miniature horse breeding

Question
Hello Lisa,
   I was wondering if you knew anything about miniature horses and breeding them. I have a mini mare and my sister wants to get a mini stallion so we can breed them and sell the foals for money. I have heard that it is risky and I have heard it isn't. Are there always special things you will need or will your mare commonly give birth herself? I would hate to breed her if something happened.

  Thanks-Samantha

Answer
Hi Samantha,
             Before you think of breeding her you should look at the horse market. Right now horses are being sold very cheap. I have seen Mini foals go as low as $10.00 at the auctions. Unless your mare is of superior stock as is the stallion you will not be able to make money and could even lose money. There is a high incidence of delivery problems and birth defects in Minis due to the dwarfism genes that many carry. The mares quite often have "silent heats so figuring out when they are in heat is difficult. If yiu are doing this to make money then I would hold off until the horse market is better. If you just want a foal then you can buy one fairly cheap.

I hope this helps.

Lisa