I can't believe what I read!

[Kawgirl]

I was recently looking at a farm's website, I won't mention any names or locations, and couldn't believe what I read under a filly's description. She obviously has some leg problems and it states that she has a bad bite, but has great color and bloodlines. It says they can't decide if she is going to be a show horse or a broodmare!

They do have some nice looking horses, and a couple not so good, but I can't believe they would think she is a show or broodmare prospect! It seems color and bloodlines is all that matters to some breeders!

 

[Sue_C.]

Halter horse...no...broodmare, not if bite might be hereditary...(it isn't always)...but if the back teeth line up, there is absolutely no reason why she cannot be driven or shown in-hand...and coulod very well make a driving champion. Who's ta know??

Edited to add, I forgot about the leg problems...soooo, if severe, would certainly not allow her to be much of a show driving horse. My thought is that she would be best harness trained and given/sold to someone who wants a nice backyard driving horse to enjoy. ABSOLUTELY not a broodmare, with bad legs and bite, she has two strikes against her, and heck, there are so many good mares around...why bother breeding something just because it has the "parts". .

 

[JennyB]

I would say that MOST of the time an off bite is heritary, But we had a rash of foals dying in the sack, born with crooked legs/leg and off bites. We did tesst on the mares and stallions, tested the hay and what the vets found was they were missing a type of salt which was causing the problems. When we gave them the correct free salt which they horded down all these problems stopped and to this date all the foals who have had foals or sired them have normal foals. We were most concerned about the off bites, but no problems at all

..

 

a crooked leg can be from laying inside their mothers wrong which most of the time corrects itself with time and proper trimming, but if trimming doesn't get done then many times the leg stays crooked.

 

I would have to say that maybe this mare would not be good at all for showing, but maybe a broodmare. You don't the circumstances concerning why the legs have issues or why she has the off bite, and you don't know how off the bite is. It maybe be ever so slight...somethings things are different that they seem. If they have other very nice horses who have successful at showing, I would guess they know why her problems are there and feel confident that this mare would be good for one or both. Just my thoughts

 

Blessings,

Jenny

 

[Eagle]

I saw that too and I must admit I thought the same thing. I guess not all our standards are the same. Perhaps lack of equine confirmation knowledge. I admit I would not breed a mare like this.

 

[Minimor]

Leg issues and off bite = NO broodmare in my books. Maybe the offbite isn't hereditary, and MAYBE the leg issues aren't genetic....but then again MAYBE they are.

One big problem in the world of Miniature breeding is the variety of excuses given for breeding horses that should never be used for breeding! Bad bites, leg issues, locking stifles...the list goes on.

 

[CharlesFamily]

Leg issues and off bite = NO broodmare in my books. Maybe the offbite isn't hereditary, and MAYBE the leg issues aren't genetic....but then again MAYBE they are.

One big problem in the world of Miniature breeding is the variety of excuses given for breeding horses that should never be used for breeding! Bad bites, leg issues, locking stifles...the list goes on.

:yeah

:yeah

Exactly! Just because a horse has a uterus does not mean she needs to have a baby! It's not like there is a shortage of miniature horses so we MUST breed every mare available!

Personally, if it were my mare, I would train her to do something so she has some value besides being bred. As someone else said, even if she is not halter horse material, she still might be able to be used for performance, given that the leg problems were not severe.

Barbara

 

[ruffian]

Some folks are just barn blind and can't see their own horses faults. I get a chuckle out of the ads who proudly announce that their best feature of their stallion is the long main and tale!!!

(yes I know how who to spell mane and tail!)

 

[Magic]

If a horse has even a mild off bite here, it's simply not a candidate for breeding. If a horse has crooked legs, it is not a candidate for breeding. If one had both, oh my. It's hard for me to imagine what classes a horse like that could show in. Showmanship?

It could be a nice pet, or a companion horse for some lonely only horse.

 

[targetsmom]

There are SO many things that filly can do other than being a broodmare! Showmanship, halter obstacle, driving, hunter/jumper (assuming the legs can take it), nursing home visits, companion, friend, pet... One of our most versatile minis is one we choose not to breed due to issues like that, but she does everything else VERY well. Several experienced mini folks told us they would breed her anyway so I guess we have pretty strict criteria for our broodmares.

 

[JAX]

I have a filly who is the full sister to my favorite broodmare. This filly was a bottle baby, has an off bite, and always had feet problems because we couldnt keep enough weight on her to get her hooves to spread correctly. Farrier keeps saying that her cow hocked legs are due to being so refined and then her feet caused her to stand/move that way. The dentist says her off bite is not hereditary because ??? lines up perfectly. Everyone says its all because she is refined and didnt gain the weight or get the exact nutrition that a normal foal would have... "Quit being so worried and breed her, she will have nice foals like her sister does."

Cant help it... What if she doesn't?? She is now 5 and has never been exposed and I just dont think I want to chance getting a foal with an off bite and messed up legs. There are plenty of other mares to breed that dont have these problems. Now just have to find that perfect home who wants a mare with an off bite, cow hocked legs, and believes she should be the boss no matter who you put her with... No Problem!!!!!

HA HA HA

 

[kaykay]

One big problem in the world of Miniature breeding is the variety of excuses given for breeding horses that should never be used for breeding! Bad bites, leg issues, locking stifles...the list goes on.

Amen to that!

 

[Sue_C.]

I have a filly who is the full sister to my favorite broodmare. This filly was a bottle baby, has an off bite, and always had feet problems because we couldnt keep enough weight on her to get her hooves to spread correctly. Farrier keeps saying that her cow hocked legs are due to being so refined and then her feet caused her to stand/move that way. The dentist says her off bite is not hereditary because ??? lines up perfectly. Everyone says its all because she is refined and didnt gain the weight or get the exact nutrition that a normal foal would have... "Quit being so worried and breed her, she will have nice foals like her sister does."

Cant help it... What if she doesn't?? She is now 5 and has never been exposed and I just dont think I want to chance getting a foal with an off bite and messed up legs. There are plenty of other mares to breed that dont have these problems. Now just have to find that perfect home who wants a mare with an off bite, cow hocked legs, and believes she should be the boss no matter who you put her with... No Problem!!!!!

HA HA HA

But if this is as you say, a FULL SISTER to one of your broodmares, she has the same genetics as the one you are breeding...whouldn't she?

 

[JAX]

"But if this is as you say, a FULL SISTER to one of your broodmares, she has the same genetics as the one you are breeding...whouldn't she?"

Thats what everybody keeps telling me. That because I am so happy with her full sisters foals that I will be as happy with hers as well. But cant help it I look at her and say" Yeah but what if they are wrong???".

 

[Sue_C.]

"But if this is as you say, a FULL SISTER to one of your broodmares, she has the same genetics as the one you are breeding...whouldn't she?"

Thats what everybody keeps telling me. That because I am so happy with her full sisters foals that I will be as happy with hers as well. But cant help it I look at her and say" Yeah but what if they are wrong???".

I wasn't saying "go and breed her", what I meant was, what if her full sister shares some of the same genes, and passes them on, although she herself doesn't appear to be "defective"? Thought provoking, this breeding business.

 

[JAX]

Yes first two times she foaled I was quite worried about that... The third is still on the way and yes I am still wondering if she will run out of "the good" and send me a "WTH?". I still have a long wait though... she is due NOV 5th!!! I put the stallion in with the girls in November because I no longer saw anyone in heat. Thought they were done for the year. Wanted to make sure the girls would not beat him(VERY VERY passive/submissive boy) so I thought he would be safer to get to know them when they were not in heat... Two months later this mare starts following me everywhere, keeping all the other horses from me and just being a hog with the attention. I told my vet she needed to be ultrasounded because shes acting very needy and she only does this when shes pregnant. She laughed at me and said wrong time of the year! She agreed to do it anyway... She says "OMG You are right!! I said" 2 months?". She says "No shes between 35-40 days". So here is to hoping for more of "the good stuff"!!

 

[Songcatcher]

"But if this is as you say, a FULL SISTER to one of your broodmares, she has the same genetics as the one you are breeding...whouldn't she?"

Thats what everybody keeps telling me. That because I am so happy with her full sisters foals that I will be as happy with hers as well. But cant help it I look at her and say" Yeah but what if they are wrong???".

Diane answered this very well, but let me give you a visual. It is possible to have two full siblings with one being Black Tobiano, homozygous for Black and homozygous for Tobiano, and the other being Solid Red. They are full siblings, but got very different genes from the parents. Similarly, you could have two parents, each 29 inches. They could have one foal mature 27 inches and another full sibling mature 36 inches. Genes do not always match up the same.

 

[Riverrose28]

I too have a pet filly I'm trying to find a good pet home for simply because when she turned two her bite started to go off. She's had two dentals and it has improved alot now that she is getting her permanent teeth, but, I wouldn't breed her or want anyone else to bred her. This was from a first time breeding to a really small stallion, won't do that again.

Also on another note, I can't believe what I read sometimes in the ads for a horse for sale that states "AMHA" registered and then they go on to say measures 35 inches. In my opinion, that makes the AMHA registration null. They usually have a high asking price, I can't understand why the owners don't transfer the registration to AMHR and adjust the price accordingly. I personally wouldn't purchase a stallion that was only registered AMHA at such a high price and then need to do the AMHR transfer, it would cost too much.