13.3 Quarter Mare

[FahrendorfFarms]

Hey everybody got a question I have a 3yr old quarter mare she is 13.3 should fill out to 14.1 per vet. She is a beautiful buckskin. Im looking to breed her next year possibly, For either a mule colt or trying to decide if she will be able to deliver a foal. Any suggestions on how big of a stallion i would you or if there would be any qualm with a jack?

 

[violetsky888]

I would stick to under 15 hands. Height is only one consideration. Check her build. Does she have wide hips/chest, build or is she narrow and dainty? Check out the stallion too. Long skinny legs are't going to be a problem birthing, but big all over will be. I've seen different lines of qh grow at different speeds quite a few top out at 2. My friend in Texas swears her QH's grow until they are 5. Did yours go through an ugly duckling stage around two, or did she look like a miniature version of a mature horse as she was growing? It's my belief the uglies end up with little more height and width than the pretty from birth. Some mares won't have anything to do with a jack. What are you trying to accomplish with this breeding? You want a stud to compliment and improve your mare.

 

[bnttyra]

I wouldn't worry so much about height but focus more on finding a stallion that will compliment her, and improve her weakness/faults. Is she an AQHA registered horse? What is her breeding/pedigree? At the age of 3 I highly doubt she has proen herself in any discipline so I would suggest waiting until she is a bit older. What do you want to do with the resulting foal or mule? Plus waiting a bit will give her more time to grow and mature which in the end will make this breeding less risky to her.

I am not a fan of breeding grade horses just to get a baby. I firmly believe that every breeding should have a purpose in mind and it should be a well thought out plan on what that foal will be used for. I don't think breeding for color is a good idea as conformation is way more important. Not everyone thinks this way, I get that, just make sure that if you do breed it is because you want to improve upon those breeds and have a good plan for the use of the foal.

 

[w c]

If it was me I would not breed my mare unless she was really in the top 5-10 per cent of her breed. There are just too many unwanted horses. Same with mules. Sure you can think you will keep the foal but 9 times out of 10 people wind up having to sell the foal they bred for 'just myself'. Things change and money gets tight and there's another average foal on the market, you can't even give them away these days, and I mean that literally.