Artificial Insemination
At Kynaston we prefer to keep the stallions separate from the mares and foals, not allowing them to run together during the breeding season . We find that this allows us to control the covering much more effectively; and with a degree of veterinary input, has enabled us to gain success with several sub fertile mares. Prior to this year we covered most of our mares in hand, teasing the mares and covering every other day when in season. This system works well for most mares but we had to adapt it to suit the older mares that often have poor fertility; and the occasional mare that refuses the advances of the stallion. Our vet scans these ‘difficult’ mares as they come into season and continues until they are at the point of ovulation.
We then cover them once, at the perfect time in their cycle, reducing the volume of post covering fluid that the mare needs to get rid of . We scan again 24 hours later, to check for ovulation and any fluid in the uterus. We use a combination of oxytocin and low volume lavage to remove excess uterine fluid. The increased Veterinary input of this system has allowed us to get mares in foal that had previously been written off as infertile. We routinely scan all mares at 15 days post covering, this ensures that we spot any twin pregnancies and can deal with them, it also means that we are ready to deal with any empty mares as soon as they come back in to oestrus. A second scan at 28 days is then done to check for a heartbeat and a viable pregnancy.
With the investment of a dummy mare and AV for the stallions. Meaning that we can now collect semen for artificial insemination. The benefits of this approach are obvious as it removes the potential danger of injury to mare, stallion or handler during the covering process. We use an ‘isperm’ to check each ejaculate as it is collected. This means that we can check concentration and motility of the sperm and can be very quick to spot potential problems of sperm production with the stallions. We have copied the system used by sport horse breeders for decades. The mare owners notify us when their mares are ready for insemination. We collect from the stallion, extend and chill the semen, then send via Royal Mail for next day delivery. Their vet then inseminates the mare the following day.
The success of AI in the Dales pony, like any other equine, is time critical and relies on the services of an experienced reproduction Vet for your mare. Due to the size of the mares, scanning is straight forward compared with other native ponies; the stallions are relatively easy to train to use the dummy and an AV and the semen appears to chill and transport well. We believe that AI will help improve the genetic diversity of our breed by increasing the number of individual stallions that are available to mare owners. Mares can be scanned and covered at home, removing the need to transport them to stud. This is especially important when mares have young foals at foot. Semen can be easily sent throughout the country so geography and cost of transporting horses is no longer a factor to consider. We would be very happy to accept visiting stallions for dummy training and stand them for AI if the demand was there. Feel free to get in touch if this is of interest.
