I would get your vet work done, then send her to an Amish Dutch Harness or Standardbred breeder in central PA. If anyone can get the mare in foal they will. They deal with AI all the time and have much more practical knowledge than most vets.
Use the breeding you already paid for; if you had any sort of live foal guarantee they should reship for you.
You are in VA…there are a lot of good stallions not too far. If she was mine…I’d send her up to Hilltop Farm in MD. They foal out all my mares and have raised several of my foals. Outstanding staff. They also have a lovely collection of stallions who should suit your mare.
Last year was bad year for me. Only one out of 3 mares settled. One was a mare that that always easily got into foal. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen even with great vets. Said mare did originally culture fine…but then we did a more extensive work up and found she was dirty.
Good luck!
Seconding Hilltop. They are great to work with.
The problem with older maiden mares is they can have serious fluid issues after insemination because their cervix doesn’t open. They need to be followed very carefully after being inseminated for that reason. Allergy to an extender would be down my list of issues breeding an older maiden. I bred an older maiden (14 y.o), using fresh semen, due to greater inflammatory response to frozen semen in general, and got her in foal with one insemination, using an outstanding therio for the work. She had the mare at her clinic throughout the cycle, and I didn’t take her home until several days after breeding, ovulation was confirmed, and there was no fluid. She delivered that foal with no complications.
That said, there are risks breeding older mares and I’m not sure I would breed a 16 y.o. maiden. It can be expensive, and based on my experience with older mares, a bit riskier, maiden or not. That same mare didn’t cycle with a foal at her side and I bred her again at 16. She had a late term abortion, with a dead foal in-utero, and we almost lost her. There was no reason why that happened that we could determine, but she went back to being a riding horse.
Been there, but with a young maiden mare. Tried several times for 3 breeding seasons - shipped semen, and even shipped her to the stallion’s farm for immediate insemination. Nothing.
Her culture/cytology/biopsy were not abnormal.
she looked ok, but with some research, I decided to put in a caslicks - not down real tight.
A friend offered me a test breeding to her stallion with frozen.
um, yea, that will work <rolls eyes>
IN FOAL.
I recaslicksed her a couple of days after each delivery, and she had 9 foals for me - frozen, and shipped AI. With the caslicks in, she was actually an easy breeder - no flushing, pregnant 1st time each year.
Clint–I wouldn’t breed one of my older riding mares. But since the OP’s mare was injured and not a riding horse any more and the injury was a pasture injury…to me, then it would be worth trying one more time with what sounds like a nice mare.
That said…breeding certainly has a lot of risks. I’ve lost foals, had mares abort late and even had older homebreds have issues. There is lot of truth to the old saying do not get attached until they are at least 5.
Here is what does not work - repeat, repeat. There is a reason, and that reason may be a less talented/knowledgeable breeding vet. Is the semen being checked at insemination? Just because they are breeding vets, does not make them good. Just because the repro specialist is not a vet, doesn’t mean they are not the BEST.
First, it is unlikely to have a reaction to extender. Mares react mostly to dead sperm. Older maiden mares have a tighter cervix and may need much more intensive management than younger mares. I would get a biopsy before you decide - a bad biopsy may answer all your questions. Another thing to consider is that a mare sometimes will get infoal with one stallion and not another - I don’t know why, but it happens.
None of this will be cheap - breeding never is. It would take less time to simply burn a number of 100$ bills…
I would suggest a biopsy, a young , proven stallion and intensive oxytocin post breeding.
And some luck…
[QUOTE=elizabeth Callahan;8999731]
First, it is unlikely to have a reaction to extender. Mares react mostly to dead sperm. Older maiden mares have a tighter cervix and may need much more intensive management than younger mares. I would get a biopsy before you decide - a bad biopsy may answer all your questions. Another thing to consider is that a mare sometimes will get infoal with one stallion and not another - I don’t know why, but it happens.
None of this will be cheap - breeding never is. It would take less time to simply burn a number of 100$ bills…
I would suggest a biopsy, a young , proven stallion and intensive oxytocin post breeding.
And some luck…[/QUOTE]
What Didi said above. Do not spend another dime until you have a biopsy in hand for this mare. And is if comes back acceptable, then try again.
There are several vets in VA that wait until the mare scans with fluid to treat. That is not a good idea in a maiden, older mare. You need to get in front of the inflammation and help her clear. Start with oxytocin therapy 5 hours after breeding, and continue for 3 days every 6 hours. (Oxytocin is CHEAP… the needle and syringe are likely to cost more).
The “allergic to the extender” hypothesis is, for the most part, an old wives tale.
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