BREEDING AND FOALING TIPS
Article written in 1999 by Joan Winsor, W/W Ranch
1. Did you know that mares bred only with Artificial
Insemination would give you three more foals during their lifetime as opposed to
mares bred naturally? (Sorry,
boys, but it's true--and safer for you too!)
2. That first spring cycle you waited for so anxiously is
not as productive as later cycles. The
first "transitional" cycle (s) can be erratic, prolonged, shortened,
non-existent, etc. The average
first productive ovulation, or egg production, in the horse is Apr. 23-May7.
But with modern drugs your vet can break up that first, non-productive,
"getting ready, but I'm really not, I've got a headache" cycle with
hormones.
3. If you want an edge on the breeding season and plan to
put your mare "under lights", the thrifty among us can get the same
effect by adding ONE hour of light, 10 hours after dark, in the mare's stall.
(If you can read in a corner, it's enough light.)
Start Dec.1; it will take 1-2 months to have an effect.)
4. To quote Dr. Ed Squires: "fat is beautiful".
It is an old wives tale that your mare will have trouble delivering or
breeding if she is well-padded. There
is NO way a mare can eat enough prior to and through foaling to put a 1/2 lb. on
the foal EACH day, go through labor and delivery, provide enough milk, AND turn
into a race horse to keep up with this new little monster she has created when
it starts running. To say nothing
about starting a new baby! She
will be using up her stores of body fat during this time.
Make sure she has enough to use!
5. Start EARLY! Watch
that sneaky gal. Get her into a
situation where you can tell if she is cycling, and when, and how long.
And WRITE IT DOWN! Your vet
will need this information. And if
you are going to breed by AI, you need to have her in a situation when she can
be teased DAILY close to and during her cycle.
You need to catch her in the act, so to speak.
6. If you are going to breed by AI what is the VERY MOST
IMPORTANT thing you can do for your mare? Find
a good vet, experienced in reproductive work, who is available (or has coverage)
every day of the week. (Mares love
Sundays.)
7. If you are interested in AI, good information and help
may come from a nearby warm-blood /sport-horse farm. They have been importing sperm from Europe for years.
8. What is the
take rate for AI? Really good
statistics are hard to come by, but for a series of Standardbreds, there was a
40% take rate on the first pass. The
take rate using AI with fresh semen (also known as "on premises") is
about 65%. The rate of success is
higher if the mare is inseminated MORE THAN ONCE, even if she ovulated
over-night. The trouble with these
statistics is that the rates are enormously variable between stallions--some
have 95% rates with shipped AI, some have 0%.
The same holds true in the pasture--remember the racehorse Cigar?
(After being syndicated for millions of $, he proved a total flop in the
breeding shed.) With such
incredible variability you just have to do your homework about the stallions to
which you would consider breeding. But never forget that all-important variable: the mare's
care, pre-breeding evaluation, the skill of the farm or vet in evaluating her
cycle and time of ovulation, and the care with which she is inseminated.
THIS you can control!
9. Mares tend to ovulate at night, just as they tend to
foal at night. So if your mare has
a 45-50 mm follicle this afternoon, and you think you can call for semen to be
shipped, you are TOO LATE! The rule
of thumb is: call when your mare's follicle is about 35 mm.
(Of course, you'll probably be the owner of one of those mares that
throws an egg at 25 mm! Just don't
let her get away with it twice--she'll tend to repeat herself!)
10. Be sure if you have gone to the trouble to ship in
semen, or are going to, that you give your mare the shot hCG to insure that she
ovulates as "you" planned.
(She may have planned something else!)
She must have been in heat at least 2 days and have a follicle of 35 mm.
Ovulation should occur within 36-48 hours.
11. Mares bred every year are more likely to
"take" than those who get "time off", especially older
mares..
12. Now here's the bad news for us mare owners!
Up to 40 % of the problems in getting mares pregnant may be due to
abnormalities on the ovary. Either: 1)
a persistent follicle that just won't rupture and release an egg, usually overly
large, and the mare stays in heat excessively long; or 2) a retained
"corpus luteum", the thing that forms after the follicle ruptures and
releases the egg. If she is
pregnant, the corpus luteum is responsible for the hormones to keep her
pregnant. If she is not pregnant, it should regress, and let her come
back "in". If it fails to
regress, she won't cycle when expected. The
vet can find both of these problems by ultra-sound. It's much more common than you think. If she's "off" in her cycles, think about one of
these above common "short-circuits" in ovarian function.
The vet will have to break up the abnormal cycle with drugs, so we can
"try and try again".
13. Once pregnancy has been achieved, twinning is the major
cause of fetal loss. The gold
standard is to detect them with ultra-sound before 16 days, and have the vet
"reduce" one of them. (And
try to guess which is the WGC?)
14. Rhinopneumonitis is the second most common reason for
loss of the foal. Be sure the mare
has her Pneumabort shots at months 5, 7, and 9 months, or perhaps better at 4,6,8 and 10
months so that the mare’s antibodies to Rhino can be at a high level at
delivery and can be passed to the foal.
15. Infection in the uterus is the third most common reason
for abortion. This can be prevented
in many mares by the Caslick procedure, done shortly after the pregnancy is
confirmed. If an open mare has a
Caslick's in, she can actually be bred with it in, but only by AI.
16. Mares who have twinned before and older mares stand a
greater chance of twinning.
17. If your mare has two eggs ready to go when you are
ready to breed her--go ahead! Don't
worry you will be more likely to get twins.
The incidence is the same whether she throws one or two eggs!
(There are a lot of things we don't know, aren't there.)
18. If you are looking at a stallion, make sure there are TWO
vital organs behind, and that the combined scrotal width is more than 80 mm
--the minimum size for a sound-breeding stallion.
17. A stallion's greatest sperm producing years are from
9-16. (That doesn't mean the young
and old guys can't do the deed, but here nature is favoring the middle
aged--good news!)
18. Watch that stallion like a hawk for a cold, flu,
infection, etc. His sperm
production is VERY sensitive to running a fever, and can be wiped out quickly.
Unfortunately, the effect may not be evident for 2 months.
Watch him, and treat him at the first sneeze.
19. When should you get your mare ultra-sounded after
breeding? The experts would have
you getting one so often that the foal better be gold-plated when he's born to
pay for them. Bottom line: you
could probably get credit for excellent mare care with an US before 16 days,
between 25-35 days, and at 50 days. Half
of the problems are between 25-35 days. After
50 days you are in pretty good shape: barring Rhino, floods, lightening,
meteors, etc.
20. If your mare loses the foal after 35 days of pregnancy,
she probably won't be fertile again for about 100 days.
(Too complex to explain--those female hormones again!)
21. Fescue problem? Take
that mare off pasture a full month prior to foaling.
(There is a new drug-Domperidom- that can block the effects of the fungus
if you do have a problem. It is not on the market yet, but your vet might be able to
get it. It will take two days to
get the mare lactating.)
22. They have found out that the mare's diet prior to
delivery may have as much to do with the development of skeletal problems in the
colt, as what you feed the colt after birth. Analyze HER feeding program.
(Not a small or uncomplicated order--but you need to be on top of Ca/P
ratios, protein concentrations, Cu and Zn levels, Vit. E, digestible energy of
feeds, etc. for when your foal is born. Might
as well get started.)
23. Worm that mare when she foals! I don't think anything beats Ivermectin.
24. 7% iodine on the navel is out! .5% Nolvasan is in! 3-4
x a day, not just once. The major
source of infection in the foal is through that umbilical cord.
25. Up to 2 enemas are still "in" if the foal
needs help.
26. The first of the mare's milk, the colostrum is the
baby's only protection from the bugs of the outside world for several weeks. (He
can't make his own yet.) The antibodies he gets in the milk are critical.
Both the mare's production of them and the baby's ability to absorb them
decrease more rapidly than originally thought.
By 6 hours that foal had better be full to the brim.
27. The mare's colostrum has antibodies to all the horrible
things she has encountered in her life, PLUS those she makes because of
vaccinations. All these wonderful
proteins the foal gets in the first few hours in the milk.
Be sure you maximize what she can give that baby.
Give her the "spring shots" 3-4 weeks in advance of her
foaling, so she has time to have her antibody levels cranked up to Over-drive.
EWEE, tetanus, Potomac, and flu at a minimum. (You've been giving her Rhino all along, right?)
28. What if you're mare has no milk, or your foal is
orphaned? It's a good idea to plan
ahead, call around and see if a friend has some stored frozen colostrum, or find
where you can get some substitute colostrum for the foal in an emergency.
You won't have much time to get it into him.
If you have a lot of horsey friends, one of you should collect and freeze
some of the earliest milk from a mare that just delivered.
Two pints is a good amount, collected in the first few hours. (But don't push the kid out of the way--wait 'til he's full.)
Believe it or not, the colostrom from that grand old, sway-back mare is
probably better, and more plentiful, than that from that fat, young mare.
Colostrum will keep frozen for 1-2 years! Thaw
it very gently, NOT in the microwave, or the proteins you need will be
destroyed.
29. If there is a question whether the foal received enough
colostrum, have the vet check the antibody level with a CITE test, which gives
you actual levels, not just a yes or no answer. If you do it at 12-18 hours, and it is low, you might still
have a chance of doing something about it.
It you wait a day or two, the only thing you can do is transfuse the
baby.
30. A retained placenta is an emergency, not something to
tie up and see if it's out by dinnertime! It
needs treating at 2 hours (pitocin), and again at 3 hours if it is still in.
Have the vet out there by 4 hours if you want to save your mare and her
productivity! Pull out all the
stops. Treat for major infection
and founder.
31. If you don't have a stallion, or a way to tease, or
your mare doesn't show, and you want to breed anyway, here is an idea.
Run it by your vet. If she
is normal, give her Regumate for 7 days, then a shot of prostaglandins on day 7.
By day 10 she should be in heat, and your vet can ultrasound for a
follicle. (Refer to bottom line.)
32. Hate what that postaglandin does to your mare?
(I go in the house!) A new
drug called Estrumate may have fewer side effects.
OF COURSE, it's more expensive.
NOW: Take all this neat information, file it, and go out in
the pasture. Your mare hasn't read
the book, and will do exactly as she pleases, when she pleases.
WHY STALLION OWNERS GET EXCEDRIN
HEADACHES!
Article
written in 1999 by Joan Winsor, W/W Ranch
What keeps stallion owners/breeders up at night?
Here is a short list, not that YOU need it, but just for information's
sake.
Headache #1:
AI (artificial insemination) is
new to the breed. So experience is
limited--that's all right, as long as you ask for help.
AI is the future. Not only does it give you access to genes world-wide, but the
U. of Colo. has statistically proven that mares bred ONLY by AI will give you 3
more foals in their lifetime. It is
just plain safer. (Me?
I don't want any of those unpredictable female types anywhere NEAR my
boy--being a female type myself!)
BUT, AI is not a backyard
procedure. A breeder can send you the best semen in the world, but if it is put
in at the wrong time, into an infected mare, or the wrong place (laugh! --it's
happened), NOTHING IS GOING TO COME OF IT! If the mare is not cycled properly,
if the right hormones are not given at exactly the right time, if she is not in
good general or reproductive health, tons of the best semen in the world aren't
going to get you a bouncing baby colt. The
choice of a good REPRODUCTIVE veterinarian is CRUCIAL!!!!!
Usually you get what you pay for: go find that expensive, picky,
do-it-my-way-or-don't-do-it repo vet, and get it done the FIRST TIME!
You'll probably save money in repeated shipments, collections,
ultra-sounds, etc. (To say nothing
about wear and tear on your coronary arteries!)
Headache #2:
A mare owner who lives relatively
close arrives with her/his mares to be bred "on premises". (Currently,
we still have a 95% "take" rate "on premises".)
The mothers-to-be stumble out of the trailer, every rib showing plainly,
dull-eyed, obvious vaginal discharge dripping down their legs, and hooves so
long you know it will cost you $20 in Thrush-X to keep fungus from reaching
their knees! It will cost hundreds
to get these bags of bones back in shape and pregnant!
This is a definite no win situation for me!
Headache #3:
PANIC IN THE NIGHT! A late night
phone call from a mare owner who just heard/read about "blood-type"
incompatibility! Is your stallion
compatible? First, the problem is
very rare, and certainly not a major factor in chosing a stallion.
(It's hard enough to find exactly what you are looking for!
Look for, in order: DISPOSITION, conformation (especially legs, hooves,
back, over-all symmetry, gait (related to what you want to do with the
off-spring), intelligence, performance record (beware the pretty face that can't
walk!), head (in the TWH), perhaps color; then go onto the less important
factors. And way down the list is
blood type. The extent of the
problem in a specific breed is only accessible years after blood-typing has been
instituted, and the TWH just initiated mandatory blood-typing.
(One breed has discovered it isn't even susceptilble to
the problem.) You probably only need worry if the mare has lost a foal in
the past to suspicious causes soon after birth.
Incompatability doesn’t occur in maidens,and the problem doesn't always
occur, even if the blood-types are incompatible.
78% of TWH have blood-types that are compatible. And if you know you have
an incompatibility, and are an obsessive-compulsive, all you have to do is test
your mare for antibodies to the foal's possible blood-types a month before
delivery. WORST CASE SENARIO: your
mare is incompatible with the stallion, and she tested positive at 10 months for
antibody to (maybe) the foal's blood. All
you have to do is feed milk substitute to the foal yourself for 24-36 hours by hand, at which time
the foal is no longer susceptible to absorbing antibodies from the mare.
(Of course, the first feedings MUST be "colostrum", the
antibody-rich milk from a mare that recently foaled.
Most breeding farms keep frozen colostrum collected from recently
delivered, healthy
mares in case they get an "orphaned" foal.)
THAT'S IT! I've fed weak,
sick, premature, etc. foals for a lot longer than that by hand.
It is no big deal. And talk
about bonding and imprint training!
Headache #4:
Semen is shipped best in very
expensive containers called "Equitainers". Apparently the company has a patent on the product since
there are no close competitors or alternatives.
There are "disposable" containers, which work (sometimes), if
the recipient is close and FedEx or the airlines don't mess up the transport.
It all depends on the stallion. Your
young healthy guys may do all right; the older dudes better be transported with
the best available. (Some
stallions, for some
reason, don't "ship" or "store" at all!)
Since we do not have any control of the "mare end" of the
system (which is 99% of the problem from our standpoint), we ship only in
Equitainers, unless we are "out".
How do we get "out" of Equitainers?
THE MARE OWNERS/VETS BREED THEIR MARE, CONGRATULATE THEMSELVES ON A JOB
WELL DONE, AND PUT OUR CONTAINER OVER IN THE CORNER!!!!!!
We get it back in 3 weeks! Thank
you very much! Please have respect
and concern for the mare owner whose horse "came in" a day or two
after yours!. Send it back as fast
as it was sent to you--FedEx, UPS, airline, Superman, etc.
(I met a vet recently who was so frustrated with this problem that he had
bought at great expense 20 Equitainers! When
I asked if he had one I could rent temporarily in a crunch, he said he had
EIGHTEEN out, which had not been returned! This is a major problem in AI.)
GIANT CLUE: If your
vet, or local large breeder, etc., has an Equitainer, borrow or rent it, and
send it to the stallion owner! It
is YOURS! It is dedicated to your shipment when you need it!
There is no chance the breeder will be "out" of the best type
of container for your mare when she needs it.
There are "72 hour" and "48" hour models--go for the
72 if you can.
Headache #5:
A nice man asked for information
about your stallion months ago. You
sent it and never heard from him again. At
1700 (Pacific Time) you get a call that his mare in East Podunksville has a
follicle at 50 mm! (To the
uninitiated that is TO LATE TO ORDER SEMEN FROM THE WEST COAST!) (We won't talk
about the fact that this guy swears that the deposit is "in the
mail".) If the stallion ships
and stores well, it it better to order a little too early than too late.
Mares notoriously do exactly what they want to do and will ovulate (throw
the egg out of the ovary) when they feel like it, not when it is convenient for
you or your vet! We spend the
evening doing just what we didn't want to do: haul the stallion away from his
dinner (always popular!), run around trying to find a mare that thinks he is
hotter stuff than her grain (not likely), collect the stallion when he'd rather
be elsewhere (us too), hound the airlines to find wildly improbable connections
to Podunksville, destroy the phone bill with calls to the panicy owner, drive
to the airport in the middle of the night with the semen (then to local bar for
attitude re-adjustment), then go home and drunkenly offer a stale carrot to the
stallion who we just woke up. Bottom
line: keep your stallion owner appraised of your situation (hopefully you are
aware of it!): how close you
are--when you think you'll need semen--what your transportation/veterinarian
problems are, etc. We understand
that the mares seem to know when they are being watched and that they will do
everything in their power to mess the timing up, but if we are warned, we at
least won't take the stallion and go for a long trail ride!
Avoid Saturdays and Sundays like the plague.
Not only does the stallion owner like to go riding, but FedEx, UPS, and
the airlines either won't go where you want, or will charge you an arm and a leg
to get the semen there. Hormone
manipulation can be a wonderful thing! Hint: If a stallion stores
well and you are pretty sure you will need semen Saturday, Sunday or Monday,
have it shipped on Friday and leave it in the Equitainer.
Headache #6:
Early spring. The woman on
the phone is crying so hard that it is difficult to understand what she is
saying. Eventually you understand
that her mare just aborted a beautiful bay filly at 7-8 months.
It was going to be just what she had dreamed about for months.
The timing is classic: you ask whether the mare had her rhino shots.
She says, "What's rhino?"
Blindly believing that her vet would lead her step by step through this
pregnancy, the mare was never vaccinated for rhinopneumonitis at months 5, 7,
and 9. (Incidentally, this usually
voids a live foal guarantee, but let me talk to the guy who will tell that to
this woman in tears!) The mare MUST
be fed and nurtured, vaccinated and pampered just as you would your best trail
riding, bird-dogging or show horse. Don't
rely on anyone else. EDUCATE
YOURSELF!!! There are a ton of
books, videos, magazines, clinics, etc. out there for the prospective colt
owner. Know what you are getting
into. READ! ASK QUESTIONS! DEMAND
THE BEST FOR YOUR BROODMARE! Know
what to do if there are problems. Have
a good vet, and let him know when you are close to delivery. Then when all goes perfectly right, as it usually does, you
can bask in the sunshine of the joy of that bouncing baby colt.
P.S. The above is based on
true stories and experience. The
names and places have been deleted or altered to protect the guilty.
NOTICE
The W/W invites
you to take advantage of our experiences (good and bad). If you have any questions about your mare, her breeding
potential, health, her pregnancy, foaling, or the colt after birth, please give
us a call. We want to maximize your
enjoyment of your mare's pregnancy, insure her health, increase the number of
quality colts on the ground by investment genius, and minimize problems. The
only dumb question was the one that was not asked. If we do not know the answer we will find someone who does.
Our supply of equitainers is limited !!
They need to be returned as fast as possible for the next shipment!
If at all possible, find an Equitainer you can send us, which we will
hold for your use only! That way there is no chance you will call and we will not
have the “top of the line” container for your shipment. Your repo vet or nearby big breeding farm may be a good
source. Do not send
containers back C.O.D. Please let
us know the tracking number for the return trip, just as we will let you know
the # for the sperm shipment.
Communication is
the key to success—we need to know what you are thinking, doing, when you
think you need sperm, etc. You need
to know if we are in a bind for equitainers.
If you have access to fax or e-mail, let us know.
It is often faster, and certainly less expensive for all concerned.
(If anyone else will be contacting us in regard to the breeding, such as
a vet, family, domestic partner, associates, friends, etc., we need to know
their names and contact #s.)
