Ponies

[triplethreat]

Let’s talk about pony breeding!

This is hypothetical but I have a friend with a gorgeous mare that needs a job and she doesn’t want to sell or lease out because she just got her back out of a neglectful situation. She is a good type. Easy on the eyes, beautiful mover, great jump but she isn’t registered and she’s small, 16H. It’s a hobby of mine to find dates for mares but I really think she would cross well with a pony rather than a 17+ giant.

SO my questions are,

1. Is there a way to decrease the odds of getting a hony? I mean, I get that you can split the difference in the heights of the parents to get an idea, but is breeding to smaller a better plan or is it just going to be luck? What would be the largest you would breed to? Or is 16 H just too big to try?

2. How do you register ponies?!?! I see some stalliions that are half WB or half TB and Welsh. Could the offspring be registered if it would only be 1/4 Welsh? What if I can prove WB parentage but the mare isn’t registered? Would that be something to consider in a stallion? Do people even care?

3. List any favorite pony stallions

[soloudinhere]

You can decrease the chances of getting a hony by breeding to a pony with a longer breeding history. Someone like Stibby Me or Rembrandt DDH that are older have been crossed out on a number of different mares and it’s more reliable to know what they throw.

That said it’s a gamble if you don’t know the mare’s parentage at all. You can also cut the risk of going oversize by breeding to a small or a smaller medium, but you then run the risk of getting a medium out the other side. I had one by Hilken’s Go for Gold whose full brother topped out at 14.2 but he went 14.3 and was oversize.

One of my favorites is Fox Creek’s Censational, but he is oversize himself. That said, just a super kind, nice type pony.

[goodpony]

Generally its been my experience that the height of the foal is either more like the sire or more like the dam–no splitting differences. If you want to keep height down from larger mare you really need to use small stallion (like 12.3 and under). There may be additional height factors coming from the mare as well–sire and dam height, grand parents ect.

[exvet]

I am a former (though still might be LOL) welsh cob breeder. I agree with goodpony. I find that the foals of parents with significant height differences take more after one or the other. In your case I would research pony stallions who are small (as she said under 12.3), pure bred for consistency and a record of breeding to horse mares and keeping the baby under 14.2. This will maximize your chances of getting something that can carry a pony card though as said there are no guarantees. As for registration it really depends on what market you’re producing for, to be completely honest. Most purebred registries do have some sort of half or part bred options but do your research while stallion shopping. There are also registries available for some within certain performance disciplines. As for people caring, that too depends on your market. It also depends on how soon you want to unload the offspring or if you’re willing to put any time/training into it before selling. I found with selling either partbred or purebred welsh the sweet spot was 2 years of age, the right size for the market (I bred and sold both ponies and honies or larger to breed and discipline specific markets), and well handled though not started/backed offspring. I will also say that I found it easier to predict heights with crossbreds when using proven welsh (purebred) stallions but others might have a different experience.

[va2txrider]

That’s very interesting about the height being more like one parent. I always thought the height difference would be split. I have a 3 year old TB x Welsh/Holsteiner (Mapleside Wishlist). Dam was a big 16.1 and threw big foals, and sire 14.2 I thought I would get 15.2 or so. Filly is about 14.1+, and hoping she does not grow any more so she can stay pony. I may breed her in the next year or two, and wonder if the big genes could crop back up. I would think breeding to a medium purebred welsh might be the best way to go.

[Willesdon]

Pony breed stud books have set height limits for a century or so and that breed will consistently be under that maximum height. Newer stud books such as the German Riding Pony, which have introduced small WB into the Welsh and BRP foundation gene pool, are not so consistent. Any time you cross pony with another breed then height is a bit of a crap shoot and that variation will likely persist over a couple of generations.