I have always wondered this. If the mare is in good shape, sound, in good condition, etc., but age 20, is this too old?
What problems might be associated with breeding an older mare, other than lower conception rate?
Is she a maiden? I feel for a maiden thats pretty risky… conception could be an issue but there could also be other complications (though that comes with breeding any age horse…). If you REALLY want a foal out of her, despite the extra cost, I would be more inclined to do ET.
I might be hard to get her in foal but you do smears and cultures just like a young mare, may want biopsy to go to a good repro person. I would use fresh and watch her condition. Have her foaled by someone experienced. Choose a cross that is less likely to throw a humongus foal as her muscle tone will be much worse than a younger mare. Then I would have an exercise program for her to get her in good tone for her breeding adventure. PatO
My 17y.o thoroughbred mare gave birth to her fifth and final foal last November. She was always well cared for. A great mother. Fed them last night as I have always done. Got up this morning to feed them and my darling Ottey was deceased. We are now in forced weaning. I can’t stop crying for you Ottey. There were no signs of any illness or thrashing about. I suspect maybe an aneurysm or heart attack. R.l.P. beautiful , beautiful girl. I am in shock.
I have friends that have bred from older mares and all OK but the older the mare the more risk attached.
Sorry for your loss Heather, hope the foal handles it ok. Always give gastrogard when you wean whether it is planned or not. Most likely her death had nothing to do with foaling five months earlier.
Thinking of you heather… sorry for your loss.
As a long-time breeder I have found that the older the mare, the higher your chances of something going wrong. If your mare is a maiden then I wouldn’t dream of breeding her. If she’s had foals and is in very good condition AND has the bloodlines that just scream “breed me”, you might want to consider it. Depending on when the mare has had her last foal, be prepared for low conception rates which means you’re going to spend a lot of money on repeat breedings before you see the magic “dot” on the ultrasound. And finally, use fresh-cooled semen NOT frozen on an older mare.
Good luck!
Have your vet evaluate her not only for breeding soundness, but her overall general health first. If everything looks good there, then it might be worth a try. An excellent repro vet is a must.
I have actually had a lot of success with older maiden mares, but all were in excellent shape, and with the exception of one, all were in at least light work. I think general physical health and fitness is important, especially with the older girls.
The oldest maiden we’ve bred was 19, she foaled (easily) a filly when she was just shy of her 20th birthday. We bred her to a stallion close to her size from a bloodline that we knew wouldn’t surprisingly throw ‘huge’. She conceived easily with absolutely terrible semen (15% motility at arrival, pretty much dead on day 2), as a precautionary we kept her on regumate until day 180, but other than that she didn’t have any issues with her pregnancy. She went back into work after her foal was weaned and is still going strong!
We’ve also bred a 16 y/o maiden and a 14 y/o maiden.
How much do you know about your mare’s breeding history? This should give you a good indication on how to proceed. As others mentioned, a maiden may not be the best bet. However, if the mare has had several foals without problems (fresh/frozen or both), hasn’t been left open too many years, and is good physical and gynecological health, why not give it a try? We often bred healthy mares into their 20’s if they have particular bloodlines we want to continue. My EM Francesca is 22 and due to foal in July. If all’s well, she will be bred back to the same stallion with frozen.
One caution, if you do decide to try, have a budget/cycle limit and don’t go over it.
like the others…depends if she is a maiden…
I have always tried to get my mares to have first foals by ten. Now I have a current mare that is a maiden that is 12 that is a little different story. Definitely no frozen. My oldest maiden was my good show mare was 20 at conception. Foaled at 21. We retired her three weeks earlier, bred her, figured it was a longshot. Suprisingly she took first try no problem. Rode her lightly throughout pregnancy. She foaled beautifully and had a gorgeous little colt. On the other hand I had another mare that had foaled 3 times prior to me owning her with no problem. The first foal she had with me (bought her in foal) went smoothly. Didn’t breed her the next year due to late foaling. The next year she was 9, in perfect shape, took easily in foal, dream pregnancy, then the day she foaled all went wrong and we lost mare and foal.
I am more familiar with live cover and being brought up in the TB industry, many many mares are older and still foaling. The easiest thing is if the mare is not a maiden and had consistent foals (once in foal easier to keep in foal I believe) or has she foaled inconsistently? I do believe with live cover you do have better conception rates but with AI I can’t speak as to the success you may or may not have.
I have a mare that screamed breed me (she had had 3 foals in Europe before I imported her as an FEI horse 13 years ago) so I bred her for the first time 2 years ago at the age of 18. I was afraid to try frozen semen so was lucky that there was a stallion I really liked in this country for fresh chilled. She took with one dose and had a lovely filly. Last year I decided (with my vets blessing) to try frozen semen and she took again on the first dose. I am waiting for her to foal within the next 2 weeks. Knock on wood everything will go well, but I realize that this is not always the case and I would be heartbroken if anything happened to this mare. If she does well with this delivery and my vet feels that she is in good enough shape, I would love to try one more time with frozen, because her babies have been phenomenal and I would love to have one more. This is of course with the caveat that she is pampered during her pregnancy and closely monitored and I listen to her reproductive vet’s advice about whether or not I can breed her one more time. My vet says that she is in phenomenal shape for a coming 21 year old and I work on keeping her in good condition (she lives in when the weather is dicey (too hot or too cold), has her weight monitored, top quality feed, good farrier and dental care, etc.). I don’t know if family history has anything to do with this (I am not an experienced breeder) but my mares mother had her last foal (of 18) at the age of 23 without complications.
i have a 19 year old maiden in foal. was a more difficult breeder in that we had to manage fluid issues to get her in foal. I also had a 22 year old foal last year and have a 24 year old due to foal this year. If they are healthy and can maintain good weight the pregnancy should not hurt them…but, they do require more “management” to get to settle.
When I bred my mare, she was 19 (foaled at 20) and was maiden. Took the second insemination to get her pregnant. Had zero issues with mare or foal. That was her one and only foal. She’s also one of those mares that’s just very healthy and aged very well. She turns 27 soon and still doesn’t look half her age.
It all depends upon the breeding history of the mare. It’s not that easy to say “when is too old”. I’ve bred mares in their early 20’s with ease, and 8 years olds who had problems. It really does depend upon the reproductive history of the individual.
