24 hr lights?

[J-Lu]

Hi,

Asking for a friend, really! I have a friend who is attempting to breed a virgin mare (~12 years), and his vet recommended 24 hour lights in the barn. I’ve heard of 16 hour of lights, but not 24. She goes out during the day, the lights stay on all night.

Is this typical or normal for some? Why or why not? Thanks!

[EventerAJ]

I’ve heard of some Ky stud farms that will leave stall lights on all night, if they don’t have timers or night watch to turn them off at midnight.

However, for early breeding (Feb, Mar, early April) we started Ky mares under lights by Christmas… Allowing about 60 days of long light to get them cycling properly. I don’t see how starting lights in February would really help accelerate the breeding season; most northern mares will cycle normally by the end of April without lights.

In Florida, the winter days aren’t as short, and my broodmares are already coming in season. I’ve bred in early March successfully on natural daylight here.

[Highflyer]

I agree that it’s probably too late to make a difference this year. Personally I think keeping the lights on 24/7 is likely stressful for the horses (just as keeping the radio on has been found to be stressful) so I would not do it.

[J-Lu]

Thanks, guys! Highflyer, I thought this too. The mare is never inside and is now inside - she is not enjoying this. I’ve suggested that the mare will likely be as uncomfortable if suddenly brought in for foaling. I’m just a bystander.

[gumtree]

The rule of thumb is 14-18 hrs of total light. The mare should be stalled before sunset. So you add X hrs more of light to extend the total “day light” to 14+ hrs per day.

Depending on how the lights are wired. It’s not hard nor expensive to have a timer installed. The light has to be of X brightness, watts, and should have a full spectrum of “colors”. The closer to natural sunlight the better. The timing should be about 2 months for it to have effect.

“Full-spectrum light is light that covers the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared to near-ultraviolet, or all wavelengths that are useful to plant or animal life; in particular, sunlight is considered full spectrum, even though the solar spectral distribution reaching Earth changes with time of day, latitude”

I did this for a while on open mares. Not sure if it made that much difference. I stopped one season and most open mares in seemed to be ready by late Feb without. I’m a big fan of using teasers and some other repro tricks

There is a small light that has the correct color spectrum that is attached to the halter. That projects the light towards their eye. From what I understand it does not produce bright light just the colors needed. So it’s not like the horse is wearing head lights. I was told it works well. Only good for one season, because the battery is not replaceable. By design I bet. Not cheap but not that expensive.

FYI, we don’t call a filly/mares that has never been bred a virgin, They’re maidens