Page 74 - 2020 Stallion Register

Preparing Your
Mare For Breeding
Season -
The Barren Mare
by Tom Goncharoff
If at all possible, put your mares under lights around the middle of November. This will
help with getting the barren and maiden mares cycling and ready for the beginning of breeding season. See the attached handout from Tularosa Equine titled: “Inducing early cyclicity in mares” for more detail. If you are unable to put your mares in a barn or outside paddock under adequate lighting, Equilume offers a light mask (similar to blinkers) that is very effective. www. equilume.com. Basically, you’re simulating springtime daylight conditions when mares would cycle normally. A total of 16 hours of daylight plus lighting is what you’re trying to achieve. Also, in the Tularosa Equine handout, in the last paragraph, is a mention of using hor- mones to “program” your mares using hormone therapy. We learned about this method while we were in Kentucky and it is VERY effective. Essentially, by following this procedure, you can schedule when your mare will be ready to be bred. As mentioned in the handout, 85%- 90% of mares will ovulate using this regimen. Having your mares ready to be bred early in the breeding season gives you more chances to have an in-foal mare.
1. Feed the thin mare to improve ovulation
2. Culture / Biopsy Cytology: prior to breeding
season when the mare is in heat. This will allow time to treat any uterine infection that may be present. A spec exam should also
be performed to examine the cervix for any abnormalities.
3. Make sure the mare is up to date on worm- ing and vaccinations.
4. If you are hauling your mare to a stallion, a current coggins is required.
The Maiden Mare
All of the recommendations for preparing the barren mare would apply with the possible exception of doing a uterine culture. Some stallion farms will require a negative uterine culture regardless of whether the mare is barren or a maiden.
72 New Mexico Horse Breeder
Post Breeding Care Worksheet
1. Ultrasound for pregnancy starting at 14–16 days post ovulation. This is when twins can be detected and reduced. Waiting too long makes the reduction of a twin more difficult and can result in the loss of the pregnancy and you’ll end up with a barren mare. Follow up with pregnancy exams at: 21, 28, 35, 42 and 60 days. If twins are detected, your veterinarian may recommend additional ultrasound exams. Remember, the most expensive mare is the one that didn’t result in a pregnancy and a live foal.
2. Vaccinate the pregnant mare for Rhinopneumonitis at 5,, 7, and 9 months of gestation. Vaccinate for Rotavirus at 8, 9, and 10 months of gestation. At 10 months of gestation, vaccinate for Eastern and Western encephalomy− elitis, West Nile, rabies, flu and rhino. This helps protect the in−utero foal by increasing colostrum absorption by 400%.
3. Once the mare is determined to be pregnant, she should be evalu− ated as to whether a caslick is needed. A caslick means that the lips of the mare’s vulva are sutured together to prevent fecal and air contamination that can lead to a uterine infection.
4. Try to keep your breeding mares segregated from other horses on your property if you have horses coming and going. Even if your mare is vacci− nated for rhino, contact with an infected horse can cause abortion. Symptoms of rhino can be as innocuous as a snotty nose, so it pays to be careful.
Takeaways
Keep good records – teasing, results of palpations and ultrasound exams, breeding dates, vaccination and worming, etc.
Communicate – with your veterinarian, stallion farm, etc.
There’s a book we can recommend for both experienced and folks new to breeding mares is: “Blessed Are The Broodmares” by M. Phyllis Lose.
Another good resource is available on the AQHA’s eBooks website called Mare Care and Breeding Tips.
Thanks to Walter Zent DVM, Hagyard, Davidson, Mcgee, Lexington, KY, Leah Starr DVM, Tularosa Equine Clinic, and Leslie Goncharoff, Crystal Springs Farm, Tularosa, NM.