10/25/2026
It is in a mare owner’s best interest to heed the advise of a stallion owner. Provide the stallion owner with honest information about her fertility/conception and produce record, among other things to help make the best possible outcome for all.
Stallions DON’T produce foals. They SIRE them. They produce semen. The mare produces the foal because SHE has the uterus. Why are we having to explain basic biology?!? Foals are BY stallions and OUT OF mares. The foal cannot physically come OUT OF a stallion. Please quit making my eye twitch.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s revisit something else that apparently still needs explaining: the double standard between stallions and mares. Everybody wants to know what the stallion brings to the table. Fair question. But some of y’all get awfully quiet when that same question gets asked about your mare. A stallion is expected to have the pedigree, conformation, disposition, genetic testing, show record, earnings, and eventually accomplished offspring. Meanwhile, “she couldn’t stay sound” or “we couldn’t get along with her” somehow becomes a reason to breed a mare. Why are we so comfortable questioning whether someone else’s horse deserves to reproduce while refusing to honestly evaluate our own?
Ask about my stallion. You should. Ask about his soundness, temperament, testing, abilities, and what his foals are like. But expect me to care about those same things in your mare. Owning a stallion doesn’t mean I should want him bred to anything with a uterus and a paid invoice. And can we quit treating a show record like it answers every breeding question? I respect the work behind an accomplished horse. Those earnings mean something. But winning $300,000 and consistently SIRING good horses are two different accomplishments. One doesn’t automatically guarantee the other.
There are good horses whose owners never had the budget to send them down the road with a big-name trainer. Training, hauling, entries, and showing all cost money. A lack of earnings doesn’t tell you the whole story any more than a big check does. That applies to mares AND stallions. An unshown mare can absolutely have breeding value. So can an unshown stallion. But “I own it” isn’t enough of a reason to breed either one.
Then there’s genetic testing. I’ve had mare owners ask whether my stallion is negative for everything under the sun, only to find out they’ve never tested their own mare. You’re right to ask for his results. Now where are hers? “All her babies have been fine” is not a test result. Neither is “she’s never had a problem.” You cannot demand answers from a stallion owner while relying on assumptions about your own mare.
And the right stallion isn’t going to magically erase everything you don’t like about her. What does she bring to the cross? What are her weaknesses? Why is this particular stallion a good match? What are you hoping to raise, and who is going to want it? Those questions deserve actual answers before there’s a foal standing in your pasture. I own mares and a stallion, so this applies to me too. I don’t get to demand excellence on one side of the breeding contract and make excuses on the other.
Before asking, “What has your stallion done to deserve being bred?” be willing to answer, “What makes my mare worth breeding?” If that question offends you, maybe sit with why.
Pictured is Fusion Quarter Horses incredible stallion Spookin Up Dust 💓🦄
