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Member
Posts: 47
| I am in need of a broodmare. There seems to be many available. What are some of the things you "require" your broodmare to have? I know people "do the best with what they have", but I want to be able to produce nice foals that are sellable. |
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 Midget Lover
    
Location: Kentucky | Buy the best bloodline you can afford. Make sure the dam side is strong. I also look for good conformation, and a friendly mare. I don't want a witch. I also want to make sure she has produced recently, without complications. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | Frist thing that strikes my attention is bloodline- But, I don't ever buy solely on ONE factor. Bloodlines strike me first, then I look at conformation, then I look at record.
I absolutely have to have good papers AND good conformation. I don't hold it against a young mare who doesn't have a record, because I bought my Stoli mare that way with the sole purpose of breeding her, so I chose not to campaign her. Her female family backed her up, her sire is popular, her conformation is good, as a plus she's black.
I don't think conformation or papers are good enough to stand alone in a decision. If *anything* a SUPERIOR produce record either by herself or her babies may outshine both of those things… |
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Member
Posts: 47
| Also if breeding for barrels, does a black type race pedigree matter? I ask because most of the successful barrel horses that raced were complete duds on the track. |
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 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Have you checked out the Barrel Racing Broodmare Group on Facebook? They have tons of good options. I saw a Martha Six Moons Mare and Dash For Cash at the top of the page. Can't go wrong with either of those. Of course some may depend on your budget. But there's lots of great mares out there.
When I bought my mares, I considered breeding, conformation, and temparement first and produce record of course. But if they have three of the four, I'd be willing to look over the last factor. |
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 Guys Just Wanna Have Fun
Posts: 5530
Location: OH | Everything that everybody else said--conformation, pedigree, etc etc, BUT if you are planning on selling PRETTY IS A HUGE BONUS. I know, color isn't everything but I have been doing this for a while and people are drawn to THE FLASH of a colored foal and will walk right past the nicest foal in the pasture. |
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Who Wants to Trade?
Posts: 4692
| I look at pedigree (female family - I want dam to have produced, sire- I want a broodmare sire or a female family strong enough that he doesn't matter), performance - I like winners, ROM, and ideally stakes performers...if they aren't stakes placed, I want them to be graded stakes qualified. If they didn't perform, I need (a) a strong enough maternal line to overlook it or (b) them to have already produced stakes horses.
Once they clear those hurdles, I look at conformation (usually, if they were what I want on the track, there isn't a problem). Some mares flat don't look like broodmares to me and I won't buy them because of it...call me weird?
Finally, I look at their breeding history. A true RV tear turns me off unless it was repaired super well (I have had a mare with a foot through rectum, but that was super simple to fix and no complications, plus she has since foaled 2 foals with no issues at all). I don't really worry about other issues, but likely because I have a field full of special issue mares I wouldn't own if they didn't have issues (most of mine are age induced issues though too).
I can honestly say, every mare I own fits these requirements. It has taken a while to put them together since I do it on a budget, but I'm very happy with what I have...now I need to cut back some because I have limited space - ooops!! |
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  That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| It also looks like hartfarms has several for sale on here in foal to firewater canyon.
I look for conformation, attitude (hard to know with a purchase), bloodlines, performance record (that I can market). I am an amature at this so take my opionion for whats its worth. |
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That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| I also wanted to add: I went thru the process of finding a broodmare a couple of months ago. I spent about $75 per mare I was considering on research. Best money I ever spent. |
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 Butter my Biscuits
Posts: 2948
Location: MI | I look for a few different things for a broodmare than most. First, I absolutely agee that pedigree counts. Doesn't matter how nice that colt is if you cant attract people to come look from a ad. Gotta get them to the ranch if you want to make a sale. Next I want some feminity about the mare. Been my experience that the more masculine mares are irregular cycled, harder to conceive, and tend to be the alpha biotches in pasture which can mean more vet bills to the others. A lot of times those masculine mares aren't as maternal. Next is young, a lot of the old timers say that if a mare hasn't had a great foal by 10, she never will. If she is already producing winners, age wouldn't scare me but I usually can't afford them then. Next is maintenance. By that I mean self preservation and easy keeper. The fat mare that holds weight well tends to reproduce that thriftiness. The accident prone nelly also tends to reproduce Banamine brats. Next I look at mama's produce record. If she spit a baby out every year like a welfare queen, I'm going to think daughter can do the same. If mama only had 2 foals lifetime, no reason to think daughter is going to be much different. Finally I'm going to look at conformation. I dont want off set cannons, extremely straight posty hind legs, or so fine boned that I'm worried about holding up to use. I don't put a lot of emphasis on head as long as overall she still retains some feminity. Have seen some ugly necked mares produce lovely long necks so I dont get overly critical on neck but I do like a defined shoulder and big heart girth. I prefer my broodmares to be a bit longer in the back so that she has some more room inside for a baby. I like to see a picture of what she looked like before becoming a broodmare before I make determination on her hips. After they have had a few, they tend to lose their girlish figure and the back sways and looks longer and the croup looks shorter and flatter. I rule out any automatically that dont have good bites and teeth, hernias, extremely crooked legs, or are evil. Absolutely agree with MightyBroke that color sells. For that reason a perlino or cremello daughter of DTF would be awesome! Last thing that has been my experience is that beauty tends to skip a generation. The gorgeous show mares dont tend to reproduce themselves, and the ugly old gal that you hide in back pasture will unvariably have the cutest baby each year. |
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 Living on the edge of common sense
Posts: 24139
Location: Carpenter, WY | I like to see 'the names' in the first two generations on a mare so your babies papers will also have those on its papers.
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | If you're breeding with the intention of selling eventually... you must look at pedigree....next I look at confirmation...if they meet those 2 I then look at if they are maiden or not ...I'm not going to buy one that has never thrown a healthy foal and carried atleast once to term and has proved she is fertile and has a foal to check out to see what traits come through...if I have a mare that I've competed on and I want to breed her thats one thing but a few bad experiences buying maidens and then trying to get them to settle was enough for me and I have a great repro vet...my experience is that half the time with maidens they don't settle first time and you spend extra money flushing, testing, and rebreeding and collecting....also maiden mares tend to be VERY protective of their foals which dont get me wrong you want them attentive but you dont want them chasing you out of the stall either lol ...don't get me wrong I'm sure there are nice maidens out there but if I had to choose I'd choose an experienced mare any day....age is a factor generally I like em from 8 to 15...and tempermant is important because remember they are teaching that foal all they know for the first most impressionable months of their lives and if mommas a spook and crazy well sure don't want the foal being taught that...a plus is a mare that foaled recently and is nursing one they tend to breed back easier their repro tract is prime for rebreeding...I stay away from older mares that have been open two or more years as they can be like maidens and take a few tries..I wouldnt turn a good one away but again if I had to choosedI'd choose the one that was bred and carried a foal more recently.....and lastly if you are breeding just 1 for the experience and doing it that's fine just remember its never cheaper than just buying a weanling or even a 2 yr old so weigh your options and be prepared financially as if you buy a decently bred broodie expect to pay 3k then factor stud fee at 1500 assuming she takes first time a.i and vet fees of 500...11 months of feeding her around 150 a month =1650 so before foal even hits the ground youve spent 6650.00 you can get a very nice well bred 2yr old colt for that that's ready to start....that being said I love breeding my own and recommend it ateast once :)
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