I have been offered a mare coming off the track for breeding. She last raced in February, but has still been in training. I imagine she was on Lasix for racing, and who knows what else. Does anyone have any experience breeding a mare shortly after they come off the track? Any problems?
It’s been quite a few years, but I worked for a trainer in Kentucky whose clients would send well-bred fillies in training specifically for breeding. They would tease/breed and continue to gallop them, then return them to full training once they were checked in foal. He or the original trainer would continue to run them for a few more months before retiring from the track.
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In general, racing/training has little impact on retiring a mare to breed. Do a breeding soundness exam, evaluate where she is in her cycle, and breed her when she has a ready follicle.
If she’s very underweight, stressed, or has been on regumate, you might want to skip a cycle, but when we got fillies off the track in spring they were usually covered within 30 days when I managed a TB farm in Ky.
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She’s actually an older mare who has raced for many years. I’m glad to hear that the racing would not affect her cycling.
Actually, I’m going to say it may take a cycle to get her to settle if she is older and been racing for years. It may have more to do with stress and the new environment, but I would. It be surprised.
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I agree with those who said get a good repro exam done and then breed her when she’s ready. Fillies and mares coming off the track are bred all the time and they usually catch on the first cycle.
Fwiw, racehorses aren’t “on Lasix”. They are given a Lasix shot on race day, but they don’t use it continuously. Any effects there might have been from the dose she was given for her race in Feb. are long gone now.
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The mare arrived at my repro vet’s today and will be in isolation for a week since she is coming off the track. I hope to have her checked soon and see where she is in her cycle. Here’s hoping she will take quickly!
