Breeding woes

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;8809579]
A culture with cytology should have been step one, not step six. Where are you guys getting these repro vets?[/QUOTE]

Agreed! Kathy St. Martin from www.equine-reproduction.com always says (in regards to breeding mares) the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If a culture and cytology was not done before breeding, I certainly would have done one after the second cycle to rule out any problems. AI’ing five times is a waste of money without figuring out what the underlying problem is. At least listen to the vet, get the culture and cytology done…even if you do not plan to breed anymore this year. If she has an infection, you want to treat it now, not in the spring.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Thanks everyone for this thread - it’s really informative for a newbie/amateur breeder planning on breeding next season. My mare is older - had 2 foals via 2 different AI methods (frozen and fresh) and then had a single season where she failed to catch on frozen (they only tried one cycle) and they found an anovulatory follicle. We did an extensive repro exam when I bought her, (uterine biopsy, ultrasound, etc etc) and made sure I was ok with the idea that she might not catch again and would just be a fun riding horse and family pet.

I planned on trying live cover first next season to help odds of success, and then frozen or fresh cooled the following year if we are successful in 2017. Vets all said if I did get her to catch, keeping her bred each season after would be my best chance of getting more than one foal from her. Are there any specific protocols or questions I should be researching now or asking my vet about prior to heading into 2017 and trying live cover with the mare? The OPs post about trying multiple times with one mare who sounds a lot like mine definitely makes me think doing more homework now might be wise on my part.

Additionally, I have identified 2 other stallions I could use for the mare next season - both very nice TBs. I hadn’t really thought through the possibility that she wouldn’t catch with one, and I may need to go to a different stallion. Anyone have experience with an older mare not catching on one stallion live cover, and having success with a different one… All in a single season? How many cycles would you try with one stallion (live cover and 17 yr old mare) before switching?

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;8809579]
A culture with cytology should have been step one, not step six. Where are you guys getting these repro vets?[/QUOTE]

Do most sporthorse stallions not require proof of a clean culture at minimum?

I’ve never had a contract that didn’t require a culture prior to shed trip. I assumed it was similar before shipping semen… we cultured our sporthorse mares annually prior to breeding most everywhere I worked in that industry.

[SnicklefritzG]

Has anyone here tried Equilume for their mares?

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8809834]
Do most sporthorse stallions not require proof of a clean culture at minimum?

I’ve never had a contract that didn’t require a culture prior to shed trip. I assumed it was similar before shipping semen… we cultured our sporthorse mares annually prior to breeding most everywhere I worked in that industry.[/QUOTE]
I am not the right person to answer that since my one and only foray into AI was with Jill Burnell who had dead chickens in her bathtub and crapped in a hole in the ground.

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8809834]
Do most sporthorse stallions not require proof of a clean culture at minimum?

I’ve never had a contract that didn’t require a culture prior to shed trip. I assumed it was similar before shipping semen… we cultured our sporthorse mares annually prior to breeding most everywhere I worked in that industry.[/QUOTE]

It entirely depends on the Stallion Owner and breeding facility. We have bred to warmblood stallions over the years that required a clean culture and cytology and others that didn’t. In our own stallion contracts, we encourage Mare Owners to get a cytology and culture done first, but do not make it mandatory. We often get a lot of maiden mares in for breeding and mares with foals at side. Unless there is a major problem, there normally is no need to do a culture and cytology on those mares. But of course, that isn’t always the case with some mares.

[Onetrickpuppy]

[QUOTE=Daventry;8809652]
Agreed! Kathy St. Martin from www.equine-reproduction.com always says (in regards to breeding mares) the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If a culture and cytology was not done before breeding, I certainly would have done one after the second cycle to rule out any problems. AI’ing five times is a waste of money without figuring out what the underlying problem is. At least listen to the vet, get the culture and cytology done…even if you do not plan to breed anymore this year. If she has an infection, you want to treat it now, not in the spring.[/QUOTE]

She was checked in foal after the first AI this year, however at 30 days it was clear a heartbeat was not evident, and at 45 days, she had absorbed.
The last two times she was AI’d, she had a large follicle, 40 & 39 respectively, on her left side, smaller follicles on the right. The first time she was AI’d this year, the large follicle was on the right.
I have been using my vet since the early 90’s and this is the first time we have ran into any breeding problems with my mares. That being said, I am a small breeder and usually have only 1-2 mares at a time.
I agree with Virginia Horse Mom; this thread has been informative and helpful. Thanks

[JoannaHCR]

[QUOTE=Texarkana;8809834]
Do most sporthorse stallions not require proof of a clean culture at minimum?

I’ve never had a contract that didn’t require a culture prior to shed trip. I assumed it was similar before shipping semen… we cultured our sporthorse mares annually prior to breeding most everywhere I worked in that industry.[/QUOTE]

Several of the stallions I was researching didn’t require anything before your first 2 tries, but after 2, for additional shipments you had to do culture and cytology before they would ship again. I thought that was pretty fair.

[Hillside_H_Ranch]

To the op: you say you had a biopsy done and it was “fine”. Do you know what grade the biopsy was? That would be very helpful to know before just throwing out random advice.

To others on this thread…some of you seem to be suffering from bad information and/or poor veterinary work. I do feel for you.