This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hello There,
I just wanted to comment on all of the recent dialog regarding the relative lack of success in getting conceptions from shipped semen with Fjords. Many of you are familiar with my senior stallion, Dusty. When I first owned him, I got a request from Bonnie Ehlers in Neb. to do a semen shipment. That was several years ago. I had heard such negative results with shipped semen and Fjords that I wanted to make sure we did everything possible to make this successful. I took Dusty to the vet to first have his semen tested to see whether his would handle the cooling and shipping process. Tests showed that the quality of his semen was excellent and after 24 hours, still was 90% viable. A great candidate for successfully shipping semen. At that time, I had some personal opinions as to why semen shipments were not working for Fjords, such as stallion owners were not having semen tested prior to offering shipping, stallion owners were doing their own collections and not handling the semen correctly, mare owners did not have a vet proficient in AI procedures, etc. I decided to have the vets handle the collections and preparation to assure mare owners that we were handling things on our end properly. There are several primary factors that determine the success of shipped semen, the first being whether the stallion's semen can withstand the process. The second factor is handling it properly and preparing it for shipment. Horse semen is pretty fragile and can easily be killed if not done right. A stallion owner shipping semen is AT THE MERCY of whoever is handling their 'cargo' whether that be FedEx, counter-to-counter air freight, etc. If that 'blue bucket' is allowed to become overheated sitting on some hot asphalt tarmac waiting to be loaded or it is allowed to sit in the sun or it is opened for inspection, etc., the quality of the semen can be greatly compromised. I've even had airlines cancel the flight that it was supposed to be on. ULCER CITY! The next factor that I've always considered to be THE KEY, is the recipient vet. They are the ones responsible for ordering the semen at the appropriate time. They can make you or break you. They are the ones who either make you look good or REALLY bad!! I have turned down many requests to ship semen if the mare owner does not have access to the right vet. I'd rather not do it at all than to have unhappy customers. Semen shipping is risky at best, even when everything is working in your favor. That very first shipment we did to Ehlers was successful and their mare had a colt the following year. I was feeling pretty smug about that. HOWEVER, call it beginner's luck, since then we've not had a very good track record, even with taking all of the precautions mentioned above. HMMM? WHY? For the past couple of years I've been pondering that question and have formed some ideas about it. My conclusion is that, for the most part, Fjord mares do not ovulate as early as most other breeds, therefore, recipient vets are ordering semen too early for Fjords. I sure wish there was funding to do an in depth study with Fjords regarding this!! The reason I have arrived at this conclusion is that, normally recipient vets will order semen when the mare has around a 35 mm follicle thinking that the mare will ovulate when that follicle reaches about 40 - 45 mm. More and more we have been finding 60 mm follicles on Fjord mares that have not yet ovulated!! Therefore, recipient vets are missing Fjord ovulations by perhaps 2- 3 days. Last year I had a client in CA. with 2 mares to be bred via shipped semen. We had tried this before without success, even though the semen was arriving in great shape. To try to get answers, this mare owner cooperated with her vet's suggestion, at great cost to her I might add, to ultrasound her mares everyday through a couple of cycles so that they could see exactly how their follicles were developing. On the next cycle, her vet did not order the semen until the mares were at 40 & 45 mm. My vet said he thought we would be way too late. I told him to relax - these were Fjords. One of those mares was at 60 mm when the semen arrived! Inseminated her, gave her a shot of HCG, ultrasounded 24 hours later and she still had NOT ovulated! Inseminated with the second straw, ultrasound 24 hours later showed that she had FINALLY ovulated! GEEZ! Steve, Brian, would sure welcome your input on this!! Can you share your experiences with us from the vet's perspective? Thanx, Gayle Ware Field of Dreams Eugene, OR www.fjordhorse.com
