Mare management

Best results in terms of good pregnancy rate are achieved with good mare preparation and close monitoring of the ovulation time.

For a best start we suggest to provide exposure to photoperiod lightening of the mares from December 1st, so that 14 hrs of continuous light (combining natural and artificial light) is assured in the stall for about 60 days. It has been published and shown that 100% of the mares who undergo this protocol are fully cycling by February 1st, while mares left to natural lightening might start cycling in late March or later with some single mare even showing the first heat in May.

Frozen-thawed semen has a shorter life than fresh and chilled semen. So the frozen semen has to approach and fertilize the egg within few hours from thawing.

When a 35-40 mm follicle is detected in an oestrus mare, ovulation is induced with HCG and the mare is examined every 6 hours in order to detect as close as possible the ovulation time.

When the mare is considered ready to inseminate, she is aseptically prepared for the procedure by cleaning the perineal area.

The frozen semen straws are thawed by quickly putting them from the nitrogen tank into a 37°C water bath for 1 minute.

A multiple straw inseminating system is used, allowing the insemination of the straws one-by-one while leaving the inseminating pipette in the mare (deep-horn insemination).

The mare is checked 12 hours after ovulation to detect possible signs of inflammation and treated when necessary.