Persistent Anovulatory Follicles – Anovulatory Hemorrhagic Follicles, Luteinized Unruptured Follicles, PAFs, AHFs, LUFs – all follicular headaches in the mare! By Jos Mottershead You’re following a mare’s follicular development using ultrasound prior to breeding and are relieved to see a good sized follicle developing. Unusually, the follicle continues to develop beyond the size at which you normally see… Read More »
Indications of Impending Ovulation in the Mare – Predicting ovulation in the mare can be a challenge with mares displaying different characteristics. Here we describe some common signs. By Jos Mottershead Predicting ovulation in the mare can be difficult, as they have the capacity to be notoriously unpredictable in their timing! This can lead to frustration, aggravation and… Read More »
AI (Artificial Insemination) – Artificial Insemination of the Mare is not a difficult task to perform. Here we describe using an aseptic technique in detail. The actual process of artificial insemination of the mare is not complicated, and can be learned very quickly. Unlike artificial insemination in cattle which involves guiding the insemination pipette through the cervix via… Read More »
Protocols for Mare Management with Cooled-Shipped or Frozen Semen – methods to time breeding of mares both with and without use of pharmacological manipulation. By Jos Mottershead Mare management with cooled-shipped or frozen semen can often seem daunting but is a key element for success or failure. One can use or forgo pharmacological manipulation, and we discuss here… Read More »
One-on-one Horse Breeding Training While we are renowned for offering short courses on the subject of horse breeding worldwide, we not infrequently encounter people either at the courses or through our website who are in need of more specific one-on-one horse breeding training. Perhaps they do not own stallions but want to learn more about the reproductive aspects… Read More »
The Semen Looked Bad – Or Is It? Maybe not as bad as you think! A review of what constitutes a cooled semen dose, looking at some newer research and older dogma. By Jos Mottershead and Kathy St. Martin During the course of the breeding season – especially on the EquineRepro Facebook Group that we manage – we… Read More »
Does My Mare Need RegumateTM? – A perennial question for some is “Does My Mare Need Regumate?” Here we discuss some possible instances of need as well as the overuse of the drug By Jos Mottershead The Simple Answer: Does My Mare Need Regumate? Well, the short answer is that if you don’t know, she probably doesn’t need… Read More »
Embryology – Different Stages of the Early Equine Pregnancy – Equine embryology – early pregnancy images. A pictorial showing embryonic developmental images through to the fetal stage of 50 days. All day numbers given here are the number of days post-ovulation on the conceiving cycle. The 32 to 64 cell stage of a developing embryo is the morula.… Read More »
Steps for Shipping Horse Semen to Canada from the US – A step-by-step guide to the USDA and CFIA requirements for Shipping Horse Semen to Canada from the US. By Jos Mottershead and Kathy St. Martin It should be noted that while this article about the regulatory aspects of shipping horse semen to Canada from the US is… Read More »
Early Embryonic Death – Noted reproductive veterinarian Dr. Jon Pycock explores early embryonic death in the mare and some possible resolutions to the problem. By Jonathan F Pycock, BVetMed, PhD, DESM, MRCVS, RCVS Specialist in Equine Reproduction For all horse breeders, it is important to realize that not every mare will give birth to a live foal. Failure… Read More »