Mare's first foal questions?

If you don't go too big a hand or so I cannot see a problem. I run a small Thoroughbred stud, boss breeds for racing. He used to own a stallion who stood over 17 hands. We used him on mares who are all around 16 hands.

The foals were the biggest we have had over the years. We didn't have any problems foaling, but some did but I don't know how big their mares are.

I also think that a lot of problems are coursed by people over feeding the mares when they are in foal. We slowly increase when they are 6 weeks off foaling.

Foals can get stuck, but more down to how they are presenting than size. A small foal can get stuck coming in the wrong position.

I agree with Fennec Fox. Just because she has to have a year out does not make it any reason to breed from her.

If you do then saying she gets covered end of February by the time she is weaned she will have had nearly two years off.

Back to your question, it is more likely the width of the stallion than the height that will cause problems. There is no telling, Had a Shetland mare that went walk about and was found in a filed with a 16..2 TB stallion. No one thought she would have been covered because the field was flat and she could easily stand under his belly.

She produced a colt foal which grew to 14.2 !

On the other hand Like Fennec, I have had mares covered by a like sized horse and had problems getting the foal away.

There are so many foals advertised and no one buying. Even if you want to keep the foal this will take a lot of organisation and you really need experience to grow a foal into a well mannered horse.

We breed but because of the economy have left the mare empty this year. (I am in the UK) There is no telling what you might get. I have a filly here that was born with a twisted leg - she has to wear a plastic shoe to stop in deviating from straight. That has to be done every four weeks, needs the vet for sedation and the farrier - costs over £100 each month.

She's an average sized horse, so there shouldn't be any problems with her carrying a big baby. Its not like your breeding a mini to a clydesdale. The size of the baby really depends; if its a colt, its most likely going to take from its sire and be a bit taller than the dam. Vice versa if its a filly. But it will most likely be in between. What breed is your horse? What breed is the stallion you wanted? When looking for a stallion, you need to look for one to counter act her flaws. For example, if she has really high withers, find a stallion with relatively lows withers, so the foal will be in the middle. Catch my drift? :)

Completely forgot you said she was a cob lol but if she's a cob why not breed her to another cob? You know, so you keep it purebred? Breeding random breeds together is going to guarantee an odd looking foal. Cob x Friesian? No.

My suggestion would be to go with something her own size. While the size of the foal is as likely to be big as it is to be small (both parents have a say in the genetics of the foal). So the reason I say smaller is because she is a maiden, you want to see how well she takes to being bred, what complications she may have, and all that (not that I know why you're breeding a cob to a frisian/tb and not another cob anyway).

The mare's uterus restricts the growth of the baby. She won't grow a monstro-foal just because the stud is bigger than she is.

We have a mare who threw an ENORMOUS baby last spring. The stallion was the same size, if not a little smaller, than she was. It took 45 minutes for two people to pull the baby out of her, and she was in so much pain she needed bute to go to the bathroom the next day. If she hadn't had a ton of people helping her both mare and foal would have died.

If your mare is special to you, do not breed her. I guarantee she is not the absolute upper crust of her breed or discipline.

I breed native ponies (in the UK). I have never had a problem with stallion size, but I have never attempted to send any of my mares to a stallion significantly larger, as I stay within breed type. Generally in mammals the young will only grow as large as they can safely - the uterus will not allow a mahoosive baby. There are exceptions of course, and I wouldn't like to say "no it'll never happen" because obviously as soon as you say it, it'll happen...

Your choice of stallion is determined by your mare, you can't just say "I'd like a part-bred-whatever", you have to think whether a 16h Friesian would suit your small hunter-type mare, and if she really is a half decent small hunter it's very unlikely that it will be a match to complement her - by allowing yourself to be driven by what you want, rather than what will improve on her, you're getting dangerously close to vanity breeding. You have to bear in mind that anything could come out of it, you're not going to get the best bits of your mare and your dream stallion, the bad points are just as likely to come out - more likely if there are more of them. Things can and do skip generations, the coloured cob could have something horrendous wrong with him, do you really want that coming out of your mare? Coloured cobs stay entire for the most ridiculous reasons (lots of hair and symmetrical markings being the main ones) and although you say your mare is nicely put together there's really no reason to think her sire is, he could have weak hocks like so many hairy cobs do, and you'd be passing that on for no reason.

One of my Welsh C mares nearly died this year due to foaling problems - she had been away to the stallion and was running out with him, she'd been scanned in foal twice but there was a bit of a wait before she could come home to me after being covered so she stayed with my cousin running out with the stallion. I didn't get her scanned when she came home because she'd been done twice and you could tell with your bare eyes she was in foal. She foaled early one spring morning - two dead very premature colts. She'd slipped the foal she'd been scanned with, and because she was running with him and his other mares, she had plenty of time to get in foal again, this time unchecked twins. My mare got an infection, close to death was admitted to hospital, was nursed through it and I'm very lucky to have her still. Of course it's about the animals, but I spent into the thousands and have no foal, and no prospect of any more foals from her. I've also had foals die a few days after birth, stillbirths, weanlings with grass sickness, and a mare who bled to death when she tried to foal prematurely. Obviously that's not all at once, it's over many many years, and I've also had lots of trouble-free foals, but bad things do happen.