2011, Appaloosa Stallion, ApHC 654416 - 6 Panel N
Mare Management
Preparing
Your Mare
For Service
When breeding your mare, whether you are using live cover or Cooled Shipped Semen, there are several articles that may save time and money preparing your mare for service. I don't claim to know everything, but these articles have been beneficial to many mare owners. Whether you are new to using cooled shipped semen or live cover on site at the stallion owner's facility ... You will find one of the greatest resources for Equine Breeding Protocols is Jos Mottershead owner of www.Equine-Reproduction.com. I have added timely links to informatonal articles. I have found to be right on the money.
If you have an opportunity to attend an EQUINE REPRODUCTION CLINIC, DO IT!
Breeding a Mare with Shipped Semen
There are probably two major keys to successfully breeding a mare with shipped semen – preparation and communication. Carefully preparing your mare, and the associated monitoring of her estrous cycle will hopefully result in a timely breeding. An endometrial swab should be taken, and a cytology smear made, with further diagnostics and/or treatment carried out if indicated (more information on this is available in our article
Progesterone and Estradiol ("P&E") Hormonal Manipulation
"...The best protocol for Shipped semen...It's worked everytime for us. It takes the guess work out of the day to order."
There are times when it is desirable to cause a mare to enter estrus and ovulate within a specific time period. It may be that frozen semen is being used, when the “window of opportunity” for insemination leading to conception is limited;
Oxytocin acts on smooth muscle in the body, causing it to contract. One such area of tissue, which is of tremendous importance relative to breeding, is the mare’s uterus and so oxytocin use when breeding a mare can be a truly beneficial aid to improving pregnancy rates.
Oxytocin use in the mare during breeding
Obese Mares Have More Problems Than We Thought!
It has been previously documented that obese mares have a higher tendency towards early embryonic death, particularly in hot weather and this has been put down to the core temperature of these mare potentially being higher than other mares, with a negative impact on embryo survival[1]. At ISER XIII Meikle et al however demonstrated that these mares have other issues as well, and even if younger may present some issues parallel to those seen in older mares.
How and why delay foal heat?
If one considers the insult that the uterus in any species receives during pregnancy, the fact that a mare is able to conceive, and then successfully maintain a pregnancy as soon as a week after foaling is incredible! The newly conceived conceptus does take between 5 and 6 days to make its way into the mare’s uterus, (fertilization takes place in the oviduct), so there is already an additional five day “break” after the mare ovulates to allow improved uterine condition, but studies have shown that the pregnancy rate in mares that ovulated more than 10 days post-partum is higher than those that
Timed Insemination Protocol for Frozen Semen Use
The use of frozen semen has long been promoted as complicated and time consuming. Veterinarians and reproductive specialists have often been unenthusiastic about its use because of the intensive monitoring believed to be necessary in order for it to be successful. It is acknowledged that the best pregnancy rates are achieved when the semen is inseminated no more than 12 hours before or 6 hours after ovulation. Consequently, it has been suggested that monitoring by rectal palpation should be performed as often as every 6 hours, or by ultrasound every 12 hours. This is both impractical for the average veterinarian, and expensive for the mare owner. Early on, it became very apparent that
Thawing Frozen Semen and Preparing it for Artificial Insemination.
In order for maximum reproductive efficiency to be gained from the use of frozen equine semen, it is essential that the product be frozen, stored and thawed correctly. It is important to note that even if all these facets are carefully covered, reliability of frozen equine semen is still immensely variable from stallion to stallion.
There has been much debate over how certain ingredients, such as soybean bi-products affect the hormone balance of horses, specifically broodmares. Since the discovering markers for different genetic disorders and the ease of buying soy-based feed at the local farm stores, have we added too much soy into a broodmare's rations?
Read the labels.
Soy In Horse Feeds The Silent Anti-nutrient
Most pelleted feeds are Soy based. Could this be a factor in the breeding cycles? FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Soy In Horse Feeds The Silent Antinutrient. Check those feed tag labels! Many horses are allergic to the soy that is in the horse feeds today. The horse’s body can only absorb a limited amount of iron from foods and supplements. It is easier for a body to absorb a higher percentage of heme iron (found in meat proteins), than in nonheme iron (found in plant-based foods), and a variety of food components. The phytates and proteins found in soy may inhibit nonheme iron absorption. The principal goitrogens in soybeans are the estrogenic plant hormones known as “isoflavones.” The antinutrients known as “saponins” in soy may also be goitrogens. Cooking and processing methods such as using heat, pressure, and alkaline solutions, will neither deactivate nor remove isoflavones or saponins.
