Solo Select Field Guides

Make the breeding decision in the right order

Start with the mare. Pin down your goals. Then evaluate the stallion, read the agreement, and choose the breeding method your veterinarian, schedule, and budget can actually support.

Choose your starting point

A breeding plan begins with the mare in front of you. Assess her honestly, then pin down what you need the breeding to accomplish.

3,725

Stallion breeding contracts recorded by Solo Select in 2026 year to date

Solo Select internal contract count reported August 2, 2026.

Built from the work

These are field guides, not filler

Solo Select sees the decision after the advertisement: which mare is being bred, what the breeder expects to produce, which contract was signed, whether the clinic can handle the semen, and what must happen before an order can ship.

The guides below turn that operating experience into questions a mare owner can use. Each one identifies its Solo podcast source, outside veterinary or registry references, and the point where the current contract or attending professional must take over.

Sources checked August 2, 2026

Melanie Smith standing with three Solo Select horses in a North Texas pasture

01 · The starting pointHow to Evaluate a Mare for a Breeding ProgramJudge the individual, record what is proven, investigate the caution tape, and decide what the program can responsibly maintain and afford.Evaluate the mare

02 · Pin down the goal

Breeding to Keep vs. Breeding to Sell

Decide whether the program intends to keep, train, sell, or preserve options—then weight buyer demand, sale stage, cost, and risk accordingly.

The Solo Select team and consignors after a sale-ring result

Define keep versus sell

After the mare and the goal

Make the next three decisions in order.

Now evaluate the stallion around that mare and goal. Then read the complete agreement and confirm how the breeding will be carried out in the real world.

Solo Select broodmares moving together beneath an oak tree in North Texas

03 · Evaluate the stallionHow to Choose a Stallion for Your MareCompare individual fit, performance and produce evidence, market requirements, genetic-disease risk in the proposed cross, and current availability.Explore this path

A Solo Select stallion with a handler at the Gainesville breeding facility

04 · Before you signHow to Read a Stallion Breeding Contract and Understand the FeesMap the booking fee, stallion fee, chute fee, shipping, payment triggers, rebreed terms, and ICSI structure.Explore this path

The Solo Select equine laboratory used for semen and reproduction coordination

05 · Build the logistics planFresh, Cooled, Frozen Semen or ICSI?Compare collection, shipping, storage, veterinary, laboratory, contract, and registry handoffs.Explore this path

Go deeper where the decision gets expensive

Read the evidence. Then choose where the risk belongs.

These five guides take the next questions one at a time: what the mare's production record really proves, how multiple embryos change the budget, which sale stage fits the program, when an incentive is useful rather than merely visible, and how to evaluate a horse and its veterinary evidence before bidding online.

A Solo Select foal standing for an individual conformation evaluation

06 · The evidence behind the mare

How to Read a Broodmare Production Record and Maternal Family

Separate age from failure, opportunity from assumption, and the individual mare from the catalog story around her.

Read the production record

A Solo Select performance mare photographed for an embryo offering

07 · Build the BudgetEquine Embryo Economics: One Mare, Multiple Breeding ObjectivesBudget zero, one, and multiple embryos—then give every resulting embryo a purpose, owner, and next action.Build the embryo budget

A Solo Select sale yearling standing with a handler during preparation

08 · Choose the Sale StageSelling an Embryo vs. Weanling vs. YearlingCompare the evidence, time to cash, preparation, carrying cost, and risk at three different exits.Choose the sale stage

A Solo Select cutting horse photographed as an individual athlete

09 · Weigh the IncentiveStallion Incentives: When They Matter and When They Don'tTest the actual eligibility, user, fees, deadlines, and buyer value before letting the program influence the cross.Weigh the incentive

Solo Select veterinary staff reviewing a digital radiograph on site

10 · Buyer Due DiligenceHow to Evaluate a Horse in an Online Performance-Horse SaleUse the listing, repository, radiographs, veterinary review, inspection options, and sale terms to resolve the questions that matter before bidding.Build the buyer checklist

Melanie Smith speaking to an equine industry audience

Hear the source conversations

The details came before the search terms

Episodes 12 and 13 of The Business of Horses are the first-party foundation for this collection: the logistics behind contracts and semen orders, followed by the reasoning behind breeding with intention.

Episode 12 · Breeding Logistics 101 Episode 13 · Breeding With Intention

After the stallion decision

Follow the embryo and recipient path

Once the cross and breeding method are set, the next questions concern embryo production, transfer, recipient timing, pregnancy care, and who manages each handoff.

01Equine ICSI Learning CenterOPU, semen, embryos, outcome denominators, recipients, costs, and timing.02Recipient Mare & Embryo Transfer Learning CenterEmbryo shipping, recipient selection and leasing, transfer planning, pregnancy care, foaling, and responsibilities.03Embryo Transfer & Reproduction ServicesHow Solo handles breeding, fresh flushes, frozen embryo transfer, ICSI coordination, recipients, and foaling care.04Breeding ToolsFoaling-date, coat-color, and genetic-health tools for defined questions.

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