While I realize even a young mare can have complications, how much does risk increase as a mare ages and at what point, even if the mare still comes into heat, is it a waste of time to try?
Any “old momma mare” success stories?
Not enough info. How old is she? Has she had a foal before? What is her biopsy score? They always still come into heat.
Is she in shape physically? I just lost a mare last weekend to displacement colic. She’d foaled 1 month before - her 6th foal in about the past 9 years and she was 19 at foaling. She looked great overall and was still fairly active, but I had already made the decision that I wasn’t breeding her again this year because I was concerned about how large she’d gotten over the years and she wasn’t “snapping back” into shape after foaling. Sadly, I feel like those concerns turned out to be warranted based on the displacement colic and I’m second-guessing whether or not I should have bred her at 18 last year. Of course there’s no one-size-fits-all answer … depends what kind of shape she’s in physically, if she’s still active, has she had a lot of foals in recent years, etc. On the flip side, several years ago I had a maiden mare get pregnant at age 16, foal at 17, and she’s still healthy and looking fit today at age 28. But she only had the one foal and then we could never get her pregnant again (she had lots of random complications though that weren’t age-related).
i bred my mare at the age of 18, 20 and this year, at age 21. She’s taken with a single dose of semen , the last 2 times were with frozen. I had my vet check her thoroughly before each breeding, including culturing her and I have them follow her closely . We didn’t use regumate this season, but we are checking her progesterone levels early on to make sure they are going up the way they should. i make sure she is well cared for, monitor her weight carefully and pamper her by bringing her in to a stall when it is hot during the day, or in the winter when it is cold. Yes, I am more nervous about this older mare than I might be about a younger mare, but she has done well with her pregnancies. and my vet says she is in great shape for her age (it’s her 6th pregnancy this year)
Mare is 20
A young 20, still fit and competes like a champ, though as a consideration to her age, at a lower level and with careful maintenance and conditioning. She looks 10 and acts 5. I believe her previous owner said she had been bred at age 5 or 6 a couple of times and had nice babies. I really like this mare, she has wonderful conformation, great temperament, all the heart you could want in a competition horse. I would be breeding her to keep the baby, hoping to get one with the same attitude and ability. I have not had any reproductive exam or anything else done, just wanted to see if anyone had any older mares that caught and foaled without too much trouble. At some point, The Good Mare will be too old to compete and it would be nice to have one just like her coming up as she ages out and retires.
If the old gal at my barn comes in season, she has a date waiting. She’s 28 or 29. Her last foal was at 26. She wasn’t bred the last couple years due to economics, not physical condition. I think the plan is for live cover.
The Good Mare
would probably be thrilled with live cover, she is quite the little flirt. Actually more of a hussy.
As an aside, she is not registered anything though I do know her breeding. I’d be breeding for a driving horse to compete in CDE. She is only 15h so I’d want to breed her either to something of similar size or smaller to try not to exceed her height.
Off to search for COTH stallion issue…
I leased an 18 year old maiden, owned by the wife of a very good repro vet. Biopsy and culture were excellent, she caught on the 2nd cycle live cover, foaled with no issues and about the only thing I noticed was that she was a little overwhelmed with this little energetic being that she had to share stall space with and she wasn’t as active outside as the younger mares were. Other than that textbook perfect in every possible way …
I bred my mare maiden, she was 19 and foaled at 20. I did do a culture as it was required in the breeding contract. She caught 2nd AI attempt. Had zero complications. She was very much like your mare and I bred her for the same reason you are. She’s getting ready to turn 27 and you’d never know it.
