I board my stud (I know *gasp* a place that takes in studs). NEWHO a fellow boarder was planning on breeding her mare to a Welsh but when she found out my Arab was a stud she was DYING to breed to him. Now I was planning on having him bred in the future but seeing as he'll just be turning 3 in April of 2010 I'm hesitant... about a few things.

She's never seen my horse move out or get worked in any way so she's going based off how he looks grazing in turn out.
My boy is a sweetheart and is kind to the mares in the barn even at his young age but he's not even broke, and is untried in the showring.... and he really is quite young and a late bloomer to boot.
The farm we're boarded at is not set up for breeding although they are set up for foaling and I'm worried about my boy getting seriously injured as well as the rest of us handling him and the mare.

I'm just wondering what others think and would do in this situation. I really am on the fence .. I would love to see what my boy could produce but on the other hand I worry about him getting injured and losing the ability to get him out there. I just want everything to be as safe as possible.

Having a stallion of my own, I have to say my impression is you really want to wait. I believe that a stallion should have some training on them before they go to the breeding shed, but that's my opinion. If this person was planning to breed to a Welsh this year, then have her do that and save your boy for the following year. That will give you time to work on him, let him grow up, too. And maybe even have a facility that would be safe for him. Believe me, an unsafe place for breeding horses or a place not set up for that can be dangerous not only for you boy, but you and the mare.

Again, I feel like you really don't want to do this, so follow your gut and don't. There are plenty of time for breeding down the road. Won't change what he produces, but can sure change how he behaves in the years to come.

Mary S.

thanks one of my horsie friends and I talked it through and she said the same thing and abit more. I really was leaning towards this not being the right time .. and when I finally realized that it was like the light bulb turned on in my head. The mare's owner still hasn't contacted me but that's fine .. at least I have a deffinative answer and my reasons for the decision mapped out.
It'll be nice to enjoy my horse and not have to worry about having made the right decision. I'll stick by my gut and do what's right for my boy and that's deffinately waiting.
Thank you.

Glad you made the "right" decision!LOL I know how tempting it is to get them out there and see what they can produce, but boy, have I seen the behavior later on!!! We have one in the barn right now that is beyond tough to handle. Not my boy, but my daughter's that she bought as a 9 year old. Wow, what a thing to deal with!!!! My boy is 10 now and I still have not used him. He's working under saddle right now (late start because he was a very late bloomer, too), and that's the priority. He's very respectful and hasn't got the "gotta get to the girls" attitude the other one has. So it's nice. My boy is in my Avatar. We'll continue to wait until he's got more time under saddle. And yes, I've had people come and want to breed their mares to him, but I listened to my gut and said no. Besides, you want to make sure of the quality of the mare you breed him to. So it's not a bad thing to wait and not just breed him because someone has a mare and wants to. We've seen too many of those out there in the feed lots.

So, glad you made the decision that you feel right with.

Mary S.