Breeding an Older Maiden Mare

[mwyte17]

Hello. I currently ride a Selle Francais mare who is turning 18 this June. She had to retire early due to an injury in Spring of 2022. We tried breeding her last year, and she took after the 2nd attempt. Unfortunately, she lost the baby after day 30. I believe this is due to the joint supplements that she was on at the time since MSM hasn’t been tested on pregnant mares. The vet has suggested that we go without giving her joint supplements next year.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to best management practices that will help her maintain the pregnancy this year? Or are there certain supplements that will help her maintain the pregnancy and produce a healthy foal? I want to raise the foal to compete in Eventing, and I have read that having the proper balance of nutrients during pregnancy is VITAL for a foal to have strong bones.

[ASBJumper]

Unlikely that the joint supplements would’ve caused her to abort, just FYI…

More likely culprits - poor uterine condition, contaminants, hormonal issues related to age, etc.

Before trying again, you need to get a thorough breeding soundness exam done on this mare (by a GOOD repro vet with lots of experience!!), get a culture/cytology done and a uterine biopsy. These things will be your best tools to assess whether to continue trying to get her in foal. She may be fertile enough to catch but her uterus might be riddled with cysts and fibrosis making it nearly impossible for her to carry safely to term. The biopsy will tell you more about that.

As for nutrition, yes it’s vital - consult your vet, make sure whatever you feed her is high enough in protein and calcium, make sure her vitamin E and selenium levels are above adequate (not just borderline). Those are the biggies.

Good luck!

[Sparrowette]

Your mare is only a year older than mine. You are starting a bit later than I did, but your vet can guide you. You will need a good repro vet. At this age and with the things that happen with older maidens, I’m thinking you will want a specialist to do the insemination.

As far as the joint supplements go, my mare has arthritis, and I give her Cosequin ASU, I also add knox gelatin and biotin, and she gets PRP twice a year in the joint. This system seems to keep her with cushion there. This was approved by my vet to be okay during pregnancy.

When I had her first bred we did loose that one, and had to wait for the next year to try again. On this second attempt, repro vet added a caslick and regumate. The next took and the filly came in April 2022.

She now spends her time disrespecting her elders in the herd. LOL…

Good Luck!

Edit to add recent photo of her acting up.

[mwyte17]

The repro vet that I am using is very well known as one of the best. I chose to go to his office because of recommendations from family friends that have bred their mares and other vets, so I know that he is very knowledgeable. We had done multiple cultures and exams before she aborted, so she was completely healthy by all tests. After her abortion, the vet mentioned that she might’ve developed a bio-film over her microvilli that was keeping us from being able to detect the bacteria when we cultured, so we flushed her in August in the hopes of getting everything clean. We had her re-cultured this past weekend and are giving the culture another day to ensure nothing grows.

When they performed the exams, they didn’t see any cysts or any evidence of fibrosis.

[mwyte17]

Thank you so much for all of the information. The first insemination didn’t take, which he attributed to her body not recognizing the semen. On the second attempt, he had performed a Caslicks, and she was on 12cc’s of Regumate when she lost the foal.

She lost the foal a few days after I started her back on the Cosequin ASU and Total Tendon Repair which is why I assumed that she lost the foal because of the amount of MSM that I had given her. A lot of websites state that MSM should be used cautiously with pregnant mares. The vet doesn’t think that was the cause, though.

[goodhors]

Something we avoid is giving the pregnant mare is Rhino shots. They can cause abortion. You make your choice between possible catching Rhino or possibility of mare aborting BECAUSE you gave the Rhino shot. Big breeders expect abortions after the shots, check mares and rebreed if needed. They may lose a couple foals, but better than the entire herd getting Rhino, so ALL mares abort! Abortion can happen with any of the shots in the series, 5-7-9 months.

We lost a foal with an old mare at 9mos, who we were unable to get rebred. Uterine condition had seriously deteriorated after foal loss. Vet said it would be wasted time and money trying to get her in foal, she would not carry foal to term. She was not a maiden mare, 18yrs at the time. We sold her on to a lady who needed a nice horse. They moved to AZ and sent us photos of their blue ribbons from the local show circut! Great home for a lovely horse.

A full breeding check, swab tests is costly, but better to spend the money before trying to breed her. I will suggest a seperate Selenium test to see if she is getting enough or too much. Selenium with Vit E has a big effect on mare reproduction, cycles, eggs/follicles moving thru her system, along with muscles. Horses do not store Selenium, so supplementing needs to happen daily. Make sure you are adding Selenium from ALL food and supplements together, to get the total.

Then decide her future food and supplement plan, get her going on it. I would NOT be adding and experimenting with new products for her once you have chosen your products. Some products take a while to show results. The less changes she gets, the safer her pregnancy will run.

Breeding can be wonderful or heart-breaking when not successful. Every mare is different and being older she just may not be able to “do the deed” for you. Good luck.

[Laurierace]

If you didn’t do a biopsy do that now. Totally disagree with skipping rhino vaccinations but it sounds like you didn’t get to that point anyway. I don’t ever use Pneumabort though, that I do agree with not using. Don’t fall into the Regumate as cheap insurance trap either.