BREED Q&A from MyHorseForSale.com

QUESTION: What should a stallion’s shipping rate be in order to insure my mare gets pregnant on the first shipment?

ANSWER: There is no way to insure that any mare gets pregnant on her first cycle even when using live cover or fresh semen, let alone the first shipment of cooled or frozen semen.  The stallion, and his semen are only half of the equation and the mare and her follicle are the other half.  The mare owner, if he or she does their homework, can insure that the stallion they have chosen to breed their mare to is standing at a reputable Stallion Station and has proven semen that has been tested for it’s cooling or freezing ability.  The mare owner and his/her Veterinarian will even get the information regarding the stallion’s semen, included with the shipment of semen, that will tell them exactly what the stallion’s concentration, volume, and motility were, at time of collection.  Most Stallion Stations/stallion owners even guarantee, in their shipping contract, that the stallion’s semen, when collected and packaged for shipping, will be of such a degree of concentration, volume, and motility, and packaged professionally and in accordance with industry standards so as to be reasonably acceptable for breeding, or it will not be shipped.  The mare owner’s Veterinarian also has the right (and is encouraged by the stallion owner) to test the semen once it arrives, for motility under a microscope before inseminating the mare, with the right, in that contract, to send it back and have another shipment sent, at no charge, if it is not reasonably acceptable for breeding.

The stallion owner, on the other hand, has absolutely no control over what happens to the semen once it leaves their hands and is shipped by overnight courier.  They have no control over who will handle the semen once it arrives at it’s destination and no control over how it will be handled, if the recipient mare is breeding sound, if she has had previous foals, cysts or infection or bacteria in her uterus, venereal diseases or may be too old to get in foal, etc.  The stallion owner has no way of knowing if she will even be ready to ovulate once the semen arrives.  Even if the Stallion owner or Stallion Station Technician is in contact with the Veterinarian on the other end and confident in his/her ability and breeding soundness of the mare, there is no way for the Veterinarian to be able to insure that the mare will ovulate with the semen in her once it gets there, even if it arrives in perfect condition for breeding.  Mares are individuals and they are all different.  Each cycle of each mare and each follicle she forms, is different from one mare, one cycle and one follicle to the next.  A 40 mm follicle that a Veterinarian would normally assume would progress may order the semen and give the mare a shot to help her ovulate only to find that she may hold that follicle (despite the drugs) for a day or two longer than he/she expected and even regress instead of progress or not hold that follicle long enough for the semen to get there, ovulating before the Veterinarian can get the semen into the mare, and no matter how good the semen is, or how good the Veterinarian is, he/she may not be able to get the mare in foal on that first try.  Breeding is a gamble at every turn and conditions must be just right in order for the miracle of conception to happen, even under the best of circumstances and the most prime conditions.   There are never any guarantees with regard to a mare getting in foal on the first cycle or getting pregnant with just one shipment.  The stallion owner just cannot make that kind of guarantee no matter how good the Stallion’s numbers or track record are, as he/she cannot control the conditions on the other end of the shipment, and, as they say in the reproductive world, “some mares just don’t read the book”.

Most stallion owners do offer live foal guarantees (some offer live colored foal guarantees if they stand a homozygous stallion).  A live foal guarantee is basically a guarantee that your mare will get in foal and you have 2 full seasons included in the cost of that one stud fee, to get it done.  Some Stallion Stations offer multiple mare discounts and the opportunity to synchronize your mares and ship 4 doses together, in one shipment, saving you half the cost of shipping semen, even if breeding to different stallions.

There is a standard breeding dose that is acceptable in the Equine Reproductive Industry for shipping a stallion’s semen, whether it be frozen or cooled, and a standard breeding dose that is used for on farm breeding with fresh semen when a stallion’s semen must be divided up in order to breed multiple mares on the farm.  There is a basic math equation that is used with each collection, wherein each stallion’s numbers (volume, concentration and progressive motility) are plugged in, before packaging and shipping the semen, and tells the Stallion Station Technician how much semen and how much extender is needed for each shipping dose and insures that each recipient mare will receive, on the other end, enough semen to get her in foal with that one shipment.  The end result of that simple math equation, using those variables, is considered a standard shipping dose which is equal to a full breeding dose.

At some of the larger Stallion Stations, it is quite common for there to be several shipments sent out in one day, to several different mares, from a single stallion’s ejaculation, as long as the numbers add up to a full shipping dose for each mare on the other end.  This is one of the reasons why it is customary for Stallion Stations to require 24 hours notice, or at the very least, a phone call by 6 p.m. the evening before, to order a shipment of semen and many have a rule of only collecting stallions on certain days, such as odd or even days or Monday, Wednesday, Friday, giving the Stallion’s a chance to recoup from the rigors of breeding and the staff time to coordinate collection, shipping and on farm breeding.  The Stallion Station must plan for the amount of mares that need to be bred by one stallion, with one ejaculate, on any given day, and plan for how many mares on the farm will need to be bred with fresh semen and how many mares must have semen shipped to. Traditionally, the breeding of on farm mares, done by live cover or fresh semen via collection of the stallion and artificial insemination of the mares, takes precedence over shipped semen mares and order of booking comes into play if demand happens to exceed supply.  Booking your mare early each year earns you more than just a discount on the stud fee (at most Stallion Stations) and is more than just a deposit and a promise to breed your mare to their stallion.  Booking early gives you seniority if your mare and another mare are ready to breed at exactly the same time and there is not enough semen to go around.  Booking early may keep you from having to wait for your mare’s next cycle or short cycling your mare in order to get semen, which can cost you dearly in both time and money.  A stallion is generally only collected once per day and is best collected every other day to ensure peak fertility.  It is common to send 2 doses in each shipment of cooled shipped semen by overnight courier so the Veterinarian can use one dose for breeding the first day it arrives and the other for breeding the next day if the mare has not yet ovulated and he feels it is necessary to do so.  If the mare has ovulated, of course, the second dose would not be necessary and may be discarded.

Stallions are as individual as mares are with the way their bodies and reproductive systems work.  One stallion may have a large volume of semen while his concentration (total amount of sperm cells per mm of ejaculate) or percent of progressively motile sperm may be a little on the low side.  Another stallion may give smaller volumes of semen, but make up for it with higher concentration and a higher percent of progressively motile sperm cells in each ejaculate.  It is quite possible to end up with virtually the same amount of shipping or breeding doses with 2 different stallions with 2 totally different sets of numbers with regard to volume, concentration and progressive motility.  Stallion Stations and stallion owners usually have tested each stallion prior to the breeding season for shipping ability in the lab by taking several samples of semen and performing test cools, checking the semen under a microscope after 12, 24, 36 and even 48 hours so they know how well each stallion cools and ships.   The bottom line is shipping a breeding dose with at least 500 million progressively motile sperm cells, making it a sufficient amount to impregnate a mare in just one shipment.  The rest is up to the mare and the educated and capable hands of her Veterinarian on the other end.

Answer submitted by Tina Lewis of the Lewis Stallion Station. If you have a Breeding question send to info@myhorseforsale.com and check back for the answer!

Prior to searching for and selecting your new equine companion you need to ask yourself the following questions and determine what it is you want the horse to be able to do, what  your child’s goals and ambitions are and if you have any desire to participate beyond paying the bills.

Questions to ask Yourself

What are my goals?

What are my child’s goals?

What kind of riding do I want to do?

What kind of riding do my kids want to do?

What level am I?

What level are my children?

How much time do I have to spend with the horse?

How much money do I have to spend on feed, care, stabling, expenses?

How much money do I have to spend on a horse?

Do I want to own or lease?

Questions to ask the Seller

How old is the horse?

How many months/ years training has the horse had?

How often has the horse been ridden in the last year?

Who has ridden the horse the most in the last year?

How long have you owned the horse?

Is this horse safe for beginners?

Does this horse require any special feeds, shoes, stabling accommodations?

What does he eat on a regular basis? What kind of feed, roughage?

Does the horse have a history of medical problems such as colic, or lameness?

Does he stand for the farrier, vet?

How often is the horse dewormed, shod

Is he easy to catch in the pasture?

How is he to handle after being out for a long time?

Is he used to being hauled?

How does he react in new places?

Does the horse have any vices (biting, cribbing, kicking, etc)?

Why is this horse for SALE?

APPALOOSA HORSE CLUB ANNOUNCES HOLIDAY GREETING CARD CONTEST

MOSCOW, Idaho—The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) gave members and enthusiasts the option to spread more holiday cheer this year with Appaloosa holiday greeting cards! With the success of this year’s greeting cards, the ApHC has decided to make it an annual tradition by implementing the Holiday Card Contest!

The ApHC is inviting members to submit their fondest holiday memories featuring their breed of choice…the Appaloosa! Submit your original artwork, painting, drawing or photo and it may be featured in the 2010 Appaloosa holiday greeting card collection. It is easy to enter, simply send your original  artwork with a description and your contact information to:

Production Director

2720 W. Pullman Rd.

Moscow, ID 83843

All entries must be received in the office by Oct. 1, 2010.

Keep an eye out for the entry form in upcoming issues of Appaloosa Journal! For more information, contact the Production Director at (208) 882-5578 ext. 230 or production@appaloosajournal.com.

The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) was established in 1938 with a mission of preserving, promoting and enhancing the Appaloosa breed. The ApHC has since registered more than 670,000 Appaloosas, which are known for their distinctive color, intelligence and even temperament. True to their reputation as an extremely versatile breed, Appaloosas can be found in nearly every discipline including racing, endurance riding and serving as reliable family horses. The international breed registry is headquartered in Moscow, Idaho, the heart of the Palouse region—the Appaloosa breed’s namesake and point of origin.

MyHorseForSale.com would like to introduce our NEW Breeders Q&A.

Answers to your questions are submitted by Tina Lewis of the Lewis Stallion Station, CA.

QUESTION: What is EVA testing and what does it mean if I am a mare owner?

ANSWER: EVA , which stands for Equine Viral Arteritis, is an infectious viral equine disease affecting several major horse breeds, but is most commonly found in adult standardbred horses.  Though it is thought to have been around for hundreds of years, it has only been documented since the early 1950’s with the most recent epidemic in 1984, in Kentucky.

EVA exhibits flu-like symptoms and causes, most significantly, abortions in pregnant mares which makes mare owners a key player in the fight to control this destructive disease.  EVA is spread via the respiratory and reproductive systems of the horse and isn’t usually fatal (except to unborn foals) and it’s gestation period is relatively short-lived in all but mature stallions, making stallion owners the other key player. An infected stallion can pass the disease to a mare during breeding and then the mare can pass it to the rest of her heard via respiratory means making that one breeding capable of destroying an entire year’s worth of reproduction with spontaneous abortion of the foals in the entire herd.

The disease, when spread reproductively, can be spread via Live Cover or Shipped Semen and does not appear to be killed off by the freezing process in the case of Frozen Shipped Semen.

The USDA has developed a test for EVA and a vaccine to be given yearly in order to stop the spread of this disease. Many stallion owners today are testing for EVA and vaccinating for it on their own and advertising their stallions as tested and vaccinated for the disease in order to reassure mare owners of the safety in breeding to their particular stallion.  The USDA is also requiring stallions be tested and vaccinated for the shipping of semen overseas in compliance with International regulations.

As a stallion owner, you should, if standing to the public, have your stallions tested for EVA and then vaccinated each year.  As a mare owner, especially if you are breeding to a Standardbred Stallion, you should make sure the stallion you are breeding to or receiving shipped semen from, is tested and vaccinated for EVA.

With these, and other important steps, that are being taken today by mare and stallion owners within the breeding industry, combined with the efforts of the USDA with regard to the shipment of equine semen, Internationally, the disease can be controlled, and even one day, completely irradiated.

If you have a breeding question you would like answered please send to info@myhorseforsale.com

THE EQUINE AFFAIRE, POMONA
by: Tina Lewis of the Lewis Stallion Station

The Equine Affaire in Pomona, California, held it’s 10th Anniversary Exposition and Trade Show this year at the Fairplex, on February 4th through the 7th with several large exhibit buildings full of horse trailers and barns and anything else you could think of, related to the riding, care, nutrition and health of a horse.  There were Trade Show exhibitors and clinicians with informative training clinics, seminars and demonstrations on subject matter covering a wide variety of breeds and disciplines as well as plenty of food and beverage available, literally, on every corner.

The crowds of people came out, in what looked to be record numbers, some, traveling hundreds of miles to shop and take advantage of the many bargains, ideas and helpful, low pressure retailers throughout the Trade Show.  Even a little rain didn’t seem to bother anyone since most of the shopping, clinics and seminars could be found indoors under the shelter of the exhibit buildings or under the covered arena area.

Craig Cameron’s Extreme Cowboy Race, fast becoming a favorite at the show, was held on Thursday and Friday evening from 7:30-9:30 PM with the finals held on Saturday evening, all under the covered arena, which was, once again, packed.  There were people sitting on the ground on blankets, and standing for lack of space in the bleachers to sit.  This race is an extreme competition where 36 horse and rider teams compete for $4,250 in cash as well as other prizes.  The course includes obstacles and activities, such as dragging logs, jumping obstacles, backing through a pattern, pole bending, rollbacks and spins, working gates, conquering dirt terrain, carrying water, going over or through tarps, etc.  It is a timed event during which the performance of each team is judged for quality of horsemanship and for each individual obstacle, the judges award performance points on a scale of 1-10.  Horses and their riders must complete each obstacle within a given time frame and the horse and rider team with the highest overall point score wins the race and most of the prizes and money.  This year there was a saddle and $2000 given to the first place winner, with $1500 for second place and $750 to the team that came in third.

Many people wait all year for this event and make trips to the parking lot, to drop off loads of shopping bags full of dewormer, horse blankets, rakes, whips, jewelry, boots, and jeans and many do this for all 4 days of the event.  In addition to the fabulous deals and shopping is also an abundance of interesting material and brochures that can be picked up at booths throughout the facility such as FrontierPackTrain.com, offering full service packing trips on horseback, Broken Horn Saddlery, Hooves & Paws, and Big Jim’s tack or from a clinic or training seminar put on by experts such as Dr. Jim Kubiak with TheBreedersAssistant.com offering classes in all aspects of Equine reproduction including artificial insemination and ultrasound as well as cooled and frozen shipped semen.

The Nation’s Premiere Equestrian Gathering, as the brochure says, seems to be just that, as it seems to be the focus of every horse lover in the state with clinicians, trainers and retailers coming from all over the country for this huge Equine Affaire.

by: Tina Lewis of the Lewis Stallion Station

They say that you can’t ride color but we all seem to admire it, and even try to duplicate it, anyway.  If you know you absolutely don’t want a particular color of horse (or if you know that you positively do), breeding to a stallion, or owning a mare, that is homozygous, may be the way to go.  Homozygous simply means that the horse carries two copies of a particular color gene or color modifying gene, instead of just one of each (heterozygous). Here is my take on color, in a nutshell.

There are only two basic colors of a horse, red and black.  Cream, gray, roan, agouti and dun, etc., simply modify the red and the black gene to produce other colors.   These modifiers can be heterozygous or homozygous, depending upon whether or not the horse carries one or two copies of the particular modifying gene. For instance, the sorrel or chestnut horse is a red horse and always carries two copies of the red gene, making it homozygous for red every time. This is something that is visual (a given) and does not need to be tested for individually. The palomino is a sorrel or chestnut horse (with two copies of the red gene, and homozygous for red), with one copy of the cream gene and a cremello colored horse is simply a sorrel or chestnut horse (homozygous for red, remember) carrying two copies of the cream gene (called a double dilute) so in addition to being homozygous for red, it is also homozygous for cream. This means that when breeding, it will always throw one of each, a red, and a cream gene, to it’s offspring. The perlino is a bay horse that carries two copies of the cream gene and a smokey cream is a black horse that carries two copies of the cream gene. When a horse carries two copies of a color or color modifying gene, he/she is homozygous for it, meaning that when it reproduces it has no choice but to throw it to the foal, making it easier to figure out what color genes the foal will get, thereby making it easier to tell what color the foal will be when it is born.

A bay, brown or black horse usually carry one of each of the color genes (one red and one black), but can, occasionally, carry two black genes, making it homozygous for black (remember, if it carried two red genes it would be a sorrel or chestnut and would be homozygous for red). This is where having your horse tested for the red/black gene comes in very handy and there is just one test that tests for both colors.  If a horse is homozygous for the black gene it will always throw a black gene to it’s offspring, making a sorrel or chestnut foal impossible since it cannot throw one of the two red genes necessary for making a red horse. Remember, just because a horse is homozygous for black and is black does not mean you will always get a black foal, it just means you can never get a red based foal.  This is where color modifiers come into play.

The agouti gene is the gene that takes the black gene in a horse (only if there is a black gene present) and restricts it to points (muzzle, ears, mane, tail, legs) making a bay horse in the absence of a cream gene (neither parent threw a cream gene to the foal), a buckskin with one cream gene (thrown in by one parent) and a perlino with two cream genes (one from each parent). A sorrel or chestnut horse can carry an agouti gene but since there is no black to restrict to points, it would not be able to express itself and therefore be a hidden gene that can still be passed to offspring. Agouti is one of the few color modifiers that can be there and not express itself and then be passed on to offspring (skip a generation). It is important, when trying to get a black foal by breeding to a homozygous black horse, that any red horse involved be tested for this hidden agouti gene.  It is not necessary to test a bay horse for agouti unless you want to know if he/she is homozygous for it (carries two agouti genes), as a bay horse’s agouti is apparent in the black points (another given). It is also not necessary to test a black horse for agouti as the black would be restricted to points if he/she carried the agouti gene (once again, a given). If an agouti gene is thrown to the foal along with the black gene, the black will be restricted to points and you will get a bay foal instead of a black one. If you desire a bay foal this information is of equal importance.

Dun is a modifier that is characterized by a dorsal stripe, leg barring, webbing or mottling of dark color on the withers and the forehead, as well as a coat color that is a shade lighter.  The dun gene in a sorrel or chestnut makes a red dun, in a bay horse it makes a zebra dun (some call a bay dun) and in a black horse it makes a grullo (sometimes called grulla) which is pronounced “grew yo” and is a true mouse color (each hair is the color of a mouse and not white hair mixed with darker hair in order to give the illusion of mouse color). If either sire or dam throws one cream gene to each of the above dun color combinations we would get a dunalino (palomino dun), dunskin (buckskin dun) and a smokey grullo (grullo with a cream gene). The dun gene can also be homozygous and there is now a test so you can tell if your horse carries two of these dun genes.

Roan in a horse is basically a modifier that adds white hairs, scattered, intermittently, throughout the coat color, making a sorrel or chestnut horse a red roan, a bay horse a bay roan and a black horse a blue roan. This modifying gene can be homozygous as well (a horse can carry two roan genes), and though it was once thought that a homozygous roan would die in-utero, and, therefore, did not exist, this is now known to be false.  There is a test for homozygosity in roans which puts to bed, once and for all, that old wives tale and many horses are now known to be homozygous for the roan gene.

The gray gene is a modifier of color in horses similar to graying in humans and comes with age.  Some horses (as do people), just gray earlier than others, which is why some gray horses turn white at an earlier age than others.   It is a gene though, and a horse can be homozygous for it (carry two of the genes) and must throw it to it’s offspring in order for the offspring to turn gray. It is quite possible for a horse to be sired or born from a gray parent and never turn gray. Gray is in addition to the base color of the horse and the base color is usually just as apparent as a youngster as any colored horse would be but then almost non-existent in older gray horses as they usually, eventually, turn all white.   In the absence of a photograph of a gray horse as a young horse, DNA testing for the black/red gene is recommended in order to determine what base color he/she will throw to the offspring in addition to possibly throwing the gray gene.  You must have one gray parent in order to get a gray foal as the gene is always expressed if it is present.  A horse having a gray sire or dam will not give them the ability to produce a gray foal as they must be gray in order to throw a gray gene.   Gray and roan, in years past, were often confused and sometimes thought to be the same color, making some registries inaccurate with regard to their records and the color of the horses within those records.

Tobiano and Overo are an example of coat patterns that create a paint or pinto horse and are not coat colors.  They are in addition to the base color of a horse and are possible in all the above discussed coat colors with all the same rules.  The Tobiano gene is the only one of the two paint patterns above (though there are other coat patterns) that can be homozygous (a horse can carry two Tobiano genes) to ensure that you get a paint or pinto colored foal when breeding and there is a test for the Tobiano gene. The Tovero, which is a combination of the two coat patterns, Tobiano and Overo, can also be homozygous for Tobiano and a horse can carry two of the Tobiano genes and carry the Overo gene as well.

Understanding the basics of color genetics and how colors and color modifiers work with regard to breeding and passing them to offspring can make the search for the right stallion a lot of fun but can also be challenging, and many times, still quite a gamble when the color of your foal is important to you.  Some mare owners don’t put as much importance on color but a little research in this area, just as in the area of pedigree, conformation and disposition, can go a long way with regard to creating the horse you’ve always dreamed of. Once you’ve found and booked to the stallion of your choice it’s time to consider preparing your mare for a successful breeding experience so that you will ultimately end up with a healthy, beautiful foal. A healthy and breeding sound mare will put you well on your way.

Choosing A Stallion For Your Mare

by: Tina Lewis of the Lewis Stallion Station

Breeding season is fast approaching and trying to find the perfect stallion to match up with your mare in order to get a foal, with the color, pedigree, conformation, temperament and ability you have always dreamed of, is no easy task. For some of us, this is our first attempt at the breeding process and even though we may know exactly what we want our foal to look, act, and perform like, we still need to figure out how to get our mare to produce it, especially with so many stallions out there to choose from.

Whether you are attempting the breeding process for the first time with a maiden mare (one that has never been bred before), you have decided to breed your pride and joy this year, or you have purchased a nice broodmare to experience breeding for and raising a foal of your own, here are a few tips to help make the search for that perfect stallion a little easier, and maybe, help make a few things a little less confusing.

Choosing the right stallion to breed your mare to can be a very exciting, yet, time consuming, process, as there are more options out there today than ever before.  We are no longer limited to the stud down the street, with access to stallions across the country via Cooled Shipped Semen, and, with Frozen Semen Storage and shipping, we can also have access to stallions that are deceased or have a rigorous show schedule, that in years past, would have made them virtually impossible to breed to while they were still involved in an active show career.

DNA testing in horses has also made huge leaps and bounds over the past few years with regard to color and genetic disorders/diseases, and, with simple, and relatively inexpensive, tests, has become paramount in searching for a stallion to breed to, especially when trying to avoid any possibility of genetically passed diseases without having to steer clear of some of the best performance or halter bloodlines. We can literally breed to almost any stallion we want to and get almost any color we want with remarkable accuracy, especially if you have had your own mare tested and know exactly what her genetic makeup is. Most stallion owners today have their stallions tested and know exactly what they can and cannot produce, taking a lot of the guesswork out of it for us as well.

Let’s begin with conformation. A horse should be built for the discipline in which you plan to use it.  If you know what you plan to do with your foal, once it is grown, and if you know the discipline you are interested in, you probably already know which bloodlines you should be looking for.  A little research can go a long way when deciding what you want to do with the foal down the road, whether it be showing or competing in Western Pleasure, Halter, Cow Horse events, Racing, Ranch Versatility, Breeding, Pleasure, Trail, Endurance riding or just simply having a horse around for you or the kids to enjoy taking a pleasurable trail ride on.

The key to choosing a stallion that will give you a foal with the right conformation is to choose one that will “compliment” your mare’s features and body conformation.  A stallion that will produce, when crossed with your mare, a foal with conformation that will not only look great to you, since a big part of conformation is personal preference, but also be functional, since functionality is conformation and will have everything to do with the ability of the resulting foal to do what you want it to do.  A tiny head, refined legs, extreme height or huge muscle aren’t suitable conformational attributes for every discipline.  Big, strong hooves and a lot of bone, for instance, are more suitable attributes if you are thinking of trail, packing, etc.  Match your mare with a stallion that will produce a winner, whether it’s a winner in a breed registry’s Hall of Fame or just a winner in your book.  You need to be able to succeed in the discipline, or disciplines, you have chosen, even if it’s just a simple backyard trail ride.

The disposition of the stallion you choose is extremely important but doesn’t necessarily mean we all need to choose a stallion that is gentle, sweet and “laid back”, especially if you want a foal that will perform. If your mare is extremely calm and gentle, or lazy, a stallion with the same temperament could produce a foal that, quite literally, won’t move.  If your mare is very hot and nearly impossible to control or channel her energy, you would want to choose a stallion that is calm and “laid back” if you want a quiet trail riding horse.  Each parent will give a big chunk of their own personality to your foal and sometimes, too much of something, even when it’s good, will come back to bite you in the end.

Pedigree is also very important, and not just for producing a winner in the show ring.  You need to be careful of line breeding or crossbreeding that could potentially cause a problem.  Know your mare’s bloodlines and have her DNA tested for any diseases or genetic disorders that can occur because of her pedigree.  Most stallion owners give easy access to the pedigree of the stallions they stand so watch for bloodlines in the stallion’s pedigree that don’t cross well with the bloodlines of your mare due to these diseases or genetic defects. It is always best to do your homework because, sometimes, if there is a bloodline in your mare or in the stallion you are looking at that has the potential for a problem, as long as the stallion is tested and cleared of it and found to not carry the defective gene, there is no need to test your mare or to steer clear of that stallion because it takes two defective genes (one in your mare and one in the stallion) to cause the foal a problem.  Stallion owners are usually aware of potential problems in a bloodline their stud carries and will most likely have had him tested and cleared before ever standing him to the public.

Part 2 Choosing A Stallion with Color coming soon.

From the American Miniature Horse Association

Tiny Hooves Leave a BIG Impression

A 28 1/2 inch tall miniature horse visited some troubled hearts and brought some warm smiles to the faces of the incarcerated youth at The Youth Leadership Academy and
the Rio Contiguo facilities. Both programs serve as temporary homes for wards of the court. The programs are operated by the Orange County Probation Department with the
educational component provided by the ACCESS division of the Orange County Department of Education. Barbie, registered as Bickels Ebony Ice, is a black and white pinto mare.She and her human, Barbara Brown, visited the youth the summer of 2009.

The little horse shared her repertoire of tricks, some of whichwere counting with her hoof, pushing a stroller with a stuffed horse in it, posing on a pedestal, jumping up to kiss her
human, moving her lips to simulate singing into a microphone, smiling, rearing on command to press her knee to her handler’s fist-a show of “knuckles”, kneeling down to say her prayers, taking a cloth bandage from the handler’s pocket,and doing the conga with a spunky kick. The visit was part of the school’s enrichment and awareness program.
The pint-sized horse seemed to beam as the youth took turns petting her and checking her out while asking questions about her. They commented about how calm and cool she
was; how beautiful and smart she was; how soft and clean her hair coat was; and how long her mane was. They questioned about her training, her feed, her life expectancy, the
cost of her care and maintenance, and how soon she was coming back for another visit.

Barbie is a nationally registered Delta Society therapy animal. In that role she visits hospitals, senior housing and care facilities and more, so she was comfortable visiting the teenagers. The young peoplelearned some animal husbandry basics from the visit and the presentation, the value and pleasure of a meaningful relationship between man and animal, and the benefit of kindness and patience in working with animals. No
doubt, the horse enjoyed being petted by attentive youth and getting acquainted with them at the Probation Department facility. Their comments made it clear her visit took their minds off of their personal issues, and warmed their hearts as only a visit from a Miniature horse can do.

Handsome the Miniature Horse Rings a Bell for the Salvation Army

Collecting donations during the Christmas season is serious business for the
Salvation Army. Donations dropped into the familiar red kettles help the
faith-based organization help the needy year-round. But for one Salvation Army
Bellringer, it’s all horseplay. Peggy Hogan, from Carpinteria, California, volunteers
her time each year to help fill a kettle with a most unique sidekick, a Miniature
horse she calls Handsome. A D Remarkably Handsome is a talented trick horse
with a multitude of antics he performs at a moment’s notice to entertain the
many passerby’s.

The 7-year-old gelding dances, shakes hands and can Spanish walk on cue.
Handsome is one of four minis that Peggy owns. He can also honk a horn, lie down
and dunk a basketball, albeit through a less-than-regulation-height hoop. And
maybe his favorite trick of all… Handsome can ring a bell. This is Peggy and
Handsomes forth year to volunteer for the Salvation Army.
Handsome has been trained specifically by Peggy who follows the guidance
of B.F Skinner’s behavioral training. The horse’s behavior is reinforced by way of a
hand-held clicker she cues with and when the trick or behavior is performed, a treat is given. “It’s how they train Shamu and the other killer whales at Sea World,” said Ms. Hogan.

“You can’t make Shamu jump through a hoop; Shamu jumps because he wants to. That
training, or positive reinforcement, is what I do. They earn their reward doing something
that I’m teaching them to do by continually rewarding their efforts. Clicker training, says
Ms. Hogan, takes horse whispering to a different level.”

Whether she takes Handsome on a walk in the neighborhood or appears with the horse at
an expo, they draw a crowd. And when it’s bell-ringing time, people can’t help but give to
the cause. “The people’s faces just light up when they see him. He is a great ambassador
for the Miniature horse breed. He is very well mannered and loves the attention he receives from the store patrons. Hopefully people will put a little extra money in the bucket just because Handsome is so darn cute.” Peggy says.

Today, the American Miniature Horse is one of the world’s fastest growing and most beloved equine breeds.  Classically elegant, gentle by nature and appealing to people of all abilities, this small and unique equine – standing no taller than 34 inches at the withers as measured from the last hairs of the mane – is truly the horse for everyone.  Today’s stylish and perfectly proportioned Miniatures are the product of nearly 400 years of selective breeding.  Although many purchases and breeding of Miniature horses have been regularly documented in American since the early 1800′s, accurate accounts and pedigrees were not maintained by most breeders until the 1940′s.  With the closing of the AMHA registry, breeders are now required to maintain accurate pedigrees on all of their stock, and foals may not be registered unless both parents are also registered with AMHA.

MINIATURE HORSES ARE FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY
“The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.”  This statement can be applied to any size horse and all people, young and old.
A small child may be afraid of a standard-size horse, yet the same child will show an eagerness to embrace and hug a miniature foal.  Older people (no longer as mobile as they might like to be) who cannot mount a full-size horse can still enjoy driving a Miniature horse and showing it in Pleasure Driving, Roadster or Obstacle classes.  A person with Special Needs can also be very competitive in the show ring or perhaps simply enjoy the feeling of mobility while driving a mini around their neighborhood.
Showing a Miniature horse can be a family affair as classes are offered for all ages: youth and adult showmanship, driving, halter and costume classes.  Caring for these small horses is easy and can be performed safely by a person of almost any age.  Guiding a young child in the proper care of the Miniature horse will teach discipline, responsibility and respect.  A child’s self-esteem will be enhanced from the praise received for a job well done.
The most rewarding aspect of Miniature horse ownership is the togetherness and sharing that occur as a result.  It can be a learning experience for all, and everyone will enjoy a renewed sense of accomplishment.  The thrill and satisfaction that come from winning that first ribbon make all the hard work worthwhile. In the show ring, one learns competitiveness and sportsmanship.  To win is exciting, but to lose and congratulate the winner builds character which carries over into other aspects of life.

Click Here to watch a video of Miniature Horses