death. We like to use a chain over the stallion’ s nose as this keeps his front feet on the ground and much safer to handle. I don’ t like to use whips around stallions as they are generally not too effective and have a tendency to make a horse irritable. A whip is O. K. on a rather timid horse but on a real strong-headed horse you would be just as well off with an ice-cream cone in your hand. Do not help the horse enter the mare. If he needs help, you are probably over-using him and it is the first sign or one of the first signs of poor conception taking place. Be sure and let the horse get down from the mare of his own accord after wilting. This is very important. When the horse dismounts, he will be halfasleep. Do not attempt to drag him off to the barn immediately but let him stand around for a few minutes until he starts moving and again shows interest in the mare. This will be the time to put him away.
A Few Don’ ts
A few don’ ts in regard to teasing mares occur to me first. Don’ t breed on the foal heat or the ninth day. The live foal rate for foal heat services is 25 %. Did you know that stallions on the range do not breed mares on the foal heat? Do not follow the procedure of opening up mares, this can do nothing but harm. Of course, there are exceptions to all these things but if there are, let your vet take care of them if possible. Conception rates are lowered by hauling mares while they are in heat. Do not breed a mare to an expensive stallion unless she is hobbled.
Do not go to all the trouble of cleaning up the mare and horse and then proceed to breed her in a cloud of dust. One of the best ways to raise your conception rate is to know your mares. Some mares need a psycho analyst instead of a stud man. While I am thinking of this, a thought occurred to me of something I think is of tremendous importance especially to breeding operations that handle lots of fillies. To these people, it may be important to check with their vet the process of mechanically removing hymens in fillies. I personally believe this should be done at least six months before fillies are to be bred for their first time and I think it has a lot to do with why so many young fillies have a tendency to produce weak foals.
Is She Normal?
To go back to the mares, some of them are normal and come in heat about every 21 days, that is beginning to beginning or end to end of their cycle. They stay in about five or six days. It takes but very little deviation from the normal to spell trouble. So above all, see how close to normal she is. If she is just a little ways from being normal, you better find out why before you try to breed her. Some mares are hard to detect in heat while nursing a foal. These mares should routinely be separated from their foals for about one hour per day during which time the mare can be teased. Some mares will only show to other mares. As a general rule, these have to be examined to determine their cycle. They generally have to be forced to breed but settle very well when you find their pattern. Some mares will show to one stallion but not to another. This can get the one-stallion man in trouble. With this type of mare, cervical examination is indicated. One of the reasons that some mares won’ t show to one stallion but will show to another is that some stallions for one reason or another are very docile. As much as we like this in our saddle horses, our mares do not like this temperament in stallions. Mares prefer horses to be very ambitious, to be very loud and to exhibit their strength, etc. So, if you have an extremely quiet stallion, don’ t be surprised if some mares won’ t show heat to a horse like this. Some mares are only in heat for about 24 hours. A person could miss these if he only teased every other day or so. Mares that are teased in groups are easy to miss due to the above abnormalities. If possible, the mares should be separated to be teased. The condition of your mares is very important. Mares that are too fat, too quiet, too docile, too phlegmatic are problem mares.
Medication
There is a medical product, a thyroid stimulator which melts away fat and at the same time stimulates and activates the mare. This is a great help on some of these animals. As a general rule, a mare should be shed off to conceive. If you must breed her in the winter time, you will have to simulate spring weather and feed conditions; that is, warming weather and lots of quality feed. Blanketing a mare under these con-
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