Out of interest...

Shandeh · 29-06-2009, 12:10 PM

...how many stallion owners out there are willing to free lease a mare for a season and return her after the resulting foal is weaned in foal to their stallion?

Mum was thinking about putting Sugar to a warmblood, Friesian or Clydie stallion, but unfortunately we don't have the money to pay the stud fees on top of care of a pregnant/lactating mare and potential vet bills, so I keep thinking about possible alternatives and what we might possibly be able to swap for the stallion service. Mum actually thought of this option but I would be interested to find out what proportion of stallion owners are actually OK with doing this.

I thought if we put Sugar to a Friesian the issue might be she has a big shoulder and not a lot of rump, and it seems to me that the vast majority of Friesians have more shoulder than rump because of the purpose they were originally bred for so the resulting foal could well be heavy in front, whereas if we put her to a typically more balanced breed the resulting foal would be a bit more balanced -- does anyone know if I'm right?

Thanks everyone for your help =]

sil · 29-06-2009, 12:56 PM

If the stallion owner is interested in the mare, they may offer to lease her with an in foal return, which is where they keep the mare for 18 months, own the foal and return her in foal to you once the foal is weaned.

However it's not that common due to the risks vs buying a mare, so she'd have to have something to offer the stallion owner, such as a great performance history, show winner, excellent broodmare.

Sassy · 29-06-2009, 04:53 PM

Hey Shandeh, I have seen this deal occur many times on studs, in majority of cases the stallion owner wants the mare and will offer the return service for free lease, I am not sure if it is as successful when the mare owner is wanting a free service but I am sure if your mare has something to offer then a stud may be interested.

If breedig fee costs are a concern, have you considered purchasing a weanling foal from a stud? it would probably end up cheaper in the long run than breeding your own mare.

Shandeh · 30-06-2009, 07:24 AM

Thanks Sil =] She's a lovely mare, although unfortunately she is a horse that needs careful selection of stallions due to a twist in a leg that we don't know if it's genetic or not (maybe an injury from racing?) and she is slightly parrot mouthed, both things that we don't want to make worse.

Sassy - issue there is that because we want a warmblood type, most of the youngstock that's within our price range isn't such great quality, and for Mum, a quality, well-conformed horse with a good temperament is very important. The one I spotted that we really liked was $15000!! Nicely conformed chestnut with a beautiful neck and LOADS of chrome, can't remember his age, but he's a gorgeous little gelding/colt available as a gelding (that's what I get from his ad). If we don't have the money for a stud fee on top of everything else then we definitely don't have that kind of money just sitting around doing nothing!! Bit of a shame, really, he's gorgeous.

And I have to go now lol but I'll be back on later.

Playin With Fire · 30-06-2009, 07:50 AM

I know the baby your talking about I think. By Royal Oak?? It's out of a BBD Fortune mare I think?

I too agree that breeding a foal is expensive. I'd also be a little sceptical about breeding a mare with flaws. IMO you only breed if you have something superior. Sure you can compensate for weaknesses but it is a gamble as to whether it works.

Good luck either way. If I were you I'd just ask a stud, worst thing they can say is no

You never know, you might get lucky.

TBPA · 30-06-2009, 10:03 AM

The most common deal is first foal goes to the mare owner then the mare becomes the stallion owners. Really you would only do deals on a mare you really wanted as compared to buying straight out breeding a foal is actually an expensive risky process especially seeing as you may only get one foal!
Agreed breed the best to the best and hope for the best.. horses with twisted legs more often than not throw twisted legs.

Bec1404 · 30-06-2009, 10:08 AM

The funny thing is, if you add up the service fee, vet fee, agistment, keeping the mare until the foal is born (more vet fees if the birth doesn't go to plan), keeping mare and foal until weaning age etc, you'll find that you probably wont get much change from $15000! And you might get a foal with twisted legs or some other problem.

I thought I'd try and breed from my lovely mare (she's due in November), but I think that buying one would be a much better option now

mirawee · 30-06-2009, 10:39 AM

No stallion owner I know would be willing to do that with a mare with such obvious faults.

For other mares they would only do it if it was a chance to get a foal from an exceptional mare either type, bloodlines or performance wise.

As others have said, it is much cheaper to buy a foal than to breed. Why not put aside the money you would be spending to breed the mare and buy something where you already know what you have

mirawee · 30-06-2009, 10:43 AM

Forgot to also say -

If you can't afford the stud fee can you afford the $$$ for the pricey vet fee if things go wrong and foal ends up in ICU?

And can you ever forgive yourself if you lose the mare due to you deciding to breed a foal from her?

citygirl · 30-06-2009, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shandeh

Thanks Sil =] She's a lovely mare, although unfortunately she is a horse that needs careful selection of stallions due to a twist in a leg that we don't know if it's genetic or not (maybe an injury from racing?) and she is slightly parrot mouthed, both things that we don't want to make worse..

Parrot mouth is a fault that is look upon as being a genetic fault.

Most Stallion owners will deal to have first foal, and then send the mare home in-foal to you. Maybe try looking around for your opptions with different Breeds aswell, eg;- theres some lovely Rinding Ponies out there.
good luck, let us know how you go.

Cheers
Lee