Lately I've been seeing a lot of negativity around breeding Arabians, and not just your usual people working hard to pull horses from pipelines. A lot of people are throwing up their arms and getting out and giving up because it's not worth it to them. They don't feel they can compete against the big names, with the big bucks. I mean it's how they feel and they are allowed to feel that way. Personally I don't understand that thinking. That being said I'm also not in world of breeding to make money. If I do that's just a plus.
Breeding horses of any breed can be very rewarding. In many cases you spend hours researching a pedigree and the pedigrees of potential stallions, piecing together possible puzzle pieces when it comes to conformation, temperament, potential riding disciplines, color possibilities if you're into that sort of thing. With breeding every new foal is an opportunity and with smaller breeders, especially preservation breeders, every foal is the opportunity to carry forward a legacy that could be lost to time. Despite being as rewarding as it is, it's not for the faint of heart. We've been quite lucky to have mares foal without complications (knock on wood), they've all enjoyed being mothers and have been wonderful for us.
There is a lot of risk involved with breeding horses you've never bred before, whether they've foaled prior to you owning them or are maiden and never foaled before. That's why because of our location and lack of veterinarians here, we are considering sending these mares somewhere to be foaled out where they are in better reach of emergency veterinary care. Breeding and foaling can be very expensive. Depending on your choice of how you do it, artificial insemination can cost a few thousand and ICSI can be upwards of $10k or more. This is where I see a lot of the arguments that it's "not worth it" because people are trying to sell foals for what they put into them to bring them into the world. Again, that's their right to think so. However I find a lot of their argument revolves around the breeding fees of some of the sires being used. There are a lot of stallions, really good stallions out there with lower stud fees that could be used. But that's a discussion for a different day.
Breeding is crucial to the continuation of the breed as a whole. Foals born each year dwindles as more and more breeders quit breeding. More and more lines disappear as horses grow older and pass away with no purebred offspring to carry on their genetics. The lines that are being used by top breeders are very similar and we are slowly bottle necking ourselves into a genetic situation where a majority of our purebreds are related to some degree. That's why its important for people such as myself to continue our programs where we focus on breeding horses that are genetically different. This is also why even as a small breeder, my program has gained traction with those looking for foals and potential riding prospects. There are so many horses sitting in back yards wasting away to time would could bring forward genetic diversity if they could just be bred. That's another discussion, for another day.
If you're thinking about breeding your mare, don't be afraid to ask questions. You're going to get a wide range of responses some of which might be quite negative. Everyone has their own views on what makes or breaks a breeding animal. You'll never know unless you ask.
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