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As we get closer to the end of the year, many mare owners are asking themselves if they should breed their mare next year. In today’s economy and over-breeding situation horse owners need to make sure they are making the right decisions.

Pedigree

Any mare being bred should prove her worth. Just because she has one or two nice horses in her pedigree is not a reason for her to be bred. Yes there are stories of an unknown mare and stallion creating a spectacular foal but for every one of those there are thousands of mediocre ones.

Genetic Testing

If your mare is a stock horse, have you had her tested for all of the genetic diseases. All mares should be tested/cleared for known Quarter Horse genetic defects such as HERDA, PSSM, HYPP and OWLS. When deciding on a stallion, ask for copies of their tests as well. If the stallion owner does not have results make sure that you add that to the equation – would you be fine with an N/H baby? Or a lethal white?

Physical Health

Make sure that your mare has been thoroughly checked by your vet. Make sure that you have a uterine culture so any infections can be taken care of prior to breeding.

Expenses

Breeding a horse is expensive. Stud fees range from hundreds of dollars to thousands of dollars. Beyond a stud fee there are collection fees, chute fees, ultra sound charges and vet farm calls. If using shipped semen don’t forget to add in shipping costs. Assume that each cycle will cost you $250-500 over and above the actual stud fee.

Veterinarian costs

Expect your vet costs to increase dramatically from your regular costs. The vet will need to examine your mare regularly. Ultrasounds will need to be done to make sure your mare is not carrying twins. There are also extra inoculations your mare will need while in foal. Assume that your extra veterinarian costs will be a minimum of a few hundred dollars.

Effort

Foals are very cute but they take lots of time. Halter training, handling, and all the other necessities need to be done on a regular basis. Once your foal has grown the cost of training needs to be added to your expenses.

Adding it all up

After going through the list of costs take a good hard look at the numbers and ask yourself = can I buy EXACTLY what I want for less than the cost of breeding it. If the answer is yes the please consider doing just that. Each year dozens of mediocre foals are born and many of them end up in low end auctions headed to the Canadian and Mexican border to be slaughtered.

The American Quarter Horse are known as the World’s Fastest Athletes. They have some outstanding distinguishing features such as great sprinting speeds over short distances, strong well-defined muscular bodies with a broad chest and rounded powerful hindquarters. This horse was designed for performance and race. They are sure to give everyone a run for their money in competitive racing as well as being a prized breed at many showpen events. They are also the world’s most registered horse breeds with over 3 million American Quarter Horses entered into the breed registry.

In the 1800’s, when the Westward expansion of the United States was underway, many people decided to use the already introduced and feral breeds that existed to cross breed with the Colonial Quarter Mile horse. The result was a quick and hard working cow horse that became extremely popular with ranchers throughout settlements. With time, these horses were refined for their best characteristics and used into cattle steering and eventually more advanced equestrian activities throughout history. Ranch horses such as these were then used in higher society as well as races, taking advantages of its natural and distinct talents on the racetracks.

The Quarter Horse is bred today to preserve a pedigree of excellent lineage. Pedigree bred horses can be obtained from various sources and can have their lineage traced back at least 4 generations. It is generally easy to obtain a pedigreed Quarter horse, as it is a very widely bred horse worldwide. The breed is used extensively in show, races, reigning, cutting livestock sport as well as a frequent rodeo competitor. Many people still own them for ranching as well as to keep them as family horses to enjoy for many years. Developments in breeding techniques allow for more of these beautiful horses to actively be bred today. More people want to breed this horse because of its outstanding track record for all of its eligible event opportunities as well as its ability to perform outstandingly well as a ranch horse.

For more information on Quarter Horses, please visit The Quarter Horse Quarterly. An industry leading online magazine and classified ads dedicated to the Quarter Horse!

We have just unveiled our new web portal with rave reviews of our online quarter horse magazine. We have used cutting edge technology and a Web 2.0 philosophy to create a dynamic website that is easy to navigate and offers a one stop shop for our users. We are building the premier equine community where people can meet and share their love for the American Quarter Horse.

Since our (re)launch, our traffic has hit the roof. In the last 7 days we have surpassed the traffic rankings of most equine websites including the breed specific websites. We are ranked on the front page of Google and Yahoo search engines! We have visitors from over 40 countries, so we are truly a global equine community! We are alsoin the process of rolling out a new and innovative classified ad marketplace that can be viewed in seven languages, to offer additional opportunities to our global market.

During these tough economic times part of our goal is to assist the Quarter Horse industry. We continue to offer competitive rates for advertising in our quarter horse magazine, as well as other ads. Contact us at The Quarter Horse Quarterly for more details.

The Quarter Horse Quarterly website recently received a major overhaul, and now sports a new look, plus new features. The Quarter Horse Quarterly is the premier online publication available for all things “Quarter Horse”. It also provides an interactive forum, and marketplace for the entire equine community.

The website and the online magazine specializes in the management of services and marketing for your breeding farm, quarter horse stallion, or simply an individual horse. Whatever your level of involvement in the equine community, The Quarter Horse Quarterly will have something of interest to you daily!

The website is designed to promote the open sharing of information. Therefore, the promise made to the visitor is this:

• Listen to what the equine community is saying and respond to those needs.
• Establish trend analysis to take advantage of peak demand to market your horse.
• Provide relevant and accurate information in marketing trends.
• Maximize your marketing dollars by reducing your advertising expenses.
• Provide premium logos and banners to spotlight your farm or horse.

To advertise your farm, product, or horse, go to The Quarter Horse Quarterly today!

The new website was provided by JAS Designs, offering affordable custom web design to the equine community!