Purely hypothetical questions Re: ET and ponies

[DarkBayUnicorn]

I repeat: purely hypothetical!!!

A new facility has opened near me specializing in ET and “difficult” mares.

If one had a super 15.3 mare one may want to breed to a small pony stallion, could the ET recipient be a pony?

Mare has produced one AI foal who is fabulous but pushing 16.2 at six (sire 16.1)

Stallions in consideration are well proven pony hunter types.

So…could I hypothetically breed the mare to one of the stallions in question and do ET in a pony mare safely? And any thoughts on effect to foal end height? Wellbeing of the carrier mare? If my mare and small pony stallion should make a large pony, is a medium pony ok as recipient?

even if I decide to go for it, it’s a year off as mare is leased at the moment.

Purely hypothetical!!!

[Daventry]

I personally wouldn’t. We breed a lot of 15.3+ HH mares to our four ponies stallions. We also have a lot of 15.3+ HH mare owners who also breed to our pony stallions. There is no guarantee that the foal will stay pony size. We do a lot of research in regards to each parent and what heights are in their background. In most cases, we are able to predict that a foal will finish 14.2 HH, etc. But every once in awhile, a 15.3 HH mare gets bred to a small pony stallion and ends up with a 15.1 HH foal.

You mentioned that the mare has already produced a foal that is 16.2 HH. It is possible that height came from the mare’s background rather than the stallion’s. While a study was done many years ago in regards to this same type of situation and it was found to be safe to do…it is important that a mare owner accounts for a foal that might be wide through the chest and/our shoulders. My worry would be a foal that gets a wide chest and shoulders from the dam which could cause complications during labor for the recipient pony mare.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

@Daventry Thanks.

Hard part for me on height is that my mare’s dam was a windy twin. Ergo, her height was never true.

Dam full sister was 16.1. Champion junior hunter.

Elder half sister to my mare is 15.2 on her tipytoes; champion chilly hunter.

my mare 15.2 7/8th at inspection in shoes. First premium; champion AA/AO, handy, derby.

younger half sister by Admiral is 16.3,

my mare + Cabardino Baby is 16.1 and still growing at 6!

Gak! She looks like a pony. She moves like a pony. She jumps like a pony.

[Toblersmom]

I can’t remember all the details, but I recall that ET studies of horse foals to pony mares has been done, and the risk of complications to the mare or foal were fairly low. Birth weights were lower, BUT the foals grew rapidly to catch up and their grown height was not meaningfully different from foals born to horse mares. So, yeah, you could do it, but it wouldn’t accomplish what I think you are going for (i.e. greater likelihood of pony size progeny).

[JB]

While it can safely be done, I wouldn’t, not with the height of your mare and relatives - also look at the height genetics behind her, on both sides. Why? A small pony isn’t going to produce the volume of milk a foal who will be large will need to consume.

And breeding a mare her height to a small pony isn’t any reasonable guarantee of getting a large pony. A large pony recipient mare may be fine, especially if she’s on the bigger end of that range.