Watch leading sport horse breeder Lisa Lourie explain the many factors horse owners should consider when contemplating breeding their mares.
About This Video
As a leading breeder of sport horses and owner of Spy Coast Farm, Lisa Lourie shares her expertise with owners who are considering the long-term and expensive commitment of breeding, starting with the first and perhaps most important question: “Why do I want to breed my mare?” Lourie then explains the many factors that can come into play with the timing of what will become an almost year-long process from breeding to foaling; what’s involved in a breeding soundness exam and special considerations for mares who may have experienced breeding problems in the past or are transitioning from a sport career; and the use of options such as frozen semen and embryo transfer. Lourie also emphasizes the importance of using all available resources in researching stallions; seeking advice from other equestrians and breeders, as well as your veterinarian; and why it’s so critical to take an objective look at a mare’s pedigree, conformation, temperament, and performance history, and how all of these factors can influence your choice of stallion with complementary characteristics to hopefully produce the best foal possible.
Key Principles:
- Goals
- Timing
- Breeding Soundness Exam
- Pedigree & Performance
- Breeding & Beyond
Additional Information
About The Expert
Born in Cambridge, Mass., Lisa Lourie graduated from the University of Rochester with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and then worked in and around the Boston area doing adult acute care, including ICU and CCU. She then obtained a Masters of Health Care Management from Leslie College and worked for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health AIDS Program. After starting a family in Virginia and later moving to Long Island, N.Y., Lisa started riding with her eight-year-old daughter when she 42. She bred her first horse (a Thoroughbred) two years later in 2002. While observing her daughter and her trainer show at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), Lourie realized that America had tremendous resources for Warmblood breeding and that her nursing expertise might be helpful in getting older, more proven mares in foal, so she established Spy Coast Farm as a breeding facility in 2003.
Lourie’s goal was, and is, to grow America’s Warmblood breeding industry and to establish a low-cost structure to develop young sport horses. To that end, Spy Coast Farm operates several different profit centers including a Reproduction Center, Young Horse Development Center, CEM Quarantine, and a recently opened Equine Rehabilitation and Fitness Center. Spy Coast Farm looks forward to enhancing their new research division and to opening an Equine Education Lab in 2020. Spy Coast Farm specializes in the breeding and development of top-quality performance horses with three locations in Lexington, K.Y., Tryon, N.C., and Wellington, Fla. Learn more about Spy Coast Farm by vising their website and following them on Facebook and Instagram.
