to all the stalls in the barn filled, graduated to buying a stallion. I bought a coming 2 yo pinto TB, thinking I could take him several ways at stud : TB, APHA and WB inspection. He turned out to be all I wanted of him, but sadly died at only 5 in a tragic freak accident. The economy went to pot, and my daughter reached an age she wanted me to shuttle her all over to activities.So I sold off most of the stock, got out of breeding for a couple years. I kept 2 WB fillies and a TB daughter of my stallion though. And I bought back my stallions last son. Daughter is now 16 driving herself, the equine kids are now grown up and under saddle and I am getting back into breeding. My WB mares have foals by my stallion, the TB mare being a sister to him was bred this year to a local really handsome race stallion. I have a couple doses of frozen still on ice to a Euro WB stallion too.
Our breeding program is still in its early phase. We started by purchasing broodmares from the best mare-lines in Germany. One Hannoverian. One Oldenburg.
Last year was the first year for a foal from that start. The result was the colt you can see on the video. He was the high scoring colt out of all the Don Frederic foals inspected at the Schockemohle inspection.
http://youtu.be/sZH4IAg0U-A?t=3m35s
This year was filly’s for both mares so we will keep these filly’s for future broodmares.
Dan
I don’t know that I can even call myself a breeder, having only one on the ground. I bred two mares this spring for 2015 foals. I knew nothing about breeding when I made the commitment to breed a leased mare in 2011. I was recovering from a near fatal illness that has changed my life forever, so I made a bucket list. Breeding a foal was on it.
I had help from a wonderful broodmare farm owner who suggested a young stallion named Amazing. The vet bred the TBx mare to him March 16, 2011 and I spent the next 11 months reading and studying equine genetics, pedigrees, conformation, foal nutrition and development. I am still reading! My filly was born 2/24/12 and I saw her the next day and was blown away. It was nothing like I had imagined. It was even better. Amazing stamped my filly with beautiful movement, lots of chrome, great temperament and athleticism which was apparent from the start.
I was hooked. I continue to read everything I can and now have three broodmares. I am blessed that the broodmare farm owner is very experienced, understands my limitations and imparts her knowledge when I have questions. I fine tuned my goals and actively participated in choosing the stallions for the 3 broodmares. I looked at pictures and videos of progeny with my goals in mind. I took her through inspection with OLD/ISR where I learned even more.
My filly has shown in hunter breeding as a yearling and will be going to Warrenton to show in the 2 yo HB, SBW and IHF classes this August. Again, I have help so I can participate in equine activities despite my limitations. Breeding has allowed me to remain involved in my lifelong passion and it brings me sheer joy. I continue to be amazed at the sheer beauty of these animals and I am proud of my filly’s accomplishments.
At the suggestion of fellow COTHers, I bought “Making of the Modern Warmblood” and Dr. Christian Schactman’s book “Sporthorse Conformation”. I also purchased textbooks on Equine Genetics and Foal Development. Tesio’s Methods has also been very valuable. I figured the more educated I am, the better the decisions I make.
I wish you a lot of luck if you decide to breed. It is extremely rewarding on so many levels. Striving for excellence through this discipline to make someone else’s dreams come true; when they have the privilege of owning the result of my labor of love, in and of itself makes this all worth while. JMV
I was born into the business.
I can’t say enough about you learning pedigrees. But PLEASE, don’t stop at the sire and dam. It amazes me to hear people say that an animal will be a certain size because the dam was ___ big and the sire is _____. Uh, hello…it goes back further than that. There are things called throw-backs and you all that breed warmbloods (crossbreds) are the ones most vulnerable to wrong sizes.
Pedigrees, and the knowledge thereof, will allow you to research how the babies sell, how they perform, what sort of temperament they will possibly have, how they will move and what market there is for that out there.
Don’t go breeding something you won’t keep for yourself and feed, pay vet bills for its entire life, etc. Breeding is not to be taken lightly. There are way too many sub-par animals out there that were brought into this works by people that wanted to be breeders, but didn’t take the (lengthy) time to actually do their homework.
It isn’t an "exact’ science, but you can get pretty darn close. It takes years of being ringside and watching, learning, asking and reading before actually doing.
