Overbreeding is when an animal is bred to excess, meaning that there are more animals than there are places to take them, and that the quality of the breeding stock is significantly reduced.

In Australia, there are far too many horses than there are homes. This means that many are sent to abattoirs or released to become feral. Feral horses destroy the native landscape and increase competition for resources between native species.

The horses that are sold to abattoirs make up a large portion of the dog food in Australia, or the meat for large cats and other animals in zoos and safari attractions.

There does not need to be any more breeding mares in Australia in order to maintain the population. If you are set on your mare going to foal, but she is less than ideal as a genetic parent, you should consider surrogacy or recipiency instead.

“You shouldn’t breed livestock if you can’t handle dead stock”

However, we still need good horses to be bred in Australia. Producing fewer but better quality stock should be the goal for individual breeders and the equine industry as a whole.

Genetic Testing: Practical Horse Genetics

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