# Breeding smaller mare (14.1h) to a bigger stallion (16.2h)



## liamissy (Mar 14, 2021)

I would love to breed my 14.1h pony with a 16.2h stallion but I’m worried there won’t be room in my mare’s stomach for the baby horse.

The stallion is a big build warmblood.

Can my mare handle the weight/height of the baby horse? I would like to get a 15h-15.3h horse.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

Personally, if a 15-15.3H horse is your goal, you’d be better off buying that horse. No guarantees that breeding your mare to a larger stallion is going to give you a foal that meets your size criteria.


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## liamissy (Mar 14, 2021)

Do you think I would get a large pony?


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## liamissy (Mar 14, 2021)

CaliforniaDreaming said:


> Personally, if a 15-15.3H horse is your goal, you’d be better off buying that horse. No guarantees that breeding your mare to a larger stallion is going to give you a foal that meets your size criteria.


Do you think my 14.1h mare can handle a 15h-15.2h baby horse in her stomach or do you think she have trouble handling the weight of the baby?


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## liamissy (Mar 14, 2021)

CaliforniaDreaming said:


> Personally, if a 15-15.3H horse is your goal, you’d be better off buying that horse. No guarantees that breeding your mare to a larger stallion is going to give you a foal that meets your size criteria.


Do you think I would get a large pony?


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

liamissy said:


> Do you think my 14.1h mare can handle a 15h-15.2h baby horse in her stomach or do you think she have trouble handling the weight of the baby?


I have very little experience in terms of breeding despite all the years I’ve spent with horses (owning geldings for the most part, and currently have a mare I wouldn’t ever breed) so I’d defer to the more knowledgeable experts here in regards to foal development in utero. That being said, I have read that the mare’s size should determine the size if the baby during pregnancy, with an emphasis on should.


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## CaliforniaDreaming (May 8, 2011)

liamissy said:


> Do you think I would get a large pony?


I don’t know. You might get something that makes 14.2. You might end up with a foal that only reaches 14 hands. Breeding is enough of a gamble that if there are specific criteria you have in mind, it’s always better to buy something in the ground already than trying to take a risk breeding for it.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

I asked a similar question to this last year - so obviously I'm far from expert on breeding, but can share what I learned.... My mare is 15.hh & I wasn't caring for extra height so much as a bit more breadth - she is light built & I was thinking of putting a clydie or such over her.

So... First up, as said, it's a gamble as to what size horse you'll get out of her - it's unlikely to be smaller than her or bigger than the stallion, but can come out whatever size/shape of either parent, or somewhere in between. So as said, if you are specifically wanting to do this for a 15hh horse, best to buy one 'precooked'.

The size of the foal in utero is governed mostly by the size of the mare. That means that it is _likely_ to be OK for the mare to get preggers to a bigger horse, the baby in utero will still likely be small enough. BUT There is still a chance of a 'monster baby' for the size of the mare (a small, lightbuilt friend of mine has a rather large partner with a big head - she ended up having emergency c-sections for their kids because she tried natural birth & the baby's heads were way too big for her!) so it's best to not 'mix & match' with too big of a stallion.

Complications are more likely if the mare is too young, too old, never foaled before... Both regarding the babies and of the mare being injured from too big a horse jumping on her. As my 7yo mare was a maiden, for her safety, I decided against a clydie & went with a Gypsy Cob - her height but a bit stockier.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Width of the shoulders could easily be such that baby gets stuck and you lose them both. Horrible death. If that is your only reason for breeding don't put your mare through that. Buy one "pre cooked" as another user said. Breeding isn't cheap or guaranteed.


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## Palfrey (May 29, 2020)

I'm guessing by breeding to warmblood you want a sport horse foal. You could breed to a German Riding Pony or American Sport Pony since these tend to be about 14.2. Little bit less risk if you have your heart set on breeding.


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## Whinnie (Aug 9, 2015)

Genetics/inherited traits is not as simple as putting two unlikes together and getting the average or median such as blending two colors of paint half and half to get a color exactly in between. Doesn't happen that way.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

If you breed to a warmblood you would either get 14.1 hands or 16.2 hands. The horse will inherit either the short gene from the mare, or the tall gene from the stallion. You won't get an average in between. 

If you want 15 hands, you should breed to a 15 hand horse. But you may get the 14.1 hand height from the mare. 

Another option is to breed to a sport pony stallion and get a more predictable foal size.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

The typical Warmbloods now are getting lighter in build than their counterparts from 20 years ago, a lot of them look more like well built TB’s, some are even narrower than a TB but they can still throwback and that could be a problem for your mare.

If you want a 15.2 from your 14.2 mare then look at smaller TB’s or a larger Sport Pony stallion.

If you are needing something very specific then buy a youngster instead of breeding.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

QtrBel said:


> Width of the shoulders could easily be such that baby gets stuck and you lose them both. Horrible death. If that is your only reason for breeding don't put your mare through that. Buy one "pre cooked" as another user said. Breeding isn't cheap or guaranteed.


 This is excellent advise and right on the money.


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## AragoASB (Jul 12, 2020)

Why would anyone do this?


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