# AI questions



## LSurb1997 (Jul 26, 2014)

I have decided to breed my mare through AI, I have a few questions first though.
1. How long does the whole process usually take?
2. Can you breed more than once from the same shipment?
3. How soon will your vet know if your mare has taken?
4. Do you have any tips or tricks the help make sure the mare takes on the first try?


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## SunnyDraco (Dec 8, 2011)

1. Time is a large variable. The time of year, your mare's cycle, knowing when during the cycle she actually ovulates, and how many attempts is required. 

2. Yes, but not if the stallion has less than ideal sperm count or gave a small collection. Also, mares to be bred need to not only cycle together, but have the ovulation occurring on the same day. Also, you must pay stud fees for each mare bred even if it was from the same collection. That is basic honestly with the stallion owner who does not have to sign papers to register a foal out of a mare you didn't pay to have bred from a shipment. 

3. Most vets (depending on their skill and equipment) can verify pregnancy and check for twining between 11-18 days post breeding. The earlier, the better if you want to prevent twining and keep a viable pregnancy (horse twins are your worst nightmare 99.99% of the time -most end with an early aborted pregnancy, even if twins are carried near term then there is a high risk of not just losing one or both foals but also the mare, only the super rare magical happy ending stories are shared with broad public audiences and awed over)

4. Have the best reproductive vet you can find, board your mare at the vet so she can ultrasounded every day to find her exact ovulation time and trust that vet. But also cross all your fingers and toes while praying to a deity for great blessings of equine fertility. Many mares do get in foal on the first AI attempt but there is also a lot of luck involved.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

LSurb1997 said:


> I have decided to breed my mare through AI, I have a few questions first though.
> 1. How long does the whole process usually take?
> 2. Can you breed more than once from the same shipment?
> 3. How soon will your vet know if your mare has taken?
> 4. Do you have any tips or tricks the help make sure the mare takes on the first try?


1. How long does the whole process usually take?

This depends on how good the vet is at catching your mare at the right point of her cycle, the stallion for quality and quantity of collection, and the mare for consistency of her cycle. Could be one cycle, or appx 1 month, or could be the full breeding season and still the mare hasn't stettled. 

2. Can you breed more than once from the same shipment?

Yes and no. Shipped semen is generally sent in "straws", something that almost looks like a drinking straw, and depending on the size of the straw(s) you could receive 1 or 2 breeding doses. Every time I have bred to an outside stallion, they've sent 2 breeding doses per shipment. If they do send 2 doses per shipment the vet will usually put the first dose in and wait until the next day to put in the 2nd, giving you a little more window of time for the 'swimmer' to get up to the egg. 

3. How soon will your vet know if your mare has taken?

You have the mare preg checked at 14-16 days and the vet can usually spot an embryo with the ultrasound at that time.

4. Do you have any tips or tricks the help make sure the mare takes on the first try?

#1. Have your mare examined for breeding fitness before you even sign that contract with the stallion owner. 

#2. Have the vet do a culture & cytology at the time he checks her for breeding soundness, and depending on her age, you may want to do a biopsy to see what shape her uterus is in. 

#3. If she's good on all those fronts, make sure she isn't over weight, that cuts her ability to conceive quite a bit if she's obese. 

#4. Take her out to the breeding vet's and leave her. The vet can then ultrasound every day if needed. He can also give hormones to 'help' her come along in her cycle. 

#5 And this one probably should have been #1, put her under lights so that she's getting approx 20 hours of daylight/day. 

And all that having been said, plan on at least 2 shipments, and make sure you have the money to cover all of those expenses. Shipping semen and having the mares AI'd can run up a healthy tab really quickly. 

Couple questions for you: 

#1 How old is the mare?

#2 Is she maiden? (I don't like to use shipped semen on maiden mares)

#3 Is taking the mare to the stallion and having him collected and not extended, and put in your mare fresh an option?


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## WhattaTroublemaker (Aug 13, 2013)

Not sure about your questions but it's strange: 
Here AI is relatively cheaper than even live cover. A vet will AI for $29, and the whole thing costs around $180. It's even cheaper for cattle. Stud fee is anywhere from $300-800 while live cover tends to be more pricey, at $800-1500 stud fee, mare care, vet check, etc- 

Weird!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

WhattaTroublemaker said:


> Not sure about your questions but it's strange:
> Here AI is relatively cheaper than even live cover. A vet will AI for $29, and the whole thing costs around $180. It's even cheaper for cattle. Stud fee is anywhere from $300-800 while live cover tends to be more pricey, at $800-1500 stud fee, mare care, vet check, etc-
> 
> Weird!


If I take one mare to OSU and have Skippy collected and put into the mare, I'm looking at $300 per cycle, it include all needed US and normal hormone management. That's IF I furnish the stallion too, and I'll pay $100 to have him collected but not extended. Shipping is a flat $300 per shipment, it includes collecting, checking, extending, a disposable container and Fed Ex shipment.

AI is quite a bit more expensive here, I can live cover for free. They bring their mare, I charge $100 chute fee and Skippy will cover the mare. Live cover, and fresh collected unextended semen are the 2 most reliable forms to get a mare in foal. 

I prefer to live cover a maiden mare because you have no history, you don't know if she pools liquid, or is sensitive to the extenders or ......who knows what all. Once you've live covered her and gotten a viable foal, you know she can catch and settle, so if there are subsequent problems in the future, you can generally find them in the semen, most specifically the extenders.


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## LSurb1997 (Jul 26, 2014)

1. My mare is 10
2. Yes
3. He is in California and I am in Texas so its not an option.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

LSurb1997 said:


> 1. My mare is 10
> 2. Yes
> 3. He is in California and I am in Texas so its not an option.



Your mare isn't that old, but I'd still plan on 2-3 tries, just in case. If she catches on the first, then you have money for other things or an emergency fund. If not, then you're prepared. Do you have a stallion you can tease her with? Even if it's a mini? That can help you a lot. When are you planning on starting? Is she under lights now?


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## Eme1217 (Oct 27, 2014)

I am not a breeder and never plan to breed, but I'm curious why do you put mares under lights? Thanks!!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Eme1217 said:


> why do you put mares under lights? Thanks!!


Their cycles are regulated by the length of the days. During winter many mares will not cycle (anestrous) so to keep them cycling for an early spring breeding, we add light to their day.


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## WhattaTroublemaker (Aug 13, 2013)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> Their cycles are regulated by the length of the days. During winter many mares will not cycle (anestrous) so to keep them cycling for an early spring breeding, we add light to their day.


And we've owned a mare who would come into heat every month on the money :lol: darn creatures. I do have a question though: 
Do lights affect their winter hair growth?


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

Having mare under lights will help to regulate her heat cycle if you are planning an early breeding in area like me, that have cold weather & less sunlight in winter. Yes to other question asked, it will also help to keep the hair coat off for those show horses :grin:
Having your mare checked out for breeding soundness,check her cycles,uterus condition etc as your first step. If that is all good make plan to take your mare to vet for her heat cycle to be monitored.Most will require a few scans to follow the development of follicle, so vet knows the best time to have the semen ordered for delivery.:gallop:
If your vet is good at evaluating should have close prediction of day of ovulation & have the semen there to inseminate. So if semen is good,it gets there in allowed time & mare ovulates as per normal then should be successful!! I Stress the Should be:-x as you are dealing with several variables to be right,lol.
Stud fee itself can be often the least of the expense,as the vet fees & shipping costs can add up in a big hurry you can look at well upward of $500/cycle,has been awhile but been there done that...


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

WhattaTroublemaker said:


> And we've owned a mare who would come into heat every month on the money :lol: darn creatures. I do have a question though:
> Do lights affect their winter hair growth?


The mares can appear to continue to cycle, but when ultrasounded, frequently they are not ovulating. And yes, lights will keep a winter coat from coming in also. Just an anecdotal observation, it seems that it takes less light (length of days) to keep them cycling than it does to keep them slick.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

WhattaTroublemaker said:


> Not sure about your questions but it's strange:
> Here AI is relatively cheaper than even live cover. A vet will AI for $29, and the whole thing costs around $180. It's even cheaper for cattle. Stud fee is anywhere from $300-800 while live cover tends to be more pricey, at $800-1500 stud fee, mare care, vet check, etc-
> 
> Weird!


The stud fee, or breeding fee, is the same for a given stallion, whether live cover or AI, but most stallions where AI is used, aren"t used for live cover
I don't know of any equine vet here, who does not use ultra sound, to keep track of when a follicle is getting to the size where it will ovulate
Thus, even with just three ultra sounds, you are already way past that $29 dollars. 
I am assuming that the semen is being shipped, so that takes co -ordination at both ends, and many breeding facilities charge for each collection, with some including the first collection in the stud fee. I paid $200 for each collection, with shipping costs added on, which are also not cheap. I used Fedex. I was charged a rush fee for that equi container, but could send it back empty at a cheaper rate
I am lucky that I live close to my equine vet, and that he allowed me to haul my mares back and forth, versus leaving them at an equine facility for a month or more
My vet was very good at predicting when a mare would ovulate, and thus order the semen in time, but he did use ultra sound. 
Two straws was usual, thus he would inseminate the mare soon as I got the semen for the airport, and again the following morning. There is a very narrow time frame, where that egg remains viable


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