Breeding small mare

[Grandma's Mini Mart]

Hello,

Should I breed a 3 year old 28" mare to a 31.5" stallion? Do you think she will have problems foaling?

Should I wait until she is older? Not breed her at all? She is in good health otherwise, just small.

 

[Jill]

I think you can have a vet check her out and evaluate some things that we maybe couldn't see ourselves looking at her or at pictures.

When it comes to breeding, I really think it has a lot more to do with the refinement of the stallion than the height... I have had great luck and results with maiden mares of 32" and 30" bred to stallions 34" and 33" respectively, but the stallions are very refined. Also to this line of reasoning, think of all the "Sports Ponies" that are made from Welsh mares and TB stallions.

It's so hard to say with the emotions that get involved, and 28" x 28" can go wrong (as can 34" x 34" -- always a risk...) but given how little she is, I think I'd look into having a vet examine her for guidance and the piece of mind it may give you.

Good luck!

 

[Relic]

We're waiting on our maiden mare 28.5" Moniet to foal any day now. We have her bred to a 32" stallion but all his foals have been born very tiny and stayed small till they were yearlings then shot up. Thought to be honest l'm sweating bullets with what if's every day for the last week hoping it's going to be the same for her as the other 5 tiny foals he's thrown...we had her vet checked before breeding to make sure she was big enough to foal a head and she should do fine. We have a under 28" stallion who's not chunky himself but who throws bigger foals that don't grow much down the road and would never use him on her for me that would be asking for trouble..

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

This is just my personal opinion but I would at least wait another year. My 29" mare had her first foal this year as a 5 yr old out of my 28.5" stallion and when I bought her last year I was so happy that she wasnt bred since she had been exposed to a 32" stallion. He was kind of refined but still much too big for such a small and maiden mare. She also didnt really look filled out entirely when I got her so I believe that she wasnt even truly mature enough to foal safely. I agree that refinement counts a lot but also think about if you breed her to a taller stallion and it is a taller foal, it is still going to have all those long legs and bigger body to get into position and possibly have to be repositioned by you. Also dont only look at the refinement of the stallion, look at what he produces, if he is producing large or coarse foals, that wont go well most likely, but if he is producing smaller, refined foals there is a better possibility of a good outcome. I would never breed an under 30" mare to a larger stallion without knowing what he produces. I would also like to add that if she or the stallion are from a pedigree that has quite a few coarser horses in it they can end up producing the problem themselves and look at how tall the horses are in their pedigrees as well. There are tons of factors that lead into this and they may not even matter in the long run but in deciding what to do with the unknown you have to look at the facts that you have to determine the best course. The difference in height in your two horses isnt bad and could work well but I cant make too fair of a judgement without knowing what either of them look like or are built or anything.

Its all truly a crapshoot anyways with horses but I guess we have to look at what we can.

 

[Genie]

I think as Jill does, with regard to the refinement of the stallion being my gauge when it comes to breeding the smaller mares.

We bred our 32.5 inch stallion to our smaller mares and the resulting foals were always petite and the mares foaled easily.

Our smaller mares are usually more ready at 4, but I think you can judge the maturity pretty easily.

 

[Versatility Farm & Training]

I think he maturity, and the size of her hips are more important than he height. She needs to be totally mature, and have a nice wide set of hips. I would also breed her to a shorter and very refined stallion at least for the firt foal.

In 07 I bred 2 maiden mares for 08. One was 32.5-33" very refine 4 year old at time of breeding mare bred to a 31 inch heavyier boned stallion. When she foaled the baby got hip locked. being stuck at the abdomen it suffocated before I could get it out. The mare was fine, but lost the baby. The second mare was a 3 year old at time of breeding 29" mare with a strong hip. She was bred to a more refined 32.5" stallion. I watch all my mares like a hawk when they are clsoe to foaling... this mare had half of an udder and was a month away from her due date so I had her in a stall, but not a foaling stall and wasn't watching her. I went out the next morning and found a dry, live healthy filly in the stall. Mom and filly were both perfectly ok, baby had been nursing and everything.

So that is an example on how the stallion size and the mares hips are more important than he height. I do have to admit that my 29" mare's filly is expected to mature at 24-26", currently measures 22" at a year old. She shows no signs of dwarfism, she is just tiny and correct. I even had a visitor yesterdy ask me if I was going to show her.

 

[Dona]

As others have said, it depends more on the "refinement" of the stallion she is bred to...not so much the height.

Also.....many of the smaller mares will breed, but won't conceive until they are older. My 27.75" mare "Sweetie" didn't have her first foal until she was six. She has gone on to have foals every year since, with no problems.

 

[Cathy_H]

I really think it has a lot more to do with the refinement of the stallion than the height

..... How refined is the mare also? We had a 28 inch mare that was bred to small stallions (including Buck Echo) and she lost the foals between 6-10 months. This mare was not refined & vet said she had room to carry the foals.......... Under 30" mare I probably would not.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I agree on the refinement issue, BUT, that being said, I will no longer breed under 30 " mares (keeping in mind that this is 30" to the withers, not the American way!!) as I just think it is too small.

I lost a foal last Wednesday (detached placenta) and the only reason we got the foal out OK was that we had that wee bit extra room inside to play with.

With an under 30" mare, no matter how roomy she is, everything is fine til something goes wrong, and then if you cannot get her in for a C section you have no where to go.

Mia had two foals off the trot without problems.

The third one had detached placenta and died, thus could not aid birth, and it killed the mare.

Mia was 28" to the whithers.