What facilities have you got?

AndyPandy

AndyPandy

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Morning all... just doing another bit of informal research...

Of you guys that would call yourselves "breeders", what facilities do you have at your yards?

*Mare stocks?
*Dummy mare?
*Laboratory?
*Foaling boxes?

If you could just write a couple of lines about what you do, how many you breed, and what facilities you have, that would be really great. Might be interesting too
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*Mare stocks - Yes
*Dummy mare - Looking at getting one
*Laboratory - Looking at putting one in place
*Foaling boxes - All our stables are big enough for foaling with CCTV cameras

We breed of our own mares 10-12. Looking at setting up more of an AI base for ourselves and clients.
 
Yes to mare stocks. A small lab area for quality checking. We have foaling boxes with CCTV(Plus right under our window!) We dont have a dummy at the moment, we sent it back as JPwont jump one. Luckily will collect off the floor.
Will look to get one if next colt pans out and he will do the deed, although we are debating which way to expand at the moment ewither to take stallions in or expand the AI centre, we already take in outside mares.
 
Morning!

Breeding is my hobby in that it is not a business, so all for my benefit and as such had to be multi usable and cheap, so not for clients, a slightly different slant on things for you.

I have two larger boxes I grandly call 'my foaling boxes' and since last summer when Tiger was staying here, we adapted another to have home made stocks in to make it much easier for the vet; those 'stocks' have stayed, can't think why I hadn't had them done before; well, I can, OH couldn't be bothered!
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but all it took was two planks of wood, some fittings and a slideable door! My fencing is either strong thick hedges or post and rail (helps having fencers for family!)
 
Have foaling boxes, but don't use them, all of ours foal outside in a field which is on a slight hill to make it easier for them, if the weather is bad they are brought in. Stallion covers all his mares naturally and we have a stock of about 8 broodmares. We have an indoor school, a scanning crush with an area next to it to put any foals at foot in so mare doesn't get stressed. Don't have an onsite lab as we don't do AI. We have heat lamps that are put up if needed in stables and cctv which again is put up if needed.
 
*Mare stocks? Yes would be lost without them
*Dummy mare? No b ut will be getting one in the next 1-2 years
*Laboratory? Not yet but again in a couple of years will be looking at installing a lab area
*Foaling boxes? Yes several of them - ll with cctv

We breed around 10-12 of our own mares a year, plus have mares in to foal down. Next year as wel as our own 12 mares we have 3 liveries foaling down too.
 
Mare Stocks - Yes essential for anyone breeding on a regular basis IMO.

Dummy Mare - Almost, getting one really soon!

Laboratory - Planned for the near future!

Foaling Boxes - Yes also essential IMO.

Had 17 foals this year, usually average breeding 12 a year, we are expecting 10 next year (lower number due to my health problems this year)

Also very lucky to have one of the best repro vets and clinics in the country on the doorstep, as well as the best ET centre and also a lesser known but extremely talented reproductive physiologist who is getting as good as results as the repro vet
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I don't stand my stallion publicly so absolutely no facilities at all. Stallion pasture breeds and mares foal outside unless circumstances dictate otherwise. Three indoor 20 x 11 foaling boxes if need be, but that's it. Back yard breeding at it's best I am afraid. I do have an excellent Equine Vet 10 minutes down the road (when he is at home and not 4 hours away on a call) so I would say that actually, he IS my best facility.
 
Sorry - I just answered the basic points and didn't add anything about what the stud breeds, numbers, problems, etc.

The stud where Tobago stands only stands two stallions at the moment, Tobago (3yo in-hand-champion Arab) and Med Night Mahout (advanced eventer by Jumbo).

Tobago is AI only, and most of his breedings are by shipped chilled semen. 'Hootie' does more covering in hand (I don't call it 'natural' covering, cos it isn't) and on-site AI.

Tobago has been dummy-trained and will now mount the dummy-mare 'on demand', without the need for an in-season jump-mare.

But Hootie refuses to go near the dummy. So one of the stud's problems is not always having a jump-mare in season when a collection is needed. Fine if the stud manager is given enough notice, as she can jab something into season; not so great when breeders ring at the last minute.

I think dummy-training would be a useful service for you to offer, especially if this could be a 'mobile' service - i.e. if you could train stallions at their own homes. Not sure people realize how difficult it can be to get this right. And reasonably priced dummies would be good - mine cost a bl**dy fortune! If you offered maybe a 'package' of dummy-plus-training...?

Oh - numbers - Tobago had about 20 mares this year (his first season) and has about 20 already booked for 2008, so next season will be even busier. Hootie I think covers about a dozen or so mares each year.

Sorry - no idea if this is helpful info or not!
 
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...'Hootie' does more covering in hand (I don't call it 'natural' covering, cos it isn't) ...

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I think dummy-training would be a useful service for you to offer, especially if this could be a 'mobile' service - i.e. if you could train stallions at their own homes. Not sure people realize how difficult it can be to get this right. And reasonably priced dummies would be good - mine cost a bl**dy fortune! If you offered maybe a 'package' of dummy-plus-training...?

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Offering it as of January
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Sorry - no idea if this is helpful info or not!

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It is, as always: thank you
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He he AP you are way ahead of me, as usual!
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I've just checked out your new website and all the mobile services sound wonderful!!
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I think lots of stallion owners will take you up on the dummy-training offer.
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And your AI package for mares sounds fab as well - it can be so hard to find a really good stud-vet/AI specialist - especially for frozen semen!
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What area of the country will you be covering? I am hoping to be able to persuade more breeders to use frozen semen from Tobago this year - it's so much less wear-and-tear on my little boy (not that he's complaining LOL) - but so many vets are reluctant to use frozen. If I could recommend your AI package, it would really help a lot!
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He he AP you are way ahead of me, as usual!
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Not at all - it's just that great minds think alike
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I've just checked out your new website and all the mobile services sound wonderful!!
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I think lots of stallion owners will take you up on the dummy-training offer.
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Why thank you
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We should be offering even more services by 2008. I'm really excited about the potential of the post-castration semen collections.

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What area of the country will you be covering? I am hoping to be able to persuade more breeders to use frozen semen from Tobago this year...

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We're starting in Gloucestershire and the surrounding areas, but the plan is to have bases around the UK. I've already been talking to the lovely Anastasia about spending a week up in Scotlandshire doing some freezing, AI etc.

It's all very exciting, but will be a very new experience
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At work we have 12 yards of between 20 and 40 boxes a yard. Each yard has padded stocks and a padded foal pen at the mares head. No dummy mares as it's a TB stud! The foaling unit has 22 foaling boxes, one box has fostering stocks, which this year had to be used for 4 foals
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First time they've been used for 6 years apparently. The stallion unit has a small lab.

Where my horses are, there are 2 foaling boxes and some stocks.
 
We have an area that has a gate that swings and locks the mare in for the vet (foal is loose in the box)
We should have put stocks in when we started concreting the new stable block but annoyingly didn't think of it until later..
We have a high well fenced trying area between fields.
our new boxes will have one box 16 x 12 so should be ok with that.
We tend to foal our mares outside and so it would only be used either in emergency or sick foal or terrible weather.
We have one stallion, mostly to use on our own five mares, but take occasional visiting mares, we wouldn't like to get any bigger..
Our main aim is to breed "nice" horses that the average rider can enjoy, not world beaters, there are already hundreds of people attempting to do that, so for us an all rounder that will do BE, BD and lower levels of BSJA yet be sane enough to be ridden by a Riding club type rider is the aim.
Funnily enough since we stopped trying to breed fantastic horses we seem to have had some really good ones..
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Very few of ours ever change hands once sold, their owners like them too much, but with CCJ now aiming to compete at higher levels on the homebreds we should see if they are any good...
One thing I do know, I'm selling them way too cheap.. A stallion who we know well and who we have competed against all season is currently for sale for over £20k
How can that be when it didn't beat us even once?
With our new "posh" yard our prices will go a lot higher from 2008...I am sick of seeing people get high prices for stuff that's nowhere near as talented as some of ours!
 
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