Should I breed my Curly mare? This is a question most owners of a
Curly mare will ask themselves at some point in time. Obviously there are
no guarantees, but there are common sense questions we should ask ourselves
before we breed a Curly mare. Like any pet, to breed a mare & produce
a foal is to take full responsibility for that foal's life until it goes
to another home. When the question of whether or not to breed your Curly
mare comes up, it is time to ask and answer a lot of other questions first:
What is the general market like? At the time of this writing, the
horse market in general is soft. That is, in most people's opinion, it is
not a good time to breed horses and expect to automatically sell them as
weanlings or youngstock, for a profit. Horses are somewhat over-populated
both in USA & Europe - generally speaking, the supply exceeds the demand.
During a soft market, it is a risk that a breeder can produce an unwanted
horse. And we all know what that situation can ultimately lead to.
What is the local market like? Some breeders live in areas where there
are populations of people looking for exactly what they have. If that is
the case in your area, make sure these prospective buyers are really interested
in a foal and not just expressing interest in buying one like your
(ready-to-ride) mare. And don't forget to assess how successful these prospective
buyers would be in raising a foal from weaning through training and riding.
You would be surprised how many intelligent-sounding would-be buyers don't
even know the difference between a well-fed horse and a mal-nourished horse,
or who will start riding them at 2 years of age! Another too-common horror
story is the interested buyers who expect to purchase fully trained reliable
saddle horses for a weanling's price. All too common!
Can I depend on selling my Curly baby on the internet? No. You cannot
depend on that, but it certainly is a venue you would not want to miss out
on, either. Internet marketing is an important way to market special horses
to prospective owners from all over the world. If you have your own website,
you have to make sure links to your site are placed where buyers who are
looking will see them.
Should I use a Classified site? Yes. Even if you have your own site,
but especially when you don't have your own website, you should use internet
classifieds sites. You have to advertise your horse on a classified site
that is likely to have buyers looking for what you are selling. Also pick
the right size classified site. Classified sites are a dime a dozen, most
of them are struggling to survive and offer good deals; take advantage of
the free ones but don't pay too much for too many, as most don't have the
traffic to warrant it. They must have lots of traffic of course, but some
have too many ads to compete with; you can easily pay $40 to advertise a
Quarter horse weanling on Dreamhorse.com for example, and it never be looked
at. It is literally lost in the overwhelming numbers of ads.
What will happen if I cannot sell the foal? Can you afford to keep
a foal that does not sell? This is a question I failed to answer myself a
few times. I was such an optimist, and relied on the fact that I had nice
quality horses, and that I had a good website, etc., that they would sell
themselves, even if I didn't make a profit. (I also owned stallions &
mares before I was able to sell all that I needed to, and in my situation,
I had to breed the mares to good stallions rather than have brand-X stallions
from next door breed them) But regardless of that, I experienced first hand
the hard way, you have to have a plan B. If you cannot sell the foal, and
you cannot actually afford the expense or have room to keep the foal, you
must be able to find a great home to give it away to (hard to do, freebies
are not often appreciated). A successful breeding program happens when you
can continue to properly keep & feed & train every foal you produce
yourself, until such time as it sells for what it is worth, whether you breed
1 mare or many.
Am I willing to put forth the effort to get GOOD photographs of my horse(s)
for sale? This also holds true for standing a stallion at stud. This
is a question that I am always surprised more people don't ask themselves.
The results of not asking themselves this question is apparent all over the
internet, and in what potential buyers receive when they ask for photos of
horses being offered for sale or at stud. You absolutely have to get good
photos of your horse to sell it. Especially on the internet, but even local
shoppers want to see a photo ad or an emailed photo before they drive out
to see it in person. Especially with the price of fuel nowadays! Plus, poor
photos are a terrible reflection on your dedication & investment and
a red flag for would-be buyer that you might be a HUGE waste of everyone's
time and energy. Don't make this kind of impression - don't settle for lousy
photos which are worse than no photos at all. Take a GOOD photograph - that
is informative, (truly shows the conformation) and flattering (shows the
best points of your horse to full advantage.) Showing good shots of the legs
from exact side, front & rear views will definitely help sell a
straight-legged horse, and will demonstrate honesty & help sell them
when they aren't so straight. If it has a pretty head, show a portrait photo
of its head. Sometimes this isn't easy, sometimes it takes more effort or
time than we thought it would, and lots of photographs! You may even have
to get someone to help you, God forbid! But ultimately that is a lot easier
(and much more responsible) than not being able to sell a horse you don't
want to keep, because you refuse to get good enough photos. If a
breeder takes little pride or effort in the photographs displaying their
horse, what does that say about them as a horse owner or breeder? It just
stands to reason they must demonstrate that they value their own investment
before asking a stranger to value it enough to pay money for it. In fact
this is such a pervasive problem in our breed, I venture to guess probably
some of us just don't know any better. On Curly Horse Web, we will be putting
together some webpages that visually document some DO's and DO-NOT's when
it comes to photographing your horses. We hope this will be useful in improving
our overall photography of our breed. For right now, visit this webpage:
Montana Ranch Horses where I took a few photos of a neighbor's gelding for
sale, where I show you what kind of photos it takes to accurately represent
a horse for sale, and what a buyer needs to see in order to develop serious
interest in purchasing a horse from you.
Do I have the proper facilities to breed my mare? The reasoning behind
this question is, first, safety of the mare & foal at delivery. If you
range breed, on 1000's of acres of rugged bluffs & mountain slopes, Mother
Nature will take care of that for you. But if like most, you run your mare
on an unchallenging flat field of a couple hundred acres or less, guess
what? She'll stand around and gestate and eat, and next thing you know, there
are foaling complications. (Well sometimes anyway.) Point being, if you have
an intensive situation, (as opposed to extensive) you must have the facilities
to watch & care for the mare when she nears foaling time.
Do I have the proper facilities to raise a foal? Next, you must have
the facilities to allow proper initial handling of the newborn foal when
imprinting, or halter-breaking later on, etc. This is so you can offer a
well-handled, very confident, people-friendly foal for sale. Trust me when
I tell you, most people do not have the understanding or ability to successfully
train a foal or youngster that has not already been handled daily &
completely gentled. No matter how much you explain this to prospective buyers,
it will still happen with many of them after they take possession of it.
They will blame it on you and your breeding program, and in this respect,
out of ignorance, they will not be wrong.
Do I have the knowledge &/or experience to properly raise & train
a foal from birth to sale? This question is pretty well self-explanatory.
Don't kid yourself about the answer, or else you won't be doing yourself,
your horses, or the industry, any favors.
Would my Curly mare make a positive contribution to the breed? Aw,
such a hard one! Does *Tootsie, our beloved sweetheart mare, that I trust
my children's lives with, have genetic contributions to offer the Curly breed?
What if she's kind of, well, homely, but a real love? Is to-die-for temperament
enough to offer? Or what if it's the opposite? What if she is a Curly Horse
without the famous-claimed puppy dog personality, just average or a bit below
average in the temperament department, but would sure improve the conformation
of a lot of Curly Horses? These are some of the toughest questions to answer
in the industry. Sometimes it is tough to answer correctly because it is
hard to be completely honest with ourselves. And sometimes, it is not answered
correctly because the owner honestly doesn't know. And sometimes it isn't
answered correctly because the owner doesn't know s/he doesn't know! Maybe
this question should be: Do I know enough about conformation, movement &
type to know if my mare is "good enough" to breed?
How can I be sure my mare is "good enough" to breed? By first asking
yourself that question. Take heart. This doesn't have to be hard. None of
our horses are perfect. And none of us are perfect. That's ok. If every
inexperienced breeder (and that refers to their level of experience &
knowledge, not to the numbers of horses they have brought into this world,
by the way) can admit it if they aren't overly knowlegable or experienced
in evaluating correct equine conformation, and just make it their mission
to find out, all will be well. That is arguably the most important responsibility
of every breeder - make sure the animals you breed have conformation and
quality that will at the very least maintain, and ideally, improve the present
quality of the breed. Breeders must make informed breeding choices. That
means, either learn about conformation, (before they breed a mare) or find
someone trustworthy to consult with and rely on their advice. GOOD NEWS:
Educational Curly Horse inspections are starting this year (2006). These
inspections will feature very knowlegable inspectors to evaluate Curly Horses
and give their owners information about their conformation & quality,
and whether they would be good breeding animals, and why or why not, and
what should be looked for to balance traits in sire selection. These inspections
will be held with education and information as the primary motivation. If
you would like to sponsor a Curly Horse inspection, contact your area
ICHO representative.
And always remember, old *Sweetheart, a kind, giving, serving family mare,
may not in every case be the best candidate for breeding, but that determination
will in no way deflect from her invaluable contribution as a beloved family
member or a child's teacher & best friend!
Should I wait until after my Curly mare is trained to ride before breeding
her? In almost all cases, yes. Rarely will you hear another answer from
a reputable breeder, but on the other hand, rarely will you find a reputable
breeder who hasn't broken that rule. There are several good reasons for that
rule though. A horse should not be ridden to any extent before 4 years of
age, and also should not be bred before then. If you've waited that long,
then start her ground training in the round pen, and start light saddling
at age 3. Before she contributes to the gene pool, you should know what she
is likely to produce for riding horses, since that is the reason most people
own their horses to begin with. Is she smooth to ride? What is her temperament
like during training? What is her relationship with her trainer? Is she
sensitive, timid, trusting, anxious, resentful, stubborn, courageous? What
is her attitude towards learning? What is her attitude towards her job, such
as trail riding, show horse, lesson horse, ranch horse, etc. There is an
old cowboy saying, "nothing a good horse loves better than the work of a
man."
WHY do I want to breed my Curly mare? Make sure you know why. Right
now, there isn't exactly a shortage. Never allow your horse ownership or
breeding program to be solely about personal pride or ego or profit. (If
you do, the only person you will be kidding will be yourself.) One way to
check this is to always keep an open mind, and listen, and consider all the
merits of discussions among people you respect, even when you don't agree
with them or when you hear something you don't want to hear. If you find
yourself being too emotional or assertive or defensive about certain topics
or aspects of Curly Horses or ownership, chances are, you have too much
innappropriate baggage invested in your horse ownership or breeding program,
and you need to step back and examine why you own them, and what you expect
them to provide in your life. You probably shouldn't breed them until you
sort some of those issues out.
Why did I write this editorial? I guess I owe
those of you who don't know my personal situation that explanation. I've
always had Quarter Horses - I first got into Curly Horses in 1996, and by
1998-1999 owned over 100 breeding and riding horses (many of those were Curlies).
By 2000, I found myself being divorced and asked to leave my 6500 acre ranch
home with all my horses, and with suddenly no income or way to feed
them, and deeply in debt, as all my former savings & retirement had
all been invested into that ranch! So for the next 6 years as I sold
off my horses as quickly & responsibly as my situation allowed, I endured
or barely escaped some of the horror stories I refer to above, personally.
Pure motivations and sincere intentions are no guarantees in life, nor excuses,
we all know that. But I do want to share lessons I have learned regardless
of the reasons for potential failures, and lessons I have observed others
learning (or not). Our Curly Horses deserve nothing less than our best efforts.
So I want to continue to help others avoid what I have seen happen &
almost happen to others & myself, and continue to contribute to all the
successes possible in our industry, many of which I have experienced and
will always be profoundly grateful for.
Donna still lives & works in Montana, now on 20 acres with 2 part-time
cowgirl daughters, and 6 horses, 2 of which are Curly Horses left over from
Crow Country Curly Horses. Only a minimal Curly foal "crop" is planned each
year. Having joined forces with Tracy in
Old West Curly
Horses, they have found yet another rewarding purpose for these kind-souled
Curly Horses.
