Tis The Season…..
For the next few months you’ll find me sleeping in my clothes so I can fall out of bed, grab my boots and be out the door in less then 5 minutes.
Yes it’s foaling season people! It’s also the time of year when I feel overwhelmed and my family claims I get a twitch.
When a client comes to me and mentions they want to breed their mare, I always respond with the following…
“Is your mare really worth breeding?”
In response to that question I’ve been given the stink eye, the how dare expressions, gasps, sputtering and even shown the door once or twice. The thing is, it’s a valid question and if you can’t answer it you shouldn’t be breeding your mare…….period.
If your breeding your mare because she’s the love of your life, you want a piece of her and you plan on keeping this foal until it dies at a ripe old age……. then more power to you. You’ll still get my speech though, because if she has poor conformation, questionable temperament, prone to injury, and conditions like navicular disease it’s still not a great idea. If you still want to breed your mare even with all her issues, it’s ultimately your decision. But just don’t say I didn’t try and give you my honest opinion, especially when those not so great traits of your mare end up in your bouncing foal!
Now if you’re breeding for profit and thought I was brutal above, you may need to go get yourself a drink. Here’s the thing if you have a $400 mare and breed it to your buddy down the roads stallion, chances of you getting a foal worth thousands of dollars is slim to none. To make real money in this industry you need to have a top class mare and find a stallion with qualities that will add to the ones your mare already processes. I’m talking conformation, performance record, pedigree, and offspring already on the ground from your chosen stallion. Even then with every advantage and angle covered in the economy we have now, there is no guaranty you’ll get the money your looking for. The next question would be if you’d be willing to hold on to this foal for as long as it took to find it a home?
I’m sure I sound completely jaded and bah humbug to foaling. In all honesty I am a little jaded and if you saw some of things I do I’m sure you would be too!
In this economy some people can’t afford the horses they have and a horribly high amount of horses are ending up in auctions, neglected, abused and left to starve. In our local auction you would be shocked by the amount of foals and yearlings that go through. “Good Idea’s” and “Wants” turn in to foals that can’t be sold and they are shipped off to the auction because the breeder can’t afford to care for them anymore. Some of these foals and yearlings are selling for as low as $50.
With no limits in place regarding breeding, getting the equine population under control is a pretty hard task. What if there were limits to breeding? Licensing to be able to breed? Quality Control? Licensing to even own a horse? If we set regulations regarding breeding and owning a horse do you think we’d solve some of these issues?
While I do have clients that give me a twitch during foaling season, I am very lucky for the most part have a bunch of responsible and quality driven breeders as clients. Even though I would love to see horses in need find homes before more equines are brought in to this world, I still roll out of bed at 2 am, grab my boots and fly out the door to help the newest four-legged critter enter this world.
DVM LAC
