# Thinking of breeding from my mare- advice



## Jenki13 (Dec 31, 2010)

Hey all,

I am considering breeding from my mare, she is 3/4TB x Shire 15.3hh & has good conformation, paces, & temperament. I was wondering whether anyone had ideas what I could breed her with to produce a nice sports horse type (Event/SJ) without going to fine? (She currently looks like a heavy-thoroughbred).

Thanks


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## cherry.chops (Jan 1, 2011)

I think welsh D's are brilliant jumpers if you get one which is prepared to work with you!
in my opinion stay away from the continental WB's but you could try an irish sports horse, anglo arab (if you want to fine it up a tiny bit), idxtb, or you could cross with a heavy weight tb?


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## Jenki13 (Dec 31, 2010)

Heres some (not very good) photos of ,y mare, which may give your more of an idea what shes like:


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## Jenki13 (Dec 31, 2010)

cherry.chops said:


> I think welsh D's are brilliant jumpers if you get one which is prepared to work with you!
> in my opinion stay away from the continental WB's but you could try an irish sports horse, anglo arab (if you want to fine it up a tiny bit), idxtb, or you could cross with a heavy weight tb?


I had considered a welsh x TB to keep a nice steady head & hopefully keep the same kind of height / weight. I wasn't sure about crossing with an ISH as it would mean bringing in another heavy horse into the mix. Anglo-arab was also another consideration (don't mind going a bit finer) but I am struggling to find any studs in the local area..

How come you would stay away from the continental warmbloods? & what is your opinion on a British Warmblood?

Thanks


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

I would say, a nice heavy TB or 3/4 TB with something a little more substantial (ID) thrown in the mixture.


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## cherry.chops (Jan 1, 2011)

she's a lovely looking mare 

im not saying that all of them are this way, but every wb ive come across have a screw loose, or completly missing! british and american wbs seem like nice honest horses.
i couldnt help laughing to myself when you mentioned about a welsh x tb keeping the good head! im a huge fan of tbs, and alot of them are nice horses..its the welshes that are complete nutters!! not all of them mind..if you get a good'en then their worth their weight in gold. but im sure the majority of welsh D owners will tell you how devious and smart they are.

You may find that a hanoverian type horse may bring that extra little something too


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## Jenki13 (Dec 31, 2010)

Thankyou, shes a quite a fat mare at the moment! haha.

I haven't had much to do with any warmbloods so I didnt know what they were like. I was looking at a stallion who was a british warmblood & found a local that was an oldenburg, but not sure how it would be in a cross..

See, all the welsh partbreds & welsh Ds that i've come across have been pretty sane, the a/b/cs are little trouble makers mind! Whereas most thoroughbreds I know are completely mental, but I suppose its like any horse get a good one and its worth its weight in gold.


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## Praecelsus (Jan 14, 2011)

Look at the individual temperament of the stallion, not the breed.

I would recommend an Irish Draught, Irish Sports Horse, Thoroughbred or Warmblood.

You need to have a proper look at your mare's conformation, noting down any weak point and choose a stallion that complements her so that those weak conformation points are his strong points.

Think about what sort of size you want you foal to be. Of corse there are no guarantees, but if you cross her with a Welsh Sec D you will get a foal that would be smaller than if crossed with a 17hh Dutch Warmblood.

Lastly, only breed your mare if you are prepared to lose her. Breeding is risky, and there is every chance you could lose the mare in breeding. Many a seasoned breeder has give me this advice.

I will be breeding my mare in the spring/summer, and am also currently looking at stallions. Personally I am looking at breeding, temprement, conformation but also colouring as I hope to get a buckskin or palomino warmblood from him. This is one of the stallions I am considering as he has a dilute gene.


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## momentofmadness (Jul 19, 2008)

You could probably buy the type you are after for less money than it would cost to breed...


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## Snippet (Apr 14, 2011)

momentofmadness said:


> You could probably buy the type you are after for less money than it would cost to breed...


I would agree with this. There are plenty of that sort already on the ground, and you don't have to risk losing your mare.


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## Shayden (Mar 29, 2011)

Praecelsus said:


> I will be breeding my mare in the spring/summer, and am also currently looking at stallions. Personally I am looking at breeding, temprement, conformation but also colouring as I hope to get a buckskin or palomino warmblood from him. This is one of the stallions I am considering as he has a dilute gene.


wow this is my first time in this section! what a beautiful horse!


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## SymJedi (Feb 13, 2012)

Does your mare have documented breeding? If so I would also look at her ancestors a few generations back as if there is a large amount of variation in them, it decreases the likelihood of the offspring having a similar phenotype to the dam or sire - e.g. you could get a throwback from the shire.

You need to think about how marketable the offspring will be. If you are thinking of breeding for yourself, you still need to bear in mind the market because no future for any horse is guaranteed and you may get to a point in the future where financial needs must and you need to sell. At this point you need your horse to be in some way marketable - this will, of course, also be down to your skills in handling and bringing up your youngster.

As you said you want to produce a SJ/event type, does your mare have any kind of record in affilliated eventing or showjumping? If yes, you need to (as another poster said also) absolutely tear apart her conformation, movement and jump and find a stallion who is strong in all her weak points. If no, I would question how you would expect your mare to produce an eventer or showjumper if she has no proven record in either.

Also, especially for a sports horse type, if the stallion isn't graded, forget it. Consider getting your mare graded too if you are serious, it will give you an expert's opinion on her and what stallion she is best suited to. With a lot of stallions now, they will be available via AI so I wouldn't worry too much if the stallion isn't near you or even in the same country as you!

Go on to SHBGB and the AES websites for more info on sport horse stallions.


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