MARE PREPARATION
Call your veterinarian!!! Discuss everything in the contract with him. Without his expertise, your mare will probably not get in foal. Be sure that he is very comfortable with being able to predict and pinpoint your mare’s ovulation. If your mare is a difficult breeder and usually takes more than one cycle to conceive, or she is a chronically dirty mare, she is probably not the mare you wish to use with shipped semen.
If you plan to breed your mare early in the season she needs to be kept under lights for a minimum of 60 days prior to breeding season. Lights should be kept on a timer to insure they are on and off at the same time every day- just a few days without lighting can throw your mare back into anestrus. Lights need to be bright enough to be able to read a newspaper in all four corners of the stall and they need to be on for 16 hours every day. This protocol works for 90+% of mares, however there are still some mares that do not respond to artificial lighting protocol.
Tease your Mare!!! Keep track of her cycles and be sure that she is cycling regularly (not transitionally). Normal cycles generally last 5-7 days with approximately 18 days of no heat in between. Be sure that she has a clean culture and a clean cytology. (Cultures are not always completely accurate, especially early on in the breeding season so a cytology is a good idea. A quick ultrasound of her uterus at this time is a very good idea. This will enable your vet to see if your mare has fluid in her uterus or if she has any existing cyst that could be misinterpreted as an early pregnancy.)
If your mare is currently in foal: we suggest (this is our farm standard procedure) your veterinarian flush the mare with Gentocin Bi-Carb and saline solution, followed by a 1cc Oxytocin injection on the day following foaling. This will enable him to visually check her vagina for necessary repairs as well as manually feel for any internal injuries that may have occurred during foaling. This mare normally will cycle 8-15 days following her foaling. We have had mares cycle as soon as six days post foaling, but that is unusual. Teasing these mares is also important. Bear in mind, some mares will tease to anything on hoofs, some mares will tease only to certain studs or some only to geldings. Some mares will not tease at all and will need to be palpated to ascertain where she is in her cycle. Some mares will also tease even when they are pregnant. Those mares should not be teased on a regular basis once they are confirmed in foal by ultrasound. They should have their progesterone levels tested to insure they have adequate P-4 levels to maintain pregnancy.
When your mare begins to cycle!!! Call or e-mail the farm to notify us of the estimated date that you will want the semen shipped. Call the farm by 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on the morning that you need the semen shipped. This gives us sufficient time to collect the stallion and notify Fed-Ex that we need pick up for that day. Monday, Wednesday, Friday are our collection days!! If you need a shipment on an off breeding day, there will be an additional $200.00 collection fee charge. Your vet will probably want to palpate your mare every day when she gets close to ovulating. He also needs to palpate 48 hours after inseminating to be sure your mare did ovulate. If the semen is being shipped directly to you, notify your vet as soon as it arrives so that he can inseminate your mare as soon as possible. Do not open the canister until your vet is ready to inseminate. When your vet has inseminated your mare, the Hamilton-Thorne Equitainer or Equine Shipper box needs to be Fed-Exed back to us (economy freight is fine). This insures that we have cannisters and shippers boxes available for the next person who needs one. Once your mare has ovulated, continue to tease your mare if at all possible to insure that she doesn’t short cycle back into heat. On day 16 following her ovulation, have your veterinarian ultrasound for pregnancy. Notify the farm of the results. Day 21 re-ultrasound to verify again. The majority of embryos that are lost occur during days 16-21. Day 30 recheck again to be sure your mare is still in foal. Please call or E-mail the Farm to confirm your pregnancy.
FOALING SERVICES
Char-O-Lot Ranch offers foaling services for your mare. We require the mare be on the farm approximately 30 days prior to her due date- we will administer the appropriate pre-foaling vaccines (EWT West Nile, Flue Vac Innovator EHV4/1, Strep-Vac) open her caslicks if needed and monitor thru her foaling. We require her to be here at that time so that her system can acclimate to the anti-bodies needed on our farm- insuring a healthy foaling process for both mare and foal. We utilize the Foal-Alert System and have available in-house qualified personnel to assist. Immediately upon foaling the foal is examined for any problems, navel dipped with iodine solution, administered 5 cc pcn, and if needed an enema is given. The mare’s udder is washed with ivory soap prior to the foal nursing and she is administered ivomectin. Research has shown that ivomectin given to the mare at this time prior to nursing appears to control threadworms in the foals and also is suspected to assist with slowing the incidence of “foal heat scours”. We also make use of Tuff Rock Foal G/I for the first ten days at a low dose to help the foal regulate his/her GI tract. The foal is monitored closely until it stands to nurse and we are sure it is nursing adequately. The mare’s colostrum is checked immediately with a colostrometer so that we can be prepared for any possible issues that could arise from failure of passive immunity transfer to the foal from the mare. They are then left alone to bond in as natural setting as is possible. This is an important time for mares and foals to be left alone. Here at Char-O-Lot Ranch we are not big fans of the imprinting philosophy and feel that often times it is over-used and over-rated especially with maiden mares that are unsure of their maternal instincts.
There is plenty of time afterwards for you to handle and bond with the foal – this is mare & foal time.
We do have an oxygen tank available for use on any slow to start foals.
The following morning the mare is flushed with a Gentocin/Bi-carb solution and given a low dose of oxytocin to help clean and tone her uterus and prepare her for re-breeding. Depending upon the mares age and uterine condition some mares are administered oxytocin on day 6 and 7 following foaling. The foal’s IGG is taken 8-10 hours post foaling, he/she is weighed and the navel is treated again.
The mare owner can then decide to leave the mare for re-breeding either on-farm or with Ship-In-Semen. Once the mare has foaled she and her foal are housed in the mare barn and turned-out either by herself or with similar “buddy” in a pen for several hours each morning. This turn-out time is very important as it helps your mare to tone-up her uterus better enabling her to be re-bred.
