Ridecamp: [RC] Possible Breeding

K S SWIGART   katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Melanie Snowhite said:

>> What are your goals with the breeding, what plans for the
>> foal?
>
> I'm breeding for a future distance horse.

If it is not your intent to experiment with breeding, test out what works and what doesn't, etc. but rather to breed your mare once to get your future distance horse, and this will be your one and only time you will ever breed a horse for yourself, AND getting a distance horse is your goal....

....then, you have better odds of getting what you want by breeding to a proven distance stallion (i.e. a stallion that has foals on the ground that are successfully doing distance work).  There are quite a few of them out there.

Additionally, you would want to look at stallions that have been successfully bred (for distance offspring) to non-arab mares (since that is what you have).  And if he has been bred to Morgans, so much the better.

Fire n Ice does not fall into this category.

However, if you have other goals, Fire n Ice may have those traits; and/or his progeny may have those traits (if he has them, but none of his progeny shows those same traits, you might still want to steer clear of him, because AFTER a stallion has foals on the ground, the traits that he exhibits are significantly less important than the traits that his foals exhibit), but take a look at the mares he has been bred to too.

If, on the other hand, you are interested in breeding your mare to see what you get with the plan that if the foal is not exactly what YOU are looking for then you plan to sell it and try again, THEN what you also want to take into consideration is the marketability of the stallion's progeny (from mares like yours, i.e. his half-bred foals).  You need to ask yourself how hard it would be to find a good home for the foal in the event that you aren't going to keep it (if you are planning to keep the foal for yourself no matter how it turns out, this is virtually irrelevant--although not totally so, since your circumstances may change and your plans might have to change along with them).

> I did see some cross firing in the video I received so I'm not
> sure how much athleticism is there in this stallion.

This, for me, is one of the most telling things.  One of the major criteria I have in making a breeding decision is if I look at my mare and look at the stallion and my gut level reaction is "I have GOT to have a foal from this cross."  I want to stand back and look at them both (or at least have both of them in mind) and have absolutely no reservations.  And this is on a totally emotional level.

If I have that gut level reaction, THEN I will investigate further for what I will get, or good reasons why I should or shouldn't do this.  But if the overriding broad response isn't "this would be the perfect cross," then I won't do it.

I don't breed enough horses, or have the resources to raise enough horses to be breeding horses that I haven't fallen in love with even before they are born :).

This may not be the most scientific way of breeding horses (looking at traits of the stallion, traits of the progeny, and going with the best odds of getting what you are trying for), but for the few horses that I have bred (or have been involved in the breeding decision for other owners); I have gotten the best horses from using this as the initial criteria, but not the only criteria--it is a necessary but not sufficient condition.

kat
Orange County, Calif.


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