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18 year old mare too old to breed from2007-11-24 21:09:47

my welsh D x arab mare is 18 this year. she has had a foal in the past with previous owners. she has such fantastic bloodlines and a brilliant personality and i feel i want the challenge of a foal..its been a dream of mine. The thing is i love her to bits and dont want to threaten her wellbeing. she is physically fit and well. If i was to breed her i would want her to throw a larger foal (she is 14.2 and i would want something around 15.2) would this ordeal be too traumatic...anyone bred from an older mare or knows anything? all help appreciated.

Answers:

Our mare had her last foal at 18. And was fine. But having an older mare (or any mare in foal for that matter) that a little more than just upping her feed intake. Think about this. To get a mare in foal and a baby on the ground will cost you about $2000 minimum. Breeding fee to a good stallion $1000 - $1500. Mare care while she is at the stud farm. $200. Routine vet work while she is in foal. $500. Do you know how to foal out a mare and what to look for if trouble arises? Vet to get the baby here with no problems - $150. Any complications, and the price goes up from there. And hopefully the baby does not have any health issues, such as a hernia that needs to be repaired, or the mare rejects him and he has to be bottle fed, etc. And what is you wanted a black filly and got a sorrel stud colt? As cheap as horses are right now, I would not even think about breeding. If you want to breed her, go ahead. But please do not romanticize the process. It takes a lot of work just getting a foal on the ground. And it not like you see in the movies.

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i wouldn't push it. after something like that the mare may become extremely weak, refuse to eat, and die.

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ask the vet

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We've had positive outcomes from breeding older mares, although they had foaled many times previously. If she settles after breeding and she is in good health, it probably wouldn't endanger her. Check with your vet, though. S/he will know best about this particular animal.

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Your best bet would be to have the vet come out and check her. She is not too old, I've known horses that have foaled in their 20s and one in her 30s. Your biggest concern is weather she is barren or not. The size I don't think will be an issue because a 15.2 HH horse is really not that big. I have a 3 y/o that is 16.1, and she was a decent sized foal, but not abnormally big, but she is out of a huge mare 16.3HH. Just take your time selecting a stud, pick one with breeding that will complement the mare, not just on size alone. I would rather have a quality foal that would be a smaller horse than a piece of junk that will be the size I want it to. Take an honest look at your mare, and find what you don't like about her, find a stallion that has the desired traits and is known for passing them along. Say if your mare has a straight profile on her face for being half Arab, you would want a stud that is known for passing along his head. That is of course an example. Be very particular about breeding your mare, it will pay off with a beautiful foal.

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It's so hard to say without any certainty because it really depends on the horse. I think it's a combination of the overall health of the horse, soundess, etc. My family has been breeding horses over 20 years - I can definitely recall a few broodmares who were in the 13 and 14yr range who still acted like 6 yr olds, were healthy, sound and had no problems being re-bred or foaling.