Anna*
Olympic Poster
IH Member
Posts: 923
|
Post by Anna* on Dec 31, 2005 16:58:02 GMT 1
A girl at my yard is thinking about breeding from her mare (very early days of thinking!) and I was wondering:
Does the foal usually take on the height, colour, personality etc of the mare or the stallion - or is it a mix of the two?
;D
|
|
|
Post by jor on Dec 31, 2005 17:04:29 GMT 1
well obviously it will be some from of mix of the two. Coloure genetics can prove quite complicated and to predict possible colours of foals you would have to know at LEAST both parents colours. Height wise I tend to find horses go more towards the larger height than the smaller, for example a 13hh pony crossed with a 14hh pony usually makes 13.2hh-14hh though there are expections and sometimes (dependant on the ancestory of the dam and sire) you can get much smaller or much larger foals than either parent. temprament wise, it is never advisable to breed from any horse with a poor temprament and it is essential to choose a stallion with a good one. Though upbringing plays a large part in a foals temprament.
|
|
Anna*
Olympic Poster
IH Member
Posts: 923
|
Post by Anna* on Dec 31, 2005 17:07:21 GMT 1
Thanks, Jo!
|
|
varkie
Grand Prix Poster
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 4,913
|
Post by varkie on Dec 31, 2005 18:02:20 GMT 1
There is really no guarantee either way! They can take after mare, or stallion or neither! Some foals will 'throw' back to grandparents or further! Take the WB I used to have years ago - he was only 15hh, yet his full brother was 17hh! Both had the same parents, the same conditions, the same care, yet were so totally different! The 17hh was by repute a very calm animal, my 15hh was the total opposite - a real stresshead.
|
|
pip
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 3,797
|
Post by pip on Dec 31, 2005 21:39:29 GMT 1
There is no knowing! It is obviously better to breed from something that you know has a long line of correct conformation/performance/temperament but even that doesn't mean the foal with inherit all these things. Otherwise you would get a Derby winner from a Derby winner crossed with an Oaks winner every time.
My sister had a good Pony Club 15hh horse that she put in foal to a nice 16.00 hh TB,to get a nice 15.2 - the resultant foal turned out to be a 17.2 heavyweight with conformation problems which led to unsoundness and being put down when he was 10 after an injury.
Don't breed from a mare unless the temperament/performance/soundness and conformation are good. It is a gamble even so!
|
|
|
Post by Liz on Jan 1, 2006 1:52:16 GMT 1
There are no guarantees My only advice would be to use the best possible stallion and not to breed at all if the mare is indifferent. I bred a cracking foal out of my black middleweight 15.3hh TB x WC by a dark brown heavyweight 16.3hh near full TB stallion. I hoped to get a good sized brown/black/dark bay foal and ended up with a 15.1 bright bay - far too small for me! Fortunately, her breeding was from excellent sport horse lines and she sold well as a just backed 4yo at the SH(GB) sales.
|
|