The Hanoverian-TB mare I bought nearly two years ago has been a constant work in progress. She just nicely got over an injury from Dec. when she was kicked in the field and and is now injured again (lsoft tissue) due to being harassed by an aggressive pasturemate. She is now going to be turned out solo. She has some residual issues from an injury she got at three that I didn’t know about until after I owned her that can likely be managed but may make it difficult her to be the ammy dressage horse I hoped she’d be. She is very well bred and is stunning but just 15.2. I have spent so much time and effort on this horse that I think it may always be like pushing water uphill to keep her happy working under saddle. I am giving her another month to see if she gets over this injury fully. If she doesn’t, I have some options: Breed her myself to create my ‘dream’ small horse (to a German Riding Pony or Connemara). See if a breeder would like to trade a youngster for her as a broodmare. Breed her, sell the foals and partboard something to ride in the meantime. I am 62, a decent rider and am fit for my age. I have had foals before and have started young horses but I was a lot younger then. I don’t know if I will feel like getting on a young green horse four years from now. Thoughts?
Does your vet think she’d be comfortable carrying foals? Pelvic and lumbar issues sound like they could be limiting.
Yes. My vet specializes in equine reproduction and checked her out today and says there is no reason she couldn’t successfully carry a foal.
In that case this would be my choice:
There’s just so much uncertainty in breeding for yourself, and not much money in breeding for resale. Plus, you can get hopefully going with your next mount sooner that way.
Unless she is really spectacular, you’re likely to have difficulty selling her as a broodmare for any great sum or doing a straight trade for a youngster. That said, working out a deal of some kind sounds like your best bet.
Is she approved anywhere?
Her value as a broodmare is less than the market value of a nice youngster. If she’s not approved, it’s much less, and getting her approved with a lameness, and no performance record, will be very hard. But she might be able to be with some registry based on pedigree alone, even if just the lowest mare book, so you’d have to look into that.
A weanling of good quality is easily $8k, yearling at least that, someone might be willing to sell a 2yo for that (or maybe a bit less if they need to offload mouths before Winter, and a 3yo would be a lot more mostly likely. So you’d likely be looking to buy that young horse for the cost of your mare plus some $$
If you can outright sell her, or trade + $ for a young horse, that’s your best bet. Otherwise, breeding her yourself, leasing something to ride for the next 4 years, is going to cost a whole lot more than buying even a 3yo right now, and that’s even assuming you end up with a rideable homebred.
