We are in the process of debating freezing a stallion we have. Before anyone asks is he worth it…Euro import good IBOP earlier in career has covered/bred hundreds of mares. So that aside I am interested in nuts and bolts. He is 15 easy to collect and to live cover. In light work and Platinum Performance with hay. Debating adding the additives from Platinum. We have used Platinum for years and while not much impresses me the product does. Anyone used the adds for stallions successfully? Semen appears good but always can be better if we are talking the expense of freezing. So how much $ to freeze? Do folks commonly use a mobile service? I am not overly wild about shipping the stallion very far. My goal is to have some for our own use. His lines are becoming increasingly rare and I want to hang on to it a bit and at 15 I worry a bit. Also timing? Would June or July be best for best production? Also storage…larger center or local and cost?
Do you ship semen with him already? I only ask because if he has only live covered, he will need to be collected/trained to the phantom before frozen semen can be done and that will add a further expense for you. If he is already trained to the AV, you are set.
One thing that many people do not realize is that approximately 30% of all stallions will not freeze. Meaning, they will never produce a foal via frozen semen. Unfortunately, equine reproduction is not as far along as the cattle industry. 
So you have to be willing to bear the risk of spending the money on getting him frozen and later finding out the frozen semen will not work. A stallion may ship extremely well via fresh shipped semen, but that does not mean they will freeze well. Just because a stallion’s sire has great frozen semen does not mean the son will have great frozen semen…and if a stallion has great post-thaw motility with frozen semen, it is not a guarantee that the semen will produce pregnancies. Motility does not equal fertility. The only way to know for sure is to test the frozen semen on mares to determine viability.
As far as I understand, the best time to freeze a stallion is in the spring or the fall. As far as prices go, here is an example of equine-reproduction.com LLC’s prices for freezing semen. http://www.equine-reproduction.com/services/index.shtml You did not mention where you are located, so hard to point you to the right facility.
Daventry thanks…he does AV. I have heard about the stats. I know his sire does freeze (deceased). He has thus far been very vigorous. He was Amish owned and covered 50-100 mares a year for many years…unfortunately not really advertised outside of their communities and a large percentage were part breds. He is Euro trained and was imported and great for breeding, mannerly and simple. We are in central IN
I’m interested in this topic, too. I have a stallion just starting his breeding career, thus far just live cover on my own mares (JC TB). I would like to offer him to the public perhaps next year, but obviously he is not trained to the phantom (don’t have one, my only experience is with TBs). I’ve seen Kathy St Martin’s video on ground collection and that looks really convenient.
I split time between central KY and Ocala, so have good access to repro specialists. Looking for recommendations and curious about cost.
