SO, YOU WANT TO BREED A FOAL?

THE WHAT, WHEN, WHO AND HOW OF IT ALL...

TEXT: Amelia Campbell-Horne

As we’re still in the heat of the breeding season, we thought we’d investigate exactly what goes into breeding a foal - from the moment the thought is conceived in your mind up until the bundle of joy graces you with his presence.

To do this, we need to start right at the very beginning, and that is with the mare.

THE MARE

There are a few key questions to ask when considering breeding with your mare, namely ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what’.

WHY?

If you are a mare owner, why do you want to breed with her?

Here are some things that you might want to consider before you decide to breed your mare:

• Consider the equine industry in the country you live in, and ask yourself what will happen with the foal you want to breed, specifically, what will happen if the foal does not turn out to be the horse of your dreams and you need to sell him?

• Don’t forget the personal and financial implications that come with breeding! Beyond getting your mare pregnant, you will have to feed and house both her and the foal for nearly five years before you can even sit on your foal and feel his potential for the first time.

• Consider what you are trying to breed, and can you achieve this goal by breeding from your mare? For this, you need to evaluate her genetics, performance, conformation, temperament, age and health.

NOTE

Your mare being unsound or ‘retired’ is not a good reason to breed with her. Pregnancy puts a huge strain on the body, and a horse that already has physical issues is likely to find the pregnancy and foal-raising journey a challenge.

If you’ve answered all of these questions and still want to proceed, the next question is…

HOW?

How do you intend to breed your mare? Do you want her to carry the foal herself, or will you be using a surrogate and doing embryo transfer?

There are a few important considerations for both of these options and we have tried to summarise them as best as possible below:

EMBRYO TRANSFER

Much more expensive process

Mares that cannot carry their own foals due to illness or injury can still pass on their genes.

You can have more than one foal from the same mare in a year.

Mares that may be considered ‘too old’ to breed can still reproduce.

There is a lower rate of successful pregnancy with embryo transfer. It may also take longer to get a successful pregnancy. This is due to the three stages of ET (pregnancy, flushing the embryo, implanting the embryo) that are all required to be successful.

Longer process as surrogates need to be acquired and synchronised to the donor mare.

Research suggests the process could have a negative effect on the donor mare fertility, especially if done repeatedly.

BREEDING DIRECTLY

Less expensive process

Your mare will either need to be retired or take a sabbatical from sporting competition.

Some mares are unable to carry their own foals.

You can only have one foal a year, and if the mare becomes pregnant with twins, one is normally reduced for safety reasons.

Once your mare is too old, she may no longer be able to breed.

Higher pregnancy rates - there is only one ‘stage’ involved.

Can be a very quick process.

No impact on fertility.

So now you’ve decided how you are going to go about this, you need to answer the next important question…

WHO?

Who are you going to breed her to? An important preliminary consideration is if you plan to use fresh, chilled or frozen semen. Generally, if the stallion you would like to use is available in the country, the semen will be fresh or chilled (if it needs to be transported to you). If you are looking at imported semen, it will be frozen and will likely come with a slightly bigger price tag.

So, where do you begin with selecting a stallion?

We asked two of our local breeders for their recommendations:

Claire Martin of Martini Stud says: “Start by looking very critically at your mare to determine her strengths and weaknesses in conformation, temperament, and ability. Try and ask other knowledgeable people for their input on your mare, for instance, the rider and trainer, if she had a ridden career. Then, look for a stallion whose strengths will complement her weaknesses.

Once you have a short list of stallions, go and look at them at the stud/yard or research them online. You want to check their conformation and character at home. You should not be choosing a stallion by watching a video of him jumping one round at a competition.

If the stallion has foals on the ground, go and see them and speak to their owners and riders to see what traits from the stallion have been passed on to the progeny.”

When asked who her favourite stallion at the moment is, Claire responded: “My favourite stallion is the one who best compliments my mare! He is the one who reliably and consistently stamps his progeny. At the moment, Pegase van’t Ruytershof is one of my favourite stallions as he really stamps his foals. Pegase is the type of stallion I am looking for for my current mare herd, as he brings power! Time will tell if the jumping talent is passed on. Locally, I am very pleased with my foals from Legend; they all have very correct limbs.”

Maxine De Villiers of Adela Warmblood Stud says: “A good stallion can only do so much to improve on a mare, and people often make the mistake of thinking that putting a mediocre mare to a great stallion will magically create the next Valegro; sadly, this is not the case. Similarly, choosing a stallion for his colour and prettiness often won’t get you the perfect ‘Barbie’ horse!

Consider why you want to breed - is it for a specific purpose or discipline, or do you want to breed a foal for yourself to compete one day? Perhaps you want to breed a foal to be sold on? All these factors form part of choosing the correct stallion for your mare and yourself.

Please note that if you are breeding for yourself, you need to be realistic about your riding goals; there is no point in breeding the next Totilas if you are an amateur rider who only wants to compete at the Elementary Level, as the chances are you might not be able to ride the foal you breed!

Once you have decided upon the purpose, then, you need to do a lot of research on the best stallions available that would complement the mare you are using. One of the biggest mistakes I see breeders making is following the trends, e.g., everybody is currently breeding with the dressage sensation Glamourdale without considering the type of mares he would suit.

Perhaps the most important aspect for me when selecting a stallion is to know your mare well. Be realistic and unbiased about your mare’s positive aspects and even more particular on the negative attributes to assist you in finding a stallion to compliment her weaknesses. Then, make the same evaluation for the stallion you have in mind.

Also, have a look at the stallion’s offspring; look at what bloodlines seem to be a success when combined with his. An example of this in the dressage world would be the legendary pairings of Donnerhall and Sandro Hit.

Try to view potential stallions in the flesh – if it’s not possible, then I would recommend looking up people who have used that stallion and asking their thoughts on the foals they have bred. They may be able to give you some insight into character traits the stallion seems to pass on. This is invaluable in determining if a stallion could improve on the areas in which your mare needs improvement.

Finally, ask as many questions as possible and chat to the stallion owner or breed manager directly; they will give you a great idea as to what type of mare would suit their stallion.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

We hope we’ve given you enough food for thought as you pursue your breeding adventures!

If you want to check what imported semen is available, we recommend you look at www.debruynequine.co.za and www.iconicsires.co.za, but be sure to ask around, as there are plenty of top-quality stallions available here in South Africa!