Ethical sales of older breeding stock

I have a question about the sales of older mares as breeding stock.

If a mare is 22 years old and has already produced 11 foals.

Is she still viable as a breeding mare or should u not just find her a good home instead of offloading her at this advanced age??

Just Curious???

From what I have read, 22 and 23 is probably at the end of the broodmare foaling. Should be retired by that age.

My hats off to the owners of Rachel Alexandra after having her second foal and ending having complications they retired her from breeding. The second foal, Rachel Valentina did win a Group 1.

Zenyatta and Winx lost their foals at birth. Zenyatta has had many complications.

sly its appalling. firstly no one in their right mind will buy a mare of that age, unless for slaughter, and secondly it really is kinder to jut put a mare of that age down. she could have been living on a farm for 15 years and have a few special paddock buddies and being sent away would be terribly stressful. dumping them at that age is just cruel

What is really Ethical about Thoroughbreds & Racing very little . With the exception of a few .

Debi wrote:

What is really Ethical about Thoroughbreds & Racing very little . With the exception of a few .

The same can be said of eating meat. People will argue that livestock is bred for the purposes of eating.

Thoroughbreds have evolved from horses for specifically racing. That said it should be cared even after retiring like how people care for their domestic pets.

Here's a feel good story of Breeders Cup winner of Cody's Wish.

www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles...staying-at-lanes-end

Known for her gritty running style and making history as the first female to win the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in 2009—among numerous other wins in grade 1 company—Horse of the Year, three-time champion, and Hall of Famer Zenyatta has entered the next phase of her life as she hangs her shoes up from a 13-year-long stint as a broodmare.

Taking up residence at Lane's End Farm after leaving the track, the mare, owned by Jerry Moss and Ann Holbrook Moss, has faced difficulties staying in foal over the years while her talent has not translated into her offspring.

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From four foals of racing age, only two—Cozmic One and Ziconic —have made it to the races, with the former failing to hit the board in five starts, and the latter finishing as runner-up twice but never breaking his maiden.

"She's 19 now, we wouldn't logistically be able to breed her back this year. Ann always likes to give her a year off between foals anyway. If we bred her next year she'd be 21 when she had her next foal," said Lane's End farm manager Todd Claunch.

"The risk factors go up the older they get. It's really not worth taking a chance. The foaling part she does really easy, but keeping her in foal is a bit of a challenge. The veterinarians kind of have it down now where they monitored her every couple of weeks to a month and treat her accordingly."

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The mare had her last foal, a War Front filly, June 9, and Claunch says both mare and baby are healthy and doing well. After weaning the foal, Zenyatta will stay to live out her days at the Versailles, Ky., farm.

"(The filly is) leggy, tall, (she's) got almost exactly the same blaze. She's really nice," he said.

"(Zenyatta is) such an ambassador for the sport, maybe people will have a chance to see her now that she's retired. It's an honor to be around her, she's not like any horse I've ever been around. She loves people and really likes being the center of attention. She's really special."


The daughter of Street Cry won 19 of her 20 starts including 17 in graded stakes company, and 13 in grade 1 company. Conditioned by John Shirreffs, Zenyatta ended her historic career with her only loss in a runner-up finish behind Blame in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic and earnings of over $7.3 million.

Her other foals include a 6-year-old daughter of Medaglia d'Oro named Zellda, and a 3-year-old Candy Ride filly, Zilkha.

Royal Aspen 20 year old mare up for sale on BSA online auction September 2024.  Has been barren 4 of the 5 seasons.

Not a great advert for horse racing.

Kudos to Heversham for doing exactly that and giving her a final happy home. 
 

Full article on Racing Post:

 For all that welfare in training and safety on the racetrack are pivotal if racing is to retain the approval of the wider public, the main barrier to more people becoming interested in the sport centres on concerns about what happens to horses after their racing careers end.This was highlighted in a survey conducted during National Racehorse Week 12 months ago, which revealed that attendees were most concerned about how racehorses are looked after in retirement.Now, more than ever before, British racing has recognised the need to adapt to modern sensitivities and, led by the Horse Welfare Board (HWB), it has taken a far more proactive stance in recent years. The HWB's equine welfare strategy, named A Life Well Lived, launched in 2020 and identified 26 key projects which the industry has been progressing ever since. As the working title suggests, a major emphasis is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of horses involved in British racing through their entire lives, with aftercare a crucial part of that."People are looking at us and judging us and we need to be in front of the curve, rather than just doing enough," says Kate Sigsworth, deputy chair of the Thoroughbred Breeders Association and a member of the HWB."National polling carried out by Savanta this year found that of those who stated they had a concern about the welfare of horses, and that this puts them off watching racing, 20 per cent said it was specifically due to concerns about the treatment of racehorses after they retire from racing. I think that says it all."