At our farm we have not fought overwhelming climate transitions with mares that many of the stallion owners deal with further south, but find mares arriving from the south sure don't like the occasional snow our "Land of Ahs" offers intermittently during the early breeding season. The entire reason Dwight and I own our stallions is due to unfortunate happenings to our mares and foals at outside breeding farms years ago. Environment and the lack of natural immunity to strains of disease normally not seen in our area of the country. Regardless of an excellent vaccination program on our farm, our mares' chances of conception were challenged. These are natural and unavoidable problems that even the most conscientious farm can not control. Cooled semen could save transporting expense, risk of injury and the hauling stress for mares and foals as well as extended board charges due to a mare adjusting poorly to her new environment and not cycling properly. As breeders ourselves, we are having semen from outside stallions shipped in to breed mares of our own and outside mares. Previously, we never had time to transport our mares because of our own breeding obligations here on the farm. So we too are excited and share in the enthusiasm of the opportunity to broaden our foundation bred herd to other excellently bred horses throughout the United States, Canada and abroad. What we all need to know about cooled semen: If the mare to receive the service is in good breeding condition, developing nice follicles and an experienced equine reproductive veterinarian or specialist is used to check and inseminate the mare, it is possible only one semen shipment will be necessary for her to conceive. Occasionally, it will take another shipment, but more than two are the exception. The overall breeding success rate with cooled semen, prepared for insemination properly, has proven to be very similar to conception rates at the actual breeding farm. Key Factors The breeding condition of the mare:
There are four types of mares, all with different pre-breeding requirements.
Foaling Mares - My favorite in the breeding shed. Hopefully everything went according to the book during her delivery and cleaning process and she is in good physical condition,
allowing her to maintain a pregnancy while the youngster stands next to her. Mother nature tells a mare in poor flesh that she had better take care of the one beside her (sometimes at the expense of her own physical well being) and she will fail to conceive. A mare on the gain has a far better chance to conceive. Choose the right Veterinarian and/or Reproduction Specialist: Before the arrival of the breeding or re-breeding time of your mare, you must choose an equine Veterinarian or reproductive specialist who is knowledgeable, experienced and equipped for equine reproductive work. Not all veterinarians specialize in this field. If you don't have a veterinarian with reproductive equine experience in your area, you may elect to board your mare during the breeding period at a breeding farm in your vicinity that employs an experienced equine reproductive veterinarian. Krebs Quarter Horses has chosen to limit the shipment of semen to only those mares that can be readily ultrasounded for optimum breeding time and also to ensure the presence of a single pregnancy. Thus, palpation alone is not acceptable. Ultrasound capabilities are required. Preparation for cooled transported semen shipment: Before Breeding Season: Contact your veterinarian before breeding season and inform him that you have elected to use transported cooled semen for your mare. If you want to breed an open mare early, discuss with you veterinarian the possibility of starting your mare on a 16 hour light schedule in the later part of the Fall. Discuss the foaling schedule with your veterinarian if your mare is currently in foal. Veterinarian/Specialist Exam: At the beginning of breeding season a complete reproductive exam will insure the mare is in ideal reproductive condition. Time of this exam is dictated by the status of your mare Maiden - Open/Foaling. Have your veterinarian monitor the growth of the mare's follicles in preparation for the ordering of the cooled semen. Timing the Order of the Semen Shipping: Your veterinarian must pre-arrange with Krebs Quarter Horses for the timing of the semen shipment. The Farm collects the stallions on an every other day basis so communication between your attending veterinarian and the farm is critical to assure live viable semen to service your mare at the proper time. There can be NO SUNDAY shipments, depending on locale, Saturday shipments can be risky. Shipping Cost The cost of shipping semen is to be paid by the mare owner. In most cases, this cost is between $20.00 and $80.00 per shipment. After each cooled semen booking fee is received the farm begins to research the best manner of shipment to your mare's location. When your semen order comes into the farm, we request that you also pre-pay your shipping expense to avoid C.O.D. charges. Additional semen shipments will be charged separately if they become necessary. What container are we to utilize in shipping the semen? Semen is shipped in either a light weight Lane Shipping Container or a Hamiliton Thorne Equitainer. The Farm is not requiring a deposit of $350.00 at the time of booking, for the Equitainer, or a $100.00 deposit for the Lane Container this year. However, should the container be returned to the farm in un-useable condition the mare owner will be billed for the cost of the container. All Containers are required to be insured for their return trip to Krebs Quarter Horses, the Equitainer for $350.00 and the Lane for $150.00. The Lane Shipping Containers have proven to maintain temperatures well through our testings and have been modified to house a special on board computer chip to monitor the temperature of the shipments every 2 1/2 minutes throughout the shipment. The computer chip, Hobo Monitor, will be sealed in a plastic bag within the box, and if space allows, in with the semen. We request that you do not remove the chip as it can only be read via a computer here at the farm. When we receive the shipping container back we will read the monitor to check if there were temperature fluctuations during the shipment indicating the shipment was opened by the Airlines during shipment, or that the shipment was damaged during loading. For our research records we would appreciate that you would indicate the exact time the shipment arrived and the exact time the semen was inseminated into your mare. Indicate your time zone or convert to monitor time of CST. If the shipment had no temperature fluctuations you will not be notified, if there were fluctuations we will report to you immediately and address the problem with the shipping company. What if the mare did not conceive from the first shipment's inseminations? If your mare did not conceive, your Veterinarian must contact us for the timing of an additional shipment of semen. We will not charge another breeding fee but will charge a collection, preparation and handling fee of $150.00 for all shipments past the first shipment. Within the shipment you will find instructions and we will provide you with the necessary paperwork for the AQHA and APHA rules for transported cooled semen. The Association's rules in regard to DNA testing of mares and foals apply. Enclosed in the Fed-X packing slip you will find your AQHA Paperwork, Transported Semen Pregnancy Check Form 1-2, Transported Semen Report and Evaluation and a self addressed envelope to Krebs Quarter Horses. The Transported Semen Report is for the benefit of your attending Veterinarian to aid in his decision on when your mare needs to be bred. We request the Veterinarian fill out the bottom portion for our records on the farm as to the success of a given shipment. The Pregnancy Checks are to be between 16-21 days after ovulation and on or before October 30th of the calendar year. After the completion of each exam please forward the results to Krebs Quarter Horses as soon as possible. We need to include each pregnant mare on our AQHA/APHA Stallion Breeding Report and request notice by October 30th of the current year. Your non refundable deposit will confirm your reservation for 2004. Please sign and return the enclosed Cooled Semen Contract as soon as possible. Please note: much more semen is shipped to breed a mare with transported semen versus how much is used to inseminate mares boarded here at the farm. This fact limits the number of semen shipments, or even the availability of a shipment which can be collected from a stallion, especially during the busy months of the breeding season. Therefore we suggest an early reservation. Twenty mares will be accepted for each stallion for Transported Semen. Inquire during breeding season as to the availability of Transported Semen and collection days. Customer mares on the farm take precedence over Transported Semen mares. This appears to be a considerable amount of information, but not to worry. We will guide you through the process via timetables and checklists when your contract returns. If you have further questions, DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL US.
(620) 872-5864 or fax (620) 872-5865 or E-Mail:
krebs@wbsnet.org
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for latest updates!
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