I have a pinto mare who has had two foals by a lovely bay welsh stallion that belongs to my Mom. The mare is over on her knees which looks relatively awkward while she's standing, but does not seem to affect her movement as she has beautiful gaits and a graceful jump. The first foal she had was a bay who turned out to be a very nice two-year-old before we sold her. The second was a pinto who we sold as a yearling (don't know what she ended up looking like). She was an amazing foal in every respect but as she aged, she started to go over on her knees, just like the mare.
I'm thinking about breeding her again in the next few years, but I'm wondering if perhaps it would be better to avoid the possibility of a conformationally flawed horse. There are already so many, many unwanted horses out there. She's such a lovely mare, though, and both foals had all of her good traits passed on. What would you guys do in my position? Breed her anyway or wait for a better broodmare to come along?
Over at the knee is better than back at the knee, esp. for a jumper. At lot of jumpers at my barn don't consider over in their TB's a serious fault.
You are the best judge for your mare. It also depends on your breeding goals. I would think about what you want to breed, and go from there. There are a lot of horses that need homes, but I understand where you are at.
I bought a TB mare who is toed in, it's below the fetlock, and I had reason to believe it was an old injury not an inheritied conformation. I rolled the dice, and my filly has straight legs.
It must be those darned TBs : ) mine is long toed and dropped heel (she has navicular) I didnt know when I bred her, so fingers crossed my baby has good hooves!
I, personally, probably would not have bred her if I had been aware that her long toes would create such a problem, but I don know her son - (now 8yo) does not have her feet! and he is jumping at shows quite successfully : )
According to statistics, leg conformation is not reproducibly inherited unless the conformation problem originates from the frame of the horse. Environment plays such a major role in lower limb development, that it masks genetic effects.
Depending on whether you are an optimist you could take this to mean your mare might not pass it on. Or as a pessimist, breeding to a stallion with correct limbs will not improve your offsprings conformation.
Kim, I find your TB mares problem interesting. If she is long in the toes and has low heels is this not something that can be corrected by corrective trimming? I was reading a site I found which had some interesting ideas on making a foundered horse sound again sipply by corrective trimming. It might help with your mare. Maybe it is worth having a read yourself. They were having great results. here is the link. www.naturalhorsetrim.com/Section_19_full.htm Have a good look around the site, there are lots of cases or horses who had very severe problems who have been made completly sound. I would think that your mare wouldn't pass that trait on.
Emma - Thankyou for the site that you have posted. I am really grateful that you thought of me and my mare and that you were able to add something to my knowledge, Thankyou again!
At the moment my farrier is putting natural balance shoes on her fronts to change the point of roll over on her hooves to further back behind her toes, he cuts her bars back and shortens her toes - From everything that I have seen, I am actually quite confused. And the x-rays I had her diagnosed from did not actually show anything on the navicular bone itself, it is a confirmation fault that has caused the navicular - I dont really understand as well as I would like and have put my faith in the vet and farrier to do the right thing!! Once baby is born, I will take time to learn more of her problem specifically in order to make her sound again (then I can pump the herbs I have bought into her) She is still lame but not uncomfortable and it has been about 9mths now so I really would like to try something else (ANything else!!) to make her better. Thankyou for your help Emma. : )
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