Breeding Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I breed my thoroughbred, Arabian, Dutch, Quarterhorse, etc. mare to your stallions?
- What are the options for registration of the foal?
- How can I breed for the type of horse I want?
- I have never used shipped semen before. Is it easy?
- What if my mare doesn’t show that she is in season?
- How should a breeding with shipped semen proceed?
- What if my vet says everything seems fine, but my mare won’t come into heat?
- How long is gestation?
- Is there much of a market for weanlings and yearlings?
- Are there disadvantages to breeding with shipped semen?
- Isn’t the process expensive?
Can I breed my thoroughbred, Arabian, Dutch, Quarterhorse, etc. mare to your stallions?
Our stallions are both approved by the ISR/Oldenburg NA for breeding and the rules and regulations for registration of offspring are available on their website. Bolivar is also approved by the NA/WPN (Dutch warmblood association). See links for more information
What are the options for registration of the foal?
Every breed association has their own rules and regulations, so check things out before you breed. If you have a specific question about your mare, or if your mare is a mixed breed horse, we are happy to discuss the specific options available to you.
How can I breed for the type of horse I want?
The selection of a stallion should take into account many different goals. The most important part of the breeding equation is what do you want and how are you most likely to get what you want. Do you want a horse for jumping, dressage, eventing? Does your mare have conformation flaws that you hope the stallion will improve upon? How big or small would you like the cross to be? What kind of temperament do you want your baby to have? Are you breeding for show, resale, or for your own pleasure? We are happy to discuss our stallions and your goals to see if they can help you to get what you want. Please also look over the offspring photos we have included on the website. We have been as complete as we can be to help you make an informed decision.
I have never used shipped semen before. Is it easy?
The answer is generally YES! The key person in breeding with shipped semen is your veterinarian. The process of determining the right time to breed your mare is completely in the hands of your vet. Your vet will use manual palpation of the mare’s ovaries or an ultrasound examination to determine if your mare is making a breedable follicle. When the vet feels that the mare’s follicle is ready, you call us for the semen shipment and we send it right out. Sometimes determining the right time to order semen is a bit tricky, but this process has been so successful that most equine vets now have some experience with the process. If your local vet doesn’t have much experience, you might consider looking for a stallion station in your area or veterinary school. They might be able to assist you.
What if my mare doesn’t show that she is in season?
Some mares are helpful in showing clear signs that they are in heat (nuzzling geldings, squealing, raising the tail and urinating whenever a male horse or unknown horse is around). Other mares are more shy or perhaps they are young and their hormone levels aren’t as strong. Your vet can help you assess the mare’s cycle and perhaps give the mare a hormone shot to help bring her into a stronger heat cycle. Some mares simply do not show much. Daily exposure to a stallion for teasing can help to bring the hormone levels up and get the mare to show a little more. Rarely a mare will show most strongly right at or slightly after she ovulates her follicle. Your vet can tell most readily by ultrasound the point of follicular development in the mare’s cycle.
How should a breeding with shipped semen proceed?
Begin with a veterinary examination of the mare to be bred. The process of getting a mare ready to breed starts a few months before by getting the mare into good health. She should have a good weight for her size and be up to date on shots and worming. Skinny mares are harder to get in foal, so if you can see her ribs, get her on a good feeding program right away! Have your vet do a pre-breed examination of the mare to see if any special cultures would be in order. Also, many thoroughbred mares used for racing have received a caslick operation and may need to be opened up for breeding and certainly before foaling! If your vet says that everything looks good, then start to watch for signs of the mare coming into heat. Mares should come into heat about every 21 days. Once the mare comes into season, you will need to track the development of her follicle very carefully. You want to breed her as close to the time of ovulation as possible. She will get more friendly to other horses as her heat progresses. Her cervix will get softer as the follicle develops. The follicle will get larger and softer before ovulation. Your vet can determine these things with palpation and ultrasound. Once your vet thinks ovulation is about 24-48 hours away, you will call us for a semen shipment. We will send enough semen for two inseminations via overnight (Fed Ex) or same day (airline) shipment. The semen for both of our stallions is good for about 48 hours. If you mare hasn’t ovulated by the second day, you call for another shipment and continue breeding until ovulation. Hopefully your vet can determine the time of ovulation and get your mare bred with one or two shipments. Your mare should go out of heat as soon as she ovulates. Then you get her checked at about 18 days to see if it looks like she is going to be pregnant. The vet ultrasounds the mare to check her. At 18 days you can generally see if she is pregnant or if she is coming back into heat. If she is pregnant, you want to get her rechecked at about 35 days to see if the pregnancy is holding. You can even see a heartbeat at 35 days! From that point on to foaling, your vet can guide you on the best possible mare care.
What if my vet says everything seems fine, but my mare won’t come into heat?
It could be that she is one of the ones who cycles, but doesn’t show it. Sometimes mares “get stuck” somewhere in their cycle and don’t move along like they should. Check with your vet if that happens, there are some things that can help to get her going again.
How long is gestation?
The mare carries the baby for 11 months. So if you bred your mare in May, she should deliver in April the following year. This is an important consideration because you might want to wait for a warm springtime for foaling, especially if they live outdoors.
Is there much of a market for weanlings and yearlings?
The market for young horses goes up and down like the economy in general. The weanlings and yearlings are attractive because they are less expensive than horses that have been started or have received a lot of training. Some buyers want to bring their young horses along with lots of handling, so they purchase them young and enjoy the process of bringing them along. We have found that there are buyers for horses of all ages.
Are there disadvantages to breeding with shipped semen?
If there are, we haven’t noticed any. For most breeders the process is easy, clean, safe and economical. The most important person in the process is your vet. They are responsible to determine when to breed and when the mare needs a little help in the breeding process. The more experience they have with shipped semen, the better.
Isn’t the process expensive?
It depends. We have structured our contract to help keep the costs lower. By allowing you to get semen any day of the week we can hopefully get more mares in foal by covering her when she is most likely to ovulate. We also include a couple of stallion collections in the contract. By shipping mostly Fed Ex we can save money. We also do not charge a courier fee to take semen to the airport if it needs to go by air. We believe that the costs of artificial insemination are worth the added safety and higher rates of pregnancy. Just think what the old way would cost today, shipping your mare across the country to be bred and back home again! Shipped semen has opened up opportunities to breed a mare to almost any stallion.