Behind the Foaling Door - Limiting Foals for Mares

Welcome to another addition of Behind the Foaling Door! This time we'll talk about the debate regarding model mares having limited or unlimited amounts of foals. Second only to the aging vs. non-aging debate, this issue has been a bone of much contention between breeders. Breeders select their system based on realism, ease, and convenience for themselves and other s/d list users. As with the aging debate, IPABRA takes no formal stand on which system is best and encourages members to use whatever system suits them best. Both sides have been presented to help new breeders select their own method.

Basically speaking, the issue is all about how many foals a model horse mare may produce each year. People who use the unlimited system have no restrictions on the amount of foals produced in a given year. A list using this method will list the information on the mare and then will usually list years available as "1986 and up" or write in the s/d rules about how old a mare must be before she many have a foal. Beyond that, there are no foal restrictions. A mare can have one foal each year or twenty-six.

Here are some breeder’s thoughts on this matter:

“I use a limited foal system for my s/d list. I find it to be more realistic than the unlimited system. Real horses can only have one foal per year if you aren't using embryo transfer or other modern technology. When I first started doing pedigree assignment, I used an unlimited system. I find that I've gotten many more breeding requests on the limited system.”
Nicole Martin

“I use the limited system, I always have. It gives it more of a sense of realism for me. When one of my "girls" runs out of years, if she had a body, it gets and ID reassignment, if it was a BSO, "she" just passes on.”
Carra Reinmiller

“I use limited. I also try to realistically limit my stallions' years, some have more, some have less, usually with one or two test crops at age 3-4 and then full-tilt-boogie until around age 18-20. Some I let go longer since I've known stallions standing at stud in their mid-to-late twenties, but no older.”
Suzanne Feld

“I am planning on listing my mares open years after her info, it is more realistic and I don’t think everyone will be rushing to breed to them that quickly, although one can hope. :O) I think, IMO that having a mare drop more than one foal a year is just way too unrealistic.”
Nikki Byler

“Here at EDZ Stables, I start breeding both genders at age 5, Stallions unlimited/mares 1 foal per open yr., and they "retire" at age 15, or after the mares' years are all used up. In other words, older horses only have open years listed until they're 15th yr. They may be 20 yrs. old and still showing, just not being "bred". Know what I mean? lol...Unless a stallion jumped into my mare paddocks on a whim...lol.”
Edith Zelmore

“My mares can only have one foal a year. I don't see the point in letting them have unlimited foals. What if one mare is noticeably better than the others, and gets used over and over again? Limiting the foals means that the other mares also get bred. I see it as a way of sort of handicapping your herd, making sure every mare gets bred the same as others. That's my take on the subject =)”
Viviane deBros

“I use the limited system because it is more realistic. I will let some mares have ET foals if they are allowed in that breed but only 1 or 2 per year as that is about all you are likely to get from a real mare. usually not much of an issue! =)”
Jamie Coughlin

“I limit the number of foals my mares produce to one a year. If someone really wanted to have a set of twins from one of my mares, I may allow it, as long as I didn't get too many twin requests. I don't allow embryo transfer for producing more than one foal per year, either. Maybe someday, if I have a very successful mare (in a breed that accepts it), I may allow an extra foal a year here or there, but until then, one a year works just fine for me.”
Caroline Spracklin

What do YOU think? Write and share your opinion! Next time we’ll tackle the question of rejecting foals: When we send away for pedigrees, we are always under the assumption that the pedigrees will go through with no problems and that the foals will be accepted. However, some people have had the unpleasant experience of having a foal turned down. Others have had to struggle with whether or not they would accept a less-then-worthy foal. Have you ever had to turn a foal down, or been turned down? Why?

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