# Pros And Cons of Breeding a Taller Stallion to a Shorter Mare



## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

It is a gamble in breeding. You could end up with a foal that is shorter than mom or taller than dad. You could breed two horses of the same height and end up with a very tall or short baby. You have to research the height of their parents, grandparents, etc. Many years ago, there were 3 half sisters (quarabs) that were bred to the same Arabian stallion. The 14.3hh mare had a colt that grew to 15.2hh, the 15hh mare had a filly that stopped growing at 14.2hh, and the 15.1hh mare had an almost 16hh filly. You really can't predict what you will get when breeding, it is all a gamble.


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## MyLittlePonies (Mar 15, 2011)

That's a fun part too. My mares parents were between 14.3 and 15. She was a shorty. No one in her pedigree that I could see and remember were under 14.2 and that was farther back. I think. I was looking at These Irons Are Hot or Iron Age. Which are 17.2 and 17h
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## cowboy bowhunter (Mar 15, 2012)

If you worryed about your mare in breeding just AI her.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

SunnyDraco said:


> It is a gamble in breeding. You could end up with a foal that is shorter than mom or taller than dad. You could breed two horses of the same height and end up with a very tall or short baby. You have to research the height of their parents, grandparents, etc. Many years ago, there were 3 half sisters (quarabs) that were bred to the same Arabian stallion. The 14.3hh mare had a colt that grew to 15.2hh, the 15hh mare had a filly that stopped growing at 14.2hh, and the 15.1hh mare had an almost 16hh filly. You really can't predict what you will get when breeding, it is all a gamble.


 
Agreed, you never can tell. Years ago, my Dad trained at an Appy ranch up in Kansas. They bred the combination of one mare and one stud 5 times. Both sire and dam were just barely over 14 hands. 4 out of the 5 resulting foals grew to about the same size as the parents. Then Devilweed came along....at 16hh.


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

My one mare was under 14.2hh I bred her to stallions 16hh. She had no trouble being bred or delivering.Know the 2 offspring we kept to maturity one was 16hh other just shy of 16hh.


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## oh vair oh (Mar 27, 2012)

Haha, that's what I'm doing to my mare this season. She's like 15hh, and I believe Charisma is over 16hh... I hope she gets her daddy's growth genes! It's all a gamble is what they say!


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## MyLittlePonies (Mar 15, 2011)

Well it won't be live cover except with my stallion. Its just the principle of breeding with a 17h stallion I don't want to end up with a mare having to have a c-section if an option.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

Usually a mare doesn't produce a foal too large to deliver no matter how tall the stud was. It can happen though, and it doesn't seem to matter how tall the stallion is. Someone else on the forum said it happened to a mare of theirs in a different thread and the stallion was the same height of the mare, but ended up with a foal too large to get out in one piece


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