I'm thinking of Embryo Transfer with my Hanoverian performance mare. If I proceed I'd like the recipient mare to have a dual purpose so she could not only carry the foal but also be a good, gentle family horse for the kids and trail riding. Are there certain breeds I should look at like QH, Paint, App or TB or even certain breeds I should stay away from? Thanks in advance! :-)
Laurie Posted From: 209.233.215.238
Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 02:06 pm:
Your first goal should be to find a mare in her prime 'breeding years' who is not a maiden and is a good mom..with no training / ground behavioral issues..
As far as what breeds are best I guess it depends on what your used to and like.
I am not sure where you are, but if close to Canada or can ship from there, the little known breed of "cheval canadien" are known for their physical toughness, calm demeanor, friendliness and are generally terrific moms, and great kids horses, given proper training. They usually run about $3000, with another $1000 for shipping. Many are sold with foal at side or in foal, so you might get more bang for the buck. They look like small Friesians so are beautiful as well. Go the www.cosyland.ca and hit their links page, then go to lazy d farms...he has several reasonable priced broodmares on that site. Good luck. PS his prices are in canadian dollars, so $3000 is about $2500 US
I had this great idea to try and find a rescue mare somewhere of the right reproductive age to use as a recipient mare a few times then train up a little and donate to a 4h kid. I contacted several groups who buy off feed lots and are trying to place plain looking, barely halter broke, 5 to 8 year olds and they all told me that ET was in violation of their breeding policy because they didn't want to contribute to the throw away horse population. Now I'm not a back yard breeder that just wants to see what my grade mare's foal would look like when breed to the nice two year old up the street, and I'm not the sort of person who would sell a horse to the slaughter house. I think I have a ligetimate reason for wanting a colt out of my mare, and I doubt the colt will ever leave my family's possession as the primarily purpose of the ET is to create a replacement broodmare or a performance gelding. To me using unwanted, unregistered, untrained mares as recipient mares for valuable embryos seems like a win win situation, these mares that are the product of irresponsible breeding become the vessel for the most expensive and tailor made ways of producing a foal on the face of the earth. With that kind of investment in their uterus, rescue organizations would be sure that the mare was well cared for and because people would want the foal to have a mother that is accustomed to people, the mare would certainly progress in her training at least to the point were she had good ground manners. Even if they offers these mare on some kind of lease program, they would be able to place more reproductive age mares in homes where they would be very well cared for and contributing members of equine society. I guess I'm just aggravated that the whole world doesn't see things my way. I felt like I was offering these people a solution and they treated me like I insulted them, As though I was some kind of leper for trying to preserve quality breed characteristics, and give their, "throw away horses" a job that they were already good at. If they are so concerned about breeding they should just sterilize all the mares that come through any way. That would defiantly decrease the amount of people who accidentally breed their sweet rescue mare to their cryptorchid "gelding". I hope I don't sound like I'm picking on any one accident do happen and there probably are a few great mare that for some reason aren't registered ( I can actually think of a lot of registered mares that I don't think should be breed)but all-in all I don't see how they could say that my using a mare for ET contributes to the throw away population
Actually, we do ET at our clinic and Quarter Horses are fine to use. We use predominantly QH, draft and TB mares, and of course grade mares of unknown lineage. You have to remember, though, that often times mares end up in a recipient program for a reason, though, be it unsoundness or temperment issues. If you are shopping on your own, though, you should be able to find what you are looking for, but not as cheaply as if you were just looking for a recipient. You would be looking for a young, reproductively healthy mare, that is also trail broke and gentle enough for kids. That can be a tall order to fill!
I hear you Megan, I have thought the same thing about the rescue orgs. Especially when they are desparate to find homes for them, to make room for all of the other poor babies that need rescue. Embryo transfer is just to darn expensive to be careless about. They need educating.
I'm thinking of the same thing. I have a 14 hand Fjord which is a super girl. She is 6. Would she be able to carry a Warmblood foal?? This would save me lots if I use my own mare... Thanks!
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. I felt like I was offering these people a solution and they treated me like I insulted them, As though I was some kind of leper for trying to preserve quality breed characteristics, and give their, "throw away horses" a job that they were already good at. If they are so concerned about breeding they should just sterilize all the mares that come through any way. That would defiantly decrease the amount of people who accidentally breed their sweet rescue mare to their cryptorchid "gelding". 
