Breeding - beginners guide

[Astropoof]

I have a couple of questions on the breeding side of things.

My daughters 11.1 bay Welsh B has spent the last two and a half weeks getting acquainted with a very handsome stallion who is a 13.2 Welsh D liver chestnut.

Up until a week ago she hadn't shown any signs that she was coming into season, I wanted to the following

How long does it take for a mare to come into season and how long does it take for her to be ready to be covered and once she is covered how long before you can tell if she is pregnant

How long is the pregnancy?
At what time can she no longer be ridden?
What size would the foal likely to be when fully grown and what colour?

I know I should know more about this given, that she is being covered, but we loan the pony from the owner of our yard and the idea is that once the foal is born her daughter and my daughter will have a hand in handling and breaking it in. (great opportunity for my daughter)
Perhaps there are some books that could be recommended so I could read up on it all

[holiday]

This is probually not helpful!!!! We scan ours so we know where in the cycle the mare is and on which day we should cover then we know exactly when the foal is due to be born. We then scan at about 14 days to see if she has taken. If shes run with him for a couple of weeks she shouldnt be long coming into season though. Although i ran one of my mares with a stallion all summer one year and she wouldnt let him near her until July and then was in foal straight away, i believe the mares wait for the weather to be right. They carry the foal for around 11 months. If the mare is on loan i would advise you have a contract drawn up on the ownership of the foal - if it is going to be yours. I would think it would make around 12hh but you can never tell!!!!!!

You can carry on quietly riding her until she tells you shes uncomfortable. It helps relieve boredom and keeps her fit in my opinion other people will think otherwise.

Talk to people who are familar with breeding and breaking who have a good reputation for advise you can learn the basics from a book but horses dont seem to read them or follow them very well.

I will just warn you foals can be very difficult and you cant treat them like a dog or pet they do need to know the rules or can be extremely naughty!!!! (Like children) unfortunately they are very "cute" and its easy to not look long term at behaviour issues. They also do try to 'hurt' themselves and get into problems as they are inquisitive make sure they are always safe!!!!!!

Good luck!!!!!

[CMR]

It sounds as though you're going to have help with it, but just incase I want to say please please please don't do this by yourself. So many things can go wrong, resulting in the death of the mare/ and or foal, or resulting in a naughty youngster.

Pregnancy usually lasts 11 months. Some don't like them in hard work from the moment their pregnant(in some cases it can cause them to abort), but light work is usually helpful.

It sounds as though you'd end up with some sort of brownish foal, I'm no good with genetics so I can't tell you exactly what color. The height would probably top out at around 12ish hands.

Be sure feed your mare a special pregnancy feed to insure she gets everything she needs to produce a healthy baby. You should have a vet present at the birth or have one that can come quickly should a problem arise.

If your mare has a colt, be sure to have him gelded as soon as possible, your daughter certainly doesn't need to have a stallion be the first horse she starts!

Good Luck! :)

[Just.Jump]

Depending on what the EXACT genes are, you can get:

bay/brown
chestnut
black

Black is the smallest chance, and depending on the genes exactly, you might only have the opportunity for chestnut and brown/bay.

[Wally]

As for when to stop riding them, it all depends on the horse. A friend won Lowther driving trials, and one of her team was 4 months pregnant, our mare at 4 months wasn't happy in her work, she was obviously uncomfortable, so she was turned away. Gestation is 11 months.

I always let the stallion run with the mare, it's a lot easier, you may never see the stallion cover the mare, but you can get them tested in foal after about 12 weeks.

[chev]

Make sure you get a vet involved and you have his numnber on quick dial when she nears her due date. That is a very big difference in size; a Welsh B is a small, light pony compared to a cob, and two whole hands at that kind of size is a big difference. The idea that mares limit the size of foals to that with which they can cope is a myth I'm afraid; she will need a careful eye keeping on her just in case she does have problems at the birth.

Although 13.2hh is very small for a D (most would be registered as a sec C at that height) 11.1hh is also very small for a B.

Given the fact she's likjely to carry a big foal I would be careful about riding too late into pregnancy; you don't want to put too much strain on her back, and she's already going to be under a fair amount of pressure with the foal.

Don't overfeed her. Welshies actually often do very well on minmal rations even in pregnancy. Make sure she gets adequate vitamins and minerals but do watch that you don't gicve too much stud mix. Grass alone will usually suffice until winter, and lots of welsh mares do very well with nothing more than a hadnful of balancer and good quality haylage even then. Don't go by the book; go by her.