Postby KBEquine » Tue Jul 06, 2010 8:49 pm
I think I looked at the same mare's ad (because I remember Unusual Jedi's name) & had the same reaction as Hold Your Peace & LB.
I have bought a mare I adored, in foal to a stallion I'd never heard of. Got a GREAT filly, with zero value to a race buyer & only nominal value to a sporthorse buyer (she was big, correct & kind, but in a down economy, that just isn't enough). We sold the filly at auction, got $500 for her. She went to a great home (that's the good news) but didn't cover her auction costs/JC registration/state-bred registration. And will probably be a beloved show horse her whole life, i.e., won't be sending any checks to me for breeders' awards, since her current owner wants to race, but won't ever put her in a claimer because he likes her that much. I figure at best, she'll run 1 or 2 times in maiden special weights & then go be the daughter's show horse. And if this filly likes that life, I like that solution just fine.
She got a great home & is valued for who she is, and we got a great mare. That was the trade-off.
Anyhow, if you like the mare enough to develop a strategy for finding the foal a home, great. But don't expect the foal from the cross to sell itself . . .
I'd like to be more optimistic, but been there, done that - and even a wonderful foal from the cross will need the cost/effort to find it the home it no doubt deserves.
(On a brighter note in my corner of the world - the mare I just described has a colt in a yearling auction this year & is in foal to Canadian Kid for what will probably be a sporthorse foal in 2011. A dilute foal out of this mare is an absolute keeper & if a colt, probably our next stallion. I know some people buy mares because of the foal they are carrying, but we buy mares sometimes despite the foals they are carrying, if we like the mare enough. And then try to find the best situation we can for the foal, so we can get on with our breeding plan.)
Good luck - whatever you decide!