I will be getting a colt in the near future, He is a fantastic example of the breed with at great temperament. I am not a stallion kind of person and have given my word that I will have him gelded before he becomes to studdy.
The issue that I am dealing with it the fact that the breed is being thrown under the bus by breeders mixing the breed with another breed to produce a flashier show horse. This little guy is not of that kind of breeding. He comes from pure stock. His sire is amazing with incredible movement. I don’t think that the breeder understands that I am not personally interested in breeding any more horses but that I am interested in preserving the breed as it should be.
I have heard that there is a method of collection where the stallion is injected with something that causes the penis to drop and the semen is then collected via “milking”
Does anyone know about that kind of method, minimum age it can be done and how much does it cost to collect using that method and to store semen?
Try googling chemical ejaculation of stallions and try to select reasonable sources before you click. Preferable peer-reviewed, academic journals with good reputations. Which are sometimes obvious but not always, for various reasons. In this case, the nature of your inquiry makes this a bit more difficult for the average person. And more risky for your computer. Be warned.
Seriously, this is not a reasonable option for your colt. It is a last ditch effort to collect the very lame, the dying, and/or the very reluctant to breed stallion…all of which are in most cases ethical gray areas that will preclude professionals from even attempting it with your healthy colt, at any cost. It is also complicated, without a great success rate, and not a good experience for your nice, healthy animal.
I don’t blame you for asking, but please do some real research.
Well if that is the case then there is no sense in doing any further research. I will not put my boy at risk and will have him gelded as soon as it is reasonable to do so.
That is the very best option. And true for now. But I do not blame you for asking, so please do understand that aspect, for sure. It is a very reasonable question. There are many advanced reproductive techniques in human and animal med these days, it is impossible for inexperienced owners to even grasp what is medically doable, at any cost, much less ethically permissible per species. The physiological differences between species make this subject even more difficult to understand–what works for a cow is useless in a horse, and i can’t even make a logical jump to a cat, dog, human or gerbil. Not worth a try, and can’t even make a joke. It is terribly complicated. And expensive, trust me. I hope that does make you feel better in some way.
I have to disagree with this. Chemical ejaculation in stallions is not an unethical breeding method. It is not just for the sick and dying stallions. It is done all the time and is not something a veterinarian would say no to simply because someone brings in a young, healthy colt. Normally, xylazine and imipramine are the drugs of choice used for chemical ejaculation in stallions. There is no “milking” involved. The stallion simply stands relaxed, drops his penis and spontaneously ejaculates. Usually a collection cup on the end of a long stick is used to collect the ejaculate. It is important that the stallion is in a quiet environment when a chemical ejaculation is attempted and the penis is not touched. Doing the opposite lowers the success rate of obtaining an ejaculate. It should be noted that, on average, it only works in 70% of stallions 70% of the time. Meaning, it only has a 50% success rate. It is for this reason that is not considered the first choice for collecting, as there is a higher failure rate. I know a few Stallion Owners who use this method and it works well for their stallion. I also know several Stallion Owners who have tried it and had zero success with it.
I assume you are contemplating getting him collected so that his semen can be frozen? It is important to know that approximately 33% of all stallions who are frozen do not have viable semen. Meaning, their frozen semen will never produce a pregnancy. 33% of stallions will have adequate frozen semen and the other 33% will have good frozen semen. For the 33% that will not freeze, there is no way to determine the outcome ahead of time. For example, a stallion can have excellent motility before freezing and excellent post-thaw motility after freezing…but motility does not equal fertility. The only way to know for sure if the semen will be viable is to breed mares and confirm pregnancies. It is also important to note that a colt’s sire may have excellent frozen semen, but that does not mean that the colt’s frozen semen will be viable. In a nutshell, you could go through the expensive process of freezing your boy only to discover later that you will not get pregnancies from the frozen semen.
Realistically, if you are not prepared to deal with a stallion, geld.
Gelding is the plan. I was basically just curious about that method of collecting as away to preserve the genetics as the breeder is planning on gelding the sire soon as well. He has produced lots of very nice babies.
I have zero desire to deal with and have no need for an over hormonal, fence pacing, underweight and screaming stallion.
Not all stallions are like this. We stand three stallions and NONE of our stallions pace. They are all extremely well behaved and we actually have to keep them on diets. It will definitely be stallion dependent and also how you manage them. Allowing them to live in a paddock or pasture with some room to move and forage, a good feeding program and keeping them within a close distance to other horses helps keep them healthy and happy.
But like you said already, if you are not interesting in standing or managing a stallion, the above information is a moot point. 
Have epidydimal sperm extracted and frozen when the colt is gelded. I’ve done this successfully (in terms of having adequate doses frozen and achieving pregnancies with the frozen semen).
What Risingstarfarm said. My understanding is that what you get from this is very…uh…maybe “sperm-rich” is a good description? And you can get perhaps as many as 15 or even more doses. But the gelding has to be done by someone who understands this procedure, and then the testicles and epidydimass(sp?) need to have the sperm extracted there, or shipped in an Equitainer to a facility that can process it. So you generally have to bring the colt to an equine hospital when they are gelded.
Both CSU and Equine-Reproduction.com LLC http://www.equine-reproduction.com/services/index.shtml will do an epididymal flush. Always best to contact them ahead of time, if possible, so that everyone is aware of what needs to be done before shipping.
Just as an aside…several years ago, Amazing injured his stifle. With help from a vet at New Bolton, I attempted to do a chemical collection, and never will again. I forget the med, but whatever the one med was made him like a zombie for hours. He forgot how to chew, stood with his head in the corner, and was generally very out of it. And on top of that, it didn’t work. It was quite a while ago so I forget the exact protocol, but it freaked me out enough to not consider trying it again. Just my two cents…
Not trying to discourage you from gelding, but I’ll second Daventry here - this is not all stallions. I had two stallions, both were happy, socialized, normal horses. They lived in pasture, they could be stalled or pastured next to other horses, they went to shows, and tied easily to the trailer, neither paced, needed pounds, or screamed. Most people never realized they were stallions until they saw the extra equipment hanging between the legs.
Having said that - it is harder to find places that will board stallions, and SOME stallions are miserable, screaming, pacing, isolated animals. Gelding is the right decision in most cases.
Talk to an equine reproduction specialist about the viability of frozen semen, and collection options. You may be discouraged, the odds are not in your favor.
I did epididymal flush when we gelded my stallion and got 13 doses of frozen. Vet said it could be 0-15 and it’s not cheap. Also if he’s a WB his babies could never be registered because you can’t present him for approval as a gelding. I would just geld personally.
From the way the OP describes the horse and the fact that breeders are crossing it with another breed for a flashier show horse, I’d think the colt is unlikely to be a “generic” WB. I could see maybe Gelderlander or Friesian, maybe even Dutch Harness Horse–something with its own identity–, maybe being crossed with Saddlebreds for a flashier show horse. I could also see Morgans, but not your regular WB.
I’m just speculating because there are lots of peculiar breeds with their own special identities that can be lost through cross breeding.
Hmmmm, that seems very low. I got way more from my colt. We’ve used it successfully as well.
You are correct, but it is a miniature horse. Many breeders are now crossing them with Shetlands. I had bought a cross before I got this boy. I did not know he was a cross but suspected something wasn’t right as his temperament was different and he looked different. I sold him and found this boy who has an amazing temperament and his conformation is to die for.
It is important to remember that the Miniature Horse registries are a height registry, not a breed registry. As a result, there really is no such thing as a purebred Miniature Horse or pure stock as they have combined a number of breeds over the last century (Shetland, Arabian, Welsh, etc.). The other thing to consider is that frozen semen is not commonly used in the Miniature Horse breeding world and I have heard from several breeders that Miniature Horse stallions tend to not freeze as well as some of the other breeds. (Don quote me. It is just what I have heard over the years) As a result, there may not be much demand for the semen.
There are a lot of Miniature Horse breeders out there that are still breeding for the traditional Miniature Horse x Miniature Horse cross. Not everyone is on the Miniature Horse x Shetland band wagon.
I personally would only be interested in breeding to my own mare to get one or two foals to keep… I am really not interested in breeding to others.
i know that the breed is a mix, but from discussions with other breeders I have lesrned that those with the shetland cross tend to be more standoffish, which was my experience.
Agreed. My trainer has a stallion that he keeps in the same barn as all of the other horses. You’d never know this horse still had his balls…well… until you see them 
I wish I could, but I promised breeder I would have him gelded. This little guy is going to be amazing and it is a shame that his genetics will be lost.
I know that there are many wonderful stallions out there still.
