At what age do you stop breeding your mares?

[mybeau1999]

In your opinion, how old is too old for a mare to be bred? I've heard people who've managed breeding farms say up to about 24 or 25 years... but that seems a little too old to me.

I know it depends on the mare and a breeding soundness exam, but even if the mare is healthy at what point would you just say no?

[Laurierace]

They are a mare for the rest of their life, so no age limit there. As far as how old is too old to breed that depends upon the individual and her history and examination. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules. Your vet would be the best one to help make the decision.

[mybeau1999]

They are a mare for the rest of their life, so no age limit there.

Fixed the title;):lol:

[Centuree]

I am not a breeder myself, but ...

I went to a big breeding farm (hundreds of wbs here) in the summer and asked the same question. Owner said, we breed them till they die. They're not happy if they don't have a baby in the spring.

I don't buy this myself, sounded like justification to squeeze every last penny out of nice mares. (I never did buy from him) Nonetheless, his breeding farm truly was a business, not a hobby, so maybe there's a difference there too.

[vineyridge]

The TB mare Bebopper was a 1962 model, and she had foals in 1982, 83, and 85. I do wonder if the best foals don't come earlier in the mare's life.

[not again]

This is a subject that really should be addressed. However, unless you have "been in the business" for a while you really won't have a good answer. An intellectual one maybe, but this is something you can't quantify, and if you are around mares of all ages long enough, the answer is really not that difficult.
The mares will tell you. Just ask them.

[Sonesta]

This is a subject that really should be addressed. However, unless you have "been in the business" for a while you really won't have a good answer. An intellectual one maybe, but this is something you can't quantify, and if you are around mares of all ages long enough, the answer is really not that difficult.
The mares will tell you. Just ask them.

Absolutely. They will let you know. I have bred as late as age 24 and stopped as early as age 17. The mare will definitely let you know if you are paying attention.

[serenityfarm]

Yes, the mares know when to stop. We have a mare who is 25 and we did not rebreed her this year. She kept getting pregnant on the 1st try the last few years only to loose it in the fall around November so no rebreeding. She is super healthy so it was frustrating. We would love to keep breeding her but now she is "grandmare" to the foals from other mares when weaned.

[misita]

I agree with Sonesta and Not Again. The mare will tell you. All my mares are such wonderful mothers and they really enjoy their babies. I will make exception with Ballista who refuses to even have hers!!:(:no:

[mybeau1999]

Thanks. Our mare will probably be 18 when she has another foal (if we breed her next year). I'm not worried about her, she seems to enjoy the little ones... I just think that it might be her last. But, if she keeps going then great!

Just wondering how you all handled your aging mares:)

[camohn]

This is a subject that really should be addressed. However, unless you have "been in the business" for a while you really won't have a good answer. An intellectual one maybe, but this is something you can't quantify, and if you are around mares of all ages long enough, the answer is really not that difficult.
The mares will tell you. Just ask them.

Yup. We breed them until they have "issues"and there is no set age for that. At some point when they either quit getting in foal or start having health issues is when they are retired. For the last 2 mares we had that was 21 (no longer got in foal) and 22 (tilted uterus, pooled urine, Caslicks, placentitis and lots of abx due to that) her last foal was it for her.

[genevieveg17]

I agree that the mares let you know when they are ready. Suerte retired at 21. She is enjoying her 'golden years' on a friends 400 acres with her best pal Minnie HaHa Wiggle, my daughters 24 y.o. retired riding horse. Splash of Orange will join them when her colt is weaned. She is just 18 but had a difficult pregnancy last year, this year had a wonderful colt but we have not been successful getting her bred back.
I think it is not just knowing when to retire them but to also take care of them in their retirement. It makes me so sad seeing the sales ads for these 20+ y.o. mares who have popped out foals year after year and then kicked to the curb when they can no longer earn their keep.

[JWB]

We had a TB mare that we "retired" from breeding at 22 (she had a filly at 22). She was out in the pasture with all of her brood mare buddies at age 22 and we left the farm with a friend for a few weeks while we were on vacation. They were supposed to deliver another (younger) mare up to be bred.... It's true, they looked VERY similar- 16.2 h bay mares with a small star and a LH sock....

We came home, realized the mistake and ran up to Ocala to swap out horses. They said she'd come into heat and they'd bred her once. We figured nothing had happened but a few months later we decided to check and she was indeed in foal.

She delivered a HUGE filly at age 24 and looked so good that we decided to try to breed her back but this year she got pregnant three times and always absorbed between 40-60 days so I guess she's telling us that we got one last one after she was "retired" and not to push for anything more from her.