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Who's Breeding for 2011 Foals?

I haven't had foals since 2008 and I miss them, and since I finally sold most of youngsters off as well as a few others, I'm having a nice, big breeding year! [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Spooks%20Two%20E…] [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Spooks%20Two%20E…] Spooks Two Eyed Charm: to be crossed on the below mares, plus any outside mares that may come in this spring. [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] Nothin Doin, AQHA chestnut mare [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] Riskeys Black Angel, APHA black mare [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] Codys Poco Breeze, APHA bay minimal overo mare [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] Playboys Three Dolls, AQHA dun mare [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] [img]http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c10/JazzyShadw7horse/Website%20Update…] Cindys Diamond Dandy, AQHA bay mare

Sara Sat, 03/20/2010 - 18:33

Jazzy I kind of like that chestnut AQHA mare up there and you know I'm not a Quarter Horse person ;)

I'm so up in the air about breeding this year. I have some older mares who really need to be kept in foal so...

[img]http://www.ridesobright.com/TickleInspe…]

will likely be bred to http://www.empirespower.com/stallion.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and...

[img]http://myrewyn.com/wp-content/uploads/2…]

will be bred to

[img]http://www.ridesobright.com/coryfacebyb…]

This cross was supposed to happen last year and Ginny had such irregular heats I couldn't do it and had too much else going on to really figure it out. If her heats are weird again this year I'm sending them both to a breeding center and letting them figure it out. Currently she is in the paddock next to Cory so that her heats will be obvious and strong (hopefully...)

Sara Sat, 03/20/2010 - 20:57

[quote="Monsterpony"]I can't wait to see the CoryXGinny baby![/quote]

I know, right? And I've already got it sold about ten times, if I decide to sell. :lol:

rabbitsfizz Sun, 03/21/2010 - 05:49

No point in making plans as I change with the weather!!
Which is why I have two extra foals due this year.
It seemed like a good idea at the time :sign

Bannerminis Sun, 03/21/2010 - 07:14

I am going to cover my maiden this yr - Silver Grace Silver Shimmer. She is a 3yr old Homozygous Black Sabino with Banner my Buckskin Boy. I am really excited about this baby but also in dread as this will be my first maiden foaling so I will be a bundle of nerves no doubt. My other two mares were seasoned mares so apart from getting a hang of their routines for foaling it was all pretty straight forward.

Silver Grace Silver Shimmer aka Shimmer
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]

Banner
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]

I scanned on this combo pic so quality isnt great
[img]http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t35/…]

I have given up the ghost on Rosie ever foaling again even though I have told her that it would be good for her and free her up during the summer if she were to oblige but alas its fallen on deaf ears :roll:

Slaney is due this May and it will be her 4th foal for me so I am thinking of giving her a yr off but she breezes through her pregnancies and enjoys being a mom so I dont know.
Do you give your mares a yr off or do you let them breed away once there are no complications??

Sara Sun, 03/21/2010 - 10:48

I give my mares years off but they all have careers first and are only broodmares second. Just make sure with your maiden that you have a number you can call for help, day or night. I had two people on notice that I might need help -- one was my maiden mare's breeder and the other was the owner of Lochinvar Welsh who has foaled out a lot of mares -- and I did end up calling my #1 person when my mare kicked her new baby across the stall. Then again she weighs 1200 pounds... but I'd still have a number ready if I were you. It definitely took two sets of hands to get this baby safely nursing.

Bannerminis Sun, 03/21/2010 - 13:42

Those pictures are from the Championship which was near the end of August '09 and she measures around c. 32 1/2". Havent measured her yet this yr but she hasnt grown a whole lot so dont think she has gone over 33".
Banner is about 31 1/4" when I measured him in October 09 and he hasnt grown at all since by the look of him.

I will get a better feel for what type of foal he produces this yr with Slaney and an outside mare due May and June.

Shimmer loves babies and she is very good and patient with them so I hope that having her own baby wont be an issue for her but then hormones can do strange things.

My vet lives locally so he can be at my house in less then 20 mins if needed and my neighbour across the road is always on hand if needs be too so I am covered on the extra help if required. God Bless the good neighbours.

With a maiden I worry about the fact that sometimes they give absolutey NO indication close to foaling and of course some of them can have a very poor milk supply and also first foals can be a tight fit.
I read up on all births including the difficult ones so as to arm myself with as much knowledge as possible.
I plan to cover Shimmer in hand so that at least I will know her dates - thats the plan anyway :flower

JazzyPaintsnQtrs Sun, 03/21/2010 - 14:17

lol, thanks, she's my baby! I love that mare to death, it'll be her first foal, she's Two Eyed Jack and Sonny Dee Bar bred. Are you going to breed Rosalyn to Peanut? I think that would be a cute cross =)

Krickette Sun, 03/21/2010 - 14:21

[quote="JazzyPaintsnQtrs"]lol, thanks, she's my baby! I love that mare to death, it'll be her first foal, she's Two Eyed Jack and Sonny Dee Bar bred. [b]Are you going to breed Rosalyn to Peanut? I think that would be a cute cross =)[/b][/quote]
Me too! :D

Danni Sun, 03/21/2010 - 14:52

[quote="Bannerminis"]Do you give your mares a yr off or do you let them breed away once there are no complications??[/quote]

No I don't nesessarily give them a year off. I mean I give them a year off it it's needed, like they were pulled down really bad with their last foal, didn't do as well, got sick etc.. But give them a year off just because.. no I don't do that. Most full-time broodies seem much happier having a foal year after year. The ponies are paddock run anyway so I figure if they want a year off they'll take it!!

All that said I'm not breeding anywhere near the amount of ponies my family used to, so everything doesn't go in foal simply for the reason I don't need all their foals every year!
Cheers

Danni

Bannerminis Sun, 03/21/2010 - 15:03

Thanks Danni for you thoughts. Slaney is a very easy foaler in fact too easy she shoots them out like a rocket and sometimes placenta and everything comes together. She is happy out with her babies and very content so if all goes well with this birth then I might let her run with the stallion and like you say she can make up her own mind :lol:
If she has problems or becomes ill then she will have her yr off but chances are I will have to be standing behind her with a net to catch the little rocket foal when she does go :bounce

slaneyrose Sun, 03/21/2010 - 15:12

I hve a mare that is 14 this year and TRIED to give her a year off last year, but she is SOOOOOO inlove with Sundance so when she saw him in the yard last year, that was it and she wouldnt leave without a "rendevous" lol She is in better health than I have ever seen her so will cover her for next year I think. We have the offer to cover a mare or two with an outstanding stallion but we wont be revealing who till next year. :lol: :D :love :bounce

Songcatcher Sun, 03/21/2010 - 15:42

[quote="Bannerminis"]Do you give your mares a yr off or do you let them breed away once there are no complications??[/quote]

Like Danni, I do not give them a year off just for the sake of taking a year off. If they had a difficult birth, or if they were really pulled down by the foal nursing, I would wait about breeding them, but that usually takes care of itself.

Last year I had several that did not breed back in the Spring. I decided to breed for a few fall foals and have two and possibly three due around September. I seriously doubt that I will breed those mares back until next Spring. This fall will be the test of whether or not I will EVER breed for a fall foal again.

If a mare does not breed back one year, I don't consider that in and of itself a problem (unless there are other obvious problems associated with it). When they need a year off, they take it.

Sara Sun, 03/21/2010 - 18:51

[quote="JazzyPaintsnQtrs"]lol, thanks, she's my baby! I love that mare to death, it'll be her first foal, she's Two Eyed Jack and Sonny Dee Bar bred. Are you going to breed Rosalyn to Peanut? I think that would be a cute cross =)[/quote]

I think it would too but I'm not sure yet. Winter was hard on Rosalynn this year and I think she's finally starting to feel her age. I want to see how much she bounces back this spring, maybe get her teeth done and see if that helps, and go from there. She doesn't look terrible or anything but she used to be such an easy keeper and she is just looking a tad thinner than I like right now. Nothing has changed as far as her feed or routine so I'm keeping an eye on her.

supaspot60 Sun, 03/21/2010 - 18:56

If you want to breed Rosie have you ever tried having her flushed out and then injected to ripen her egg? That would give you much better odds

Bannerminis Mon, 03/22/2010 - 05:00

I had Rosie washed out last May and my vet said she was clean as a whistle could see any reason why she couldnt go in foal.
She is lamanitis free for about 3 - 4 wks now and all of a sudden she has grown and is getting big :shock:
So I suppose I will still have to keep an eye on her. All the others are maintaining their weight - even Slaney doesnt look any bigger so who knows.
Now Rosie did show a season back in Sept and I panicked and put her back with Sunny for 1 evening but then sense got the better of me and took her out again - he covered her 3 - 4 times. She hadnt shown a season her cover in July so I though maybe she was just feeling in the mood in Sept. So I suppose it is also possible that maybe she took on that covering although chances of me getting her on the right day are probably slim.
If it was that covering then her 330 days would be on July 30th. Rosie is a very sneaky mare - doesnt like you knowing her business actually she doesnt even like you watching her doing her business :lol:

Bannerminis Mon, 03/22/2010 - 08:23

She was scanned in October and Feb but if its a case that she decided to go for it in Sept then he definately wouldnt have seen anything in October and he would have been scanning too low down in Feb so it would have been missed.
I must get a pic of her but its really only in the flesh that you appreciate how much weight she looks to have put on.
Like I said Rosie doesnt like anyone knowing her business. I will be keeping an eye on her and take note if she starts to get larger over the next few wks as she would still have 4 months to go for a July Baby.

rabbitsfizz Mon, 03/22/2010 - 11:52

You should be able to see a foetal heart beat quite clearly by 18 days...I still have a picture somewhere of a positive result at 11 days!

I never, ever give my mares a year off if they are broodmares, first and foremost, and I will get them back in foal ASAP if they have a hard time, this is how you get nature to help you, the womb has to be healthy to support a foal, so everything in the animal gears up to attain this.
I do not anthropomorphise about my mares, they are animals and they are not capable of thinking ahead, or back wards, so beyond making sure they are in the best health possible, there is nothing gained by feeling sorry for them. The "sorry" bit is for yourself, nothing more.
My mares do not get pulled down by their foals, in fact I have never had this happen, not to a mare I have put in foal myself, I have had mares come in, in not the best health, but, normally, I have managed to get them OK by the time they have foaled.
I do find, if they need it, that a mare will [i]take[/i] a year off, and this is fine by me. I also find that some mares only foal every other year, this is also fine, but I breed them every year, nonetheless.
So, I start breeding a mare at age three, and she will go straight through, breeding as often as she is able, until she is around fifteen, then I generally start looking for a twilight home for her, I do not find a mare that has bred that often is very happy when the foals start coming, if she is not in foal, so staying with me is not necessarily the best thing for her.
Even though I will cover the mares at three, I find with my lines they often do not start foaling until they are four, or sometimes even five.
I will use a two year old colt to breed, but I will not breed form a mare younger than three years old, to foal at four.

Bannerminis Mon, 03/22/2010 - 13:56

Rosies scan was an external and it was very hard for some reason to get a good picture and I had to use a 30 blade on her for him even to get good contact on the skin.
I still think for her gestation that we were scanning the wrong areas. Like I said I will be keeping 1 eye on her just in case she did decide to fool us all. I have heard of mares that were scanned not in foal only to produe a foal down the road. My vet usually scans the bigger horses and its also mostly TB's as this is TB country so they are all internal scans so pretty straight forward normally but the external scan for him is pretty new - I am always testing him :lol:

Well my mind is made up I will let Slaney run with the stallion and let her decide herself although she is a big tart when the mood is on her :D

slaneyrose Mon, 03/22/2010 - 14:30

If she only has 4mths to go you should be able to feel movement now. pres your open hand between her navel and udder while she has a feed and is relaxed...you can even press really firmly to get the foal to respond (incase he/she is asleep! he he) Also, you should be well able to feel if her tummy is "pregnant hard" at this stage. Be great for you if she was so get your stool, a bucket of feed and maybe a good book lol so you can sit and feel for baby movement. :love

dakotakdq Mon, 03/22/2010 - 22:13

Thanks :)
I got a colt from him in 2009 from my chestnut mare, all I wanted was a buckskin filly and of course I got a buckskin colt! my 3rd buckskin colt from 3 foals Ive ever bred!!!! argh! (all diff dams and sires too!)