Problem mare

[Shakira38]

Need some advice/opinions guys.

My mare is 14 and has previously bred one foal before I owned her. I have done remarkably well in the ring with her and have had her graded with CHAPS and BSPA as I decided I would love a foal of hers. A few years ago I tried with two stallions. The first was by AI and she never took. I spent a heck of a lot of money on scanning etc at my vets however did learn a few things (her follicles get to about 5.5cm and she'll hang on to them for a few days and won't respond to being jabbed off and also she gets a build up of uterine fluid after covering and needs flushing) The second stallion that same year we tried naturally thinking maybe she needs the full monty for her hormones to work correctly and take. We never actually got to flush her out on the try we had as fell over a bank holiday.

So this year I have plucked up the courage to try again. Have a super stallion I'm using and is being done naturally. I have borrowed a pony stallion to use to tease her with as she won't show her seasons otherwise and last Monday she came in. We covered her Wednesday and Friday and I took her to the vets Saturday morning to have her scanned and flushed if necessary (which it was-a lot of fluid). On scanning the vet said her uterus felt very soft like she was still in season however when he went to flush her he said her cervix was quite hard and barely open. The scan showed no signs of having gone off nor any largish follicles. So the question is, did he miss the follicle and she has gone off (hence the hard, closed cervix) or is she having an abnormal season. I will find the answer out to that one tomorrow when I tease her again with the pony. My vet has said if she is still in not to cover her this season and just monitor it.

Money unfortunately for me isn't a bottomless pit for getting her in foal. I would love her foal dearly but I've already spent in excess of £500 on scanning/flushing the other year so yes I want to be sensible. Being that I know she builds up fluid has anyone got a mare similar to mine in foal without constant scanning/flushing after covering? This is something the stallion owners have suggested but really and truthfully could she hold an embryo is she gets so much fluid?

So frustrated with it all already and it's only March!

Any help/advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[DuckToller]

Can't really offer much advice as I am not hugely knowledgeable. I have only bred a foal once before, some 15 years ago, and now currently got a mare in foal due this year, but both had fluid after covering, and both were treated successfully.

My current mare didn't take with the first two coverings - I don't think they scanned her afterwards as it was early in the season so there was no great rush to find out why. With the third covering they scanned, discovered fluid, so she was flushed and treated with antibiotics (I think!). Fortunately she held the embryo and is due in June.

Not sure if this helps, but thought I'd answer just so you had a response

 

[mynutmeg]

My first thought would be whether you've had swabs and cytology done? She maybe has something going on in the utereus which is causeing problems.
Have a look on here https://www.facebook.com/groups/EquineRepro/ There are some very, very experienced people in this group who really know their stuff - Jos who runs it is amazing and knows so much and will be able to give good advice on how to proceed with your mare.

Good luck

 

[Shakira38]

Haha yes thank you. She has been flushed this time, had a broad spectrum anti biotics put 'in there' and had a jab of oxytocin. Just so hard to weigh up the nature verses nuture! Do I keep getting her scanned and flushed or do I just keep trying and hoping!

 

[Shakira38]

My first thought would be whether you've had swabs and cytology done? She maybe has something going on in the utereus which is causeing problems.
Have a look on here https://www.facebook.com/groups/EquineRepro/ There are some very, very experienced people in this group who really know their stuff - Jos who runs it is amazing and knows so much and will be able to give good advice on how to proceed with your mare.

Good luck

Thank you. Def look at that link in a sec. I wanted to look into having a camera in to look but my vet was against it. Said it could just have been 'one of those years' and that if I did look into it I needed to have a swab done while she was in season, then biopsy and then camera :/

 

[HBM1]

How many years ago did you last try? If it was 2011, a lot of mares did not get in foal that season, or struggled to.

 

[sallyf]

Need some advice/opinions guys.

My mare is 14 and has previously bred one foal before I owned her. I have done remarkably well in the ring with her and have had her graded with CHAPS and BSPA as I decided I would love a foal of hers. A few years ago I tried with two stallions. The first was by AI and she never took. I spent a heck of a lot of money on scanning etc at my vets however did learn a few things (her follicles get to about 5.5cm and she'll hang on to them for a few days and won't respond to being jabbed off and also she gets a build up of uterine fluid after covering and needs flushing) The second stallion that same year we tried naturally thinking maybe she needs the full monty for her hormones to work correctly and take. We never actually got to flush her out on the try we had as fell over a bank holiday.

So this year I have plucked up the courage to try again. Have a super stallion I'm using and is being done naturally. I have borrowed a pony stallion to use to tease her with as she won't show her seasons otherwise and last Monday she came in. We covered her Wednesday and Friday and I took her to the vets Saturday morning to have her scanned and flushed if necessary (which it was-a lot of fluid). On scanning the vet said her uterus felt very soft like she was still in season however when he went to flush her he said her cervix was quite hard and barely open. The scan showed no signs of having gone off nor any largish follicles. So the question is, did he miss the follicle and she has gone off (hence the hard, closed cervix) or is she having an abnormal season. I will find the answer out to that one tomorrow when I tease her again with the pony. My vet has said if she is still in not to cover her this season and just monitor it.

Money unfortunately for me isn't a bottomless pit for getting her in foal. I would love her foal dearly but I've already spent in excess of £500 on scanning/flushing the other year so yes I want to be sensible. Being that I know she builds up fluid has anyone got a mare similar to mine in foal without constant scanning/flushing after covering? This is something the stallion owners have suggested but really and truthfully could she hold an embryo is she gets so much fluid?

So frustrated with it all already and it's only March!

Any help/advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Your mare sounds like she is having a transitional cycle.
Which means she is cycling but coming out of winter and it is a non ovulatory cycle.
Unless your mare has been under lights to stimulate her coming into season properly March is still pretty early and many mares will still be transitional well into April.

 

[Shakira38]

Your mare sounds like she is having a transitional cycle.
Which means she is cycling but coming out of winter and it is a non ovulatory cycle.
Unless your mare has been under lights to stimulate her coming into season properly March is still pretty early and many mares will still be transitional well into April.

I'm pleased you said that Sallyf as that is pretty much what I have been thinking. Gutted as it's a waste of time and money what we tried this go but we have tried! She is still standing/squirting/winking today for the pony. I think I'm going to tease her and note when she comes out (eventually) and try on her next season. Do you think it's still worth scanning and flushing her on the next go?

 

[Shakira38]

How many years ago did you last try? If it was 2011, a lot of mares did not get in foal that season, or struggled to.

Yep 2011 HBM1

 

[Spring Feather]

Your weather is different from ours obviously, but our broodmares don't have true heats until around the end of April/beginning of May. I never breed from transitional heats as experience has taught me it's a total waste of time and money. I much prefer May breedings anyway as by April the weather has warmed up and the ground is dry; much better environment for a foal to be born into. I have one broodmare who will be at her due date within the next few days but thankfully she seems to be holding off for the moment which is great news as the temperatures look to be going up into nearly +c degrees by the end of this week.

 

[Adina]

My mare has foal due in July, but we had problems getting her to cycle last year. Like yours she has silent seasons, which makes things difficult to start with. Scans showed that she wasn't cycling properly in May! She ended up having hormone treatment including an implant. She failed to take on first AI, but took on second. This a mare that took first time for both her previous foals. Suggest you leave things a month until she is nolonger transient.

 

[Rollin]

One of my CB mares used to have silent seasons, we did put her i/f by natural covering in France after AI failed.

I know this is not normal in the UK but I run both my CB and Shagya stallions with certain mares not all. It is one good solution for a 'silent' mare if you have a suitable well behaved stallion.

 

[Geema]

Need some advice/opinions guys.

My mare is 14 and has previously bred one foal before I owned her. I have done remarkably well in the ring with her and have had her graded with CHAPS and BSPA as I decided I would love a foal of hers. A few years ago I tried with two stallions. The first was by AI and she never took. I spent a heck of a lot of money on scanning etc at my vets however did learn a few things (her follicles get to about 5.5cm and she'll hang on to them for a few days and won't respond to being jabbed off and also she gets a build up of uterine fluid after covering and needs flushing) The second stallion that same year we tried naturally thinking maybe she needs the full monty for her hormones to work correctly and take. We never actually got to flush her out on the try we had as fell over a bank holiday.

So this year I have plucked up the courage to try again. Have a super stallion I'm using and is being done naturally. I have borrowed a pony stallion to use to tease her with as she won't show her seasons otherwise and last Monday she came in. We covered her Wednesday and Friday and I took her to the vets Saturday morning to have her scanned and flushed if necessary (which it was-a lot of fluid). On scanning the vet said her uterus felt very soft like she was still in season however when he went to flush her he said her cervix was quite hard and barely open. The scan showed no signs of having gone off nor any largish follicles. So the question is, did he miss the follicle and she has gone off (hence the hard, closed cervix) or is she having an abnormal season. I will find the answer out to that one tomorrow when I tease her again with the pony. My vet has said if she is still in not to cover her this season and just monitor it.

Money unfortunately for me isn't a bottomless pit for getting her in foal. I would love her foal dearly but I've already spent in excess of £500 on scanning/flushing the other year so yes I want to be sensible. Being that I know she builds up fluid has anyone got a mare similar to mine in foal without constant scanning/flushing after covering? This is something the stallion owners have suggested but really and truthfully could she hold an embryo is she gets so much fluid?

So frustrated with it all already and it's only March!

Any help/advice appreciated.

Thanks in advance

If you have access to the teaser stallion after she has been covered, teasing is a very good way to help a mare shift fluid naturally. (money saving tip!)