Selling or trading mare for use as a broodmare?

Any advice about selling a well bred warmblood mare for use as a broodmare? Or trading for a young prospect ideally? I assume most breeders would want to see a foal on the ground? What about an ET foal? I am breeding my maiden mare this season but probably won’t want to more than once. Just starting to consider options for her afterwards, whether to keep her as a broodmare or put her back into work.

The first place I’d go is to her breeder, assuming the breeder owned the dam. The second place I’d go is the stallion owner.

What would be the reason to find another home for her? She doesn’t care if you don’t breed her again. If the deal is you think she’s too well-bred to not produce foals, then see the above :slight_smile:

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To add to JB’s questions, is she worthy of pursuing a job as a broodmare? i.e. Is she registered and approved in the Main Mare Book of a major registry? Is she conformationally correct and has a good temperament? The other question is why is she not able to be a riding or competition horse? These are all questions I ask and consider when looking for a new warmblood mare. For example, if she is unrideable because she has OCD chips in her hocks or has a torn check ligament due to a club foot…or her poor temperament made her tough to show, this is not a broodmare most people would be interested in purchasing for their program as these are all things that can be passed on to the foal.

A mare that is well-bred is only part of the equation. For me, she also needs to check all of the other boxes, i.e. great conformation and movement, good temperament, show & inspection results, etc.

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No matter what you decide…keep track of the mare and her condition…leased/loaned mares often fall through the cracks and suffer starvation, abuse or even get sold off or disappear… illegally. Know where she is and her condition!!

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Her value as a broodmare is almost certainly less than her value as a riding horse. So if you decide to sell or lease her, you are better off getting her back in work and then leasing or selling her.

This comment is in no way indicative of your mare’s quality. Breeding warmbloods in the US is simply not a very lucrative thing to do, with many well bred offspring selling for approximately what it cost to produce them. Economically, that means that it doesn’t make sense for people to spend much money on broodmares.

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Maybe it’s my background in thoroughbreds, but for me pedigree is the most important. Then conformation. A lot of TB mares who don’t run well can be very useful producers, so I’m the contrary one (again) here.

Some of the mares that never make good show horses produce great babies! And some great show mares never produce good babies. I know of full sisters…one was a phenomenal show horse but never had any great babies despite being bred to the best studs. The other sister didn’t show worth a lick but produced foals that won a few hundred thousand.
That being said, I don’t think broodmares as a whole are selling for anywhere near what they’re worth. I know someone trying to sell a mare that won $15,000, bred real good and in foal to a good stud and couldn’t get $8500.

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