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Post by loopylou on Mar 13, 2007 13:28:39 GMT -1
OK, i know we have had similar threads, but what age is old for a maiden mare to bred her first foal, assuming she is fit and healthy.
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Post by rose on Mar 13, 2007 15:59:34 GMT -1
All breeding is risky...
I was always advised to get a mare breeding before she was 6 and then you can come back to it later if you wanted.
The only time we went against this we left a mare until she was 10 who was fit and healthy, checked out by a vet. This didn't work out and we lost the mare.
We sadly learnt the hard way but it can work for a lot of people but we've realized it's to much of a risk to lose another mare like that.
Edited to add We'd never breed anything over the age of 6 for a maiden again.
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Post by maggie on Mar 14, 2007 8:34:12 GMT -1
what a dreadful thing to happen, I'm not suprised you feel the risks are too great. You're so right, all breeding is risky whatever the age or condition of the mare. Life is SO unfair, the nasties only seem to happen to those of us who lavish every care and attention on our equines!
I was talking about this to Jonathan Pocock, a vet who specialises in equine breeding. He reckons that mare fertility starts to decline from the age of 10 and that it makes no difference whether she is a maiden or not. I've always tried to breed for the first time about the age of 4 or 5, even in a performance mare, thinking that it would make subsequent breeding easier when she came to retire, but Jon says this is not the case.
I think the only thing to do is to take the best veterinary advice you can and decide on the balance of risks, bearing in mind the critical status of the Dales.
Good luck, whatever you decide.
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