Breeding to a maiden mare

[Ponychick224]

Hi all, just popping in and wondering if I could get some advice/help?

So I've been fairly busy, looking at colleges and universities for next year and the future, trying to find horse breeding courses as that is my dream job.
Whilst looking, my mum proposed that we'd put my mare in foal! 
I'm so excited! 

But I have some concerns;

1. She is 11, rising 12. I'm wondering if she's getting too old to have a foal? Or, if she isn't, how old is too old to foal her?

2. She's a maiden mare. She's never had a foal before, and I want to know if there will be any difficulties in getting her pregnant or any other concerns I should have, given her age as well.

3. I know there are signs to tell if your mare is in heat, and usually they can get really grumpy. But, over the past 4 or 5 years that I've owned her, I can't recall a time that I've noticed anything unusual. What are the signs of her being in heat, how long does 'heat' usually last, and when would the best time to breed her be?

4. I'm worried about her losing the foal early on in her pregnancy, and want to ensure that doesn't happen. Any tips on how to keep her calm and make sure she doesn't lose the foal at all?

5. She's been in a paddock her entire life, and has only been in a stable for an hour or 2 at most. Would it be best to have her in a stable for when she gives birth, or to have her in the paddock?



I know there are a lot of questions, and if I could get most or all of them answered, that would take a load off my mind!


Thank you so much for your time! I hope I didn't talk your ears off!!

[Rozzie]

I've never bred a foal but own a maiden mare and have been given some good advice by experienced breeders. Their advice has been up to 14ish is fine for a maiden, and the stallion should be no more than one hand taller than the mare, especially for a maiden. People will put a 16 hh stallion over a pony mare, but there's a risk you will have to sacrifice the mare and cut the foal out and that is plain cruel for everyone.

Ok- now my advice, and it's about bringing another horse into the world when so many get dogged each year. I know nothing about your mare so please don't be offended by all this. After stud fee, routine vet bills and basic care it costs about $2-3k to breed a foal. For $150 you can get one from the doggers. If your mare is well performed, well bred, has excellent conformation and temperament, is registered with a breed society, and sound, then by all means consider breeding. Find a complementary stallion who will produce something useful. Not all stallions out there should be bred from.  I see many in the show ring who I would have gelded very early on!

Another option for getting breeding experience would be to get a job or work experience with a stud or vet. You will be exposed to a much larger number of mares and foals, experienced owners and trainers, and no risk of high vet bills! I'm tempted to do it myself and hand them back when  I'm done playing!

Good luck with your decision

[Ricca]

I don't have any experience with breeding but have friends in the same agistment that have breed a lot of TB's.

They had a very finely built maiden mare and they chose a smaller stallion who was only a little bigger than her to breed to. She took a little while to get into foal (they monitored her closely on the stud) but she had no other problems at all.

Some mares don't show a lot when they are in season, but I'm sure once she is around the stallion, this may change 

The people I know, move the mare into a smaller paddock when they are getting close to giving birth (two weeks or so before the due date) and put a foal alarm on the mare and stay out there for a couple of weeks so they are there if something does go wrong.

They then move the mare and foal into a smaller area with a stable for the first few weeks, they like doing this so the mare does not run around with the foal.

I don't know if this is what other people do or if it is the right way to do things, but it works for them 

[Smiggins]

Im 100% with rozzie!!! There are sooooo many unwanted horses out there it's quite sad!! I would only ever breed if you want to enhance the mare, either bloodlines, temperament or performance. It might look like fun to a cute foal around but there's so much more to just having a mare and think I'll just chuck her in foal. I would only breed from a mare with perfect confirmation and a good brain.

I have bred a few foals but for me I wouldn't do it again.. By the time you factor in service fees and vets it's cheaper to buy something on the ground.. Plus you know what your getting temperament and conformation wise...


I'm sorry but I'm soooooooo against backyard breeding!!


But back to your original questions

I would prefer a maiden to be no older than 10.. After that it can get a bit risky.

Mares usually start cycling early spring, but a vet would scan her and see where she's up to, maybe give her a PG shot and rescan 3 days later.. I would follow your vets advice!

Be prepared it might take several attempts to get her in foal, usually once you have hit the 45 day scan it's pretty safe.. Of course any pregnancy has it's risks..

But I would definitely foal her outside in a grassy paddock alone!!! You wouldn't want her paddock friends distracting her. I would put on an alarm and watch her in case of any foaling emergencies


All the best 

[leramepa]

Hi Ponychick

I have just bred my first foal and can offer the follwing advice:
1. Talk your vet. If you are worried about the age of your maiden mare your vet can do an examination before you even start getting too serious about the whole thing. They can also tell you when she would next be in season and the best time to put her with the stallion. They may also advise using a prostoglandin injection to induce the season.
2. Paddock serve v's hand serve v's artificial. Decide how you would like to have the mare served. All come with their own risks. If going with artificial you will also have to choose between fresh or frozen semen.
3. The stallion. Again if you are worried about height differences talk to your vet. We went with a larger stallion, but only after advice from the vet that this would be ok for our particular mare.
4. During the pregnancy. Once in foal our mare basically took care of herself. Apart from watching her diet (or over eating in her case) we did not really need to do too much. We just kept an eye on her and followed any advice from the vet.
5. Foaling. If she has not being stabled regulary she may find being stabled just for the birth very stressful. Our mare has been stabled most of her life, but we allowed her to choose her birthing place. In saying this we did open the stable and make it as comfortable as possible and set up the camera hoping she would give birth in the stable. Of course she decided to give birth at the top of the hill just on dawn 
If I look back and think about the she was spending a lot of time in that area before giving birth. I think she was choosing her spot!
6. Other horses. If the mare is paddocked with other horses it may be best to seperate them if you can. Geldings can become quite aggressive towards foals (I know this from experience, and it can be quite scary).

There is sooooo much to learn. I can suggest reading all you can. I read lots of books and googled heaps. Although... dont expect either the mare or foal to follow all the rules. Mine certainly didn't.

Good luck! 

[wild_spot]

I put my maiden mare in foal and have just weaned the resulting colt. I'll give you my own answers to the questions but everyone's experience will be different!

Echoing above about only breeding your mare if she is well built, and number one for me is TEMPERAMENT. I can really see how my foal, Loki, has taken on mum's personality, which in my case is great as she is super laid back and easy to do anything with. I have even had others comment on her great nature and how he has taken after her. I would NEVER breed a mare who was nasty, hard to handle, nervous, etc.

1. I wouldn't think her age would be a problem. My mare was 7 (I think?) when I put her in foal. But 11/12 isn't old by any means.

2. The only issue we had with my mare was the first time we took her to the stallion (Live cover) she didn't want a bar of him. Wether it was because she was a maiden and didn't know what was going on, or wether the timing wasn't quite right (I'll address that below). However second time we took her it all went well. I did a heap of research and had knowledgable people around to help me out in case there were any problems - But luckily for me it all went pretty much by the book. I don't think it is meant to be that easy for your first foal! But having a good, quiet, well handled mare, in a safe place with experienced people, made a big difference I think.

3. My mare was the same. I have never noticed her go in heat and so I took her to the vet to be scanned. They advised she would be coming on the next week so off we went to the stallion - But as I said above, no dice, she wasn't interested at all. So I took her back to the vet the following week and they gave her a shot of prostaglandin which brought her on again and a few days later back to the stallion where she stayed for a week, being served every second day, total of three or four servings. I also got her checked over for general breeding soundness with that first scan to make sure she was ok to breed and didn't have any issues or infections. I then had her scanned at 14 days to check for twins (None thankfully) and again at 45 days to make sure she was still in foal. That was it then as I went interstate and left her in the care of experienced friends.

4. Tis is up to you, but I would just maintain her routine. I still rode and competed my mare for a few months after getting in foal - We campdrafted and went to clinics. If I had still been here I would have kept light riding up until she let me know she was uncomfortable - Staying fit is hugely beneficial as it keeps the muscles toned and keeps their weight manageable (For porky mares like mine!!). However I wasn't in a position to keep riding her so she just spelled. A few months before her due date she moved from her normal paddock to the place she was going to foal down to ensure she had enough time to settle in and build up antibodies. She was on her own to foal and then put back in with other horses a few weeks later.

5. I wouldn't stable her. My mare was/is the same and I didn't want to add any stress. She was in a clean, grassy paddock next to the house and I camped out there when she was due. She went on the first night I camped out - She had a foal alarm on and I still missed it. Woke up at about 5am to a strange whinny, looked out the window and we had a baby! Just went down and checked them both over, made sure she passed the placenta completely, hung around to make sure he had a drink, then left them alone. Loki was down on his bumpers in the back so they spent a week or two in a yard (Not a stable) while he got stronger, which worked well as it made it easy to handle him. Again totally up to individual preference but as I was going interstate again for a while I had him leading and picking up his feet by two weeks old, and he has been great ever since.


My best advice would be do as much research as you can, know your mare, and try not to interfere too much. I have been lucky and everything has gone great, and Loki is an absolute delight to deal with. My mare is now home and coming back into work and Loki is out learning how to live without mum with some other weanlings as company.