True Value of a Foundation Mare

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290 – October, 2016

by: William Given

I believe the vast majority of highly successful horse breeders would agree that the real cornerstone of a breeding program is a good broodmare and that the right mare will be the single most important purchase that, over time, will dictate the success or failure of their breeding program. Why is this? The answer is simple. A mare may only produce six foals, eight in a very busy life-time. Compare this to a stallion’s ability to sire many times in a single year. Her influence on and her contribution to her breed is softer and takes significantly longer to evaluate than that of a stallion. It is also true that she will likely never achieve the fame and glory of a stallion that can be used at stud while simultaneously carrying on with a brilliant show career.

THE PERFECT BROOD MARE

Of all the nice mares and fillies that will come and go throughout your life, as an owner and breeder of fine show horses, your foundation mare will be the one that gives you your winners, your best advertising, and keeps reproducing herself year after year. She is the one that gives your line its own particular look. Genetics aside, most breeders would agree that, on a practical level, the mare is responsible for 60% (some suggest 75%) of the resulting foals’ conformation quality, overall soundness, temperament and showability. Whole dynasties can be, and have been, built around the progeny and descendants of a single mare. That is why she is quite literally called a foundation mare. She is the one who will have built your stable and will keep it going through even the leanest years.

There is rarely a price high enough to buy this great broodmare from the fortunate person who purchased her as a five-month-old weanling from a breeder or as a yearling at a sale and has cared for and cherished her for all her years. The discovery of one or two beautiful young mares that will establish your stable’s breeding program as a predictable and successful business thus becomes your first practical priority.

Click here to read the complete article
290 – October, 2016