Market for Warmblood Crosses?

I have a gorgeous grey warmblood/quarter horse cross mare....

Her dam has wonderful bloodlines, and was also grey, and 16.3.

http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/shirroccos+debut



Her sire, I don't have his lines handy. But he also had very good conformation, etc.



I will probably end up selling her before I go to College, and if not, I will breed her to frozen Uniform semen my mother has.



I was just wondering if there is any market for crosses? She's showed A at 3'3. And Qualified for the Royal. So, she is above average.

Please do not breed her. There are thousands of horses going hungry in this country because there are not enough homes/jobs for them. Backyarders breeding horses just to give them something to do is a huge part of this problem.

You are talking about breeding a grade mare--sorry, but that's meat on the hoof.
Purebred weanlings of many sorts are selling for $500 right now. Just sayin'.

Agree with Lady E. This needs to be said more.

Not sure the breeding matters if she is a successful 3'3" horse. I would think there is a market for an ammy-friendly 3'3" horse, no matter what the bloodlines are.

Excuse me? I'm sorry. But because she is a cross doesn't mean she is worthless. I understand that she IS a cross. But her dams foals sold for up to 120,000. Not to mention, I would be keeping the foal for myself. You have not seen this mare, so I understand your concern. But please don't jump to conclusions...

If she's quality and has proven herself then I would say there is a market regardless of what her breeding/cross is. Are you going to market her as a broodmare prospect or as a show horse.? If you are aiming to sell as a broodmare then her age and pedigree will matter more than selling her as a show horse.

I don't think anyone is saying your mare is worthless. Simply that presently, it is ill advised to breed her. You can snatch up a weanling/yearling/two-year-old of the bloodlines of the mom for less than the costs to get a foal on the ground. And If your OP was really to ask about her value as a broodie....that is much, much less than value as a riding horse right now. Market is flooded with very nice, proven broodies exactly because it is such a bad situation in which to breed.

If you plan on raising baby and keeping it for its 20-30 years no matter what, by all means carry on, you don't need this board. But you posted a question about the MARKET for this cross (the baby), which there is none. Even assuming a very lovely mare. Sell her as a performance horse

*eyeroll*

I dont understand why she couldnt be a good broodmare? Sounds like if she qualified for the royal in a 3' division, she's a pretty darn good horse! Assuming she did well at the royal in an amateur division, I wouldnt think her cross would decrease her price at all. Im thinking $50,000-75,000 as a sound riding horse. I wouldnt think she would sell for much as a broodmare, but if you enjoy her and are planning on keeping the baby she sounds quality enough to breed.

I contemplated breeding my old mare instead of selling her. I ended up selling her but completely regret the decision.

I understood your question to be more if your mare has value even though a cross. if that is your question, then I think that her performance record will count for more than her bloodlines.

I think the same would apply if you bred her; the resulting foal will need to prove itself to have a market, and it may be harder to bring your mare back to saleable performance levels once she has had the downtime needed to have a foal. Things don't always bounce back when they get older.

Given you are going to college, it sounds to me like the more sensible thing would be to sell her, and then buy a horse when you are out of college and have time and money to dedicate to a horse.

Regardless of her bloodlines, the market, etc, if you are going to college, the choice to breed is not a good one. If you have one horse you are considering putting on the market, why would having two be better? You are not going to make money on the deal, even if both sell.

There is always a market for a talented, beautiful horse with a good mind. Cross or not.

I'm not planning to sell her as a Broodmare, at all.
I'd sell her as a Hunter/EQ horse.

She's six, So she is at a prime age.

I think her highest possible value would be as a riding horse. Under the circumstances, I don't see how breeding makes any sense at all. I'd assemble her show record and market her as a A/A type hunter horse.

Well its your personal choice then! If you breed her now, you will have a 3 year old and a 10 year old once you are done college. If you want to keep the mare, maybe you could lease her out once she has weaned her foal? Or, if you dont see your self able to maintain 2 horses once finished college (its a lot - work tends to keep you pretty busy!) then you can always sell her (or lease her out).

There is always a market for a successful show horse, no matter what its bloodlines.

I would sell her while she has a current show record and can be marketed and tried on the circuit. She should be at her peak value at that time. Set the money aside and buy yourself a very nice 2-3yo when you finish school.

As usual, I totally disagree with Lady Eboshi. What does she know about the OP's situation and nobody is telling me whether to breed or not to breed. I can think of that by myself.

There is a lot of satisfaction in breeding a home-bred - I have three generations of being a 'backyard breeder' which she seems to view with such disdain. All were gorgeous horses. Remember that even top warmblood breeders have their share of disasters - for whatever reason, conformation, health, mental....

OP did come on with a question, which I think has been answered....chances are you will never get your money back, i this market, or ever. (My 2cents).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DebutsShirrocco

Excuse me? I'm sorry. But because she is a cross doesn't mean she is worthless.

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I don´t believe that anyone is calling your horse worthless.

What they are saying is that the market floods with horses with great pedigrees on both sides, that is do not breed. Sell or keep her yourself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DebutsShirrocco

I understand that she IS a cross. But her dams foals sold for up to 120,000.

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That one offspring is sold at that price is probably the combination of great showresults and a warmblood dad. I can give you an example. As a junior jumper I showed a horse by a stallion called Zaran. Zaran is probably the swedish equivalent of your QH dad. This horse did the 1.30m ok but then she was at her limit. The same mare later had a foal by Cortez (a Cor de la Bryere son that has a lot of really great offspring). That foal placed 7th in the World Cup finals in the 90´s. No need to explain what I´m getting at right?

LucyShow, and others...


I understand many young horses are for sale for cheap with these bloodlines. But
I've had this horse since it was on the ground - She was born at our farm. She's actually the only cross we own. But me and my family are extremely fond of her, we absolutely love her temperament, we owned her dam. (Who has passed.) Therefore, we know how she's been raised, who's handled her, all the experiences she's had, etc. Why would I go buy a (For example) 4 year old whom I barely know anything about at a sale?

And I'm certainly not looking to go spend 10,000 on a young mare to breed, when I have a perfectly good mare at home whom me and my family love.

If you don't want to sell her, then I agree that leasing her while you are in school (or part leasing) may be a better option than breeding her.

If you do breed her, then is your plan to just leave her sitting while you finish school? I guess I don't understand that part of your plan to breed. (I had assumed she was older in previous post). I think if you give her the time off to breed her, you will have people wondering about that gap in her show history...it will look too much like she injured herself and needed the time off so you decided to breed and may hinder a future sale.