Reproduction
Our Philosophy
At Pacific Crest Sporthorse, we believe that communication and attention to detail is the key to a successful breeding experience. Whether you’re a large breeding farm or an individual breeding your mare for the very first time, we’re prepared to handle all of your breeding needs.
Benefits
Breeding a mare and producing a foal can be a rewarding journey. It can also be complicated, expensive and stressful. By allowing us to coordinate your breeding efforts, you can enjoy the rewards while minimizing stress. At PCS all of our team members are familiar with the ins and outs of working with stallion managers and embryo transfer centers. Our doctors pay close attention to your mare in order to insure optimal timing and management, which will increase your odds for a successful pregnancy. And we make every effort to insure your mare’s experiences during the breeding process are positive so she’ll be a willing participant, both now and in the future. By inviting us to play an active role in your breeding activities, you’ll realize many benefits, including.
- Optimal pregnancy rates
- Development of strong professional relationships with stallion managers
- Guided care during pregnancy to insure a a healthy foal
- Assistance during the foaling process
- Support and basic health care for your newborn foal
Basic Reproductive Services
We offer a wide variety of reproductive services, ranging from ultrasounds on your farm to monitor mare’s cycles or confirm pregnancy, to complete fresh or frozen semen breeding packages and embryo transfer services performed at our facility. Our 32 acre farm is even set up for maintaining and foaling-out your pregnant mare or helping raise your foal. Our basic reproductive services include the following;
Artifical Insemination with Fresh Semen
Your mare can be bred to a stallion almost anywhere in the United States or Canada using fresh transported semen. For this to occur, we will monitor your mare’s heat cycles carefully using rectal palpations and ultrasound examination of her uterus and ovaries. Using these techniques, we can identify one or more follicles from which an egg will eventually be released. Ideally, a single follicle will begin to dominate, and will eventually release a single egg. When this follicle reaches a certain size, we will contact the stallion owner and request shipment of semen, which is generally sent via Federal Express or airplane. Our goal is to have the semen in hand for insemination just before your mare ovulates (releases the egg).
As soon as the semen arrives, your mare will be inseminated. Many stallion managers will send a second dose of semen for a subsequent insemination the following day. After your mare has been inseminated, we will examine a small sample of the semen under the microscope to assess its’ viability, and will administer a hormone injection to encourage ovulation in a timely fashion. If all goes well, your mare will conceive and we’ll be able to identify a pregnancy as soon as 12 days following breeding.
Artificial Insemination with Frozen Semen
If you choose to breed you mare to a stallion based in Europe or one with a heavy competition schedule that limits his time in the breeding shed, frozen semen may be in your future. Frozen semen also offers the advantage that the semen is here and waiting before the breeding process even begins. The downside to frozen semen breeding is that timing of insemination must be much closer than with fresh transported semen (ideally within 6 hours of ovulation), and pregnancy rates are lower.
Because the timing is so critical, we will ultrasound your mare a minimum of twice and as often as four times a day during the final days of her heat cycle. As with fresh semen breedings, hormones will be utilized to encourage ovulation and assist us time the breeding as close to ovulation as possible. Our goal is to inseminate within six hours following ovulation. Following insemination with frozen semen, your mare may require post breeding treatments to minimize inflammation in her uterus and increase the chances she conceives—we’ll monitor her closely during the post breeding period. As with fresh semen, if all goes well we’ll ultrasound your mare for pregnancy as soon as 12 days following breeding.
Embryo Transfer
If you’d like to produce a foal from your performance mare, embryo transfer may be a great option to consider. This technique allows you to breed your mare, then flush the embryo from her reproductive tract at a very early stage (approximately 8 days after ovulation) so that it can be placed in the uterus of a surrogate mare. Your mare keeps on competing, while her baby develops and is born and raised by the surrogate. Embryo transfer can also be used for older or otherwise reproductively challenged mares no longer able to carry a foal to term. If things go well and your breed registry allows, you can even hope for multiple foals from your mare during a single breeding season
Mare Management
For large breeding operations, we are happy to set up a regular weekly schedule at your farm for routine ultrasounds to evaluate progression of heat cycles or check for pregnancy, perform diagnostics on problem mares or carry out necessary post-breeding treatments. Whether it’s one or seven days a week, we’re available to guide and facilitate your breeding program.
Foal Care
Our reproductive services don’t stop once your mare is pregnant. We will provide support and guidance throughout her pregnancy, be available to help at foaling time, and look forward to meeting your new foal at his or her well-baby exam.
Beyond the Basics
Our 32 acre farm and clinic facilities are designed specifically with the needs of the broodmare and foal in mind. Not only that, all of our doctors have a special interest and advanced skills in reproductive techniques. On the rare occasion that we require outside help, we have close working relationships with several board certified reproduction specialists who we can turn to on a referral basis. In addition, we have established relationships with two separate embryo transfer centers with large recipient herds to meet the needs of our embryo transfer clients.
