Age that they will reproduce

[houndit]

I was told that Belgian mares will usually reproduce until they are about 25. Does that sound accurate? I was also told that if they are not bred every year when they are older, they will not want to breed again. Is that true? If so, how often is it safe not to breed them, if you still want to be able to breed them in the future.
Thanks!

 

[freemotion]

Statistically, whatever the breed, mares need to be bred by the time they are teenagers....YOUNG teenagers....as it gets more and more difficult to settle them the longer you wait. Difficult to impossible. Whether they want to breed or not is irrelevant since AI was invented!

I don't know about Belgians specifically, just horses in general.

 

[goodhors]

Younger mares are easier to get in foal, maintain their pregnancy. Some mares do continue to get in foal easily, never have a problem, into their late years. Other older mares have problems, can be hard or impossible to get bred. Each mare is an individual, you can't tell how good they will be by looking at them or going by their past history. Each foaling does affect her future usability. I would not be breeding a maiden mare after age 12, their muscles and pelvic ligaments get very tight, lose stretch, often causing problems in foaling.

Something to consider is that there is a poor market right now for most horses and especially drafts that eat a lot. Local auctions are almost rock bottom prices as fall approaches and horses need hay over winter. Hay costs, while summer pasture seems free. Last winter getting ANY bids on young stock, light or draft, even registered, was difficult. Heard of lots that only got $25-$100. Nice animals. Lots of rough looking young horses with no feed put into them, they went cheap too, in the same low price ranges. Made driving Team horses were only getting $200 to $400, animals in nice shape. Few bidders, and around here those good fleshed horses probably went for meat in Canada.

So unless you have a market to sell to, you could breed and have no where to get rid of the extra production animals. Check local Animal Control, they often have free or found animals turned in, no one wants or can care for horses now. Our local AC's have been hit hard with horse problems and no budget or facilities to deal with equines.

Most breeders I know did not breed their mares this year, having problems selling their youngstock of any ages. All those mouths need feeding and training as they mature into animals for use. They are not making any profit with prices for hay and feed, training time, then getting only $25-$100 a head. You don't want to keep paying for owning, so you stop breeding for MORE baby foals or sink under the load.

 

[michickenwrangler]

If your Belgian is 25 yrs old and bred every year, give the poor gal some time off!

Breeding every year takes a toll on the mare, looser ligaments, weakened muscles, more prone to prolapse, etc ...

The oldest mare I knew that had a foal was 24, her pregnancy was very hard on her and nursing even more so. Though her owner wanted to leave her colt on for 6 months, we had to take him off at 6 weeks and bottle feed him as she lost a lot of weight.

 

[Bossroo]

Most colts will be fertile at 7 ( seven months) months of age. so wean them prior to that or they will breed their own mothers. I have seen fillies get in foal under a year of age while in a pasture with colts and have a foal before 2 years old, not pretty.

 

[ducks4you]

MY VET gets really frustrated at clients who breed their fillies too young, like at 1 1/2 years old!! I would say talk to Vets at Large Animal Ag departments about advice. Not to scare you but mare's don't carry and give birth as easily as cattle do, and there can be complications.

 

[houndit]

O.K. thanks! We use our horses for farming so I am not to worried about selling them. Our mares are not 25 and they have not had colts for several years. I just wanted to know if they would stop breeding when they were older if you skipped a few years as I was told.