This message is from: Nancy Newport <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Just my 2 cents on AI from the mare owners perspective - I have had very good luck with AI, I bred a TB mare 3 times and now my Fjord mare last year for this year's foal. Every time the mare took on the first insemination.
Now, as for the reason - I believe its because I had a very experienced vet. In fact I had Dr. Michelle LeBlanc at the UF vet school , and she's tops in her field. For a fee of $180 plus board they inseminate the mare including as many ultrasounds as it takes to accurately predict when to order the semen. Since I live in Gainesville, FL where UF is I usually just take the mare over there when my regular vet thinks she's about ready and leave her there for about 3 days. Then I take her back for the follow-up ultrasounds. With Pauline - last year I took her in and she had a 60 mm follicle - the resident thought she wouldn't hold it, or that it was some mid cycle thing that would be absorbed since she also had a small follicle, maybe 35 mm or so. Well, Dr. LeBlanc thought she would hold it and that they were both viable so we ordered semen right away (thanks Julie and Flotren) and inseminated her with a follow up hormone shot to make sure she ovulated. She ovulated both follicles and both were fertilized. We pinched off the smaller one as it was the least desirably shaped one, and 11 months later we have baby Jagr. I think my total mare vet bill was about $250, which is way less than it would have been if I had several ultrasounds at home and then took the mare somewhere to be bred, and left her there, then had follow up ultrasounds, etc. I probably would be less inclined to AI with shipped semen if I had a vet that wasn't very experienced with the whole process including evaluating the semen when it comes in. I can see how frustrating it would be to miss on several inseminations, since the mare owner does pay the stallion collection fee. But for me the AI process has been the most cost effective as I live so far away from the stallion that I wanted to breed to. It would still be cost effective even if I had to take my mare to a facility several hours away and leave her there for a week or two to be inseminated and checked. And, of course, there's the safety factor. JMHO, Nancy Newport Gainesville, Florida
