Think before you breed!

I dont know if this is the right place to post but I am so infuriated I have to get this off my chest! I saw somebody on the weekend that I sort of know and they were telling me about how their mare was in foal and they were so excited about it. I was gobsmacked. This person is an inexperienced horse person but thinks she knows everything. She has never worked with a young horse before and she bred her mare because she wanted a cute foal to raise!!

I've seen the mare, it has no manners and is a nasty piece of work because she cant train her properly as she's not only too lazy but has no idea how! The mare also is badly over at the knee, has a loooooong back and is cow hocked like you wouldn't believe. I was telling her about second chance and how many horses you guys come across like her mare because people dont or cant train them or suddenly realise they cant afford it and she wouldn't listen. I told her how many horses go to the knackers because there arent enough homes but she was certain it would never happen to HER foal.

And it gets better... the stallion is a half feral unregistered thing and nobody knows its breeding because it was born on a massive farm in the middle of nowhere where hundreds of horses just breed and carry on as they like with no handling or training or foaling down or vet care or anything. He's hideously ugly (seen photos) and she is going around saying that the foal will be half brumby.

People like that really really make me furious!!

Here's my mare checklist for ANYONE regardless of how experienced you think you are...

ONLY BREED YOUR MARE IF YOU CAN CHECK OFF EVERY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING BOXES:
(info taken off another rescue site)
- Does your mare have good conformation? If you're not sure, there are lots of sites that will guide you (including Fugly's forum which I have found excellent for getting professional overviews on a horse's conf by a third party - all you have to do is put the effort in to clean the horse up a little and take some proper conf shots & post them)
- Does your mare have a good temperment?
- Has your mare proven herself to be a performer and done well in your chosen discipline or at the very least (if she's not been able to perform due to injury that isn't conf related) has her parents been top quality performers? (Grandparents and back really don't count UNLESS all 4 grandparents were spectacular due to the number of horses they've produced themselves)
- Have you had your mare vetted and received the Vet's opinion and advice and the Vet agrees she's good to go?
- Are you an experienced horse person who has worked with babies before? If not, can you afford to pay a professional to train your baby and also bring along its under saddle education years into the future? Untrained, badly trained and green horses are VERY hard to find homes for should something happen to you!
- If ALL of the above boxes are ticked, then start researching. What sport do you want your foal to be suitable for? Go and find a stallion who's a PROVEN performer in that sport and also a stallion that's conformation compliments your mare's. Then and only then book her in.
- Is your mare registered with a breed association?
- Are her lines worth continuing on with in the opinion of an expert of that breed (not just your own opinion)
- Do you have her registration papers and KNOW her lines are what you think they are? (I've known somebody just make pedigrees up to suit themselves!!)

If you can check ALL these boxes, then sure, breed your mare. If you can't check them I would strongly advise against breeding her because there are literally thousands of poor to medi-ochre quality horses out there and you might as well go save one from the knacker man than breed yet another!! The world does NOT need another poor/mediochre horse but it always needs good quality ones!

Breeding is a serious business and it greatly impacts a horse's life. How you go about it will make the difference between the foal winding up at the knackers in a few years and having a great life. It makes the difference between injury and soundness, and makes the difference between a sane happy horse and a half feral lunatic that nobody will touch with a 10-foot barge pole.

Please think very carefully and without emotions attached before deciding to breed any horse.