A Beginners Guide To A.I. by Dan Shaw B.V.Sc, May 2002 Advances in artificial reproductive techniques now offer breeders the opportunity to produce world class product at a very low cost. All breeders, whether hobby or professional, should educate themselves to the possibilities these techniques allow in regards to achieving their goals. CHILLED SEMEN AND A.I. Many breeders have already taken advantage of this low stress method of achieving pregnancy in the mare. The mare is usually kept at or near home, and is examined by a vet using a scan to determine when she is ready for breeding. The semen is then collected, then added to an extender and shipped, cooled in an equitainer, by courier. The mare is then inseminated by the vet. Depending on the stallion involved, success rates can nearly be as high as natural service. In my experience, there are a few pitfalls that need to be avoided so that good results are obtained. 1 Mare preparation. If you are serious about doing this at home, build a crush or send the mare to a property that has one. This allows the mare to be scanned accurately so she can be served the day before ovulation. Drugs need to be given so that the mare ovulates, and she should be examined 2 days post service to check ovulation has occurred and that the mare is free from infection. If present this can be treated, as the embryo doesn’t enter the uterus until day 5 post ovulation. 2 Semen Handling. When the semen is collected it is important to avoid temperature shock. The correct dilution rates of semen to extender is important, to allow a final concentration of 25-30 million sperm/ml. For the best success rates it is advisable to invest or lease an equitainer to transport the semen in, as 80% of stallions’ semen will last 24 hours in this equipment. It is surprising how many courier parcels go missing for a few hours! 3 Success rates and cost. You should expect a pregnancy over 60-70% of the time each cycle, and a total vet bill of around $200-$400 by the time the mare is 45 days in foal. These figures may alter if there is a problem with the mare. FROZEN SEMEN The advantages of frozen semen include access to international stallions, and the trouble free serving of mares to local stallions without the need to co-ordinate with collection and couriers. A routine procedure in the Dairy industry, it seems inevitable that one day most horse breeding will involve frozen semen on a pregnancy basis. At the moment success rates vary from almost as good as chilled semen to very low or nil. The major factors involved are 1 Stallion variations, only 30-50% of stallions semen survive the freeze thaw process with good fertility. It is important to only use those stallions in a successful programme. Finding out previous conception rates of stallions is a good place to start. 2 The freezing agent. There are many individuals offering stallion freezing as a service. To freeze semen properly requires specialist equipment and skills, and success rates amongst operators vary wildly. 3 Semen transport and handling. In my experience this is a big problem, especially in transferring the semen from tank to tank. Once again this is best left to trained and experienced personal, as handling liquid nitrogen is a specialist procedure. Thawing and preparing the semen prior to insemination into the mare is another crucial factor where good training and equipment is vital. 4 Timing of insemination. It has been considered in the past important to keep scanning the mare every 2-4 hours, and inseminate immediately on ovulation. New research and results tend to show that fixed time insemination programmes give similar results, and are much easier on the mare and labour, as 2am rectal scans are not much fun for anyone! 5 Dose rates. There is still a lot of debate as to the correct dose and method of insemination. Despite what many think, this is the least crucial factor. Summery, in general, one can expect lower success rates and higher costs when using frozen semen as compared to chilled. However the gap is closing and the advantages will ensure that usage will become widespread. If you have already purchased frozen semen, it may pay to have a small portion evaluated before using to predict its quality, otherwise purchase it on a pregnancy only basis. AI - ITS ADVANTAGES and the CHOICE OF MARES information supplied by IHB It is perhaps a truism that most successful endeavours begin with a dream. Followed by dedication, perseverance and invariably, a great deal of hard work-the dream becomes a reality. International Horse Breeders began with a specific vision back in the 80’s. The idea was to introduce the genes of the world’s top ranking stallions into the breeding stock here in Australia through frozen AI. At the time, AI was a recently developed technology but during the past ten years, enormous progress has been made. Ten years ago, we were excited about being pioneers in the industry; we are now proud to be able to boast the best conception rates in the world using frozen AI and that our results exceed any other method of breeding. These are the actual results achieved by International Horse Breeders over a typical season: - A ninety-two percent conception rate overall with 65% of these mares conceiving on the first insemination. - A further 25% conception on the second insemination and approximately 10% on the third. - On average, a pregnancy is achieved every 2.07 inseminations. This level of efficiency has been achieved through diligent research in conjunction with leading overseas universities. A quality control method has been developed which ensures that our clients receive fertile semen guaranteed to produce foals. All our frozen semen is analysed for motility, morphology and for adequate sperm counts. You can be certain that the semen you purchase from International Horse Breeders is of the highest quality. IHB has developed a distribution organisation which brings semen right to your mare’s stable door without any loss of quality. Semen is shipped in liquid nitrogen tanks, keeping temperature a constant -196 o C. Semen can then be kept in our tank for the period of insemination or be transferred to a veterinarians storage facility. The advantage of frozen semen is that it can be kept for years without deterioration so long as it is stored correctly in liquid nitrogen. IHB issues detailed instructions to veterinarians for the thawing and insemination processes which have been prepared with the assistance of leading professors in the field from Europe and America. Thus dispelling any concern you may have had of using frozen AI. We take great care in selecting stallions which are the most successful in the breed they represent. Most valuable are the ‘spitzenvererber’ - stallions which are proven in their own right to pass on to their progeny the type of abilities for which they are world renown. However, we also carry younger stallions of significant bloodlines which promise to be the proven sires of tomorrow. The foals already in our midst through frozen AI speak for themselves. They are stamped with quality, presence and movement and reflect the superior breeding of their fathers. The selection of the mothers is, of course, in your hands. But no matter how good your mare, we have the stallion to improve upon her qualities. Our excellent selection of stallions and bloodlines will enable you to choose the most appropriate sire for your foal both now and in future generations. Here are some points to bear in mind when selecting a candidate mare for frozen AI. Ideally, she should be in the age range of four to sixteen years. Research indicates that older mares lose their fertility. The mare must be checked by a vet before she enters a breeding programme to ensure that she is free of any obvious impediment to breeding. A maiden mare or a good easy breeder is ideal. A mare which has suffered foaling trauma is not a good candidate nor is one with a history of infection or abortion. Mare management is also very important. Mares which are too poor or fat are difficult breeders. Normal stud management needs to be observed to ensure that a mare meets her peek at the point of breeding and is cycling well. It is unwise to attempt to use a mare which has been pronounced unfit by your veterinarian. The choice of vet in the use of frozen AI is also very important. Generally, the mare needs to be agisted at the vet clinic throughout the time of insemination so that she is available for close monitoring and follicle testing. There are now many vets who are highly experienced in the process of using frozen AI and who have achieved good success rates. We will be pleased to advise you in this regard. All semen that we import meets the stringent requirements of Government Quarantine policies of import and we work closely with AQIS in Australia and similar governmental quarantine departments in other parts of the world. Breed your best to the world’s best! The ambition of most serious breeders is to produce a top performer. IHB can turn that dream into reality. We have successfully made dreams come true for horse breeders all over this country for many years.