breeding vs buying youngsters.

[Ryan&Dizzy]

discuss....

[specialsparkle3]

There is an old saying, " Fools breed horses for wise men to buy"-----------------says it all

from one of the fools lol

[indibindi]

Me too.

[specialsparkle3]

Seriously though, nothing beats breeding them yourself. You "design" them. You nuture them. You educate them. They teach you! They are what they are because of you.

[indibindi]

Let me elaborate. Tonight, me and my 13 year old daughter led 2 7 month old foals away from the herd and into the stable in the pitch black, through the mud, past the landy that was running and I had to push Ollie into the stable by the bum. There is no way I would have that level of trust and or co-operation from something that hadnt been handled as much as I have handled them.
In contrast - I've viewed 2 foals who have had minimum handling and they were 90% wild and would never have been as good as mine.
And I feel very, very proud. My foals lead with my 13 year old daughter better than I have seen grown up horses leading with adults!

[xsamx]

Well my first expiernce of breeding has been SCARY and very stressful!! The vet bills have gone into thousands, my mare is content but getting moodier with her next door neighbour on a daily basis (poor Rhilla ) But seeing the heart beat scans and wathcing it's little heart flicker was priceless..even though i know i will have a BIG thugish weanling this time next year!! It's something ive always wanted my own little baby from my precious little marey.

And my expiernce of buying a youngster was alot less stressful, i saw her, i had to have her. 5 years later she is pregnant.

I dont think i will willing have another mare in foal again in a hurry, i think someone would have to pay me to do it, although it is a lovely feeling, i'd perfer someone else to have all the hassle!! Still another 6 months to go aswell...

[Azrael]

I bought one and I'm quite glad I did. Only cost me £500, breeding would easily have cost me more, and far less risky than breeding both in risks to the mare and in chances of getting what I want. Neither of my mares are ideal ones for breeding from (unreg or only part reg and nothing really special from a breeding pov). Breeding from fatso because I'd love to have another just like her would be a bit tempting but the one I've bought has turned out to be just the kind of thing I'd have liked to breed from fatty, plus she's registered and was a bargain

If I had a mare that was a rare breed or really special in a 'good thing to breed from' sense rather than just an 'i love my pony' way then I'd be a lot more tempted to breed a foalie.

[pip]

If you buy from a reputable stud the youngesters should have been well handled and be quite civilised, which is what I did. He loaded, tied up, was used to being groomed, had been clipped (poor thing), had his feet regularly done, been wormed, I had all his veterinary history. He was a complete doddle all along.

Breeding your own is not a cheap option and it can be a disaster - dead mare, dead foal, huge vet bills. Foals have accidents or get ill and you are stuck with what you breed whether or not it is what you wanted. You need to have the right facilities as well, and should have other youngsters for your foal to play with.

But some people like breeding and it is a good thing they do, or there would be no horses for others to buy!

[Ryan&Dizzy]

right ill explain why i put this up now.

basiclly ive been thinking for a while of getting another baby 'if' Ryan doesnt come riddable, because i know full well that i would never trust anybody enough to buy a ridden horse after Ryan and tbh i have had more experience with babies than with older horses, and i really enjoy handling babies. ive mainly only had babies unhndled and wild and when buying Dizzy i deliberatly looked for unhandled babies because i think there is a fine line between handled babies and over handled babies and basicly i never trust other peoples training (ive met too many badly trained horses). my sister breeds tho so i have handled babies from fbirth and im used to mares and foal ect.

i had decided that if Ryan isnt going to be ridable then i will buy a baby... then my sister threw a spanner in the works today! we moved one of her mares and her stallion to another yard to be barn kept for winter and we whipped there rugs off for a few mins and it sounds daft but it was the first time ive really looked at them next to each other without rugs on... and i just looked and went 'wow that is going to be a cracking foal!' i really like the mare and the stallion as individual horses but it sounds silly i had not really thought about about the foal. she is a big ISH mare and he is a dainty andelusian. hummmm but i now have the problem of my sister has offered me the mare to breed from next yr if i want too(and if i did i think it would have to be too Nando pants (my sisters andelusian) as he is our boy and after seeing thelm stood next to each other i really did think WOW lol... and i dont know what to do.

[horsey123]

i have never bread so i dont know that side
but i do love buying foolies

[lolamae]

I breed because I enjoy it, everything about it. I breed horses that I would like to ride myself. All being well, they should, on paper, turn out to be decent sport type horses capable of doing any job asked of them.

Last years foal was a BOGOF and fortunately turned out very nicely, she is registered as a part bred arabian (registration is VERY important to buyers here) and is going to her lovely new family very shortly.

I bought my own stallion because I couldn't find what I wanted colour/breed and temperament wise at stud within 500 miles........the three foals due to him are all reserved in utero, to five buyers! dependent on sex and colour you see. All foals are due to well bred, nicely conformed, kind mares and will be eligible for registration with Arabian, Paint, Quarab and QH societies hopefully to the Palomino Association too, two will be double registered. I don't make any money on foals, if I wanted to make money I'd breed cats or dogs! Actually, If I wanted to keep any money I had, I'd sell the horses, the house etc, and move to the city.........cringeworthy thought.

[big e]

i have bought a foal a year for the last 5 years i love babies. I am currently thinking about breeding but its a very long process but i would love to breed one of my own.