Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'm curious about this too. My best broodmare is 18 now. This spring she had the best and biggest foal she's ever had. My understanding is that as the mare ages and the uterus has accomodated more foals, the foals get bigger in utero because they have more room not less.

 

A friend of mine bred her 13Yo maiden mare to my stallion and had a very small foal.. .as was expected being the mare's first foal ever. The foal since then has grown like a weed and caught up with the other foals born this spring. She told me he's the most athletic foal she's had on the farm, which tells me athleticism is as much a product of genetics as anything else.

 

The foal from my 18 YO veteran broodmare looked like he was 2 weeks old the hour he was born. He wasn't bony and wobbly looking like most foals are. He already was filled out! He now is bigger than any Anglos I've raised and he's a purebred from my small stallion and smallest mare.

 

Another friend of mine has raised endurance Arabians for decades and I know she's raised some very nice and athletic foals from her aging mares. She told me and the vets here have confirmed that the problem with older mares is getting them settled and keeping them settled, especially if you skip years of breeding with them. The hormones needed to maintain a pregnancy are lower in older mares so your biggest risk with them is not carrying a foal to full term.

 

But, hey, I could be all wrong... I would like to hear from Heidi and Sue on this and maybe some people who have been in the breeding business longer than me.

 

chris

 

Jonni <jonnij@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Diane Trefethen posted: >>>One other point that hasn't been mentioned can
> be the kiss of death if you want to do endurance... an old dam at foaling.
> The older a mare gets, the more difficult it is for her to provide the
> proper in utero environment. Consequently offspring from an older mare is
> more likely to come up short from the getgo.<<<
>
> Just curious on this statement, maybe from some who breed on a regular
> basis for horses to do this sport, if this is something they would agree
> with. (Heidi? thoughts?) I have a one rat study, of a horse I rode with at
> Tevis this year, and his dam was old, and filled with melanomas when she
> foaled this horse. It was her last foal. He turned out to be HUGE, and very
> athletic. (yes, he indeed finished Tevis). So, I know that their are
> exceptions to every rule, and I really have only worked with
>  one horse who
> fit the qualifications of having a very old dam, but I'd be curious on what
> others have found as to Diane's statement. Any thing to back the statement
> Diane? Experience etc.?
>
> Jonni
>
>
>
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Chris Paus

BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus

Lake Region SWA  http://lakeregionswa.fws1.com