Vets or stud?

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Fattie_Hattie

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Just a query as to where people prefer to send their mare to be inseminated. I have a second mare going to stud in the new year and not sure whether to go stud or the vets. If I was using chilled/ fresh the logical option would be stud but it will more than likely be frozen and there isn't much of a chance of getting chilled next season. The mare will be a 14 year old maiden so which do you all think is the best option?

Thanks in advance!
 
We sent our two for AI to a stud - I think it's helpful because they can really keep tabs on their cycle, and do the deed at the right time!
 
I sent my mare to the vets, but then I'm lucky that I have one of the countries best repro vets 5 minutes from my house. It worked out cheaper than stud for me.
 
I think my stud was cheaper as she was in foal first time,and who knows how long you would be faffing about with a regular vet. That may be unfair to regualr vets! At the stud, if using frozen, they scanned at mid night if they thought it was necessary, you probably wouldn't do that at home.
 
It would very much depend on which vets or which stud to be perfectly honest. I would check the results/experience that all your options have with frozen as well as checking the fertility of the stallion using frozen as not all freeze well.
 
It wouldn't matter to me, I would choose according to their experience tbh. Lots of studs have a lot of mares so there is a Vet visiting daily so the difference in costs would be negligable.
 
It would depend on the vet and the stud.

I used frozen semen for my mares 7 years ago and sent them to the vet but my vet is an experience AI practice and has lots of experience of frozen semen.

The mares were both injected in so that we would have a good idea of when they were going to ovulate - they were taken into the practice on an overnight stay and were scanned every 2 hours so that they could be inseminated at exactly the right time. 1 was inseminated at 3.00am and the other at 6.00am - both were successfully in foal.

If an experienced stud had a vet in situ and could offer the same sort of service then I'd consider it.
 
Fattie_Hattie said:
Just a query as to where people prefer to send their mare to be inseminated. I have a second mare going to stud in the new year and not sure whether to go stud or the vets. If I was using chilled/ fresh the logical option would be stud but it will more than likely be frozen and there isn't much of a chance of getting chilled next season. The mare will be a 14 year old maiden so which do you all think is the best option?

Thanks in advance!
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Depends where you are based and which vets you use.
Frozen isn't difficult and on the whole conception rates are good but you do need to use a vet that is very competant.
As someone that used to to be a big AI centre we did a lot of frozen inseminations on site with around 75 % getting in foal to one insemination which is comparable to chilled.
We still breed but as a small semi private stud and still do frozen and indeed ET at home but my vets which are some of the best in the UK are within 5 mins of us and we obviously have the facilities (stocks etc) to make the job easier.
Some mares don't settle in a veterinary enviroment so do better on an experienced stud that is used to doing frozen inseminations.
I know when we first tried it umpteen years ago , my broodmares just wouldn't settle in that setting and threw persistant follicles because of the stress.
Not something that ever happened at home.
What i am trying to say is there is a lot to factor in , most importantly the mare and how she responds in certain situations.
When we did it on a big scale we often swapped mares around till we found a field or group of mares they settled with.
 
Whilst on something of an HHO sabbatical! I can't let this thread go by without comment.

All the points raised by sallyf are entirely correct, but I feel that there's room to add to them;
We had a 'visiting' Vet claim a 75-85% success rate. 11 attempts and not one conception, and with various mares. We sent our mares to a stud, and despite them arriving with cycling and uterine infection problems, not one failure. Each and every mare was home within no time at all, and though the initial costs sounded high, laid against the cost of repeated failure, it was a cheap deal.
A 'competent' stud will be supported by 'equally' competent vets.
Though I have nothing, by way of evidence, to support my beliefs, most competent AI studs will have entire horses standing with them, and I am convinced that it's the presence of stallions on a yard which will encourage mares, or perhaps 'trip' them, into a full cycle with a correct ovulation, and will allow a successful mating. Why else would our apparently 'silent' mares at home, be screaming in season whilst at stud? Why else do the larger TB studs ALWAYS have an entire horse (or even a Shetland pony stallion) on the premises?

Why are we so frightened of using frozen semen? Why is it that a mare needs to be inseminated with frozen at 02:00 in the morning? The simple fact is that she doesn't. With a focused 'prep' carried out for the mare, her vital timing can be brought to the stage that she can be AId and at the stud's and the vet's convenience and with frozen semen. It's quite simply, a matter of focus.

I really don't believe that ANY stud with 100+ mares and with a staff of perhaps 2 grooms can give the attention to detail and timing which is vital to success.

Groomsbridge Stud provided a service which I really didn't believe was available. Sadly, we've given up breeding, but in the unlikely event that we re-start, I will never rely upon home-AI again.

Alec.
 
Ask what their conception rates are.
I used a stud for all of mine but they have an outstanding stud vet who works largely out of the stud as it is a defra approved collection station for export.
They do a comprehensive 3 cycle package deal that is really inexpensive compared to many places - why - because they get most of them in foal first cycle.
 
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