Would you breed to a grade stallion?

[Palogal]

I am a hypocrite.:p I own a grade gelding that I adore more than anything...but I would NEVER breed to a grade stallion. Other than the aforementioned gelding, all of my other horses are registered. Anyone else feel this way?

[FatSpottedAppy]

Simply no. I bred April to an Appy which of course resulted in a grade horse, but I would never breed Prodigy. He's getting gelded as soon as the vet is available.

None of my horses are registered but April. I do plan on getting Prodigy registered as soon as I get the money.. unfortunately, $115 is so much for a paper with info on it.. :(

[Remali]

I don't know.....I always said in the past that the stallion HAD to be registered....otherwise why bother. BUT, if you plan to not show at breed shows, just want to trailride, and are planning to keep the resulting foal....and the stallion has a very good disposition and good conformation....I would probably consider it. I guess it would all depend on the stallion. And of course I would plan to keep the foal and would not be planning on showing at breed shows of course. That said, I've seen so many registered stallions with "great" bloodlines and those stallions were so terrible....bad dispositions, and awful conformation....so, if I found a stallion that I really liked, I'd probably do it. But remember, I'm not into showing any more and I wouldn't be selling the foal either.

[Miracle Whip]

Depends on the stallion. We bred to a registered QH years ago because the guy only charges $25 for a stud fee. The horse was nothing special. If a grade stallion was available we might have used him, because the mare was not registered. What if he threw a lot of color? With the price of hay right now I'd probably say no because you have to feed the baby for 3 years anyway and what could you sell it for if it didn't have papers?

But, then you are saying my mare isn't a fit mother either because she is grade, and that does not seem right either.

[AppyLover]

I am of the opinion that it does depend on the stallion. I've seen papered and grade both be down right awful and awesome. I think sometimes we do need to look at grades because blood lines become stagnant and tossing in a gamble just might prove positive for the breed, or new breed.... early horses did not have papers, why limit ourselves of choices. I understand for breed shows papers are needed, but there are plenty of ways to still show a grade horse if one so chose to do so.

I do believe though that choosing a stud even a grade, the person better do their research, and breed responsibly.

[Cat]

Depends on the stallion and what you are breeding for and the current horse market. In todays market? No way. But if the market was doing really good and you had a specific "nitch" you were breeding for and new the foal would sell and the stallion had outstanding conformation, then maybe.

Some breeds out there started with "grade" horses. Whether the horse has papers or not does not determine its quality, but it can effect the value and resellability of the foal. So I don't think this is a quick "yes or no" answer, but something that takes many factors into consideration.

[IrisGreen]

I have a grade stallion. Well, he could be papered as a Spotted Draft if I ever get around to sending in the paperwork and money for it. I'm not breeding him anytime soon or if at all. So I will worry about that later if we decide to keep him a stallion.

But, I have had people interested in him for reasons not having to do with shows or papers. His personality, build and ability to put some thickness in to a foal for pulling carts or hauling big cowboys. Some people are getting really sick of how they are breeding QH's now days and want to put feet back in to them or hight for the bigger cowboys to ride. Plus, with half drafts they multi task and can do plowing, hay hauling and wagon trains along with the normal riding ability's. If there a good size and not too big they can make great all around ranch horses.

But, if Muffin was just a grade QH I wouldn't keep him a stallion. There are already so many QH stallions I don't need to have another and in this market with the QH's and other stock horse breeds you need to have papers if you expect to sell them for a decent price.

With Muffin he is the right hight and build to put thickness in a foal with out having to deal with the draft horse hight or feet. He is a little over 15 h and medium sized feet so the prospective mare owner wouldn't have to worry about ending up with a foal that takes after the full draft and ends up being 18 h tall and dinner plate sized feet. lol

I think some grade stallions have there purpose but not all are needed and even some we could do with out. It just depends on the individual horse and if the breed really needs another grade stallion or not.

[mlle_beau]

I probably wouldn't, but if I found an awesome stallion that just happened to be grade then I'd consider it. I prefer not mixing breeds when it can be avoided, even though some of my favorite horses have been grade. If something happened and you had to sell the foal for some reason you'd have an easier time placing it if it was registered.

[MileHighOlli]

I have had a few awesome grade horses in my life, but would I ever breed one...No. I have to admit I am a bit of a purist and would perfer to breed a foal that could be registered. Yet, if the stallion was truely worth it and the mare owner knowledgable I don't see too much of a problem. Personally, I would rather leave the breeding up to people more expirenced then myself. Less stress!:p

[Remali]

Really true how some breeds are going downhill because of feet or leg issues....QHs and Arabians come to mind....I am not a fan of the halter type horses in either of those breeds (well, not very many anyway), and I know with Arabians especially they've about ruined the breed (altho there are still some serious breeders out there yet who know what they're doing). And there are way too many registered stallions out there with nasty dispositions. To me I would rather have a stallion with a good temperament and good conformation, and if that stallion wasn't registered, it wouldn't bother me a bit. But then if anyone plans to breed or show seriously, then you'd want a registered stallion.

[Blue]

I don't think I would, not unless the stallion had impeccable conformation and a great temperment.

[Equine_Woman]

No. I wouldn't. And I'm a bit snobby about it. lol. And I'm glad for any of you who have grade horses that they have you. Not all of them are so lucky. (heck not all the papered horses are so lucky)

And I must say that I would buy a grade horse (no problem there at all, just wouldn't make another one.) Just like i wouldn't breed my chow/shepherd cross dog, but I would take another chow/shepherd cross dog in a heartbeat if I came across one who needed a home. Owning one isn't hypocritical.

[zoel_222]

I would not. Not even if the stallion had a great temperament and conformation. That's only half of what makes a good stallion. I don't think we need any studs out there who can produce only or mostly unregistered foals. If your stallion is so flippin worthy of being a stud, get him registered. If you can't get him registered, then he's NOT actually worthy so just get him snipped and enjoy your new gelding. I own two grade horses and love them to pieces, but that doesn't mean I'd breed them. The thing is, people WANT registered horses. Yeah, it's true, some people don't care, but most people want them. They are what's on the market. Bringing horses into the world that there isn't a market for is just stupid. The last thing any of us want is to see one of our precious mares' babies end up on some French dude's dinner plate. Don't give me that crap about "I'm keeping the baby forever." There's no such thing as forever. Accidents happen and people can't always keep their horses. While papers don't ensure a good home, they definitely help. They're worth more and the majority of buyers want them more than a nobody horse with unknown parentage who can only compete in small local shows.

[FredRock]

Personally I wish we could just abolish the whole breed thing, because we're destorying the health and longevity of horses for the sake of purity.

That said, unless the stallion could produce something like a Pinto, then I probably wouldn't. There are too many people (me included) who wouldn't buy a grade horse when there is an equal horse with papers.

[Syble413]

I wouldn't breed my mares to a grade stallion. But I would also like to point out that just because a stallion is registered, it doesn't necessarily mean that he is stallion quality. There are so many registries out there now that you can get almost ANY horse registered in some type of registry.:rolleyes:
I think that when choosing a stallion, the standards of the registry should be a major factor in the decision making process.

[KCandAllegro'sMom]

I dunno...its hard to say.

I have a miniature mare, but I would never breed her. I'm really not interested in breeding. Even if I had my own place, it takes a lot of time and effort to breed a mare and raise a foal.

But in some respects i am sort of "breedist" ...I'm not really of the mind set of breeding a lot of crossbred horses just to breed them. And yes I know that many different breeds/types of horses were bred to create the "purebreds" we have today - that's not a debate I want to get into.

On the other hand, papers really don't mean much to me - so owning a non-papered horse isn't a big deal to me.

It would really just depend on the situation.

But would I think you could easily find a registered stud that would offer the same qualities that the grade one does.

[vicklynn]

Knowing that Myst is a grade mare, and IF I ever wanted her breed, and IF I ever saw a grade stud that would make a great foal, ya, Id do it. There are some very nice grade horses out there. Id be picky though, and have to have history.
Id only breed for my own foal.
If it were a breeding farm, that would be hard. Thing is, there are loads of good looking registered horses. They sell for more money, but there are some people out there that cant pay for the registered horses. They have the funds to care of them, so those people would need someone to breed, well bred non registered horses.
I am not talking crapola horses here, just not registered.