A person with one or two mares can make a contribution to the recovery
of our beloved Appaloosa breed by carefully selecting a stud, or studs,
which have the best pedigree to cross with her mare. I, for example, want
to do what I can for the Appaloosa. However, having only one mare and
limited resources, I do not want to ship my mare long distances and to
have her away from home for the long periods of time necessary to breed,
ultrasound, and possibly re-breed her. If a person has many mares,
shipping them may be out of the question due to cost and difficulty. It
may not be possible to keep several stallions on the premises and there
may not be many nearby.
The Advantages
In any case, using shipped semen is a very attractive approach. First, the
mare stays at home or only goes as far as the nearest veterinary hospital
or breeding facility. Second, the choice of stallions is almost unlimited,
provided the stallion owners have this service available. Third, there is
less chance of sexually transmitted diseases, or injury to mare or
stallion by a kick. Finally, if the stallion is always handled by the same
veterinarian or technician for semen collection, he can learn that
stud-like behavior is allowed only under certain circumstances (special
halter, handler, etc.). He can be taught that this behavior is not allowed
with his usual handler and tack.
Advantages to having the mare stay at home are many. The inconvenience of
shipping the mare is avoided. She is less stressed, and more likely to
conceive and to carry her foal to term. She can continue to be ridden and
kept physically fit, which also contributes to fertility. If she has a
foal at her side at the time of breeding, the foal is not stressed by
shipping to a strange environment, and its training can continue
uninterrupted.
Using AI widens one's choice of stallions and therefore reduces the
likelihood that significant inbreeding will occur. With too small a
selection of stallions, gradually all one's mares become closely related
to the studs usually used. By using shipped semen one can be more
particular about stud choice, carefully studying pedigrees and photographs
or videos, talking to breeders, and making the best selection possible,
without being geographically limited. On can breed to that gorgeous stud
clear across the continent, as seen advertised in the ICAA Report, or on
our web site. Hopefully, one can optimize the chance of getting that
perfect foal with that great pedigree, and just the color and pattern one
has been wishing for.
The Disadvantages
There are disadvantages to AI as well. These include cost, timing,
registry regulations, and, in some cases, reduced fertility of the
stallion. Also, many stallion owners do not offer the option of shipped
semen.
There is often an additional fee for semen collection and the shipping
container, on top of the stud fee. Usually, most of this additional fee is
refundable upon timely return of the reusable container. (If it is not
returned in time, somebody else may not get their shipment in time.)
Veterinary fees are considerably higher for breeders choosing AI, as it
requires multiple barn calls for palpation, ultrasound, sedation,
insemination, etc. Other costs include permits from registries and blood
tests and/or DNA tests.
Scheduling AI can be tricky. If the mare does not have obvious and regular
heats, she may be prepared by using hormones, administered orally and by
injection, it induce ovulation. The veterinarian will determine the
hormone schedule and check the mare's response. He or she will judge the
stage of her ovulation cycle by ultrasound or by rectal palpation of her
ovaries. A skilled veterinarian can feel a mare's ovaries and predict time
of ovulation to within a day or less. As soon as one knows when the mare
is due to ovulate, it is time to telephone the stallion owner with the
exact date the semen will be needed. The timing of the semen shipment must
coincide with the mare's ovulation, as the semen is only viable for one to
three days. (If ovulation is to be induced, semen shipment is best planned
for a weekday, as many shippers don't deliver on a weekend. Some shippers
will deliver to the nearest airport on weekends, but it is necessary to go
and pick it up.) On the day of insemination, there is another veterinarian
visit for sedation, insemination and another hormone injection.
Some stallions may be less fertile using shipped semen than natural
coverage. A mare owner has to make sure the stallion has high sperm
motility and a good record of settling mares via shipped semen. The
stallion should have been tested by a veterinarian for sperm
concentration, motility and general appearance after a sample has been
collected, extended, cooled, packaged and stored for 24, 48, and 72 hours.
This should be checked at the time of each collection. It is a good idea
for the mare owner to request a written report of this test.
Sperm motility always decreases with the passage of time during shipping,
but this is more of a problem with some stallions that with others. The
mare owner's veterinarian should evaluate the viability of the sample at
the time of insemination. Again, this should not be a problem if both
veterinarians check the semen, and if the stallion has been properly
tested.
Registry Requirements
The requirements of the ICAA for breeding via shipped semen are as
follows: The mare owner must apply for ICAA approval prior to
insemination. The ICAA reserves the right to refuse approval if a suitable
stallion stands within a reasonable distance. The stallion must be
licensed with the ICAA. Both the stallion and the mare must be blood typed
prior to the procedure. The resulting foal must also be blood typed. The
mare must be listed as artificially inseminated on both the breeder's
certificate and the stallion report. The stallion's license number must
appear on the stallion report, along with the mare's name and registration
number. Licensed veterinarians must collect, prepare, and ship the semen,
as well as receive it and inseminate the mare. Both veterinarians must
file a notarized statement with the ICAA, testifying to the procedure.
(These rules are undergoing revision to streamline the process.)
In the case of the Appaloosa Horse Club, a foal resulting from artificial
insemination using transported semen may be registered, but only if the
stallion is ApHC registered. Also, the stallion owner must be issued an
annual Transported Semen Permit. The stallion, the mare and the resulting
foal must all be DNA typed to verify parentage. (DNA testing is simpler,
less expensive, and more accurate than blood typing. It involves pulling a
few man hairs out by the roots, or doing a nasal swab, and sending it to a
lab for analysis. Both DNA typing and blood typing only need to be done
once for each horse; the results are then on file for life. Kits for both
methods of typing can be purchased for the ApHC.) The stallion owner and
the mare owner must file the necessary paperwork within 30 days of
insemination.
Other registries may be different, so it is important to look into the
requirements in advance.
Keys To Success
The keys to successful AI include having skilled veterinarians or
technicians, good communication, and healthy animals. One must have
confidence in one's veterinarian. If both veterinarians involved have
experience with AI, and a good working knowledge of equine reproduction,
then the collection procedure, testing and preparing the mare, and the
insemination should go smoothly.
All parties must communicate clearly and promptly for success. All
arrangements, such as the approximate date of semen shipment, method of
shipment, and the breeding contract, must be made in advance. All parties
must be aware of the breed registry requirements. The mare owner should
discuss the whole procedure ahead of time with the veterinarian. The exact
date of ovulation must be determined, and clearly communicated, to
everybody involved.
For AI, as in any breeding, both mare and stallion should be healthy.
Prior to breeding, both animals should be examined by the veterinarian for
reproductive health, as well as general health. All vaccinations must be
up-to-date (especially the mare's rabies vaccination, which can not be
given during pregnancy). It is a good idea to have the mare's teeth
floated in advance, in order to avoid sedation during pregnancy.
Once the mare is pregnant, there is no difference from any other
pregnancy. The mare can be tested by ultrasound or palpation, and cared
for according to the usual schedule for a pregnant mare. Pregnancy and
delivery will follow its normal course, the same as with natural breeding.
Stallion owner Cheri Moats of Kismet Farm (home of Wap Spotted) is
extremely helpful in explaining all aspects of the procedure. She is happy
to help stallion owners and mare owners alike to understand the
shipped-semen process in layman's terms.
Kismet Farm also has a very informative web site where one can find
answers to most of the questions commonly asked by mare owners. You can
visit it at: http://www.wapspotted.com.
When asked if she would recommend that other stallion owners provide
transported semen, Cheri replied, "Oh yes! Transported semen makes
management in general easier and less risky for stallion, mare, handlers,
and newborn foals."
Candace Brown of Sapelo Appaloosas, breeder and owner of Sapelo's FB
Tucker, also recommends the procedure. She says that, assuming all goes
will and the mare settles, "it's almost like spring vaccinations result in
a foal!" She recommends that the mare be well-fed (5% over fit weight),
vet-checked, and up-to-date on vaccinations and floating before breeding.
When asked if she would breed again, using transported semen, she
responded, "Of course! A thousand times over!"
Artificial insemination is becoming more and more technologically
advanced. With the new millennium, we should think about using the
technology to our advantage. Like the "Information Super-Highway," AI is
making the world a smaller place, and this can only help us with our goal
to save the Appaloosa. We don't have to be limited by geography any more.
We can look farther afield for breeding options, using artificial
insemination as a tool to widen the horizons of our breeding programs and
to improve the fate of the breed we all love. |