Artificial Insemination
The stallion down the road these days could be from half way round the world. Artificial insemination gives the mare owner an opportunity to breed to the best stallions around and not have to ship the mare far – if at all.
Success with AI needs extra vigilance however in terms of knowing where your mare is at in her Oestrus (breeding) cycle. This is something that Victoria teaches in her Equine Reproduction paper at Massey University.
Breeding with frozen semen is not for the faint hearted. The rewards are immense, but the factors that make it successful are important to fully understand before you start. Even with the best procedures in place the success of frozen semen is only 30-40% pregnancy rate per cycle and will vary based on both the mare and the semen used and the operator performing the insemination.
Management of mares' reproductive cycle
There are those mares that always seem to be in season and those mares who are never in season. Neither is easy when it comes to management for breeding. Luckily most fall somewhere in between.
Professional help from Syenz staff can make the difference between getting a mare in the season first up (and early!) or spending a lot of money for nothing. As experts in this field, Syenz can perform the following:
- Breeding soundness evaluations as a first step (particularly for mares having their first service after 14-16 years of age)
- Monitor the oestrus cycle to advise on when to inseminate or send the mare to stud
- Advise on whether progesterone therapy may be required to support a pregnancy
- Courses also cover the aspects of mare management for owners
- Provide pregnancy tests the owner can use themselves or we can test for you
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Fresh / Cooled semen insemination
Following on from the work in managing the mares reproductive cycle, Syenz will organise for the shipment of semen and insemination of the mare at Longspring; or other location by special arrangement.
Part of this process is to evaluate the semen when it arrives and report any issues back to the stallion owner in a professional manner. It is simply not good enough to just “put it in” and keep your fingers crossed when every shipment costs up to $200 for collection and transport this includes post insemination scans to ensure ovulation and check uterine health.
All documentation required will be filled out and returned to the stallion owner, breed registry and owner in terms of overseeing the insemination.
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Frozen Semen insemination
Again this is one of the priority services offered by Syenz who have had phenomenal success with the Longspring Mares. Frozen semen also follows on from work managing the mares reproductive cycle but is complicated by the less reliable results received from frozen semen. For this fact alone, management of the mare is important.
Mares for inseminating with frozen semen are kept at Longspring so their cycles can be closely monitored. This will involve 4 - 6 hourly scans (including overnight) to determine the optimum time for insemination. This is especially important when the shipment, insemination, mare care and not to mention the semen costs are much larger than those of both natural and fresh chilled insemination.
Please contact us in advance if you would like to look at the use of frozen semen for your mare and we can provide you with advice as to the costs and the likely success with your mare and management of your mare to increase her chances of conception and a healthy pregnancy.
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