Page 35 - 22 March 2013

JUVENILE SIRES
Preparing the Young Stallion for Breeding
“You want the stallion to be athletically fit, with good endurance, so he can handle the breeding season . . .”
Heather Smith Thomas resides on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. As a freelance writer for many years, her equine health and man- agement articles are a regular feature in Speedhorse Magazine.
by Heather Smith Thomas
Most young stallions that begin a breeding career have already proven themselves in a racing or performance career. If the young
horse has done well on the racetrack during his 2 and 3-year-old years, he may begin breeding mares as a 4-year-old. Before entering the breeding shed, he needs some re-training, a fertility evaluation, and some time to refocus on his new job.
Dr. Ryan Coy of Royal Vista Southwest in Purcell, Oklahoma, specializes in equine reproduction. “If the horse is coming off the track, it is important to try to maintain him in good condition but not let him get fat. Proper nutrition is crucial for optimum fertility,” says Coy. This will generally include a good vitamin- mineral supplement, enough concentrate (grain/sweet feed) for energy, and some good quality hay.
“If there is any question about his condition or how well he is doing, you should consult with an equine nutritionist. The young stallion should be in good flesh and preferably gaining weight rather than losing weight, but not obese. Excess fat is detrimental to fertility,” he explains.
“It’s also important to have the young stallion on a good fitness program that is part of his daily life, so it’s not a new routine just before the breeding season. If this particular horse is very active and a good self- exerciser, he may just need daily turnout in a place where he can see the world and run around his pen. If he is more sedate and not as likely to self-exercise, he needs a specific exercise program,” says Coy. This could be accomplished with 15 minutes in a round pen at a trot, being led along a track from a cart, or whatever works for your time and facilities.
“You want the stallion to be athletically fit, with good endurance, so he can handle the breeding season, being collected every other day for 6 months. You don’t want him to wash out halfway through the season,” explains Coy.
If you are planning to start breeding mares early in the season, it’s also important to have a proper photo-period for the stallion with enough light hours (actual and artificial) for his body to think it’s spring. Being under lights is just as crucial for him as it is
for mares during the short days of winter, to be more ready for the coming breeding season. Horses, both mares and stallions, are seasonal breeders and you can’t expect them to be optimally fertile very early in the year unless they’ve been under lights.
“It takes 60 days to produce a sperm cell, from beginning to end. Thus, a stallion needs to be
prepared ahead of time. He should go under lights the same times the mares do - not just for his hair coat, but to optimize sperm production,” says Coy.
The longer photo-period simulates the longer days of spring and summer, triggering hormone produc- tion. “A 16-hour photo-period increases gonadotropin releasing hormone production by the hypothalamus. GnRH released by the hypothalamus acts upon the pituitary to produce the gonadatropes (LH and FSH), which act upon the testicles to stimulate growth, hor- mone (testosterone) and sperm production. With the increased photo-period, we are trying to maximize the production of GnRH by the hypothalamus and gonadotropes available for release by the pituitary for maximizing sperm production early in the breeding season and throughout. The stallion will also feel better if his hair is not long and shaggy going into
the breeding season. He’ll cool out more quickly after being hot and sweaty in the breeding shed,” says Coy.
“The stallion should also have a breeding sound- ness evaluation prior to the breeding season. This exam should probably be no later than January.” The evaluation will be important to assess his potential fertility, and also for his training as a breeding stal- lion. In all of his earlier experience, he was trained to not be a stallion so he could perform as an athlete and not pay attention to mares.
“Now he must be trained to the breeding shed, where he understands that it’s okay to be a stallion. We can assess his behavior to see if he is timid or aggressive and modify his program accordingly; whether he needs more exposure to mares and more encouragement, or needs to have more control of his behavior,” says Coy.
Some stallions get along better with certain han- dlers, and occasionally the owner may need to find a different person to handle the stallion for breeding. “In the show horse world, the trainers are not the people you want handling the stallion in the breeding shed.
In the racing industry, the trainers also are usually not associated with a breeding program.” Often a specific person handles the breeding stallions on a farm, and it’s best if that person has the patience and understanding to deal with the young inexperienced stallion.
“Before we do an actual breeding soundness exam and focus on the collection and to see if the stallion has enough sperm cells, we need to assess the whole horse. We assess his behavior and also his musculo- skeletal soundness to know if he is structurally sound. If he is sore in the hocks or the back, for instance, he
SPEEDHORSE, March 22, 2013 33
EQUINE HEALTH