Filly vs. Colt

[Kim~Crayonboxminiatures]

I really and truly wish for healthy live foals!!

After that anything with appy coloring is icing on the cake!

 

[Bunnylady]

Around here, fillies sell for more than colts, too. I suspect it is the "walking uterus" mentality.

In the Big Horse world, a lot of people are intimidated by stallions. They generally have a reputation for being - well - studly, and it is understood that they are not for amateurs. Unless you have a certain ego thing going on, the only reason for keeping a male horse intact is to breed, and the costs and risks of doing it with big horses are more than most people are up for. Because everything is smaller in scale with the minis, they seem more affordable to someone who might only want to "dabble" in horses. A hobby that reproduces and makes money - how cool is that? If you pasture breed, you won't have to worry about whether you can handle that stallion more than once in awhile, anyway.

I have seen so-o-o many ads for mini studs that I wouldn't give you two nickles for. "Cute" and "color producer" seem to be the best that the sellers can say about them. Not one word about conformation, probably because the seller hasn't a clue. Most minis aren't seen as having any job other than looking cute, and if you can't make more of them, what good are they? With this mind set, it really shouldn't be surprising that when you remove an animal's reproductive potential, its value goes down. Until minis are seen as having value for themselves, rather than what they can produce, we are going to have this problem.

 

[targetsmom]

So many good comments on here---

Well, live and healthy (and the mare surviving) are my main goals, but after that I want pinto color. That is so it can be registered with the Pinto association where versatility is really appreciated (most members are big horse people). We are trying to raise pintos because we also appreciate an all around horse of any size. We prize minis that can halter, drive, do CDEs, jump, do trail and liberty, visit nursing homes, and provide companionship. So a gelding would suit us just fine. And why should a non-breeding quality filly be any more desirable than a colt?

 

[Minimor]

Honestly, I prefer the boys. Fillies are nice in that they don't cost me anything extra in terms of vet fees to get them gelded, but I'm just as happy to get a colt as a filly. It costs us only $70-$80 per horse for gelding, which isn't all that much, but when you multiply that by....14? 20? whatever the number is that we've gelded over the last few years and the ones we have left to geld...it does add up to a fair sum.

I do know that many people want fillies because they are easier to sell, and easier to keep around if they don't sell (no gelding expenses again, and none of the hassle of keeping a bunch of intact stallions around) but I'm not in this for the selling and if selling a gelding means you have to give him away then mine aren't going anywhere. In my view geldings should be worth something, and if everyone would geld more colts and stick to their guns on what they want as a fair price for those geldings (and so raise the value/price of the horses they do sell as stallions) the breed would be a lot better off.

Hmmm.... I sometimes wish that minis would do like the big guys. When they name them use part of the stallion and part of the mare to represent the bloodlines, not the farm.

I don't know what difference that makes, really? In any case, that's not the way it's done with all big horse breeds--Morgans get named by farm names, just like the Minis tend to. I don't know about anyone else, but whether a horse has a farm name or the combined names of its sire/dam, makes no difference to me how much I like the horse

 

[midnight star stables]

How many show gelding can you have and keep?

Basically speaking, fillies sell for more money, unless a colt is of superior quality. IMO, Period.

I've decided I just like mares as a whole. I plan to geld most my colts. Depending on many things, I may sell a few. I WOULD be more happy if I had all fillies, But I'll be thrilled if they are healthy.

 

[ClickMini]

Well this is an interesting topic. JOHN CHERRY I LIKE YOUR THINKING. I wish more farms would hold back and train some super geldings to market as performance horses.

Here, I show breed show, do combined driving, and even have performance trick horses. I love my boys, they just have so much spark! I am happy with my result, either way. I will be hardshipping my gelding Esprit into AMHA next year because of their dynamite gelding incentive program. We have the same thing in our local AMHA club. You can win back some big bucks with your geldings in AMHA! I am really looking forward to the Super Gelding program in AMHR to come to fruition.

I just think it is funny when people look at my beautiful new colt and say, gee too bad not a girl. LOL! I think he's just dandy, berries and all!

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Interesting thread. I have a bit of a different opinion. Being someone who does breed for the purposes of getting my farm name out there (selling foals) I LOVE having colts. I'm actually praying for colts!!!

I love to show horses with my farm name on them and nothing, IMO, will represent my farm better than having a kick-butt colt born that I can show as a gelding. I've gelded every colt born here to date and will continue to do so for quite a while. I'm big on gelding. I would much prefer to spend the money to geld a colt than to add more stallions that have no reason breeding. Having said that, what makes a horse "breeding quality" is very subjective.

 

[Darkstar]

I think with miniatures the bottom line is the bottom line, so to speak. It all comes down to dollars and sense with minis. What is a miniature show gelding worth as compared to a show filly or mare?

I think there are just too many breeders and not enough showing farms in the miniature world. The solution is to promote the breed and open up new markets. I know there are a lot of mini folks out there doing their best to promote and market their horses. It seems to me that this is where the weight of the marketing, for the breed, is. Should the registries be doing more for creating new markets and marketing the breed? After all it is their best interest. Is the miniature horse, a horse for everyone?

Why do the registries not hold clinics across the country to educate miniature owners on how to participate in shows and train their miniatures to compete in shows? I would think that the biggest market out there is non miniature horse owners!

Just some rambling thoughts.... sorry if I got off topic.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I think with miniatures the bottom line is the bottom line, so to speak. It all comes down to dollars and sense with minis. What is a miniature show gelding worth as compared to a show filly or mare?I think there are just too many breeders and not enough showing farms in the miniature world. The solution is to promote the breed and open up new markets. I know there are a lot of mini folks out there doing their best to promote and market their horses. It seems to me that this is where the weight of the marketing, for the breed, is. Should the registries be doing more for creating new markets and marketing the breed? After all it is their best interest. Is the miniature horse, a horse for everyone?

Why do the registries not hold clinics across the country to educate miniature owners on how to participate in shows and train their miniatures to compete in shows? I would think that the biggest market out there is non miniature horse owners!

Just some rambling thoughts.... sorry if I got off topic.

You are right. We need new people to come into the breed. That takes promotion. Right now I just see all of us just selling to eachother, and when will that end when no one is looking? We aren't selling to new people, or atleast not very often. However, I know I said it before but I'll say it again, maybe we are selling to new people but we don't see that with the registeries because of the not so welcomed membership fees.

 

[Magic]

I've sold horses to a lot of new-to-miniatures people over the years, and those that have gotten into showing have done very well (like Hall of Fame in Driving in just one show season).

Miniatures, IMO, are even more "the horse for everyone" then they've ever been-- miniatures cost less to keep than big horses (important in these tight economic times), and they can do SO much-- the entire family can enjoy the horses, whether at a horse show or in the back yard. Grandparents, Mom and Dad, kids, grandkids, all can show/play with the same horse(s) in most cases. The best horse for that is, of course, a gelding.

I LOVE my mares, and do show mares a lot, but I also LOVE my geldings (we have three right now, with two more soon to be gelded). The first foal of the year here is a colt, and I'm trying to talk myself out of wanting to keep him.

He's going to be a gorgeous, wonderful all-around horse, and though he looks to be definitely stallion quality, if he stays here, he'll be gelded and shown.

 

[Allure Ranch]

[SIZE=12pt]The bottom line for me is do I have a healthy mare and foal.... Then all I'm concern with is it's conformation. [/SIZE]

Therefore, needless to say I could care less if it's a filly or colt either way.

 

[wildoak]

I grew up riding mostly mares, and have always had a fondness for them. At the time we made the jump to miniatures, the breed mindset was that geldings were not worth much, only the real culls were gelded. I am so happy to see that changing (and have become a gelding convert myself LOL). I truly believe that geldings will be the lifeblood of the industry, as they are with big horses. You can't go on doing nothing but breeding horses - ultimately there has to be another purpose for them. No, not everyone wants to drive, but the performance horse ranks are growing and geldings usually make the ideal performance horse.

The first gelding we bought was a $500 yearling at a sale - several people inferred there was probably something wrong with him, as no one gelded them so early. He wasn't up to todays halter standards, but he went on to get lots of halter points at the time as well as a National Hunter top ten and a National Championship in showmanship. Not bad for a $500 investment, and an identical mare at the time would probably have run me $5000.

I have five geldings here now, and board five more

. More than I need, but they are all such big personalities it's hard not to love them all!

So in short, I'm happy with a colt or filly. I just want live, healthy quality babies that will be able to do something. (and with 10 geldings on the place, we are obviously not having as many babies now LOL)

Jan

 

[Joanne]

Our colts and stallions are in high demand. We have sold more of them in the last year, twice two to the same new owner !

Not that are fillies and mares have not sold too.

Stallions can produce so many more horses than a mare can, even though I agree 100% the choice of a mare should carry equal weight.

We often have people say they LOVE the mare, but wish it were a stallion!

 

[SweetOpal]

Interesting topic. I have never thought of only showing geldings becuase it has my farm name on it. In fact we do have 4 geldings on the show string here and none of them have my farm name on it. However I did show 2 of them this year myself to thier Pony of the Year Status, and it simply was becuase I love showing, my farm nor myself gained nothing from it other than pesonal satisfaction, and guess what they will be out again, and again and again...I don't have a reason to breed, don't need to prove anything to myself by breeding, I would hope our farm is known for its amazing horses, regardless of sex!

Out of the possible 13 different Horse/pony of the years that are available for halter and performance, amhr, aspc, and aspr there were actually 4 geldings that won these titles this year alone, and looking at the 4, not one of them was bred by the person who won with them....So I do think there are people out there that realize a good gelding is worth its weight in GOLD!

My biggest pet peeve is when I hear someone say "Geldings can't win Champion of Champions" they are not breeding animals"..... Good grief why should a gelding be counted down, he didn't remove his own berries...and becuase they were removed doesn't change his conformation! The only way to promote your geldings people is to get out and show them, love them, enjoy them, whatever it is that you want to do with them, that is promoting them!

 

[wantminimore]

Last year I had 2 foals born here, 1 colt and 1 filly. My plan was to sell them both, the filly will stay and i've been trying to sell the colt. The reason I want fillies is because I can easily find room for them if they don't sell. I have a donkey jack that's been here for 10 years and going on a vacation this spring and I have 2 mini stallions (1 that I want to use for a little breeding) and I have the yearling colt, soooo I have plenty of boys here. I have been spending more time with the colt now that it's warmed up and i've been having fun with him. If he doesn't sell then this fall he will be gelded (if I can find a vet to do it).

One of the reasons I don't have the donkey or 2 of the minis gelded is because of the lack of vets in my area.