Category Archives: breeding problems

Monitoring for EVA

Posted: | September 23, 2023

Does Routine Monitoring for EVA Make a Difference? With the announcement this week of an outbreak of equine viral arteritis in PEI in Canada, a very reasonable question to ask is “does routine monitoring for EVA make a difference?” At the recent ISER meeting in Brazil, Kaps et al. reviewed the effects of monitoring and management practices on… Read More »

EVA Outbreak in Canada

Posted: | September 22, 2023

Canadian Equine Viral Arteritis! There has been an EVA outbreak in Canada reported in Prince Edward Island. Equine Viral Arteritis is predominantly a respiratory disease, which has reproductive implications. Symptoms vary dramatically from none (“asymptomatic”) to a wide variety which may present as any combination of the following: elevated temperature, depression, loss of appetite. Affected animals may also… Read More »

Endometrial Biopsy in the Mare

Posted: | September 2, 2023

Endometrial Biopsy in the Mare – is one sample enough? An endometrial biopsy in the mare is a useful diagnostic to determine cellular health of the uterine lining which will be directly responsible for pregnancy maintenance once placentation has occurred. The biopsy score is correlated to the likelihood of live foal production by use of different scales, such… Read More »

Older Subfertile Mares

Posted: | August 19, 2023

Improve Pregnancy Rates in Older Subfertile Mares! How can one improve pregnancy rates in older subfertile mares? This category of mare is notorious for having lower pregnancy rates, and this becomes even more annoying when one is performing a higher-cost procedure such as embryo transfer. A perennial question therefore is “can we improve pregnancy rates in those older… Read More »

Dead Sperm

Posted: | August 6, 2023

Dead Sperm Do Not Cause Greater Uterine Immune Response! We know that sperm are the primary instigator for initiating the mare’s post-breeding uterine inflammatory response[1], but one not infrequently hears commentary to the effect of concerns that there may be a greater response if the insemination dose contains a higher number of dead sperm. Cousseau et al have… Read More »

Obese Mares

Posted: | August 6, 2023

Obese Mares Have More Problems Than We Thought! It has been previously documented that obese mares have a higher tendency towards early embryonic death, particularly in hot weather and this has been put down to the core temperature of these mare potentially being higher than other mares, with a negative impact on embryo survival[1]. At ISER XIII Meikle… Read More »

Vulval Conformation and Caslick’s Procedure

Posted: | November 2, 2021

Vulval Conformation, Common Vulval Injuries and the Caslick’s Procedure – Vulval Conformation and the Caslick’s Procedure are important aspects to consider, especially when breeding older multiparous mares By Jonathan F Pycock, BVetMed, PhD, DESM, MRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Equine Reproduction In the normal mare the vulva provides the first effective barrier to protect the uterus from ascending infection.… Read More »

Contagious Equine Metritis – CEM

Posted: | October 31, 2021

Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) – A notifiable disease, Contagious Equine Metritis poses a significant threat for domestic breeders and international trade. By Jos Mottershead and Kathy St. Martin History In the spring of 1977 a previously unidentified genital infection of the equine was observed in the United Kingdom and Ireland in Thoroughbreds. Mares were being found not pregnant… Read More »

Equine Viral Arteritis

Posted: | October 22, 2021

Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA) – a detailed and descriptive article about equine viral arteritis (EVA), a disease which has severe negative reproductive implications. By: Kathy St.Martina, Jos Mottersheada, Dr. Peter Timoneyb aEquine-Reproduction.com LLC, Wynnewood, OK 73098, USA; bDepartment of Veterinary Science, Gluck Equine Research Center, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546, USA… Read More »

Uterine Cytology Diagnostics in the Mare Explained

Posted: | March 14, 2021

Why Perform a Cytology Smear in Conjunction with a Uterine Culture? – The importance of uterine cytology evaluation supporting the culture results is explained. By Jos Mottershead Most stallion owners require a “clean uterine culture” from a mare prior to breeding her live cover or in some cases shipping semen to her; many mare owners also reference the… Read More »