I wouldn't try to get horses "bread" but maybe you'd want them bred.PS Semen comes from stallions too. anyway, I'd first do some reserch online about using AI on horses. we use AI on cattle and there is a big difference between horses and cattle. Cattle are easier to breed AI,,,look for standing heat then breed the next day ( the old AM/PM rule) horses cycles last longer than cattle so the timing is important. generally, you'll need to find out when your mares are cycling ( teasing with a horny gelding is good) Then your vet will need to come to check the mares making sure they are clean. A vet can also help you determine the mares cycles.

Finding a stallion is a matter of knowing what you want. If you're into arabians like me ( or anyother breed) you'll want to know what kind of foal you want- western, english,jumping,dressage...whatever. Then start reading magazines, visiting farms, using the web. When you find a stallion you like, contact the farm and they can send you additional info. Prices vary- some are 500 bucks...some are $6000..depends on the breed and the demand for the stallion. Working with your vet, you have to know when its time to order semen- contacting the farm, when do they collect the stallion and time everything right. Semen is shipped to you overnight for the vet to inseminate.

Cost for collection,handling, shipping and vet visits can add alot to the cost of the stud fee. Make sure you know and understand what you are going to pay bottom line. Find out about rebreeding- should your mare take on the first breeding, how much to ship more semen next time? Some farms charge for this, some don't.

In short- there is much more to AI in horses than cattle. The costs are also much more too. Do some more reading and talk to your vet. Some vets are better at equine repro work than others. There are also farms set up to do equine repro work- they check the mares for heat, order the semen and inseminate.

YIKES Rob - I thought farmbabe was just poking fun.  I hope Cowboyfritz didn't take it as seriously as you did!

I thought she gave some helpful advice but perhaps we could give her a good ribbing over her spelling of "reserch".    Sometimes we type faster than our brains can keep up!!

RIDE ON!

awww get over it......I mean c'com...bread horse????Please......

and yes I have a thicker skin...rib me all you want.

Perhaps it should read- One should consider spell check before criticzing someone else as "anyother" is, in fact, two words.

So there..........now any ONE else have some AI suggestions??????

On the subject of bread, it is gonna cost bread to AI a horse.

And with thorobreds (thoroughbreds) the Jockey Club only registers live cover.  Live cover does seem to work better with the horses.

All depends on what stallion you want and how far away he is.  I have a gorgeous black and white twh reg and SShbea reg stallion but unfortunately he is not homozygous.  Stud fee and mare care quite reasonable, lfg or rebreed same or another mare within 18 months with only mare care fees.

All this talk about bread is making me hungry, think I'll go get a snack.  See you all later.  Jan

The only reason that the Jockey club requires live cover is because that keeps the value up on the studs. "Storm Cat can only live cover so many mares". It has nothing to do with wether or not they think it works better. Storm Cats $300,000 stud fee would fall considerably if he could produce say 50 foals with one cover.

I just want to know where is my margaritas?  I have the bread to pay for it......

Enough is enough. Could not help it when I was talking to my wife at the time about Lunch. Thanks for all the info. It helps out.

But have another  question. How old is too old for a horse to be "bred".

It depends but a mare in her late teens is probaby going to be tough to settle. not impossible but fertility declines as the horse ages.

And yes, there are collection fees, handling fees, shipping fees, container fees,....it can add up so fees are more than the stud service!

I thought Storm Cat was up to 500,000.

Yes, older mares can be harder to stick, but not impossible.  We have a half-arab mare who had her first foal at the age of 12.  And went on to produce 7 babies before we retired her.  However, we did choose live cover for her with an experienced stallion and handler.

Fritz - Why are you thinking of A.I. as opposed to live cover?  Have you already chosen a stallion that is far away?  We have done A.I. with some good results but I prefer L.C. if the stallion is close enough to trailer to within a few hours.  That way they can breed the mare several times throughout her heat cycle.  This gives a much better chance of success.

RIDE ON!

One question to ask yourself:

Can I recoupe the cost of the AI vet fees plus stud fees associated with the AI by selling the foal and all the usual expenditures of raising a foal?  If the answer is not 100% YES, then your answer should be NO, look for studs local and in your price range.

If you get over invested in this and something horrible happens, an engine goes out, family illness or the horse passes away you will always blame each other for this decision.  (This may be the type of thing if you have to ask about the cost you can't afford it...) I'm not making personal judgements about your finances, but I've seen couples in vet's offices fight about a lot less.

As usual, Dwight makes good points.  The other thing that bothers me about the ai procedure is the hormone stuff that is given the mare.  It is icky;  mare breaks out in hot flashes and so on.  Since I am a female of a certain age, just can't see doing that to a mare unless really necessary.

 PS  Actually I think the Jockey Club may have the right idea in keeping prices up;  just my greedy opinion.

Well, here is my 2 cents.  We are planning to bred our 6 year old throughbred mare to a stallion.  It took a lot of looking, talking, planning, and reading for this.  This will be our first baby from this mare.  So we want to do as much as we can the correct way.  We even talked to our vet before we planned this.  We talked about all the hard decisions if something goes wrong such as hard births, the baby dies, the mother dies.  The vet, the stallion's owners like us and we like their horse.  This year careful planning, and lots of praying is all we can do.  Good Luck!