How do you allow my mare to be served ? Do you just paddock run them or what ?
Our aim is to allow the positive aspects of natural service but in a controlled environment therefore eliminating the risks that can come with running them together.
When the mare first arrives, she is introduced over the gate to the stallion. She will be in the House paddock so we can keep a watchful eye on her. He is in the Orchard paddock which borders the house paddock. He will call her and usually the girls will periodically come over. After a chat, and a squeal, if she isnt coming into season, he will show no interest and wander off. Many mares have never met a stallion so it is a good way to "warm them up" to the idea of his suggestions.
If she arrives and is in season, or after a few days/ week, she starts coming into season, she then goes into the Hot paddock which is close enough for them to see each other, whinny and "talk" but has a 10 metre void which stops any chance of him trying to mount her over the fence. Now we have a mare ready for serving and depending on her history, when she come into season, how many mares are in season at the same time etc, she will be served several times in that cycle.
When she is "ready" - usually on the 2nd or 3rd day of her cycle, she is taken to the serving paddock and meets and greets him over the gate. Both mare and stallion are under control. She is prepared before hand (tail bandage, cleaned up). When we know she is definately happy with his advances and he is defiantely keen across the gate, we bring her in. The process is not rushed and often quite abit of time is spent licking, nipping,and squatting etc. He is pretty smart and wont make advances if she isnt going to stand for him. (Sometimes I can present a mare that I think is ready and he wont show any interest until the next day. ) We then allow the mating to take place and both handlers are very experienced with many types of mares.
The benefits of hand serving, are that you know if he delivered a good amount of semen inside her, the exact date it happened, neither mare nor stallion was injured, you can control the mating for different sized mares, easier system for nervous mares etc.
We have had great success with a number of mares that have arrived scared, nervous etc. By allowing them the time to settle in they usually go home relaxed, happy and pregnant !
I cant tell when my mare is coming into season. When should I bring her ?
We prefer that she arrives not quite in season, especially if she is a maiden or nervy type. This gives her a bit of time to settle in and get use to meeting him over the fence. However, sometimes upon arrival, being in this environment will "bring a mare on" abit quicker. We will soon know when she comes in. So having said that, it is often pot luck where she is in her cycle, so just bring her over when is suitable for both parties. Also take into account that the gestation is 11 months. So leaving it till April is getting too late ! We accept mares from September till March. Ideally, a mare will conceive first go but sometimes they need another month. Bear this in mind when deciding when you want your foal born so you dont end up running out of time and missing the season all together.
What associated vet costs can I expect ?
We are flexible in the arrangement you may prefer and dont like to spend your money without your permission ! Depending on how far away you have come from, can determine the system we will work with. Our costs are $100 booking fee. This is paid upon arrival and is non refundable. This pays for her handling, monitoring and attempt to serve her. We also offer the first week grazing free and then $20 per week thereafter. If she cycles normally, and is served, you then have the option to keep her here till she is ready to scan at 18 days. The vet has a new system in that he charges according to the difficulty in scanning each mare. A standard scan is $45. If it takes longer, it goes up. I usually notify you by ph that day if she is pregnant or not. If not, she will be ready for serving again within a few days. If pregnant, you can either take her home or leave her here for a second scan at 42 days. The reason for this is that the chances of reabsorption are higher in the first 30 days and if she has come from abit of a drive away, it is better to let the pregnancy settle than a long trip home at a critical time in the pregnancy. The service fee is due upon a positive scan and collection from here. More details are in our service agreement. If you live locally, then she can go home and you may like to get the second scan done yourself. (Of course you can take her home at that stage even if you live along way as long as you are happy to pay the service fee at that time.)
Sometimes a mare will fail to conceive and the scan will show up that she needs a course of antibiotics to clean up an internal infection. This is a "dirty mare" I take her to the vet several times over several days to have the course administered internally. These costs vary according to the amount of treatment she needs. Usually the cost to clean up a dirty mare is around $130 but if the infection needs lab analysis, that is an extra approx $70. I dont charge for the transporting of the mare back and forth but all vet costs are yours. However, I keep in constant contact with an issue like this, often phoning you from the clinic if necessary. The reason I take the mare in is to save the added call out fee and also they have great facilities at the clinic which makes it alot easier on everyone.
Caslick. This is a system of partially closing the vagina with a few stitches at the top. This is done on mares if they have a history of getting infections - often from poorly shaped vaginal entry sloping in at the top which allows feacal matter to get in or as a matter of course on a mare that wont hold a pregnancy. A mare will need to be "unstitched" prior to serving if she arrives stitched and then restitched afterwards. (Remember she will need to be unstitched again prior to giving birth.) If you have a mare with a caslick, it's an added cost of about $20.
PG. This is an injection to bring a mare into season more quickly. The cost is usually around $10.
This page is constantly being added to. Last updated 29/9/08.
