Horse Shelter &

I don't hang out at horse auctions, and you probably don't either.  But most of us are well aware of the quantity of horses that pass through our sale yards - not just the broken-down, but healthy, registered horses, adults in their prime, and even youngsters. So what chance is there of finding an appreciative home for the nicely dispositioned, but untalented, plain-looking grade horse.. the "just because" horse bred by a shortsighted horse owner from equally unassuming stock?

Why do some horse owners breed so irresponsibly and why are they so unmindful of the long-term consequences that result from uninformed breeding?  Turns out there are plenty of appealing but questionable reasons that lure the naïve into the breeding game.

I want a free horse.

"Many backyard breeders envision breeding their horse as an inexpensive means of procuring another horse or an equine athlete," says Marjorie Miller, DVM, a Tampa, Florida equine practitioner and horse owner who has bred her own racehorses and hunter/jumpers.  "Unfortunately, this is not always true. In the event of everything going right - the mare conceiving on the first cover or the first insemination, no complications during pregnancy, parturition or the neonatal period, no injury or illnesses as a weanling, yearling, two year-old and so forth - the cost of that animal will in fact be financed over a period of time with no guarantee of athletic ability. After all the expenses are tallied, one could probably go out and buy exactly the horse one wanted for less."

I can get a free breeding.

"A friend or neighbor has a new or young stallion, and offers a free breeding," says Ellen Buck, DVM, Director, Equine Protection, The Humane Society of the U.S. But as noted above, stud fees are only the beginning of the true cost of producing and raising a foal. Rash breeding can also hurt stallion owners. "If the stallion is bred to mares of lesser quality, then he's likely to have offspring of lesser quality," Dr. Buck points out. "That's not a good advertisement for the stallion."

I can produce a winner if I breed enough horses.

Occasionally someone "breeds by volume," reports Dr. Buck.  "A prime example was a Thoroughbred breeder at the track who purchased and bred lots of inexpensive horses. His philosophy was that if he bred and started enough of them, eventually one of them was bound to turn out to be a successful racehorse. One owner breeding one hundred mediocre mares year after year can do a lot of damage."

I want my kids to witness the miracle of birth.

"Some parents want their mare pregnant, so their children can experience a normal foaling," states Carla L. Carleton, DVM, MS, Diplomate American College of Theriogenologists, and Associate Professor, Equine Theriogenology Michigan State University.  "They should purchase a video tape of a mare foaling!  All foals are cute. But if owners produce grade stock of average (or less) quality, the horses probably aren't going to end up in very good circumstances during their lives, because they have little commercial value."

I want to make money.

Notes Dr. Buck, "If you're breeding a foal to sell, how secure are you that you will be able to find a good, responsible home for that foal?  Breeders should be willing and able to keep their foals as long as necessary, even forever. Needing to sell a horse or a foal in a hurry, because you don't have space or the financial resources to care for it, is a recipe for disaster."

HIGH STAKES

Whether breeding for quality or for what-have-you, the hit to the wallet and the veterinary risks are the same: "The mare has the same length gestation, must be given the same nutrients and the same vaccinations to get her to term," Dr. Carleton points out.  "Approximately 10 percent of mares will suffer a dystocia at term gestation. Is it worth it to breed a mare to produce a grade foal (less value), when the potential risk to the mare and the cost of managing a dystocia or the surgical repair of a cervical tear or a rectovaginal fistula, or other injury related to birthing, is the same?"

Uninformed breeding decisions increase the likelihood of producing a horse with problems. Tom Newton, DVM, an equine veterinarian with a special interest in equine reproduction, operates a breeding farm in Crozier, VA.  He says, "Producing inferior stock lowers the quality of the breed and increases the problems the owner will face. Poor conformation may lead to unsoundness that will interfere when trying to compete the individual. Money saved by cutting corners on breeding can be lost later in the form of increased vet bills and inferior productivity if unsoundness results." Soundness problems could also mean the horse will suffer from chronic pain, Dr. Buck says.

Average or "common" horses are more likely to have an unpredictable future; even more so for those horses with abnormal conformation or an unruly temperament.  "No horse breeder can guarantee being able to keep a horse for its entire life.  Sometime in its future, it's going to be on the market," Dr. Carleton says.  "There should be some strong justification for breeding a grade horse. The market is flooded with horses of no particular merit. If breeders would realistically study the current sales of grade versus registered horses before breeding their stock, they would find that prices for the majority of registered horses are depressed. If an owner of purebred, registered horses is finding the markets to be a challenge, what is the likelihood for making a profit breeding grade horses?"

Finally, there's the fate of the auction that awaits tens of thousands of horses every year. For sure, the chances of a no-value horse ending up at auction are far greater than the pretty package that's of known pedigree, sound, conformationally correct, and talented. "The HSUS considers irresponsible breeding to be one of the major concerns facing horses and their owners, yet arguably one of the more easily corrected," Dr. Buck says. "It hurts horses because when there are too many horses, some will wind up sold for slaughter. Because someone didn't have the time or money to train them, or the owner had too many horses and needed to cut back quickly, or no one was in the market for a plain-looking horse at the auction that day, the slaughter buy is the only one interested. So it's the horses themselves who suffer the most from over-breeding. With thoughtful and responsible breeding, we could get this problem under control in just a few years."

WHAT FOR?

Misguided breeding decisions that bring a "nothing special" horse into the world today could have sad consequences for the animal tomorrow. Before jumping into the breeding game, do a critical assessment of why you want to breed this horse, what you hope to achieve, and what assets and deficits the horse brings to the gene pool. "The entire process of deciding whether or not to breed, to whom and how to proceed should be done in consultation with your local equine veterinarian," suggests Dr. Newton. The world doesn't need another "just because" horse.

BREEDING DECISIONS

For sure, there is nothing offensive about an 'ordinary' horse owner breeding two horses worth breeding. "There must be a distinction made between backyard and uninformed," emphasizes equine practitioner/horse owner Marjorie Miller. "A person in a backyard or homebred situation has a chance to produce a nice horse or even an exceptional horse provided that he or she makes decisions based on facts and not emotions."

States Tom Newton, DVM, "The most important questions to be asked prior to breeding are, 'What am I expecting to produce?' and 'Will a cross between the proposed mare and stallion realistically produce the desired result?' The goal of all breeding should be 'breed the best to the best and expect the best'."

Before breeding, do a realistic review of the pluses and minuses of the candidate mare and stallion including health history, performance history, conformation, and disposition. Make sure that neither mare nor stallion has serious flaws that you hope won't get passed along, says Ellen Buck, DVM, Director, Equine Protection, The Humane Society of the U.S.  "If the mare or stallion is very aggressive or has serious conformation defects, do not breed that horse."

Investigate the following:

• Genetic abnormalities that run in the family lines. "Horses with known genetic diseases should not be bred," states Dr. Miller.

• The conformation of both prospects.  "This is important because whatever characteristics you see in the parents are going to be exhibited to variable degrees in the offspring," says Carla L. Carleton, DVM, Michigan State University.

• The mare's reproductive tract. 'Look for any abnormalities or problems such as a history of infertility, presence of the hymen or caslicks, damage to the cervix, cysts or infections of the uterus," says Dr. Newton.

• Stallion reproductive history. "While it may be difficult if not impossible to obtain the information you would like about to know about the stallion's fertility and the conception rate of mares to which he has been bred, at least ask.  Select the stallion and breeding farm that best meet your needs and expectations," says Dr. Carleton.

• Performance history of both prospects.  "Did they have successful careers? If not, why not?" questions Dr. Newton.  "Are there reasons that might be passed on?"

• Disposition.  Warns Dr. Newton, "Good or bad dispositions are often passed to the offspring."

• If both horses have a solid performance record without major conformational unsoundness, if they don't carry serious genetic problems nor have bad dispositions, if reproduction/fertility exams are promising, and if the stallion complements the mare for intended use of the foal, then odds are heightened for getting what you want from that breeding.

SPECULATIVE BREEDING

There's another kind of breeder that helps inflate the numbers of horses going to auction, and that's the speculative breeder, the horse owner that tries to cash in on the rising values of today's hot breeds.

"Basic laws of supply and demand suggest that when there's an abundant supply of anything, prices will drop," Dr. Buck continues. "One of my concerns about overbreeding is that some horses will be sold at very low prices. Very low prices sometimes tempt people to purchase horses on a whim, not realizing how expensive the continued upkeep of a horse is! I've seen too many cases of neglect that resulted from owners unable to afford to properly care for a horse."

Thank you to Green Grass Syndicated Features.
Marcia King is an award-winning author who writes extensively for equine, pet, and veterinary publications.