FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
RELATED TO BREEDING:
1. What is a "Live Foal Guarantee" (LFG)? This term means different things to different breeders and you should establish what is meant before proceeding. The minimum this could mean is standing & suckling immediately after birth. To us it means alive & healthy. It also means that the death of the foal must be attributable to its health at birth (i.e. not an accident). For your satisfaction, we do not place a time limit on this. After all, we all know that if your car is warranted for 1 year, it will break down in a year and a day. With a LFG we are talking about you mare's foal, not a machine. We understand the emotional investment in breeding your mare. Every breeder no matter how big or small has a big investment in breeding. If the death of your foal is due to a problem at birth or if your mare aborts or absorbs, we will either re-breed her the next year or reimburse your stud fee - your choice.
2. What paper-work is required for the mare? A negative Coggins & a clean swab (cytology smear & uterine culture) denoting a uterus free from communicable diseases is required for us. We also suggest that you have your vet examine your mare to assure you that her uterus is healthy enough to support the pregnancy.
3. What costs will I incur in addition to the stud fee? For live cover: Mare care (boarding while at the breeding stable), ultrasounds to check her condition for breeding (suggested) and to check that the pregnancy took & ensure that no twining occurs (VERY strongly suggested) and any pharmaceuticals (such as progesterone to bring on ovulation). For shipped semen: all of the above minus the boarding plus vet bill to impregnate the mare and shipping costs.
4. My mare doesn't like to travel. Can the Stallion come to her? Our Stallions stand at stud here in order for us to ensure the safety of the breeding process. If you do not wish your mare to travel, then shipped semen is an option. If you are inexperienced in breeding, though, you should rely heavily on your vet for this one.
5. How can I tell if my mare is in heat? If you have a gelding, you may find your mare allowing him liberties that she normally would not. We find that the geldings are the first in the field to know if one of our mare's is in (or about to come into) heat and when a mare is 'hanging out' with the boys, we check for signs of heat. Mares may show a change in temperament at this time and most will wink, but don't mistake the typical expelling of urine for 'winking'. Your vet can help you if you are unsure. For more details check out some of the excellent books on breeding (personally I like "Blessed are the Brood Mares"), or go to our links page for other resources.
6. If I want to breed in my own stable, what is involved in artificial insemination (AI)? This will involve you calling the stallion handler when your mare is ovulating so that they can ship fresh semen to you. That means that you must be sure that she is ovulating if you are to be successful. An experienced vet with an ultrasound machine can provide you with extremely accurate advice on when to breed. Then the vet will insert the semen.
7. Why would I need an ultrasound exam? Many vets rely on 'palpating' where they actually feel the uterus to determine its condition. We prefer ultrasound. This provides the vet with the most accurate view of the uterus possible (without surgery). An experienced vet will be able to see a follicle, check its size and tell you with a high degree of accuracy when you should breed. (Of course, you should remember that nothing is ever 100%.) You vet would also see any fluid in the uterus clearly. Perhaps the most important reason for an ultrasound is checking for twins. I almost lost a mare myself when she conceived twins and suffered through a disastrous birth. I lost both foals and almost lost my mare as well. After that I always made sure that none of my mares conceived twins by getting an ultrasound. If twins are detected, the vet can 'pinch' one to (hopefully) leave you with only one foal. Sometimes you lose both, but that's better than losing two foals & a mare. Twinning can be a dangerous condition for your mare.
8. What time of the year is best for breeding? That depends upon you. We have some mares that start naturally cycling in Feb, but these are transition heats. Racehorses are typically forced to cycle so that they can breed at that time due to the 'universal birth date' of 1 Jan. They hope to get the most mature foal possible to compete in their age-range. The important thing to remember is that the horse's gestation is typically 11 months. If you breed in Feb, you will have a foal shivering in the Jan cold & unable to go outside for several months. Optimally, we try to breed for an end Mar birth. That is the most natural time for the mare physiologically and is the time when she is most fertile. That way our foals can stay inside for a couple of weeks & still head outside for some fresh air on warm spring days. However, in cases where the embryo was absorbed, we have successfully bred as late as Jul for a Jun foal. Heats which occur later in the summer into fall, could still be bred successfully (but with a decreasing chance as the year goes on). Still, you should plan for your youngster to be as developed as possible to help him or her weather that first winter as easily as possible.
9. Does a mare ever refuse to stand for a stallion? Mares will refuse to stand for a stallion if they are not fully in heat. Some mares will take a dislike to a stallion and refuse to stand for him and some rare mares, just refuse to stand for anyone. However, most mares will stand when they are ovulating.
10. Can you force a mare to stand to be bred? You could, but why would you?? We prefer to let the mare choose when to breed. That is typically what would happen in nature and by following her natural pattern, we find a much higher success rate. Some mares will not stand until they are fully ready to conceive. To force them to stand at any other time would be of no use and could even traumatize the mare to the extent that she could be resentful or anxious about being brought in to breed. Most mares will stand quietly for the stallion when they know the time is right. (Nature really does know best.)
11. Can you force a mare to come into heat? (also: What does 'needling' my mare mean?) In some cases you can bring the mare into heat using synthetic progesterone given via a needle. This is something we get from our vet and should not be used unless you are experienced or have the advice of your vet (as any medication).
12. My mare has never been bred before. Will she know what to do? Maiden mares will be the most likely to be anxious and should be crossed with an experienced stallion. She may show some nervousness about the stallion approaching her, but if she is in full heat and has an experienced handler, things should go smoothly.
13. Isn't breeding dangerous for the horse? The act of breeding horses has been changed by domestication. In the wild, a stallion would never approach a mare that is not ready to breed. She would be free to reject him and chase him off if she was not ovulating. Domestic horses breed only when humans decide they should. This can create certain dangers, but these are minimized by using experienced handlers. The greatest danger in breeding (other than a handler getting hurt) is to the stallion. In live cover, the most likely injury will be caused by the mare kicking at the stallion. This can happen in the case of a maiden who is not allowed to become comfortable with the stallion or in the case where a mare is forced to stand when she doesn't want to. We 'try' the mare first in a safe environment (with safe space between her and the stallion) to see if she shows any interest in the stallion before ever taking her into the breeding area & even then we give her lots of room for her response before allowing the stallion close to her.
14. How many times will you breed my mare? That depends a great deal upon her. Some mares have stood for two weeks. Others have stood for only one day (& been bred successfully). For the length of time that she will accept the stallion, we will breed her every 2 days.
15. Is it alright to worm my pregnant mare? Wormers (anthelmintics) are medication and any medication will affect both mare and foetus. However, most wormers are quite safe all during pregnancy right up to 30 days prior to foaling. Check the label to be sure. I try to avoid any other medication as many could contribute to a miscarriage. Your best source of info on this one is your own vet.
16. Birth is a natural process. Why do I have to pay for a vet? As experienced breeders, we still rely on our vet for many things. We don't call him every day, but we always call him in for ultrasounds, and if we are concerned about the mare's safety such as in the case of a breech birth, twins or any damage to the mare caused by the birth. The work of a vet when my Thoroughbred was struggling with a twin birth meant that my mare survived. That's what I call money well spent. Informing yourself before breeding and preparing well in advance of the birth is wise, but you still can't beat the training & experience of your vet when things go wrong.
17. Can I ride my pregnant mare? Exercise is good for any pregnancy, but within reason. As long as your mare is in good shape, you can ride her for the first nine months without much concern, but remember that she is pregnant & don't over-do. Since most of the foetal development occurs during the last three months of pregnancy, you should ease off on exercise at that time. Mares are individuals and many mares work right up until foaling, where others don't work at all. You know your horse best and if you have any doubts, ask your vet.
RELATED TO YOUNG HORSES:
18. Is it difficult to train a young horse? If this is what has been stopping you from breeding your mare, you will find that a little education & help from an experienced hand can go a long way. Remember, horses are individuals. Although breeds have certain characteristics (including tendancies toward certain personality traits), there will still be variation between horses. Some are quick to learn; others take more time. Some love working right from day one; others need to be convinced to give it a try. The most important ingredient you bring is patience. If you have that, you are already on your way.
19. When can I start training my foal? Training starts right from day 1 when you fist handle your foal. We have found that the more you handle your youngster as it grows, the more smoothly later training is likely to be. Every interaction is a training session where you teach your foal trust and self confidence. But remember - no matter how big your youngster is, they are still babies. A foal will have a short attention span & you should keep any lessons short & not physically demanding. Wearing a halter, leading, halt, walk, stand quietly: these are all things that a suckling can (and should) be taught. Just keep those lessons short and don't expect perfection. A good five minutes where the foal is happy is better than asking too much & damaging your relationship with the foal by losing either control or your patience: trust and respect is an important part of any training. You can increase the length of the lessons as the foal gets older. We often get into the saddle when the young warmblood is solidly 2 years old. But even then we do not do much work. The aim at that point is to get the youngster to accept weight and direction and learn signals, not to canter on the rail. Later in that year, we progress to walking and trotting with a rider in the saddle. Again, you need to remember that your young horse is not done growing. Be careful of growing bones and muscles. We teach basic lunging for discipline and reinforcement of commands, but the session is kept reasonably light in order that we not stress the young horse's growing bones and muscles.
20. I heard that warmbloods grow slowly. When will my foal be fully grown? Warmbloods do grow over a long period of time and take longer to mature than a faster growing breed such as the Thoroughbred. SUPERSTITION was 16 HH when he was 3 years old and finished off at 16.2 HH. Some of his foals out of Thoroughbred mares were under 16 HH as 2 year olds, but topped 16 HH with no problems as 4 year olds. You cannot predict the actual ending point, but the size of both parents can give some indication of what is likely to happen. For example MERLIN's dam, MARLAGAIN, is a 16 HH Thoroughbred. He is 15.3 HH as a rising 3 year old and we fully expect him to mature to 16 HH quite easily.
21. Can my foal be registered ? / Why should I bother registering my foal? Any foal by SUPERSTITION can be registered with the Canadian Trakehner Horse Society as an appendix foal. I always register my foals. I find the CTHS to be reasonably priced (C$) and any time I have needed information, the staff have always been helpful. (That always helps when you need info!) Registering your foal will ensure that a record exists of your foal. You will get an identifying number and the CTHS will have photos of your foal with markings clearly shown in case of any future inquiries (including lost papers if you want/need to sell in the future). In addition, the papers provide some proof of ownership of your foal should that ever come into question.
