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thousand mares a year, why should a broodmare be limited to just one foal?”
Ultraliberalism Utter opacity dominates the international breeding scene. It is impossible to determine how many mares a stallion has covered globally, or how many foals resulted from ICSI— a technique still lacking long-term evaluation. No European or global statistics exist on artificial insemination or embryo transfers.“ At the Selle Français studbook, we chose transparency,” says Bérengère Lacroix.“ Breeders can easily find how many matings a stallion has done, along with much more data. But that’ s not the case in Austria, Poland, Hungary, or even Belgium and Germany. We’ re seeing unbridled liberalism. For example, Belgium has eliminated the mating certificate required in France to register a foal. The Belgian Z studbook publishes no performance indices and accepts clones, unlike Swiss or French studbooks. Even DNA-based parentage checks are not mandatory globally; South Africa, for instance, does not enforce them.” Marc Spalart, director of Equitechnic in Normandy, which handles semen freezing and embryo transfers, views ICSI and the reduced number of sperm straws per dose as the two recent revolutions in breeding.“ A typical ejaculate contains 4-5 billion sperm cells, yielding around 100 straws. We started with
8 straws per dose, then 6, then 4, now sometimes just 1. This means mares must be scanned three or four times a day to inseminate at the optimal moment. With ICSI, each straw is divided into 8 parts to fertilize multiple oocytes in a day. Stallion owners now issue fewer straws to avoid losing control of their genetic material and to prevent leftover straws from reaching the black market.”
What about thoroughbreds? The English Thoroughbred studbook is global, with the same rules applying across 68 breeding countries. Only natural covering is permitted; cloning and any form of artificial insemination are strictly prohibited. The same holds true in France for AQPS and Anglo-Arabs, who cannot race if they or any ancestor resulted from artificial insemination.“ There’ s no question of changing the rule,” declares Loïc Malivet, president of the Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders. The ITBF( International Thoroughbred Breeders’ Federation) reaffirmed this unanimously in May 2024 in Japan, as it had two years prior.“ It protects us because legalizing artificial insemination would open the door to dangerous excesses. What would stop top stallions from covering a thousand mares?” Currently, natural physical limits still apply. Mathieu Talleux, breeder and owner of Haras du Mazet in Limousin, where the thor- oughbred stallion Bande stands, also serves sport horse clients.“ I inseminate around sixty mares each season. It’ s a great technique-one ejaculate can serve multiple mares. But with stallion owners drastically reducing straw numbers, it’ s challenging. In the Haras Nationaux days, we received 48 straws per mating and could get 24 more if needed. Now we sometimes get only one straw with 50 million sperm, 40 % viable after thawing, with 35 % being the minimum. Mares must be scanned every six hours to inseminate near ovulation. It’ s not ideal for animal welfare, and it multiplies staffing needs. My wife, a vet, usually handles it, but when her colleague is on call, she has to drive long distances at night. This significantly raises gynecological costs for breeders, who often overlook these when choosing a stallion.” Another drawback Talleux notes is long-term fertility due to semen additives:“ Straws contain antibiotics that can lead to resistance. Older mares develop chronic endometritis. I’ m isolated in Limousin, and travel deters some breeders, yet I still oppose artificial insemination in Thoroughbreds.” Before developing Haras de la Haie Neuve, between Laval and Rennes, Tangi Saliou had a long career at the Haras Nationaux. As a reproduction expert, he believes artificial insimination would reduce risks for hors-
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