Page 47 - NMHBA Spring 2020

Teaching young stallions the correct way to behave in the breeding shed is imperative to ensuring that we reinforce good behavior and a safe environment. One way to do this is to have a dedicated halter and lead shank set-up for breeding and a different one for other day-to-day events.
Ideally, broodmares should maintain a body condition of 5-6 early in their pregnancy, so providing enough time for the mare to develop a little more flesh and cover will be helpful in the long run of the breeding season.
but have minimal follicular activity or are in transition? Implementing a lighting program prior to the start of the breeding season is incredibly helpful to get the reproductive cycle jump started early. Since mares want to cycle in the springtime, we have to make their brains believe that spring has come early. Providing artificial light to prolong the “daylight” period does just this. By ensuring that mares have 16 hours of light starting in mid November for
60 days allows the mare to begin cycling in
late winter rather than early or mid spring. A good rule of thumb is to have the lights come on at 4pm and go off at 11pm and ensure it’s bright enough to read newsprint in the darkest corner of the stall (or pen). Many mares will begin to cycle on their own with nothing more than that 60 days longer light. Yet, many mares benefit from the addition of implementation of a programming protocol to gain control of their estrus cycle and bypass the normal transitional estrus period at the end of anestrus. This can be achieved by utilizing a combination of the hormones progesterone and estradiol, also known as P&E.
Mares who have just come off the track
fall into 1 of 2 categories. They either get
right with the program, cycle and get in foal, or they don’t. Regardless of the tactics we use to try to coerce their reproductive cycle into doing things the way we want; some mares
are just not reproductively mature enough to cooperate. Also, this isn’t a fool-proof system and sometimes mares do not respond like
we expect them to. These mares are going to require time and a large helping of patience during the breeding season, and that may mean even waiting another year for everything to line up just right.
Stallions: Every once in a while, we are fortunate to encounter a stallion who has value as a stallion prospect but still has some miles
left on the tires in his racing career. If you
want to breed during the breeding season and continue racing the rest of the year, the best way to approach this is with very specific training
in the breeding shed. Colts and stallions on the track know their expected behavior. They know that the girls exist, but they also know better than to acknowledge their presence. These guys tend to be very well behaved in general and not “stud-y,” thus their reward of being allowed to remain stallions; and the grooms and trainers have worked hard to get them to continue to act like gentlemen. When we come into the breed- ing shed, all those behaviors that have been discouraged previously, now need to be encour- aged (teasing on mares, dropping, mounting etc.). So how do we teach a stallion to breed
and not completely blow his mind when he
goes back into the “general population” of the racetrack setting? I often encourage folks when we are teaching a stallion (regardless of if they are going back to the track, or the show ring, or only be a stallion for the rest of their career) to have a dedicated halter and lead shank set-up for breeding and a different one for other day-to- day events. For example, we will often run the chain through the stallion’s mouth when going to the breeding shed and/or teasing, whereas we would elect to use a lip chain or a chain over the nose (or no chain at all) for the rest of his daily activities. Putting the chain in the stallion’s mouth becomes the indicator that he’s going
to the shed and thus breeding shed behavior is appropriate. He will learn that unless the chain
is in the mouth, normal everyday behavior is expected. As with any training technique, routine and repetition are our friends. Teaching these young stallions, the correct way to behave in the breeding shed each and every time they enter is imperative to ensuring that we reinforce good behavior and a safe environment.
Changes in diet are the two primary causes of colic. We should be mindful to ease mares into their new way of life by making feeding changes gradually over 7-10 days.
One commonly overlooked area of husbandry is providing dental care for these mares. The mouth is the first step of the digestive process, and it is difficult to gain weight when your mouth is in rough shape.
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