Time to decide about breeding my horses

It has been a crazy, busy winter. The snow and cold have been relentless and unusually extreme for my area. This has made even the small things a bit of a burden, so I feel very behind. But ya know, the days go by, and spring is here, and it is time to decide about breeding. What mares do I breed, and to what stallions?

I think this year I will try to blog more about the process. I’ll probably be doing something with the horses most every day. So why not write about it for others who might be interested.

I have 3 mares – all ster mares – of breeding age now. My parents have 1 (who is now pregnant and due to foal in early May). I will mostly speak about the 3 I have since I am making those decisions myself.

Due to economy I did not breed last year. I think that was a good decision. This year I am planning to try to breed all 3 mares and putting two up for sale afterwards. I only have a certain amount of space and these mares would make a terrific start for anyone wanting to become a breeder or expand their breeding operation. But if they do not sell that is fine. I love them and they are great mares. So I want to make sure I breed them in such as way as to produce the best foals possible since I could be selling foals instead of pregnant mares!

I decided to try frozen semen with my two proven broodmares – Cori and Dahlia. I ordered semen from two of the best stallions in the Netherlands, and two that would match either mare. This is my first real try with frozen semen and Va Tech is going to help me. I’ll talk about that more later.

Today I have been agonizing over what stallion to choose for the 4 year old maiden mare Tara. She is stam 102, a great but “old type” (think carriage horse) line. Tara’s father is Wander 352 and her damsire is Thomas 327. Tara is on the small side but a terrific mover. I would like to get more height and longer lines in a foal. A longer and more vertical neck would be great, as would a longer forearm. And shoot, a blacker coat and more hair, while I am wishing.

Since with Tara I am looking to US stallions (fresh semen vs. frozen) I am starting with ones who produce height, one of my biggest desires with this mare. Since Tara is a daughter of Wander 352, and his bloodlines are relatively uncommon, I have almost my choice of stallions. Do not have to worry really about inbreeding issues (thank you Wander for that). Anyhow, when looking at height, two of the top stallions in this area are Feike 395 and Nanning 374. Perhaps Fridse 423 (half brother to Nanning) is also a good choice. I also like thinking about the young stallions. Though there is not nearly as much published information about them, most of them are tall with longer lines. Perhaps one of them would be a good choice.

I have almost made up my mind. What about you folks – who would you pick? Write me and let me know

Here is a video of Tara, taken in the summer before her keuring: