Pepper Tree Sale Results

[Flashing Red]

My very knowledgeble friend in the US said that whole family (Rocknroll Heaven) is small. Don't get me wrong, he is a huge fan of the horse. I am actually not really bothered with horse's heights as it is, especially if the family is of average or large size and said horse seems to be the only small one.

I am only asking because I would like to use him, but the mare we have pencilled in is also from a family of small horses. Built like a tank, but not tall. While I don't get caught up in sire sizes, I'm not out to intentionally breed a small one either, if that makes sense. People say size doesn't matter with racehorses, but I am yet to find someone that says that they are trying to breed a small horse. lol.

Also test trying ET with this mare with a young 16hh broodmare. Would love for the surrogate's size to rub off somehow! I have read some interesting articles on foal vs womb (ie mare) sizes....

[eliteblood]

Also test trying ET with this mare with a young 16hh broodmare. Would love for the surrogate's size to rub off somehow! I have read some interesting articles on foal vs womb (ie mare) sizes....

Flashing Red,
Prof Angus McKinnon is among the world's leading authorities on equine reproduction. I once quizzed him on the impact that surrogate size has on the size of the resulting animal. His advice was that the size of the foal at birth is influenced by the size of the surrogate but in the end the foal will ultimately grow to the size that is determined by its genetics (given there are no nutritional issues)

[Flashing Red]

Flashing Red,
Prof Angus McKinnon is among the world's leading authorities on equine reproduction. I once quizzed him on the impact that surrogate size has on the size of the resulting animal. His advice was that the size of the foal at birth is influenced by the size of the surrogate but in the end the foal will ultimately grow to the size that is determined by its genetics (given there are no nutritional issues)

The mare would be lucky to be 15hh! Surrogate would be over 16hh for sure. I think we'll go ahead with it anyway, like our little experiment. Thanks heaps for the info

[eliteblood]

The mare would be lucky to be 15hh! Surrogate would be over 16hh for sure. I think we'll go ahead with it anyway, like our little experiment. Thanks heaps for the info

Why not !!!
You will need your surrogate and donor mare's breeding cycles to be pretty much in sync to do the ET. With drugs like regumate, prostaglandin, chorulon, etc. that is possible to manipulate but the mares don't always react to the drugs according to the textbook. Generally the vet practices that perform have a paddock full of surrogate mares and just pick one who's cycle is closely aligned to that of the donor mare.