1965-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1965 January Voice | Page 32

Walking Horses West
By Virginia Lamb
MARES AND BREEDING
The breeding season is once
again coming upon us and I feel
that now is the time to reach out
to potential new breeders and
some old ones, and try to explain
some of the complexities and pit-
falls of breeding mares and the
results, or rather lack of results,
that they may encounter. Breed­
ing in itself is not in any way com­
plex, but through lack of know­
ledge, the owner of the mare may
be thoroughly disappointed. For
professional breeders, this article is
not intended, for they know these
things already. However, while
many aspects of breeding have
been published time and time
again, this area has seldom,if ever,
been discussed. To my knowledge,
it has never been discussed, yet it
is certainly something that every
breeder or potential breeder, whe­
ther he owns one mare, or a dozen
mares, should know. Rather than
be technical, I’ll try to take each
“problem” in an illustrative way.
In example #1 we find this: A
mare is bought, sight unseen per­
haps, and is found to be in terri­
bly bad condition. She is not sick,
but through lack of care and feed,
she is thin and generally run down.
The new owner, as soon as pos­
sible, decides to breed this mare.
She is approximately 16 years old
as near as can be figured. It has
been about 9 years since she foal­
ed. Since she was purchased as a
32
Christmas present, breeding was
started in January. She came in
season, was bred, went out and in
about 21 days, came in again. The
entire process was repeated. This
went on for six months before the
mare became with foal. Since this
is the most common problem, the
new breeder, since he doesn’t know
this can happen, and since he
doesn’t understand why it happens,
may get disgusted and give up be­
fore the mare is settled. In this
case, the owner was well aware of
the situation so just kept breeding
the mare until she was safe with
foal. What were the factors in­
volved that kept the mare from be­
ing settled? Do you Know?
ANSWER: There are several
factors involved here that the
owner may not realize. (1) the
mare's condition, in this case thin
and underfed, on the verge of be­
ing able to catch any disease that
comes along, is the main reason.
It is doubly hard to get a mare set­
tled when she is in this particular
condition, plus the fact that she
has not foaled in several years,
plus her age, are all sufficient rea­
sons for her not settling imme­
diately.
EXAMPLE #2. We find a mare
that is kept on good pasture, fed
good hay and/or grain, is happy,
very fat, and ridden occasionally.
The mare, thinks the owner, is
prime for breeding. He selects the
stallion, the mare comes in, is bred,
and goes home. He does not know
if she has ever foaled, but he has
owned her for a couple of years.
The mare comes in again . . . and
again. The reason?
ANSWER: This mare is not in
condition either. Unlike the first
mare, however, this one, while well
cared for, is not properly exercised,
therefore, is just too fat! Over­
feeding is the main factor involved
here. The owner cut down on the
feed, slimmed the mare down, and
soon, she, too, was with foal.
EXAMPLE #3. We have now
a mare 16 years old, properly
cared for, well exercised and in
excellent shape in general. This
mare has never foaled at all, yet she
comes in regularly and is bred back
regularly. This goes on for a long
time without results. Finally, a vet
is called in and discovers a cyst.
Maybe he can cure it. He does, and
in a few short months she is with
foal. In this case, a lot of time and
money could have been saved if
the vet had been called in earlier.
EXAMPLE #4. Here is a new
owner with a young mare, say
about 4 years old. This mare was
injured at birth, but being of good
breeding, she was saved as a brood
mare. She is bred again, and again,
and again. She is checked by a vet
and found to be clean. There is
nothing wrong with her. What is
wrong in this case?
ANSWER: Actually there is
nothing wrong in this case except
her age and the fact that she has
never foaled before. A young mare,
such as this one, is hard to catch
and it may take 3 months or more
to settle her. Once settled, then
there is seldom and problem after­
wards in keeping her with foal.
By the same token, an aged mare,
if she has never foaled, or if it has
been a long time since she foaled,
will be equally hard to get settled,
even if she is in good condition.
EXAMPLE #5: Now there are
two mares, owned by the same
person, one eight years old, called
the old mare, and one 4 years old,
called the young mare. The old
mare just had a colt weaned and
was bred again. She caught imme­
diately. The young mare was in
much better condition, but she
failed to catch. Why?
ANSWER: Number one, the old
mare had had several colts and
had just been weaned from one.
This made it easier for her to set­
tle the first time. If she had been
let go for a year or longer, it might
have been a little different. The
young mare, of course, had never
foaled, and while in better condi­
tion than the old mare, was less
susceptible due to the fact she
hadn’t foaled before.
EXAMPLE #6: We see a young
woman with a very good mare.
The mare is at the prime age for
breeding so the girl finds the best
stallion she can. She makes sure
the mare is in season, takes her
to the stallion, has her bred, loads
her back in the trailer and takes
VOICE of The Tennessee Walking Horse