>>>> My part Icelandic mare is VERY gaited. She was sooo good on the trails, bombproof, would go out alone or with anybody, a horse you could be a passenger on and have fun. That is why I bred her. To get a younger version of her. I bred her to my colt, Andi, now gelded, and the baby, Vinney is a gaiting fool!
Then it sounds like you met personal criteria for breeding - breeding a good horse to a good horse, with the expectation of the horse having a good home for life - in this case, your home. >>> I decided to do it after a couple of years of deciding whether to do it or not. Ha, I kept my purebred, registered, super-sensible, eye-candy silver dapple stallion for two years before I decided to breed him to any of my mares. And, I kept my fingers crossed the whole time my mares were pregnant, hoping for well-conformed, healthy, naturally gaited babies. This is just how I see it, but I DO feel that if I have a purebred and registered Icelandic mare, I might as well breed her to a registered stallion. No matter how I feel about judging each horse on its own merits, I know that not everyone shares my opinion, and it's just as risky to the mare's health, and as expensive to breed a foal with a lesser chance of being desirable. However, if I have an exceptional, TRULY EXCPETIONAL cross-bred mare, same applies - if she's compatible with a purebred stallion, maybe I should breed her to him - IF I breed her at all, and that should be a HUGE if - to the stallion that will make the foal the most marketable. And I don't use the word "marketable" in any money-making sense here - I cannot see how anyone can put the necessary health care and nutrition into a pregnant mare and weanling and expect to even break even on a cross-bred foal. When I use the word "marketable" in this sense, I'm talking about foals that stand a good chance of having good homes waiting for them. And I hope it goes without saying that there are always individual animals, purebred, crossbred, equine or other, that should never be bred. (And maybe that applies to humans too!) Karen Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
