>>> How long were they with him for? Or were they covered in hand? If so, how many times over how many days? And does he have lots of other foals this year? (if not I would worry about his fertility...)
There's no question that his fertility is VERY low, and his libido is totally shot now - but of course, he was gelded about six weeks after he was at Unicorn Valley, so I guess that is to be expected. :) Seriously, I hope everyone realizes that I have no reason not to be 100% forthcoming about what has happened - no need for any macho posturing or bragging about his fertility at this point. I'm telling all this just because I know some people won't give out as many details as I will... He pasture bred in the past and has two foals coming this spring. He was with Anneliese's mares for only five days, in the pasture, so I knew that wasn't a sure thing, and I'm sure Anneliese did too. In fact, I had initially planned to leave him with her for about three weeks, but since five stood for him to breed, and her foaling paddock was torn up with the construction of her new house, she asked me to go ahead take him home - she was assuming of course that at least a couple of the mares would be pregnant. She really wasn't anxious to breed this past spring with the home construction going on, but she knew I was going to geld him and she wanted to breed to him before I did. Bjola didn't get pregnant here this past spring, but she had some odd cyst/tumor thingy that showed up on her post-breeding ultrasound, so the "fertility issue" was hers, not his. Of course, I gelded him before I had her ultrasound, and she was only with him in the pasture for about three weeks. Her follow-up ultrasound about 2-3 months later showed the cyst thing had resolved on its own. But, I knew I was going to geld him, so I hadn't waited for her ultrasound. I wanted to be sure I had his gelding done before the heat of summer, and the worst of bug season here. Other than this incident with Anneliese, he never missed impregnating a mare that he stayed with - but he was always with the ones he bred for a while. He always pasture bred, with one exception. We had one mare come here to be bred twice, and we did what might be considered a "modified pasture breeding." We turned them out together to breed, but watched, and separated them after they had bred, and had had a period of "afterglow", maybe leaving them together to "cuddle" for 30-60 minutes each time. We did that for 5-6 consecutive days both times they brought her, with him only breeding her once a day. She got pregnant after each time, only one heat cycle. I think that's the best way, if you are only looking for a high conception rate, but I love the tranquility of watching a stallion with a few mares in a more natural, pasture breeding/family living arrangement. They really do show a lot of affection for each other...as well as having the expected "marital" squabbles. :) >>> Sorry you won't be having any next Srping, though, that's a real shame. It's especially sad since he's gelded and those were limited edition foals. I feel SO bad for Anneliese. Melnir was born at her farm, and I know she loves him. Cary doesn't help my feeling of guilt. He keeps telling me that I gelded the wrong stallion. Melnir's babies are just great. I hesitated and didn't breed him the first two years I had him, to be absolutely sure he was EXACTLY what I wanted in a breeding horse. After two years, though, I was sure. I was partly hesitant to breed him because he's small - not terribly short, and I think he's very "correct" in his conformation, but he's not a tank. The mares I bred to him have been pretty stocky, but several are only 13H or so. At 18 months, Isak is our shortest colt, at about 12.2H, but Tifa, Kola and Landi are already at least 13H. I wouldn't be surprised if Landi is as tall as Melnir (13.1) already, and considering that Sina is barely 13H, that surprises me. I don't think I needed to worry about Melnir's size as a factor in breeding him. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.14/1171 - Release Date: 12/4/2007 7:31 PM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! 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