Thoughts/Experiences with Getting "Older" Mare in Foal

[lil hoofbeats]

I breed mares that have had dystocias. Just because a mare had a dystocia does not mean anything, one mare we had had 5 foals in a row, her 6th one was a dystocia that needed to be cut out. We bred this mare on her month heat cycle, she took and had a wonderful filly last year(you can see her , she is the first foal on my sale page!)

If you can find a vet that will cut the foal out instead of tugging and pulling, you will have much less scar tissue, and much less damage to the mares reproductive tract. I have had a fetotomy performed on almost every dystocia at my farm with excellent results, its just a much quicker easier way of removing a malpositioned foal.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

Parm, why do you have to have an repo exam??? I thought that a mare getting in foal or not was a repo exam??? That is the ultimate exam! I mean, i know its your money and not mine, but i hate to see anyone spend money that they do not have to.

Flush her(with the meds i told you about) and BREED her!!!!

If she gets in foal great, if not well, ....does not really matter what that vet said did it??

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Thanks everyone for your opinions and responses! I take each of them to heart and will use them when making up my mind.

Parm, why do you have to have an repo exam??? I thought that a mare getting in foal or not was a repo exam??? That is the ultimate exam! I mean, i know its your money and not mine, but i hate to see anyone spend money that they do not have to.

Flush her(with the meds i told you about) and BREED her!!!!

If she gets in foal great, if not well, ....does not really matter what that vet said did it??

Well, I don't have a stallion on the farm that I believe is the proper match for either of these girls. So if they are to be bred, they must be sent away to do so. If I go that route, I have to consider the expenses of doing so: stud fee, mare care, ultrasounds and the biggie...transportation costs. Add all those up and I feel it makes better sense to spend some money up front (probably about $200 per mare, maybe less) and make a somewhat informed decision before I commit to those other expenses. I realize that not everything can be known from the examinations and tests, but something could come up that would lead me to say "nope, not breeding her" and in that instance I will have saved myself money, emotional stress and also saved the effort and time of a stallion owner. So, that's why! Long-winded, I know.

 

[lil hoofbeats]

I did not realize you did not have the stallion at your farm. You are right in that way! It would save money in the long run to have them checked out first, I hope they both check out OK and you have some wonderful babies to play with next year!! They are such blessings!!!

 

[Connie P]

I absolutely LOVE my older mares and will continue to breed them for as long as they will take and stay healthy. When I feel they cannot handle the pregnancy or nursing for several months I will stop breeding them and put them out in the "retired" pasture. I have one mare that is an every other year mare. No matter what she will not take while she is nursing a foal. So we just breed her every other year. I believe she is going to be 24 years old this year and will be bred as she has phenominal foals. I have several mares in their upper teens and early twenties and in my personal opinion they do just fine and are fabulous experienced mothers.

Regarding dystocia's. As you know my Cocopah became cast in her stall last year (freak accident) which stressed her so badly that she went into labor (one month early). Her foal was not in the correct position (poll first, no feet), I worked to try to reposition the foal until my vet arrived (thank goodness he is only 7 minutes away). He was able to get the foal into position and deliver with chains, but poor Cocopah was very torn up. She had to go to MSU and have surgery. When I picked her up the vet told me she was fine to rebreed and feel free to do so. Being a woman that has had children, I could not do that do her so I gave her last year off and plan to rebreed her this year. She is doing fabulous and I am confident that she will have a great pregnancy and a better foaling this time.

It sounds like you have a great plan in place for your girls Parmela. Go for it!

 

[Bluebell]

My experience is i have a 19 year old mare that had her last foal 8 years ago. She was bred with stallion in hand 2 days only and settled. Due the end of April.

 

[Riverdance]

Parmala,

The one thing I would be worried about sending my older mares out for breeding is the expense and the chance that they may not conceive. I said I have a 24 year old and for the last two years she has not conceived, or reabsorbed the foal. The stallions are on my farm. Still, with ultrasound and Regumate for a year, I had over $500 into the foal that she must have reabsorbed. I am putting her in with my stud all spring and summer this year. She either gets in foal on her own and carries it or she doesn't. I can not imagine spending the money for a stud fee and mare care on top of that. The older mares are such a crap shoot, but well worth taking a chance when one has their own stud.

The one with dystocia. I had one young mare with a really bad dystocia one year. My vet felt that he saw a tear to the cervix and said he doubted that she would get in foal again, or if she did, she would loose it before full term. The following year, she got in foal and carried to term. Again, one of my studs. And again, I would not have paid a stud fee or mare care fee to see if she could get in foal and carry to term. I also had one young mare with a bad dystocia who was just fine, or so it seemed. The following year she was again bred. After being bred, she started acting really funny. I had the vet out to check her and they could not find anything wrong, but the mare got worse and worse till she died. I have a Necropsy done and it turned out that she had scar tissue that grew around her cervix and uterus are? When bred, it broke open and she slowly bled to death over a weeks time.

As for having them checked to see if they are breeding sound, I would with the one who had dystocia, just to make sure there are no tears in the cervix, otherwise I would just have them flushed out