Smarty JOnes a Broodmare sire so soon!

[AscotStud]

Add to that, if the filly really has that nice of a pedigree, it seems improbable that the owners who could afford to produce her/buy her wouldn't have enough money to turn her out for a year and let her grow up rather than risk permanent and/or catastrophic damage by breeding her before she was fully mature. I'd call that protecting your investment.

I agree 100%, a 2yo filly is still growing and developing, you are pretty much asking her to continue to grow and finish off, while trying to produce enough energy for a living, growing foal inside of her. If they had the $100k to breed to Smarty Jones, I think they have the cash to let the filly grow up for a year.

[IcouldbeU]

Add to that, if the filly really has that nice of a pedigree, it seems improbable that the owners who could afford to produce her/buy her wouldn't have enough money to turn her out for a year and let her grow up rather than risk permanent and/or catastrophic damage by breeding her before she was fully mature. I'd call that protecting your investment.

Yes, I understand it's a business, but I also understand that a horse is not a factory produced widget. They are living creatures who need to be nurtured carefully to allow them to reach their full potential.

Just my two cents.

This filly has a very nice pedigree (IMHO), her dam died at 14 so I can understand why the rush to breed her and I think its actually two-fold.
1) Her dam died young
2) her 1/2 brother Volponi is still a remembered horse, once his name starts to fade her value may also. I have seen 1/2 sisters to millionares sell for dirt at sales across the country over the past few years.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/jonespartyofwon

I do not think you can breed a 5000c plow horses 2yr old daughter to a backyard stallion and make any money, but I think that Dr. Hovis knows alittle more than that and would not be doing this if there wasnt an upside to his books.

[pfrsue]

I think that Dr. Hovis knows alittle more than that and would not be doing this if there wasnt an upside to his books.

As opposed to, say, the upside of acting in the best interest of the horse?


We'll just have to agree to disagree on this, I think.

[TomFool]

I dont think breeding a 2 year old filly is as black and white as many of you do. I think its more about the individual. There have been I know a few really nice horses who were out of 3 year olds with El Corredor coming to mind first. 2 year old fillies are pushed hard to make training sale & races in the spring which I think is harder on them than being bred. With that said I myself would not breed a 2 year old filly but I'm not going to auto think someone is evil for doing so. I do however think in this case their stallion selection for an unraced 2 year old filly is ridiculous. They are producing exactly what the horse racing business does not need & I think people are actually starting to wake up & will not really want this type at the sales either.

[toadie]

How can you compare a 11yr old human to a 2yr old horse. A horse is a part of a business so unless the parents of the girl are going to sell the resulting offspring, your analogy is absurd.

Lighten up, it was a joke HOWEVER, I talked to my vet about this one time and he was thoroughly against it. You're robbing a still developing baby of vital nutrients. Once pregnant they "give it all" to the fetus. But then I guess who cares if the now broodmare matures correctly, or not.

[AscotStud]

Toadie,

I liked it. It was actually one of the only times I've laughed out loud at a post, that was supposed to be a joke.
Your vet an I see eye to eye on this one, it's tough enough on any mare let alone a filly who is growing.

It can be done, and it will be done again. It's just too bad for the filly/mare that it was done. It's just like High School players jumping to the pros, most of them will fail, but because 1 or 2 of them turn out people focus on that instead of the numerous other careers that were destroyed because of it.

[Firebrand]

Mahubah wrote a very good article about this topic in her Blood-Horse column -

http://www.bloodhorse.com/NOW/Breeding/ ... 49007.aspx

[IcouldbeU]

Mahubah wrote a very good article about this topic in her Blood-Horse column -

http://www.bloodhorse.com/NOW/Breeding/ ... 49007.aspx

Mahubah, I didnt realize that was yours when I first read it and I was surprised that the article didnt blast 2yr old breeding. Well done!

[Skipitgirl]

Dont know if you guys remember but we fostered a TB rescue a couple years ago who foaled 2 months before her actual 3rd birthday. She was a small 15 hand filly and had a hard time delivering her filly. Mom and baby were fine but It isnt something I would do.

[Mahubah]

Mahubah wrote a very good article about this topic in her Blood-Horse column -

http://www.bloodhorse.com/NOW/Breeding/ ... 49007.aspx

Mahubah, I didnt realize that was yours when I first read it and I was surprised that the article didnt blast 2yr old breeding. Well done!

I spent a lot of time going over the available evidence and came to the conclusion that a blanket "no" to breeding 2yos simply isn't justified, hence my conclusion that it depends on the individual involved. That said, I'd still hate to see the practice become widespread -- we have quite enough horses being bred from parents whose soundness and/or performance were questionable or nonexistent without routinely rushing unraced 2yos to the breeding shed.

Interestingly, while running through the stuff I could find, I also found a couple of references to using 2yo colts for breeding. While there wasn't any evidence that the practice harmed them as long as the same precautions any sensible stallion manager would use in introducing a new stallion to breeding were taken, I still wouldn't recommend that either for producing racing Thoroughbreds for the reason already mentioned. Apparently it gets done from time to time in draft breeds, though -- and, of course, more than one 2yo colt has been responsible for a "surprise!" foal.