Maiden Mare

by Bill Walsh. http://www.manepoints.com

Mark Deane fought a tough and often losing battle every winter, attempting to rush Mother Nature.

"We started keeping our maiden and barren mares under lights about the first of December, and shortly thereafter we'd start feeding them a little bit more, too," the former stallion manager explains. "We tried to fool them into thinking that it was when the days are longer and the grass is coming in."

Timing was critical at the thoroughbred nurseries with which Dean was associated before accepting a position in the fledgling racing industry in Virginia. Because all thoroughbreds celebrate birthdays on Jan. 1, getting mares bred early is one of the first keys to success.

Professionals obviously have a lot more to worry about than amateur breeders, but no matter who has the mare to be bred, breeding successfully is more than letting Mother Nature do her thing. It's wise to listen to the pros.

"A lot of them don't catch early no matter what you do," Deane concedes ruefully, "and if I were breeding a pleasure horse, I wouldn't worry too much about the timing."

Still, there are some advantages to starting early. "You're probably going to need a negative uterine culture on your mare," Deane counsels, "and so you'll want to start keeping an eye on her early. Most vets want to take the culture when the mare is in season. If you send her to the breeding farm without a culture, they're probably going to take one, and you might miss that cycle. That's only going to cost you money," he notes.

More than the money, you are limiting the chances of getting that maiden in foal, a tough enough job to begin with. "If you start Feb. 15, you've got about 10 cycles; if you start April 15, you've only got about six cycles," Deane explains. "The longer you wait, the fewer chances you have."

On professional breeding farms, barren and maiden mares start daily visits to the teaser -- whose thoroughly unrewarding job is of inestimable help in the farm staff's determination of the mare's breeding status -- when the new year begins. Not everyone has access to such help, but it may not be that difficult to tell when your mare is coming in.

"One thing the small-scale owner had over me is that he or she knows the mare so well," Deane says. "Usually mares are going to get a little sulky when they come in season." Also, mares often show heat to other horses they are turned out with, or to another horse that a friend might ride over. Any time there is stimulation from another horse, chances are you can learn something useful if you keep your eyes open.

Be observant even in the absence of other horses, Deane advises. Mares coming into season, especially young, maiden mares, often urinate more frequently, and the urine is thicker. They sometimes go off feed a little bit in their generalized sulkiness.

Your veterinarian can help as well. "You can have the vet put them on progesterone for 10 days and then blast them with a shot of prostaglandin," Deane says. "In a case like that, you will want to wait until they have cycled at least once for the prostaglandin to work because you have to have a CL (corpus luteum, an old ovarian follicle) for it to work on. If she hasn't been in season, you're wasting your money."

Whether you send your maiden mare to stay at the breeding farm, just ship her in for breeding and then take her home, or, especially, if you artificially inseminate, the veterinarian will play an important role, Deane says. The vet can determine if she is in season, if ovulation is imminent, and what further assistance might be needed post-breeding.

Have your vet check the mare by rectal palpation two days after breeding, Deane says. "If she hasn't ovulated, you'll have to take her back. If she has ovulated, then you might want to think about getting her sutured. At day five, her blood levels should be checked for progesterone. At day 18, if you have a way to tease her to check whether she's in season, do that, otherwise have the vet palpate her again.

"Have her pregnancy-checked using the ultrasound machines," Deane recommends. "This way, you can determine, hopefully, that she is not carrying twins. If she is, your vet can try to pinch one off at this time. We ultrasound again on day 26, when the heartbeat is visible."

He also suggests a blood test to determine progesterone levels on day 18 if the mare has conceived. This is especially important for maidens, who have no previous pregnancy history to go on. They need to go on supplemented progesterone at this time if the test indicates the need.

Regumate, an oral synthetic progesterone, is expensive, and could cost $600 to $700 over the course of the pregnancy. "We start it right away if we need it and keep the mare on it for 150 days. With older mares, I keep it going right to term because the tests really aren't that exact," Deane adds. There is no evidence that going beyond 150 days is helpful, however.

Weight maintenance is usually all that is needed for the first and second trimester, Deane says, though an increase of feed is called for in the last, when 65 percent of the foal's growth will occur. There is no harm -- and maybe a good deal of good -- in keeping the mare in the same exercise regime as in pre-breeding, at least for the first two trimesters. Exercise needs to be tempered with common sense, Deane cautions.

"In any situation, you want to make it as easy as possible for the breeding farm. That eliminates mistakes. Have all the information prepared, any teasing charts and all the veterinary information, all the shot records. If you're efficient, you're going to get more out of where you're going.

"If the mare is going to the farm to stay for a while, have her dewormed and have her feet trimmed. If she's staying, make sure she has a good halter and, ideally, a neck collar with a name tag. Whether she's staying or going back home right away, be sure you pull her back shoes off," he says.

"Eliminate as many mistakes as you can; eliminate as many hassles as you can for the breeding farm," Deane says. "You'll save money and have a better chance of getting the job done."