In case anyone's interested - free breeding webinars

S

stangs

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 September 2021
Messages
2,900
Visit site
Hope they’re useful! I only managed to watch them for around 1h20 each, so didn’t catch everything.

  • For success at first conception: fitness > fatness, mares having access to grass helps
  • Loss of winter coat can suggest that the mare’s in a productive phase of cycle
  • Fatter mares (around 7+ on the condition scale) are less fertile, and have more issues foaling
  • Catherson Stud’s good doer mares are just on adlib forage and balancer
  • For the second half of pregnancy: increase trace minerals in the mare so foal will have adequate stores
  • The pregnant mare’s feed has more of an influence on the foal than the lactating mare’s
  • Energy demands in late pregnancy not that high; they may only need more calorific stuff if 1) they’re lactating, 2) you’re adjusting their feed before lactation, 3) it’s the last weeks of pregnancy and they’re eating less
  • For body condition scoring a pregnant mare, pay attention to fat stores on the body rather than focusing on the stomach
  • Key minerals to be feeding the mare are: copper & zinc (for foal’s skeletal development), selenium (for foal’s immunity), vit e, and calcium
  • Keep in mind that (at least in Aus), early spring may result in low calcium + high phosphorus in the grass, so may need to supplement a little more calcium
  • Mares living in bag up earlier than those living out, and have bigger bags because of fluid build up
  • Towards end of pregnancy, the mare will start to eat less - but will still eat
  • If she’s not eating at all, that’s a suggestion that she’s colicking not in labour
  • (Note that KER was the one doing the webinar for the below vv)
  • Nano-e (Vit E antioxidants) and EO-3 (omega-3 fatty acids) help improve quality of colostrum in mares with poor colostrum (whose foals might have needed IgG therapies and transfusions before)
  • Start feeding those supplements a little before 300 days, as they need 30-40 days before they have any influence
  • A mare without access to green grass is more likely to need EO-3
  • No need for creep feeding if the mare’s been fed right, as there’s a risk of the foal getting too many calories
  • Instead, don’t feed the mare anything a foal can’t tolerate and don’t separate them when she’s eating - that way, the foal can pick on her feed in its own time, so, when weaning comes along, it’s already considering food as a comfort
  • For the orphan foal - feed a bucket of milk (bottle unlikely to be enough), then high protein creep feed + forage, and closely monitor growth rates
  • Make sure to get a nurse mare who’s of a similar size to the dam - mares produce 3-3.5% of their bodyweight in milk so you’ll need a large mare for a large foal

  • Before the collection season starts: check back isn’t sore, and make sure horse is fit/happy in a calm environment
  • Stress + pain are some of the most underestimated factors as regards affecting fertility
  • Feel with your hands that the testicles are big/hard/strong and facing the right way (also worth doing during a pre-purchase exam)
  • Soft testicles are a bad sign
  • Collection is very hard work for a stallion, so the providing of minerals and vitamins in feed should reflect that
  • Get a back person out and do massages a few times over the collection season
  • Fertility supplement (they were recommending NAF Five Star Fertility - NAF was also sponsoring the webinar) helps with semen mobility and concentration, sexing ability, libido, etc
  • Start feeding the supplement around 6-8 weeks before the collection starts to get the benefits of it in the semen as spermatogenesis takes around 6 weeks
  • The fewer people involved in the actual collection, the better
  • For the young stallion - he should naturally start pushing when the AV used, and then will naturally get on the dummy if he’s not afraid of it
  • If you’ve got a hotter stallion and your dummy has no neck, make it higher so he won’t move all the way over it
  • Aim for the stallion to be on the side of the dummy that you’re on (safety reasons - so you know what’s going on) - also worth using two reins so you have control of the horse’s neck/shoulders if need be
  • Collection usually on the left side of the dummy, but if the horse is physically weaker on one side, you may need to do the other side
  • Only bandage the hind legs if the horse has shoes behind
  • The older stallion is more likely to need longer to flush out completely
  • Clean the sheath before collection - makes a real difference in the colour of the sperm
  • Cleaning to be done with lukewarm water, and no detergent that might kill of the horse’s natural defences against bacteria
  • StallionAI mostly uses Missouri AVs, but the temperature of the AV is also important
  • Use as little lube on your hands (around the amount of a 5p coin) as you can (and make sure the lube is sperm friendly)
  • You don’t need lube if you use liners
  • Don’t use one tub of vaseline as lube - it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria
  • If the stallion’s not producing semen because he’s blocked, he will think he’s ejaculated
  • Make sure to test before EVA before the season starts
  • Recommendations for a horse with a poor libido: feeding 2/3 eggs a day (raw with shell), and putting him in a box or horse walk where a mare in season has been (or use her urine to the same effect)
  • The key thing is finding out what the stallion prefers
  • They have previously had a stallion who couldn’t have cared less about the teaser mare but ejaculated after seeing his favourite gelding (!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top