Transitioning Performance Mare to Broodmare Career - any stories/advice?

[AAHunterGal]

Hi all,

My little 5yo mare has been diagnosed with bilateral proximal suspensory injuries. RH is not great on an ultrasound. LH is just a strain at this point.

This injury is just blindsiding me. I’m starting on treatment and rehab, but am also starting to think long term about her future.

I’m not sure I feel comfortable asking her to be my 3’ Adult Ammy horse anymore, even if she makes a full recovery. I know myself and my general level of paranoia and I don’t think I could do it mentally without always being a basket case and wanting to ultrasound her after every jump school. Especially since she was never lame currently - it was just behavioral changes that led us to this injury, and only after a LOT of digging.

My friend suggested that I try to sell her as a broodmare to a pony breeding program. She’s wonderfully bred, has just the most gorgeous canter and jump, and is as sweet as the day is long. She’s also only 15.1 hands so could produce lovely medium/large ponies. She has flawless PPE Xrays, so this injury is just a stroke of terrible terrible bad luck. Conformation is great.

Has anyone ever gone down this road? Would it potentially be viable for her? Any stories are appreciated!

[Pokerface]

I did it and my mare is now back in full work! She loved being a momma, but I had seen her around babies (horse and human) before that, so I had a feeling she would take to it well. My horse had just spent a good amount of time being rehabbed (stall rest) and so just getting to go turnout and be pregnant she was a-ok with,

My mare had a kind of weird bowed tendon and at the end of the rehab, had another injury. I decided to breed her and just basically turn her out for a long while. 18 months and one foal later, we took her to Mid Atlantic to have the vet go over her thoroughly, she got the green light to return to a working career. Her tendons look nearly perfect, so sometimes time, lots and lots of time, can really work wonders.

I realize you didn’t ask about a horse having a successful career after having a foal, but I’d hate to see a rider lose a horse they love when a lot can change in 2 years.

That said, being a broodmare in a good program can be a wonderful life for a horse!

[2bayboys]

I sympathize with your situation as I just turned one of my young horses out for another year after going through the whole bilateral suspensory rehab. He’s still not sound, so we’re trying a year of pasture life to see where we might be after that. He’s only seven, and it sucks.

That being said, your mare will be much more valuable, and therefore safer in her future, if she is a performance horse. Even if she’s a lower level performance horse than you want, if she’s easy and pretty and knows her job, a solid 2’ or 2’6” horse has a greater chance of being loved and cared for forever than a pony broodmare (very niche job) with no real performance record behind her.

[StormyDay]

If you don’t want a baby yourself (you could always breed up in height too) I’d do a brood mare lease for a year or two and then see how the scans are.
The problem with being a brood mare as a career choice is once they hit around 18-20, they aren’t valuable anymore. And the amount of them I see ran through auctions or for sale for $500 online is alarming. Some farms do retire their broodmares, but a lot don’t…

[CBoylen]

Keep the horse in work. Broodmares as stated above can have precarious lives. They also don’t sell for much if anything. A horse that young should continue its training if at all possible. Suspensories recover and horses have careers with past suspensory injuries.
That being said, bilateral suspensories at 5 makes me think DSLD and I’d personally never breed it until it has shown it can hold up to a career long term.

[endlessclimb]

Agree - something else is up with a 5 year old with bilateral suspensory issues IMO. I would not breed her.

[fivestrideline]

I would not breed a horse with double suspensory issues. Sounds like DSLD or something else connective tissue related, and genetic. Especially since there was no definitive injury - less risk if the tendon was popped doing something dramatic.

Something about very good hunter and dressage movers and finding suspensory/SI issues. I wonder if there’s a correlation between the big, loose freedom of movement and weak soft tissues.

[Texarkana]

People do this all the time and it works out well for many people.

But there are also a lot of horror stories out there: mares who were promised a good home and were sold to slaughter, mares who ended up in the hands of a hoarder, etc.

So just like rehoming any horse, make sure to give the horse as much safety net as possible.

Also, I agree that most good sporthorse breeders will pause at a 5 year old who didn’t hold up to a performance career. But it all depends on the situation.

[Peggy]

Echoing what others have said about the possible downside of breeding a relatively young mare whose lameness issues have, at least for the moment, prevented an athletic career. Talk to your vet or a referral vet. Some things are deemed non-heritable; others not so much so.

Another possibility is to have her be a recipient mare if her hind-end issues don’t preclude that. But I would keep an even more careful eye on a mare doing that than one sold for breeding.

You could also take a hybrid approach where you lease her as a broodmare or recipient for one breeding and then see what you have soundness-wise.

[AAHunterGal]

Thanks all! Survey seems to say “no.”

FWIW, I’m working with the vets at VA Equine Imaging, and they don’t believe it’s DSLD. Just believe it was missed antics in a field/back luck.

[Warmblood1]

THB, there are not a lot of pony breeders and the pony market can be tough. She is also a size that could throw either above pony height or below and without knowing what she throws, that may be a risk to someone who specifically wants below a certain size.

That said, a good breeder wants a proven broodmare that has had some type of career or is proven as a very good producer of foals in general with nice offspring on the ground.

With her being injured, it does make her care less straight forward. It is also a risk to a breeder that the mare could pass on potential unknown issues regarding lameness.

I would personally only consider it in this case if I knew the person specifically, could check in on her periodically, and could retain ownership through a temporary lease. Outside of that, I think the mare is too high risk and could end up in a potentially bad situation. Sorry to have to say/type that. I hope the situation works out for you.