So, HOW will you choose the stallion for your mare? Better yet, HOW will you be able to create a combination of genes that will result in your foal being the dream horse that will be multi-talented-capable of achieving the goals you envision?

First of all, start early to look at prospective stallions. Ask to see photographs, pedigree, and videos so that you can see each stallion’s musculature, conditioning, and balance under saddle. Take your time, and best of all make an appointment to see the stallion in the flesh. When you do see him in person, make sure that the pictures have not lied; check to see that there are no conformational faults which limit the usefulness of the stallion and which may potentially limit the functionality of his offspring. Ask to see other progeny if you have been told they are on site. Observe the ease and grace the youngsters demonstrate. REMEMBER: conformational faults in the sire have at least a 50% chance of appearing in the offspring.

Secondly, since no horse, including your mare, enjoys flawless conformation, you need to be able to objectively look at her and decide what parts of her anatomy you would improve upon if you could. For instance, if your mare has short legs, you need to look at a stallion who is longer of leg so as to put more balance on the baby. If your mare’s back seems too long for you, you need to search out a stallion with a shorter back to compensate. If your mare has a Roman nose or too long ears, you have the chance to produce a baby without these flaws if you take the time to look around for the stallion whose conformation will help you correct flaws. Even so, there is no guarantee that the resulting foal will get the best conformational qualities of both parents, but at least you have the opportunity to try to produce the best individual that you possibly can. The rest is up to the gene pool, and NO ONE can positively predict the outcome 100%.

Third, and probably MOST IMPORTANT, make sure that the stallion you finally choose has a gentle, willing personality and attitude. As you look at the stallion, can you tell that he is easy to handle and willing to please? Is he gentle enough for YOU or the average admirer of horses to handle?

Or does he exhibit a mean streak that can be passed on, like any other quality, to the next generation? Dan Sumerel, one of the more noted horse behaviorists helping people to relate better to horses today, defines QUALITY as “the mind of the horse, good attitude, willing demeanor.” To him, no other characteristic of a stallion, or any horse, is more important than his TEMPERAMENT and TEACHABILITY. We really agree. You can find the most beautiful, charismatic stallion on the planet, but if no one can approach him or handle him because he is mean or rank, what good is he except to look at ? Obviously, a video can demonstrate with reasonable clarity and accuracy a stallion’s exceptional conformation or his smoothness of gaits or the precision of his performance . It is a little trickier, though, for a video to capture the stallion’s attitude, temperament, and basic personality, so it is VERY important that, for the basis of verifying the stallion’s demeanor, you get to see him in the flesh. On the other hand, if you intend to do nothing more than admire your baby’s good looks without being personally involved in its development/training/exhibition, then willing attitude may not be nearly as important for you as it is to us.

We were not privileged to grow up with horses as children. The dream of horse ownership became a reality for us only much later in our lives as our other responsibilities began to fade and we could devote more time and love to them. Like us, the average horse lover or horse owner, may not have had the advantages of extensive training in horsemanship either. It is therefore good common sense that the baby you commit to bringing into this world be both a safe and sane individual. Those babies grow up to be bigger than you are, and without the proper personalities and willing attitudes, they may ruin your dream of horse ownership and companionship. If you are fortunate enough to own a mare with tractable and gentle nature already, you really should make certain that the stallion you choose does not transmit stubbornness, meanness, or unwillingness to the baby that you must wait 11 months to see foaled.

A FINAL NOTE to ponder: Do not reject a stallion simply because he has no show record or choose a stallion because of a glittering show ring career. No one will deny that the ribbons and trophies demonstrate that at some time a judge determined that the stallion to be the best of the competition on hand or at least outstanding in his class. Moreover, a show record may be more important to you if you are a show handler or have serious aspirations of showing your baby. Nevertheless, you need to remember that NOT ALL the best stallions are blessed with the opportunities to be shown even at the local level. A show record requires both substantial financial resources and ample spare time to exhibit. This fact alone is one more reason why you need to observe the stallion on his own turf on an everyday relaxed basis, when he is being handled by average folks, not seasoned show handlers who know how to make the horse seem unnaturally blowy and who sometimes become responsible for people to observe that certain breeds are too hyper, too high-strung, too flighty.

In general, you need to learn as much as you possibly can about your prospective stallion choice from still photos, from pedigree and biographical information, from a video, from personal observation, from the stallion owner, who should be willing to share as much information and enthusiasm as he/she can about the stallion. How else can you truly gauge the stallion’s conformation, talent, and personality? Should the stallion owner seem to discourage you from learning more about the stallion or from spending some time on the farm observing him, you should consider that the stallion is not the right one for you or your beloved mare.

REMEMBER to choose a stallion carefully and for all the right reasons. Your foal and its ultimate future will depend on your wise and responsible decision.

Although some mares experience a heat (oestrous) cycle all year round, most have a rest phase during the winter and early spring. Their breeding cycle begins naturally some time in spring. Once the mare is truly in the breeding season, her oestrous cycles last 22 days, on average. This tends to be slightly longer in the spring.

Daylight has the most important influence on a mare’s reproductive performance. The production of the hormones that “switch on” the mare to cycle is controlled by the amount of daylight. This results in foals born in the spring and early summer, when environmental conditions should be optimal for foal survival. Therefore, the natural breeding season of the horse in the northern hemisphere is from May until August. This is the time when highest pregnancy rates are likely to occur.

But man has his own ideas of when mares should foal. Consequently, breeders attempt to cover mares in the winter and early spring. This means manipulating the mare’s breeding cycle so that she comes properly into season earlier than nature intended.

Artificial lighting

Experience has shown that 16hr of light stimulus (artificial and natural) is adequate to make a mare cycle earlier. This means providing light from 7am until 11pm. The artificial light is best added at the end of the natural daylight period.

The light in the stable must be bright enough. This means a 150-watt clear bulb in the middle of a 4×4m box. If a strip light is used this should be 1.3m (40 watt). Care should be taken to eliminate shadows because they can prevent a good response.

Also extra lighting must begin early enough. Generally, a minimum of 8-10 weeks is needed.

Mares should be in good body condition when they begin to have extra lighting. A mare should be in a rising plane of nutrition at the start of the breeding season and have ribs that can be felt, but not seen. The neck should be reasonably well covered and the withers rounded. There should be fat around the tail head and no hollowness through the quarters. Research has shown that only a moderate level of body fat is necessary for adequate reproductive performance, so mares should not be fat.

Hormones

Several hormones can be given to induce ovulatory heats early in the breeding season in barren and maiden mares. This helps ensure foals are born early and reduces pressure on the stallion because foaling mares are ready to be bred.

Preparing the mare for covering

Horse breeding is a time-consuming and expensive business. To optimise their chances, owners need to know before the breeding season how best to ensure their mares are free from any diseases that could not only reduce the likelihood of conception, but also severely disrupt breeding activity at the stud.

While unforeseen problems can always occur even with the ideal mare, there are procedures that help to decide if a mare is suitable for breeding. This does not refer only to the quality of the horse or its temperament — rather it is an assessment of the reproductive health of that particular mare. Collectively, these procedures are known as the breeding soundness examination.

Venereal or sexually transmitted infection is a risk, and swabs are taken as an essential health precaution. A swab is a small piece of cotton wool twisted on to the end of a thin plastic rod. The cotton wool is touched on the part of the reproductive tract to be checked for bacteria, then sent to a laboratory.

What swabs are needed?

The mare’s clitoris (just inside the vulva) is swabbed to look for bacteria that are venereally transmitted. These bacteria are very important because they can cause reduced fertility and are difficult to treat successfully. The clitoral swab does not have to be taken when the mare is in season and can be also taken from pregnant mares before they foal.

In confirmed cases of certain venereal diseases, the law prevents the movement of horses on and off the premises. This can have devastating consequences for a breeding enterprise.

It is preferable to swab the mare before she goes to the stud (as long as this is after 1 January). This is for two reasons: the result is not available for seven days and, more importantly, if positive, the mare can be treated before being sent to stud.

Once the all-clear has been given, mares are issued with a laboratory certificate confirming their disease-free status in the current breeding season. A mare must not be used for breeding until all swab results are negative and the certificate has been shown to the stallion owner. In many cases, mares are simply carriers of venereal disease and show no outward signs of infection.

Poor hygiene measures can also spread disease and it is vital that strict precautions are in place and adhered to when working with breeding animals. Handlers must take great care to ensure that infection is not carried from one animal to another.

In many cases, a swab of the lining of the uterus (womb) will be taken to see if there are any bacteria present or signs of inflammation — known as endometritis. This swab must be taken when the mare is in season, and mares should be free from endometritis before being covered to maximise the chances of a successful breeding.

Taking the right precautions

In any breeding season, the safest option is to blood-test mares for EVA after 1 January and within 28 days before covering. A mare should not go to stud until the results are available. Stallions also need to be EVA-free.

As well as these vital tests, your vet should also check every mare before she goes to stud. This includes checking the mare on the outside — in particular the vulva, as this provides the first barrier to protect the uterus from infection. If the vulval lips do not provide a good seal then air, bacteria and dirt can enter the vagina, resulting in infection. A minor operation, performed under local anaesthetic, can be used to reduce the vulval opening and so prevent contamination of the vagina

The vet also checks the mare internally by inserting an arm via the rectum. Using a systematic approach, the ovaries, uterus and cervix are checked. Usually, the vet will also use an ultrasound machine. The vagina and cervix will also be checked visually using a speculum, a narrow tube down which the vet can shine a light. Damage to the cervix, resulting in tearing or scarring, most often occurs during foaling. This is especially the case if the foaling was difficult.

In some cases, a small biopsy of the lining of the mare’s uterus may be taken for examination under a microscope. This can help assess the likelihood of the mare becoming pregnant and carrying a foal. Mares with a lot of scar tissue (fibrosis) in their uterus have a poor chance and may not be worth sending to stud.

Ultrasonography provides another method of assessing the uterus. This can pick up uterine cysts which may reduce the likelihood of the mare becoming pregnant. An ultrasound examination will also show if fluid is present in the uterus. Any fluid should be cleared before breeding.

Further information

An excellent booklet produced by the Horserace Betting Levy Board gives codes of practice for the control of equine venereal diseases, as well as control measures for equine viral arteritis, equine herpes virus and strangles. This code is updated annually and should be read by all breeders. Copies are available from the Horserace Betting Levy Board, the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association and the welfare department of the British Horse Society.

Breeding during foal heat

If a mare is to have a foal each year she must be back in-foal within around 25 days after giving birth. Horses are unusual among domestic animals because mares become fertile within two weeks of giving birth, a period commonly known as foal heat. However, whether or not to use this first oestrus (season) remains questionable.

In almost 100% of mares, the foal heat is characterised by normal development of eggs and ovulation within 20 days of birth. Most mares return to heat five to eight days after delivery of the foal. The average interval from birth to first post-partum ovulation is 10 days.

Occasionally, a mare may not appear to have a foal heat, especially if she gives birth early in the year. Also, maternal instincts may mean that some mares are reluctant to show signs of oestrus when they have a foal at foot.

To cover or not to cover?

The condition of the uterus is extremely important when deciding whether to cover a mare on foal heat.

In most cases, the diameter of the uterus reduces rapidly after foaling, which is known as uterine involution. Any delay in the uterus returning to its normal size invariably follows a difficult birth, abortion or retained placenta and can causes reproduction complications.

Your vet will assess a reduction in the uterus, and the amount of fluid retained, by a rectal examination and ultrasound. The greater the accumulation of uterine fluid at foal heat, the lower the chance of a mare becoming pregnant.

If a large number of pus cells (neutrophils) are present on a smear taken from the lining of the uterus after foaling then the mare should not be covered at foal heat as this may indicate infection. It is normal for bacteria to enter the uterus after foaling, but the number can be reduced by careful attention to hygiene.

Any mare who had a difficult birth or retained placenta should be evaluated carefully, but it is probably better not to cover her, while a mare with a severe trauma to the birth canal should not be considered at all.

Ensure your vet checks the mare around seven days after foaling, even if you do not intend to cover her in the foal heat. This enables problems to be detected and any necessary treatment started.

Pros and cons

The aim of many breeders is to produce healthy foals as early as possible from mares bred the previous year. Against the obvious time-saving advantage of breeding at the foal-heat, there are two disadvantages.

Pregnancy rate: There is a lower pregnancy rate for mares covered at the first oestrus after the birth. This may be due to incomplete uterine involution, fluid in the uterus, infection or inflammation. Whether breeding a mare on foal heat can have a detrimental effect on the pregnancy rate in subsequent heat periods is a subject of much debate.

Subsequent foaling rate: Some studies report an increase in early embryo mortality in mares conceiving at the foal heat. Others find that management and year-to-year variation account for any differences and that there has been no real increase in pregnancy loss. Also, ultrasound scanning means that the breeder can find out more quickly if a mare has lost a foal early and have her covered again.

There are various ways to improve pregnancy rates from breeding at the foal heat.

• Flushing the uterus with a saline solution can be beneficial in mares which have had a retained placenta or uterine inflammation
• Drugs (oxytocin and prostaglandin) have been used in an attempt to encourage the uterus to contract and, in turn, help it to reduce in size
• Exercise is said to help uterine fluid to discharge and the uterus to reduce

Alternatively, instead of covering the mare at the foal heat, the vet can use prostaglandin to reduce the interval between the foal heat and the second ovulation after foaling. However, in many cases, only one week will be saved over breeding at the natural second heat.

Breeding mares at foal heat requires a high degree of management skill and veterinary expertise, but with careful management, mares with a young foal at foot can deliver a healthy, normal foal within a year of last giving birth.