Perhaps a larger ‘gene pool’ to look at breeding… some TB stallions are known for stamping their get and the offspring at least ‘look’ consistent with their sire while other stallions, their get is all over the map.
So, what age do you guys like to breed a mare for the first time? Perhaps one that sustained a pasture injury as a youngster and has no future in sport. Asking for a friend 
It is common to breed fillies at 3, foal at 4 in the TB industry. Often those fillies are unraced, but very well bred. Unraced due to injury, or most often too slow but don’t want the catalog page to reflect a poor racing career on an otherwise promising damline.
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Many wb breeders breed 3 year old fillies to get a produce record started since they don’t really start the “real” work and could carry a foal if they have the maturity. Many stallions are not prepotent, so their babies are all over the board. Mares generally influence the foals ALOT, many times more than the stallion. There are prepotent stallions that you can really see them in their foals, grand babies and on past that. My senior Thoroughbred stallion really showed up in his foals and grand babies. I have a great granddaughter that he shows up in strongly, which is not unusual and is good since he was such a good boy! You can stack the deck by using good mares with stallions they match well and crossing back on strong bloodlines is a great way to “set” type in conformation, temperment and movement. It’s best to know what you are doing and know the lines or consult with someone. I’m a great believer in line breeding and have done it successfully. Most good breeders do so.
Essentially this 2 year old won’t even know she’s ever had a baby, since I am going to go the ET route. I’m not worried about her neglecting the foal etc.
All mares that I have bred in the past were 12-14. I’ve ridden some that had foals from 3-5 and then started their riding careers and the work ethic was just not there. They all had the rudey brudey aspects and perhaps thought that they were just going to raise babies for life.
I’ve been breeding horses (race and show) for over 40 years…I would NEVER breed an unproven, undeveloped, “baby” horse!!
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Not sure why this thread was started. Sounds like your mind was made up before posting but you are simply trying to get everyone to agree with your opinion. An overwhelming number of breeders have stated they wouldn’t do it for a variety of reasons. In my humble opinion, breeding a two-year-old, whether you are doing an ET or not, is irresponsible breeding.
At this point, you are trying to evaluate a yearling that you want to breed next spring. Not all yearling fillies will be worth breeding once they are mature. Being a breeder is not easy…or inexpensive. If you are a responsible breeder, you will wait a year or two until the filly has matured and you actually know what you have to work with. If you cannot afford to wait, you should not be breeding horses.
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If you read my first post… I think it’s obvious that I am looking at ET vs actually just breeding the 2 yr old and having it carry the foal.
Fair enough! Then ignore the first two sentences in my post.
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Why would you ever breed a two year old? Let her grow and become the best she can be instead of tampering with her hormons at such a young age. If only people had more patience and didn’t rush things whether or not it is about breeding, training or competing more horses would be better off.
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even a 4yo is still a no for me, so absolutely not.
