Selling mare in foal vs not in foal

[butiwantedapony]

Sigh. Life always throws curveballs, eh?

I have a lovely TB mare. She is 11 years old, green for her age, can be difficult under saddle (very sensitive and a tendency to be hot).

This year I decided to breed her due to my own lack of time for riding. I picked out a stallion, paid the stud fees, and have now learned I am pregnant myself.

I am beginning to realize that I MAY be getting myself in over my head. I already have a young child, another on the way, and a 17h athletic, green, hot/sensitive TB that I don’t have the time to commit to. I have not made a decision yet but am considering putting her up for sale.

I really like the mare and enjoy riding her. Or, well I used to. Becoming a mom has made me less competitive, and more cautious, and while I am not scared of her, I am more aware of the risks of riding this kind of hot horse than I used to be. And well, I ised to find it fun to ride these types but now I prefer a quieter and more relaxing ride

Should I breed her and sell her in foal? Or just sell her and forfeit my stud fee? FWIW she is a maiden, and I think will make a nicer broodmare than riding horse (her issues under saddle are largely man-made and exacerbated by her former track life). Her main issue is that she tends to have meltdowns away from home / I don’t think of her as a terrific show prospect. She is quiet when in regular work at home.

And how/where to advertise this? I have sold lots of show horses/prospects but never a broodmare.

Thoughts?

[butiwantedapony]

To add - very happy about my own pregnancy it was just a bit out of the blue since my first is only 13 months

[Highflyer]

Congratulations! Personally I would use the stud fee money to send her to a trainer for sales prep rather than breeding. There is just not that great of a market for mares like this, and I would worry that if you got her in foal to something nice, she might get sold solely on the basis of that and end up at an auction or for sale very cheap after she has foaled-- there are a lot of unproven, tempermental TB mares out there.

[arapaloosa_lady]

[QUOTE=Highflyer;8162366]
Congratulations! Personally I would use the stud fee money to send her to a trainer for sales prep rather than breeding. [/QUOTE]

I don’t think the stud fee is refundable if the OP changes her mind.

How nice are her bloodlines?

[arlosmine]

She already paid the stud fee.

[butiwantedapony]

Sending to a trainer is not an option.

She is an exceptionally nice horse. Nice bloodlines, lovely mover, gorgeous conformation.

[Fred]

Have you spoken to the stallion owner and told him/her the situation?

[flyracing]

Speak to the stallion owner. They may allow to extend the contract a year, so the buyer can be the one to choose to use the breeding or not. I think you limit your market when you sell a mare in foal versus a ridable open mare. A lot of prospective buyers won’t be set up for a foal, so they will pass. Or, even if they want a broodmare, they may not want the breeding you chose.

[clint]

I’m going to assume that you bought a breeding for a sporthorse stallion, not racing. If that is the case, I think I would go ahead and breed her, and I would get her inspected in whatever registry you had selected, so the foal can be registered. Your mare is 11, and if you are selling as a broodmare, an 11 year old maiden can give a breeder pause. If she is in foal that worry is ended. Good inspection scores enhance her value.

[BeeHoney]

Another POV–I think that there isn’t that great of a market for TB broodmares for breeding sport horses unless they have a good competition record. Professional breeders are looking for particular mares–either bloodlines or competition record. Backyard breeders usually have their own mare that they are breeding for sentimental reasons. I think your mare may be worth more and may be more easy to sell as a riding horse. There is a much larger population of people looking for riding horses vs. broodmares. Most people are able to do the math–raising a foal to a rideable 3yo costs $10-20K, and more if you have pay more expensive board or for training. For that amount of money someone can go out and buy a pretty decent horse that is already trained.

I would investigate the option of selling her with the breeding if that is possible. Most stallion owners are reasonable people and also want foals on the ground, so they might be willing to allow you to sell the breeding with the mare and allow for the mare’s new owner to wait a year to breed, perhaps having to repay the booking fee.

[Home_Again_Farm]

[QUOTE=BeeHoney;8163051]
I think your mare may be worth more and may be more easy to sell as a riding horse. There is a much larger population of people looking for riding horses vs. broodmares. [/QUOTE]

This. Your mare is probably worth more and more salable under saddle than as a broodmare in foal.

[Kyzteke]

Perhaps someone mentioned this, but you could ask the stallion owner to extend the breeding till next year and ask if you can sell it.

There are several places to market breeding; one site is on FB.

I agree she is much more marketable as a riding horse than as a broodmare.

[KS1]

As a stallion owner, being in the business for many years, if someone has paid for a stud fee and not used it at all, and has personal life circumstances changes, (horse or human)we would refund the money right away as we have provided no service at all at this point.
I would talk to the stallion owner if you do not want to breed.
Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Kathleen

[RanchoAdobe]

I would absolutely NOT breed. If you can’t sell the mare in foal, which in this market is a distinct possibility, then you will have two babies on the way to take care of. Foals by American stallions out of TB mares with no/little show record are not marketable either. Selling as a riding horse is a much safer bet, even of you have to eat the stud fee. The stud fee is still significantly less than stud fee + vet/breeding fees + foaling and everything else that can go wrong in between.

[camohn]

I would
A) not breed her in case you cannot sell her. If you don’t, then you have two horses you don’t have time for
B) ask the SO if you can sell the breeding. Most will allow you to do so, sometimes with terms of them approving the mare in question. When I was standing a stallion there were three mares I rejected: one was a total nut case the owner wanted to breed cuz she could not ride it, the other too closely bred to him, one with terribly crooked legs. So…2/3 had issues I didn’t want pinned on him if the foal came out badly.
C) is there a local pony club rider you could get to keep her going under saddle? Those types don’t tend to do well sitting around doing nothing.

[butiwantedapony]

Thank you for the replies - I think I have climbed down off my Panic Mountain.

I don’t think I will sell her. I really love the mare - even though I am heading into a chapter in my life where she is NOT the most appropriate ride for me. She is just so sweet and easy to have around. I keep my horses at home and so the cost of keeping her around is not as exorbitant as if I were boarding.

I think I will probably move ahead with breeding her as planned - I am very very excited about the prospective foal and am breeding for something for myself for down the road. It will be hectic with 2 little ones when the foal arrives but I no longer work outside of the home and my littlest one will be almost 6 months old when the foal arrives.

Mare is totally happy doing nothing - she has been basically out of work since last fall due to winter, then about 8 weeks of work, then I got hurt (unrelated to this mare), and then found out I’m preggo. She has 15 acres of lush grass pasture to roam with her 6 buddies, and to be honest I think enjoys not working, she has always found it stressful.

I do appreciate the feedback as I am weighing my options and trying to make the smartest decision - for both me and for my mare.

[lalyho]

I will add my 2 cents just because I was in a very similar situation. I sold a broodmare because I was pregnant and just didn’t have time for that. Well, a couple years later I am kicking myself. She was a great producer, easy to have around and now I really miss breeding and my mare. If you like her, keep her, maybe postpone breeding for a year as a human baby and horse baby can be a be a lot all at once (I also sold an awesome foal dirt cheap at the same time but he has a great show home so I can’t be too mad). I would say since you are in a position to keep her do it. You can always change your mind later.