Mare & Foal

So You want to Breed your Mare.

You have the perfect sweet mare and you know (or hope) that she will be a perfect mama. She has good confirmation, is well behaved, learns easily and quickly and is very willing to please. Or maybe she is just not rideable due an injury but not in pain and well enough to carry a foal to term. How do you go about that? Well, the first thing you need to do is confirm all this with your veterinarian. He is the expert and can confirm or rule out your hopes and suspicions.

Once you know that your mare is a good candidate, you need to go 'shopping' for a stud. That can be really easy if you know already exactly which stallion you like, but if you don't know yet, you could start by picking up some magazines with advertisements for stallion services. Of course, your friends and local clubs and trainers as well as the registry for your particular breed may be able to help you too and make some recommendations. It is important to know beforehand what your goals are. Are you looking to breed a Reiner, a Dressage horse, a jumper or a Barrel Racer. Again, you are starting with your mare, what is her expertise?

Many breeders only breed within the breed, others like to try the 'designer' breeds. An Arab/Saddlebred cross is a good example. Just like in politics, there are many opinions.

Once you have zeroed in on a stud, it is time to prepare your mare. There are certain tests you should do before you even take her to the stud or consider ordering the semen. Mare can walk around for years with uterine infections without ever knowing it. The chances of getting her pregnant when an infection is present are slim, and if she gets pregnant there is a big chance of aborting the foal. So, my opinion is to better be safe than sorry and cough up the extra money to do the tests.

Jos Mottershead writes: "Most responsible stallion owners require a "clean uterine culture" from a mare prior to breeding her live cover or possibly shipping semen to her, and this has been the case for many years. It is well known however, that the results of an endometrial swab culture alone are, at best, not a reliable indicator of uterine pathogenicity, and at worst a false positive may result in disastrous consequences. Read full article here.

Okay, now that we have that out of the way, you can go ahead and either send your mare to the stud or have the vet order the semen at the right time. Timing is very important especially when you plan for AI. The lifespan of the semen is only a couple of days and the older they get the less volatile it is. Make sure the people sending the semen are reputable and send only healthy semen in the correct solution. Each mare ovulates on a different schedule. If your mare has been bred before, this schedule may be known, otherwise your vet will have to make his best bet.

When I breed my mare, she goes to the stud even though she still gets impregnated through Artificial Insemination (AI). The main reason I send her is that when she is there she can be AI'd 2 or 3 times with the freshest semen possible. The cost of shipping her outweighed the cost of having semen shipped and AI by the vet more than once. Again, there are as many opinions on the topic of AI or penetration/pasture breeding as there are horse breeders, so I will not get into that.

Now it is time to wait...approximately 2 weeks until you can finally have the ultrasound done to confirm that your mare is pregnant. I remember being almost as excited about the good news as when I found out I was pregnant myself! Now you have approximately 11 months to get ready for the BIG day. It is very important that you have a Foaling Kit ready and handy well before the due date.

Here is a list of what is essential in the Foaling Kit:

• Terry Cloth (bath towel or half-size bath towels)

• Clean bucket - preferably stainless steel

• Liquid soap such as Ivory, Dawn, or Joy

• Roll of cotton

• Baling twine or strong string

• Scissors

• Enemas (any enema safe for children is fine; a phosphate enema is best)

• Tincture of iodine or Nolvasan solution for dipping navel

• Small plastic containers or 60cc plastic syringe cases (for dipping foal's navel)

• Umbilical clamp or rubber bands (in case foal's navel bleeds more than usual)

• Obstetrical sleeves or plastic rectal sleeves

• Disposable tail wrap or gauze bandage (for wrapping tail)

• Disposable latex gloves

• Obstetric lubricant or KY jelly

• Digital thermometer

• Small blanket or old down vest (in case you have to keep the foal warm on a cold night)

• Flashlights and batteries (in case of power failure)

• Cell phone or cordless phone

• Phone numbers of vets, experienced foaling person (keep list next to phone)

Here is a great Fact Sheet by OSU

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