Mares - Washed Out?

L

luckilotti

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 January 2006
Messages
2,176
Location
Lancashire
hillhousestables.co.uk
Hi,
I just contacted the stud to see if my mare is still in season/being covered, apparently she is (although they said I could collect her now or wait until she is no longer in season!) so I told them I would wait until she is no longer in season but also said I really do need her to be in foal this time (feel as if they are taking the P*** a little!) anyway, the girl said I should consider having her washed out on the last day of her being in season (hmm, how would we know it was her last day?)
Any thoughts on this? She said its about £40. I’ve called the vets who couldn’t tell me the price but said they would get an equine vet to call me back this afternoon.

Also, they dont appear to have being washing the stallions bits/my mares bits before covering - so would i be best having her washed out???? (i was told they clean then before covering but that never happened last week when i popped in unannounced)
 
If she is washed out, then it should be done in relation to time of breeding, not relative to her season (and you're right, they can't predict when she will stop being "in").

For mares that get "dirty"/"soggy" etc. then hygiene is extremely important, so they've failed at that already. Also, a single covering 1-3 days before ovulation is best, not multiple coverings. A washout is only necessary if she has more than 2cm of fluid present 12-24 hours after covering. She should also be given oxytocin repeatedly (every 4-6 hours). Antibiotics are a possibility too, but not generally necessary, and are overused by some.

£40 seems a little excessive, but it depends who is doing the washout I guess... should be less though, IMO.

It sounds a little bit like the stud are giving you (and your mare) an inadequate service.
 
Oh dear!! How long has she been in season this time? How many times have they covered her? She needs to be covered until immediately before ovulation when she will go out - stopping while she's still in season makes it a hell of a less likely she will 'catch' (although the stallion's semen can survive several days in the mare.)

I would be worried about excessive covering causing a retention of fluid - and also the risk of infection if their hygiene is a bit suspect - but for best results mare should be scanned to ensure she HAS ovulated and then be washed out.
 
Thanks for the replies.

The vets havent called me back yet. When she was scanned at the end of july the vet said it looked as if everything in there looked good, no excessive fluids etc but i know that was a couple of weeks ago now.

She was jabbed on the 1st august and went straight back to the stud, they never contacted me to tell me when she came in (claim they text me about it though!) so it was wednesday when i called them, and they said she had been in season a few days. I went unannounced on the thursday and was there at 9.15, and my god - their faces when they saw me! (its not just a stud therefore it kind of an 'open yard' so i didnt need to let them know i was going) it turned out that they were planning on covering her so i hung around and watched it. This time they didnt hobble her (seems though from one of the stable girls that it was because i was there they tried her without) but they did twitch her. 1st they tried with no twitch, she was squirting all over the place but did then try to kick him hence she was then twitched.
last time i was told they were covering her every other day.

when i did speak to the vets receptionist, i asked if their re-scans are any cheaper than the 1st and she thought i was a nutter for asking and went on to tell me the £143 bill for the last one wasnt that bad as £23 was for filling in a foals id chart on his papers.....

i'm starting to get quite down about it all
frown.gif
 
I'm not surprised!! If she was jabbed on the 1st (Friday) I wouldn't expect her to be coming in before the Monday. If she was (sort of) standing on the Thursday I'd SUSPECT she might either be on her way out - OR that she was slow coming in (in which case she's unlikely to have been in for a few days before Thursday!

PG jabs are a little erratic - depends on the stage of cycle and whether there's a good follicle. But that's true of natural cycle too.

We PG'd one mare who has been 'difficult' on Monday 4th. This morning - 7 days later - she was showing but not QUITE as receptive as I like to see them. So we teased her again this afternoon and staff commented on what a huge change in just a few hours - she was covered with no trouble.

Another - who was scanned n.i.f. on Friday (14 day) was SO in season today she didn't even wait for the stallion to come out of the stable - she was on her knees!! Another, scanned n.i.f. at 14 days the same day, came across the trying bar and tried to rip his throat out!

If this stud is needing to use hobbles and twitches habitually - as it sounds like they DO - and still getting mares kicking then I suspect they are just not teasing adequately (or not observing behaviour and stance of mare and stallion sufficiently.)

Another we tried this morning, who was scanned n.i.f. at 14 days one week ago - and has been tried every day since - also tried to attack the stallion violently - while flooding the yard. If we'd assumed that the squirting meant she was in and tried to cover her we'd have needed a lot more than twitch and hobbles!! But when she IS in, she's as sweet as pie. And I'll bet she is tomorrow - rather later than one might expect - but hell, mares DON'T read the book!

I can't BELIEVE the vets charged you £120 for a scan!!!! Did they make a special trip on a Sunday?
 
Thanks for that.

The scan was a lunchtime midweek scan - with SHARED call out!

According to the stud i bought my mare from, she stands perfectly when shes ready. i'm getting quite agitated/upset with it all as i am forking out all of the money - knowing that the stud is just well, nt doing things right. With all of this rain - i dread to think what my mares stable is like as it seems to have a leak in the roof. and they havent told me how much livery they are charging me this time!

Re teasing her on Thursday when i went up. When they came around the corner they had one of their older stallions with them, they claimed they were going to tease her with him - but they didnt.... they didnt even walk her near her doorway, they just quickly shouted to another stable girl to get the stallion thats being used on my mare out. I know i threw them by being there, but i needed to see what was going on.

Its my ambition to set up a small stud, and i mst say i am really learning how not to so things from this stud!
 
Good grief!! My vet charges between £14 and £20 per scan depending on how many he does - plus share of the call-out. With - say - 4 mares being scanned the total cost for each mare is no more than £25 - unless they need sedation (and very few do.)

I don't know why it should throw them having you turn up - we have owners turn up all the time without warning. If I was about to cover their mare at the time then I'd delay and explain the procedure to them so they understood what was happening and why (and to be honest I'd rather NOT have some owners there because some get a bit 'protective' - particularly if they see the stallion having a chew on their mare's neck) but it's not a problem!

I can understand you being upset - I think you need to get a bit firm with these idiots! You should KNOW what you're being charged for livery for a start! But you're right about learning - the first stud I worked on taught me how NOT to handle working stallions!!! The owner's daughter was the bitch from hell and if the stallion didn't get it right first time she'd beat him, if he was too keen, she'd beat him, if he wasn't in the mood she'd beat him! I didn't stay long!
 
The yard owner seems to be letting her daughter run the stud side now, and TBH, i dont think her mum knows whats going on, i need to somehow tell the owner without her getting on the defensive as its her daughter!
Re the livery, she said she wouldnt charge me as much as last time, but we would discuss it after we knew how long she will be there - and even though they offer grass livery, the wont let her be on it as it is 'easier' for her to be on full stabled livery.
The vets never did call so i am going to pester them again!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top