This is how we do it, here at Faithwalk Farm.  This is only my opinion and that may change with each foaling season.  Another farm might have more broodmares and may not do it this way.  One reason I only have a few, is that it lets me take care of them the way I think is best.

Once you have selected your mare and the stallion you want to breed her to, you and your vet will decide if you will have her artificially inseminated, or send her to Faithwalk Farm for live cover.  Artificial insemination means that the semen from the selected stallion is injected through a very thin tube directly into the uterus of the mare.  Having your mare artificially inseminated means that you may keep your mare at home or at your vet's clinic instead of sending her to the stallion.  For artificial insemination, you have to pay to have the stallion collected and the shipping fees, plus whatever your vet charges you for the process.  To send her to Faithwalk Farm, or any breeding farm, you will pay board while she is here, plus the stud fee and any veterinarian charges incurred.  Even at the farm with the stallion present, artificial insemination may still be the best.   This, again, is the vet's decision.

Now breeding season is here.  It usually begins about March 1 as the days become a little longer.  Some people keep their mares under lights on timers to sort of kick start the season.  The lights have to be bright enough to simulate outdoor sunlight.  We have never used lights, so I really don't know how many hours or what wattage is used.   Some mares will begin to show signs of  estrus (or heat) meaning they have a follicle developing on an ovary.  At Faithwalk Farm, we like to have the mare palpated by our vet at this point.  It just lets us know that everything is okay to go ahead with breeding her.  Showing signs of estrus simply means that some mares will begin to lift their tails and expose the area beneath the tail.  I call it flirting.  Some will flirt with a gelding or another mare. Since we have a stallion here, he pretty much lets us know when a mare is coming into heat either when we walk a mare by his stall, (she may stop and lift her tail, teasing the stallion) or by walking him out by her stall.  He will usually stop and sniff.  If he smells something he is interested in, he will stop to check it out;  otherwise, he is more interested in getting out to hi pasture.    Some mares will simply not show signs and you will have to depend on your veterinarian to tell you when she is ready.  They can tell by palpation and sometimes using an ultrasound to see if a follicle is developing.

Once your mare is bred, an ultrasound will be performed by the veterinarian at  about 18 days from her last breeding date, to find out if she is pregnant.   This is a perk of modern technology in today's veterinarian medicine.  The reason to have her ultra-sounded is firstly,  to find out if she is pregnant;  and secondly, to find out if she has twins.

(1) If she is pregnant and only has one embryo, GREAT! Congratulations!   If she is NOT pregnant at this time, she should be coming back into her heat cycle.  When she is in heat, you may have the vet pull a sample of fluid from  her uterus.  If she did not become pregnant, she might have some type of infection.  The sample fluid can be cultured to find out what is present and what medicines may be necessary to treat the condition.  Sometimes it is possible to treat the infection and go on with breeding her in the present heat cycle.  This is totally the vet's decision. 

Here at Faithwalk Farm, we depend on having a good equine veterinarian and enough cannot be said about following their instructions.  It is important to establish a relationship with your equine veterinarian.  In case of an emergency, it is nice if they know the person that is calling them and the horse they are dealing with.  Much like most of us prefer having a doctor that knows us, it makes us feel better.  It is also a courtesy to the vet and having a working relationship with your vet is always a good thing.   If you choose to have your mare bred here at Faithwalk Farm, we will keep her here until she is vet-checked at 18 days and declared safe in foal.  At this point, the mare can either return home or stay until the next ultra-sound at 36 days.

(2)  Twins - In horses this is not a good thing.  Very rarely will either or both survive.  Sometimes nature takes care of it and one will die and be absorbed.  Your vet will need to make a recommendation at some point.  Sometimes if two embryos are present, one may be "pinched" off, meaning the veterinarian may be able to manually squeeze the uterus at the point the embryo has attached and cause the embryo to become unattached to the uterine lining.  This sometimes meets with success and sometimes not.   I have never known a veterinarian who did not recommend trying to stop the development of twins.  It is just too risky for the mare.

At Faithwalk Farm we have our mares ultra-sounded early on.  A vet can detect the pregnancy by palpation but will not be able to determine if it is twins or not.  Or you can just wait and see if the mare comes back into heat; if she does, you know she is not pregnant. 

At Faithwalk Farm, we believe in preventive veterinarian care.  We give them the best of care, protecting the mares and our stallion in every way knowing that it is not only safer but cheaper in the long run.  After the palpation and ultrasound at 18 days, we have another one done at 36 to 42 days to insure that the mare is still safe in foal.  Some times something just goes wrong and the embryo does not survive.  In horses early in the pregnancy, this is termed absorption rather than miscarriage.  Usually there is no outward sign that the mare has miscarried in the first 42 days.  As the embryo develops, it is still possible for the mare to miscarry but the fetus will be discharged rather than absorbed by the mares system.

You need to be aware of the costs involved in breeding a mare before you make a decision.  You need to know about all the fees involved so that you will not be surprised at the cost.  Again, at Faithwalk Farm we utilize the skills and knowledge of the best equine veterinarians in our area.  The veterinarian fees are not included in the mare care (board) or stud fee even if live cover is used rather than artificially inseminating the mare.  The stud fee is just that, the fee that is charged for the use of our stallion's semen to produce a foal from your mare.  Mare care is the fee we charge to cover our costs of boarding your mare while she is at Faithwalk Farm.   We have a breeding contract that explains all of the fees involved depending on whether you use shipped semen or your mare is boarded here at Faithwalk Farm for breeding.  Please know that the contract is for your benefit as much as ours.  It gives you a guarantee for a live foal, meaning a foal that lives for 24 hours and is able to stand and nurse.  If the mare does not produce a live foal, you may choose to breed that mare again or substitute another mare, if approved by Faithwalk Farm.  The breeding contract very specific about the costs involved.

At Faithwalk Farm, we reserve the right to refuse stallion service to any mare.  We choose to only breed our stallion, Dillon Paints the Town, to Tennessee Walking Horse mares of good quality.  We will not breed to non-gaited breeds, regardless of the quality of your mare, because we do not want to produce a foal that is not gaited. The four beat walking gait is present in a gene that is passed to the offspring and while we cannot guarantee a certain gait in the foal, if your mare is gaited and has only Tennessee Walking horses in her pedigree, your foal will be gaited.  Some owners of non-gaited mares have asked about breeding their mares to a gaited stallion to "soften" the trot.  I personally do not believe this is possible.   The trot will always be a 2 beat diagonal gait and the running walk, rack, or saddle gait will always be a 4 beat lateral gait. Dillon Paints the Town is an excellent choice to sire your next foal.  He has outstanding conformation, color, gait and disposition.  Faithwalk Farm is blessed to have a stallion of such quality in our breeding program. 

Please e-mail us for details of our new breeding incentive program.