Premature foals - Late term abortions

I’m getting a lot of feedback on my posting about Premature foals and Joint ill. There are a lot of things out there that can cause loss of pregnancy, or premature birth. This blog post is going to go over things I’ve learned about late term loss and premature birth (besides the Joint ill already posted). I also want to pre appologize that this is a lot of text and not a lot of photos. It's a hard thing to picture a loved and wanted foal lost prematurely and it's just not something that should be displayed incase the wrong types of people read this post.

Late term loss is the most confusing for most mare owners. They always assume that past 45 days means that the foal is alive and good to go till the end.

The first thing I want to address is the importance of vaccinating your mares with Pneumabort –KV. The KV stands for Killed Virus. That is the most important part in picking this vaccination. It is the vaccination for Equine Rhinopneumonities. It’s a virus that causes abortions in mares. There are other strands that affect the nervous systems and other systems but this particular virus has reproductive effects. The recommendation is to vaccinate the mare at 5, 7, 9 months of pregnancy. There are some breeders that suggest 3,5,7,9. Personally we do the 5,7,9 but if we lived in an area that was more susceptible I would probably just splurge and get the 3 month vaccination also. On Jefferspet.com the vaccinations are about 22$ so it’s not a big expense when you are talking about the possibility of saving your foal. In Australian the cost for the same shot is closer to $80 so it's not as affordable but if you have a high stud fee and have any horses that might be carriers it's worth it to give than to deal with a late term foal loss.

The other thing that was called to attention is Placentitis. This accounts for nearly 1/3 of the late term abortions, and can cause death the first day of life. The general definition is the inflammation of the placenta. As you should know if you are breeding the Placenta is essential to the connection between the mare and the foal. After 150 days it is almost 100% responsible for maintaining that foal.

At the cervix there is spot where the cervix connects to the placenta, commonly called the cervical star, or the spot where the foal breaks through when being born. You should also know that in a normal pregnancy the cervix is the barrier between the uterus and the outside world. So it won’t let bacteria or fungus in to affect the placenta. However one cause of placentitis is when the cervix allows bacteria through to the uterus thus affecting the baby.  Causes of this can be poor confirmation, injury to the cervix from previous pregnancies, or bacteria degrading the cervical barrier.  

Bacterial or fungal infection will lead to inflammation, causing increased prostaglandin (contraction hormone) leading to premature labor/birth. If birth does not occur the infection can cause defective growth from decreased placental functions causing premature death or death just after birth.

You may have heard the term “red-bag” as an abnormal situation for birthing. Well that is caused by the placenta not being attached properly at the time of birth. You have to break that sack ASAP so that the foal does not suffocate. You should also be very concerned about the health of the foal because it’s a clear sign that the placenta was not functioning properly and the foal will have had less oxygen, nutrients ect. while in there.

Toxins can also cross the blood barrier between the mare and foal if there is any colic or diarrhea. Infections that cause uterine infections can cause placentits, so a left over infection from pre breeding can cause it.

One sign of placentitis is that the mare's utters will bag up prematurely (we get concerned if it's before 300 days gestation, unless the mare is known for early births, aprox 30 days prior to birth is normal) The best and currently only real way to know if your mare is affected, is a rectal ultrasound to check the thickness of the placenta, separation, or changes in the cervical star. Please also have your vet check the fetal heartbeat. Sometimes the placenta will look absolutely normal but when samples are sent to a lab it’s clearly contaminated.

 

There are treatments if you can identify them early. Treat the infection and the inflammation and the progesterone level till birth. Consult a veterinarian for details about treating your specific situation. There are very few medications that can cross the placental connection so please make sure you discuss your situation with a reproductive specialist. We were advised to give one type of Sulfer based antibiotic that was in no way able to fix the problem and it resulted in a dead foal. We had used other forms in previous years and following  years that did work. For the "incorrect form" we did ask the prescribing vet who falsely advised that it would work. Reconfirming post fetus death with specialist in the US we found that it was not an appropriate treatment for placentitis. We cannot tell you what medications you should or should not use  on your horses because we are not practicing veterinarians but please know that not all sulfer based antibiotics are created equal. We will continue to use TMZ tabs for our mares.

 

EHV (Equine Herpes Virus) can cause fetal death.  Type 1 and 4 are the common strands (which is why I discussed vaccinations right at the beginning) It is also a respiratory virus but the reproductive signs, abortion, will usually be the only symptom.

I looked up some odd and rare reasons and in the USA and AU it’s been known that Caterpillars can cause sudden abortion. They are ingested while grazing.  Processional Caterpillar and Eastern Tent Caterpillar are the two types that I found listed.

We always hope that at the end of the 11 months we have a beautiful healthy baby but if things should not be so successful please share with us the information that you get so that we can help others

(photos 1 Grace 2012 pregnant with Maiko 373 colt Nemo www.sableranch.net/nemo.html , Photo 2 & 3   Ester and Mambo 2012 Maiko 373 Colt www.sableranch.net/mambo.html)

To shoe or not to shoe

There are many theories about shoes, no shoes ect. Personally I feel barefoot is best if you can. Most people have the misconception that you have to have shoes on to show your horse. I can tell you from first hand knowledge that you CAN go to the keuring and IFSHA shows with no shoes on. I personally have shown ALL of my horses at the keuring with no shoes.



Look mom no shoes!!



 One of our 12 year old mares that has had 7 foals went back to the keuring to prove that she still had what it takes to be amazing. The comment from Jan Hendricks was how amazing her movement was. She was barefoot. This same mare that same year competed in the IFSHA shows. She was undefeated at her Regional show and WON 3 Championships, and 3 reserve championships at the National and World champion show. I got many many comments on her feet. Most were shocked that she moved so well barefoot. Others were impressed to find out that I had gone against the norm and had her barefoot. The following year she competed in Dressage and went from showing Training level all the way up to 2^nd level and didn’t score less than 60 on any of her tests as she moved up the levels. ALL with no shoes. There was not one penalty to being barefoot. There was only advantage. She has healthy frogs, strong hoof walls, correct balance as her training develops, and a tiny perk is that her ferrier bills are very low.



Shoes cost about $8 each so by not putting them on your ferrier should charge you about $32-$45 less per visit. If they are not that much cheaper for a basic trim then get them to break down the shoe cost. Not to mention the extra time they have to take to either make a shoe, fit a shoe, nail the shoe to the foot, take the shoe off to trim at each visit. Needless to say I’m informing you that you do not have to have shoes to show. Your horse may have a condition that requires shoes, but don’t feel like you need shoes to show your horse in IFSHA or FHANA/FPS.

Here is a link to an E-book that further explains barefoot/natural trimming for your horse.

Bare foot trimming E-Book

Horse Trauma

I have been using and selling Essential Oils with my horses for a few years now. There are many uses for the oils, from emotional to physical.

One that I rely on is Trauma Life By Young Living

Here is what they write about this formula on their web page:

Trauma Life™ is a calming, grounding blend of therapeutic-grade essential oils formulated to help release buried emotional trauma resulting from accidents, neglect, the death of a loved one, assault, or abuse. Left unchecked, emotionally draining episodes may be at the root of fatigue, anger, and restlessness.

I have personally used this oil on my horses. The most common use is weaning. It’s always a traumatic for a foal to be separated from it’s Dam and visa versa. The stress can cause ulcers, anxiety, and long term emotional effects. The foal has to be weaned, that is common practice in nature and in foaling operations around the world. So why should they have to have emotional scars. I have found that our foals are much more adjusted after separation after using this on them a few times a week following weaning. I use the aroma therapy application. Just open the top and let them smell when they need it.

I also used this on a mare that lost her foal to a tragic accident and on a foal who’s mom died. Post surgery and accident is another time when I use this oil. I have found that using this after a very scary encounter helps them also. For example a horse that fears bathing, clipping, or is overly reactive to regular training steps. When a 2 year old developed a fear of blankets because she was shocked by static and bolted through a fence. A few times sniffing and a reintroduction to the blanket and she was back on track with her blanket training.

To order this oil click here http://youngliving.com/essential-oil-blends/Trauma-Life You will have to create a new account. Choose your Country, Click on Customer, for Sponsoring Distributor Member Number Enter 1111482 My name should appear as your sponsor. (email Allison@sableranch.net if not)

Select the Independent Distributor if your going to order a lot.

Preferred Customer if you would like to have regular automatic shipments.

For more information on using Essential Oils with your animals check out this e-book that is written by a fellow Young Living Sales person. Essential oils E-book for dogs cats and horses

Get ready to ride

It's time to get the winter rust off and get back to riding

I’m not quite the grey mare but I’m sure not the ripe 2 year old… with that being said preparing for riding season is not just about getting my horse back in shape again. I have to include a plan to get my body loosened up, moving right, and strengthened up again. So where do you start. You can spend all kinds of money at the gym over the winter and still not be ready to ride.  I would start with Pilates. It’s entirely focused on the core strength, flexibility and control…. That is exactly what you need to ride well. Classes at a gym or specialty facility can be very expensive. So bring the gym home with a cheap yoga ball. The smaller the ball the harder you have to work.

The yoga ball is not just for your horse to play soccer with!

 

Picking a stallion for your mare

There are many ways to pick a stallion for your mare. You can pick the stallion of your dreams, the guy next door or use a calculated way to pick a stallion for your mare.

I have put together a page on my web page that goes through how to use your mares linear score sheet and the stallions offspring reports to pick the best match for your mare. There is an even easier way. I can do the homework for you and give you several possibilities of stallions to mate your mare with so you can have a shot at the baby of your dreams. Either way check out the page on matching your mare to an FPS stallion.

There is a new way to get information on your Friesian mare and Approved Stallion combination. In the KFPS members log in page where you look up the inbreeding coefficient they give you the 5 scores that they expect your offspring to get at the keuring. Frame, Race Type, Legs, Walk and Trot. There are no guarantees in breeding but this program takes what your mare got and combines it with what the stallion is producing. We have not had a 3 year old that has given the exact scores that the system has produced for them, but it will give you another educated guess as to what you might expect.

Click here to learn how

Click here if you want me to do it for your

How to read the stallion offspring reports

Have you seen the notices that the new FPS/FHANA stallion reports are printed yearly? The information is online by the end of the year, and a combined copy usually follows early the following year.  Ok but what does that really mean to you as a Friesian mare owner. It means that the scores from last years Keurings are counted up, calculated, and put out in an easy to read chart. Ok so it’s not easy to read if you have never read one before but one you get familiar with them you'll get a lot of information at one quick glance. So I’ve put together a page on my web page that shows you section by section how to read the stallion offspring reports from the FPS/FHANA. Soon you will be glancing at these charts knowing what they say. And when you want information about a stallion you will know if this is the chart you should be looking at.

Here is the link to the explanation page.

http://sableranch.net/stallionreptexpl.html

What do the premiums mean

At the keurings your horse will be judged and given a premium. The premiums are not how they rank in the class that you are in but they are the ranking or placing in the overall heard. There are 1^st premiums, 2^nd, 3^rd, no premium. If they are entered into the studbook then they receive a premium. If they are not invited into the studbook, so stay in the foal book. They will not receive a premium and not invited will be recorded on their papers. Some reasons for not getting promoted from the foal book to the Studbook are: Height, soundness issues, deformity, genetic condition, too much white, any other color than black. If your horse doesn't meet the height requirements http://sableranch.net/height.html they will not be considered for advancement out of the foal book. If they are unsound or have more than a 50 cent piece white star on their forehead it is not advised to attend the keuring because they will not advance. Not having the correct markings, color and height does not mean that you have a bad horse it just means that they will not advance at the keurings. They will still be able to compete in other aspects of shows or be fantastic pleasure mounts. The Keuring is not the only reason to buy a Friesian but if you are planning on going to a keuring you should be aware of some of the aspects that will restrict the horse from advancement before you invest in the entry fees and training to get there.

I have put together a very informative web page  on Premiums that cover the explanation of the premiums and the different titles that the KFPS/FHANA gives out. The titles covered are Sport, Prestatie, Preferent, Sport dam, Star, Kroon, Model ect.  Click here to view the page http://sableranch.net/premiums.html

How to read your linear score sheet

At your horses first keuring over the age of 3 they will not only be judged for a premium (See Premiums blog entry), they will also get a linear score sheet. This sheet breaks down the characteristics of your horse and gives it a numerical value. This is a very helpful tool in helping you pick a stallion breed to your mare to improve on some of the offspring qualities.

I have put together a very informative page on my web page that shows you how to read your linear score sheet. Just click here to view that page and other helpful pages.

http://sableranch.net/linearscoreexpl.html

Growing that Mega Mane on horses that don't seem to grow a mane

Ok I'm normally the pessimist about the gimmicks that are online. BUT I've now tried it and seen it work. We have a filly, now mare, That never seems to have any hair. Her grandmother is blessed with 4 ft of mane, her mom at a young age of 5 had hair down to where her shoulder met her leg... sooo why was this filly so "bald". I know how to keep and protect hair so that what can grow will grow. I’ve added 6 more inches to her grandmother and inches to many more of our horses. But what about the one's that don't seem to grow anything more than strings. I always thought it was genetic and they either have it or don't till I found this E-book that really gave the her the help she needed.

Day 1 of the Hair test this is cleaned and picked. Notice the tiny forelock

After the first use I noticed that less hair was coming out in the brush. I don't mean that she was balding and loosing chunks before. I'm talking about those pieces you always get when you tend to the mane. I didn’t say brush because that is not what I was doing, I was picking and separating the “right” way. Now even when I brush it seems like more hair is actually attached to her neck. It’s oddly cool what a difference it makes when you loose less hairs.

1 month after we started - notice the forelock there actually is one! notice the thickness. And as promised Grandma is in the back showing off her mass amounts of hair

 

Grandma

The next thing I did was compare my one month photo’s to my start photos. Not only was the mane longer where she was not growing for months before, but it was fuller and fluffy. She had stringy short sparse hair, but she started to look normal and even more than that she looked like she could become like her mom and grandmother. Obviously not in a month but there was hope where strings once hung.

I’ve attached the photos of the first day and 1 month after and I’ll keep posting her progress photos. The photo of her at 1 month has her grandmother in the background so you can see for yourself that I did know how to keep a horses hair prior to this trick. As I mentioned I could keep it but I now know how to grow it where there was no hope to grow hair. Grandma is seen on the Right. I can't wait till she looks like Grandma

Here is an update photo of our test girl and some photos of other horses that I have tried it on.


Here is the mare we stared with on March 2013, we are getting there.

 Others that we tried the program with. 1st one is around a year of treating and the 2nd was about 7 months of "repair".



  Contact me directly at allison@sableranch.net to get the link to the book and my tips from trying it. I would post the direct link to it but the site that is hosting it is not working correctly. If you e-mail me and don't get an RSVP check your spam box. ** This book is not free**

You and Natural Herbs for Health

You do everything for your horse, you get them the right supplements, naturally healthy foods, you make sure you give it to them everyday, but what about you. Take some time to keep or get yourself healthy so that you can ride more, play more and be generally healthier. Here are a few companies that have healthy herbs and supplements for people (Click on the underlined names to go to the site for product information)


Health & Herbs

We provide alternative herbal medicine, natural alternative medicine, and health remedies. We offer the latest info on natural herbs, dietary supplements, vitamins and alternative herbal remedies.

Young Living- Therapeutic level Essential Oils (tested)
When you create a customer, preferred customer or distributor account please use the following distributor # 1111482, Allison Gelfand
** The oils work great on most animals. I know the horses love them
-For Weaning I recommend Trauma Life
-For Skin irritation Lavendar
-For pain – Pan away or Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree)
-For Horse shows to protect against negative people Valor
Check out this E-book to guide you with using your esential oils
click here to see the E-book. very easy to download and comes with very good information.Highly reccomended

Dynamite – Human and Animal!!!

To order please e-mail me at Allison@sableranch.net so that we can get you taken care of and make sure you’re on the right track for you or your Animals.

** I am an independant distributor for Dynamite Marketing and For Young Living. I am not affiliated to Health & Herbs. I make no medical claims on mine or anyones behalf, consult your doctor if you have medical issues.

Premature foals and Joint Ill

One year we had a premature foal. She was about 5 weeks early. Friesians are known for having their foals 2 weeks early but 5 weeks was very scary. The mare was healthy, there were no indications that the birth was complicated or that it was going to need to be early. But the foal came early.

We want to share our situation and some of the information that we found when we started trying to help our premature foal.

We noticed that the first day she spent most of the time on the ground “pushing” herself in circles. She was obviously very small but her behavior was very “fetal” she was moving around on the ground as if she was still in her mom. She was clearly mentally/behaviorally not ready to be born. With her not getting up we were giving colostrums and feeding her. It’s good that we didn’t force her getting up because we found out later that there was a HUGE chance that her joints were not ready for her to get up. There was a case where a foal was born early and they had to actually keep the foal strapped down so that he didn’t crush his joints that were all cartilage. Her x-rays came out healthy at a week and her follow up x-rays were very healthy so we got lucky. But now that we know more about the premature foals joints we thought that it was important to share so that you can prevent lifelong damage to the foals joints.

We also noticed that her skin was like tissue paper. It was delicate and would snag on everything. It was so sensitive that even the straw bedding was tearing her skin. She got open sours on all her joints. We dressed her in a spandex jacket and wrapped her fetlocks to protect her but even the skin around her eyes was very delicate. She was put on several antibiotics to protect her from infection but she was falling apart with every move. This situation can commonly be called Joint Ill. It’s an infection that affects foals and appears in the joints. She developed a bladder infection despite all the antibiotics. The signs of this was that the foal was peeing out her umbilical cord. She got special iodine treatments to her umbilical cord to treat this infection. She was under attack from the world.

Giving her colostrums orally and from her mom was not doing her much good. Her intestines were too premature to actually absorb the colostrums. We tested her levels and they were very low. She needed a plasma transfusion. The coolest thing happened after the transfusion. Within 2 hours of the transfusion her skin started reattaching to her body. The tissue paper affect stopped and healing started right before our eyes.

After seeing the greatest healing power of the transfusion we now have a post birth procedure in place for any foal. We get a snap test to test the IgG levels (colostrums in the blood) on any foal. If they are low we give them a plasma transfusion. A snap test is relatively cheap and well worth knowing the IgG levels of your foal. Insurance companies require and IgG level to insura a foal that is 24 hrs. old. We have found that mares that have a lot of milk can cause the foals to have low IgG levels also. It’s a test that will save you a lot of money on any infections or problems that your foal may have.

To heal all the wounds where her skin peeled back we used Doc Underwoods till they were sealed then to get the hair to grow back without having white hair grow in we used Dynamite’s Wound Balm. http://sableranch.net/woundbalm.html . Today she has NO WHITE hairs!!! Not one scar and that is AMAZING. Friesians are not allowed to have white markings and if they do get them from injury then you have to present a vet’s explanation of the injuries. That makes it very important that the Friesians not get white hair when they have an injury.

In short, check your foals IgG levels, take extra caution with the joints of a premature foal, and take care of your wounds so that you don’t get long term white hairs.

This filly at age 2.5 years old!

Entered into the studbook with the KFPS at 2.5 yo (normally 3yo) which is proof of soundness and confirmation quality! (photo Nadeen Davis)

 

Babies!!! – How do I know when my baby is coming

I’m going to start out a list of signs that your mare is about to have her foal, I encourage everyone to add their unique signs and any that I may not have listed…. The more you know about your mare the easier it will be to predict that your mare is going to give birth. Be very careful, a lot of the signs of giving birth are very close to colic signs. You should take them seriously either way. (photos will be added soon to help visualize)



5 days before birth (Grace)

- Widening and dropping of the belly. There is a band of muscles on either side of the mares belly that become very obvious. They run from the hip down towards the bottom of the belly. When the baby is heavy or in exit position those bands will look like they are holding up the belly. The mare’s belly can be low from the size of the baby or the position of the baby. Also the belly can look wide at the bottom like she is carrying a triangle in her tummy.  


37 days before birth (Monkey)



37 days before birth (Monkey)

-Growing a bag of milk, you should expect this about 6-8 weeks before the baby starts to come. If it’s a few weeks out and you don’t have a bag you should prepare by getting a bag of supplement milk and supplemental colostrums. Some mares don’t bag up till right before but it’s better safe than having a sick baby.  These mares are very good givers to their foals you can tell when they are about to have the foal because from the back view the nipples will start to part because the bag is filling in in the middle. I have had bags filling up all the way back between the tail and still not part the nipples till right before birth. Not all mares have this much bag these are just some examples. some mares are not this full even at birth but be ready.



-Waxing on the tips of the nipples, some mares run around a lot or hit the nipples with their tail so they may not have wax on them. But some mares do have wax “caps” on their nipples to hold the colostrums in. Some mares will be walking around spraying milk. You don’t want that, but it’s sometimes happens. Just prepare by having extra colostrums on hand because all that good first milk is squirting out before the baby is even born.

-Softening of the muscles around the top of the tail and around the hips. Give your mare a poke around the tushy to get to know what she normally feels like. As the baby settles into the exit position the mare’s hip muscles relax to allow the hips to spread for birth. You can feel this a few days before the baby arrives.

-Lengthening of the vulva. Take a peak under her tail well before she is due. Get to know how long she is from anus to bottom. Before birth she will relax all those muscles and the vulva will look longer and droopier. All the muscles on either side will start to get mushy and soft.


18 days before birth (Vness)

-You will also notice that when the milk bags are partially full the nipples point in towards each other. As the bag gets more and more full the nipples will start to point down and then even point away from each other. Milk will flood into the teats as part of the pre birth process so watch how full they are. Some mares don’t have much milk so don’t always count on this but be prepared with a bag of supplemental milk just to make sure.


-Decreased interest in exercise. I had a mare that when you lunged her in a group would stop and stand in the corner while everyone was running. She did this about 3 days before she actually gave birth. It was her red flag to us that the baby was knocking at the door.

-Less interest in food, not in a way that she stops eating all together but in a way where she may pick up some of her food and then eat slowly then leave it alone. Mares will try to chew to help relieve some of the pain but contractions and shifting are not pleasant for them so eating a large meal will not be on their mind.

-Irritability like she is just at the end of her patience
-Circling and nesting, pawing, looking for a good place to set herself down.
-Showing signs of abdominal pain. Signs like looking at her belly or scratching at it with her teeth like it hurts, not like there is a fly. Laying down and getting up, circling means you are getting much closer. but also be observant to make sure it isn't colic. Some mares can colic while pregnant. We had one colic because when the foal got in exit position it restricted her cecum and she impacted and coliced.
-Increased respiration. Birth hurts she will be having labored breathing.


under the tail you can see softened vulva, she's got a bit of dirt showing she's been down a 2nd time, if she'll let you clean her up and sit back and wait for the baby. this mare was not that sort so we went inside and came back out 10 minutes later and the foal was just out. She was not the type to let us near her at this time, all went well and the foal is now over 2 years old.

When it all goes right you have a beautiful healthy baby

Please feel free to add signs that I forgot or signs that are unique to your mare’s the more information we can share the safer our horses will be.

Yummy Drink

This has nothing to do with horses but if you are a Chocoholic like I am this is a drink that is over the top yummy.
start with a double sized mug... because we know we are going to want a lot! but also so that you have room for everything
put in 3 spoons of Nestle chocolate powder (any favorite substitute might be ok)
use either hot milk or powdered milk and hot water (either works great)
leave room at the top
put a layer of mini marshmallows
then a mountain of whip cream
then take your chocolate powder and sprinkle it all over the whip cream
you can add sprinkles if you have them but the best part is eating down the layers.
once you reach some of the hot chocolate and have a few sips add the marshmallows whip cream and powder back to the top again
YUM
or if your lazy just put the chocolate powder on the whip cream and grab your spoon!!!
Cheers! fellow chocoholics

Problems Conceiving or Unexplained Early Ebryonic loss?

This section takes into account that you have already had your mare examined by a vet, that they are visually reproductively sound and that all swabs and cultures have come back as perfectly normal or clear of issues. This is also for mares that present normal follicles in a regular pattern of 21 day cycles. I hope sharing this information helps at least one foal be born and saves 1000's in extra vet bills.

As mares get older, train a lot, have a lot of foals, they can develop a problem with their thyroid. We had a mare that didn’t conceive one year so we didn’t think much about it. She was 12 years old, had 7 foals previously, and was showing and training regularly. The second year we got pro-active and put her on Regumate (assists in keeping a mare pregnant). Even on Regumate she lost her foal between 30 and 45 days. We were shocked. How could a mare loose a foal on Regumate? Well a cheap test of her thyroid levels (Our vet charged $25) indicated that her thyroid was low. Conception and maintenance of pregnancy is very affected by the thyroid levels. If your having problems with conception this is worth a try. Some things to ask your equine nutritionist about if you find out that your horse has hypo-thyroid is Iodine and selenium in the diet plan.

Food for thought when breeding
Another thing that has recently been stirred up is how Soy is affecting breeding in horses. Soy contains phytoestrogens, which have estrogenic actions when added as a dietary supplement. There are no direct studies on horses but in humans, and rats ect. it's been found to affect the hormones and cause cycles to be irregular. There are a few horse breeders that have removed soy from their diets and found a significant increase in fertility and fetus retention. For stallions there would also be a concern about their semen potency. You can google how Estrogen affects your mare or stallion online. It's not necessarily a positive or negative but you should evaluate your needs. If your mare needs more Estrogen then soy may be a positive for her, if not then the excess could cause adverse reactions.

Another thing that I have experienced first hand with our Friesian mares it the use of ovulation inducing drugs interfering with conception and retention of embryos. There are far too many horses out there that are not Friesian and are successfully using these drugs for it to be something of notice BUT ... because I closely monitor all our mares by doing my own ultrasounding with increased frequency and monitor any and all medication that they receive I wanted to share something I noticed. I found that in many of my mares if I used any ovulation inducing drugs (combination or individual) that my conception % is greatly reduced and if conception does take place retention rate is lower and the embryo is usually lost between 28 and 55 days. Now those Friesian breeders out there are going to say... if you follow the directions and inject at 35mm (for 50 ovulation 36 hrs later) then you are doing it too soon for a Friesian. Yes, fully aware, so injection was between 45 and 48 (expected 55-65 ovulation in 36 hrs). Some didn't get past 50 for ovulation, some stayed past the 36 hrs and didn't actual ovulate (absorbed). I did have 1 mare successfully conceive, retain the foal while using ovulation inducing drugs and sadly lost her foal shortly after birth because of the aortic valve on the foal not closing after birth (see blog on aortic valve and Friesian). We can't connect the two incidents to each other. ** brand names are not shared because it is not the brand or product that is faulty in any way. Various brands were used over several years, the abnormalities are believed to be breed specific and are only mentioned to share trends that were experienced with Friesian mares. These situations were not witnessed with other breeds during this time

I would also like to include information about injectable hormones that cause the depletion of a Corpus Luteum (CL) to bring a mare back into cycle faster or short cycle them (prostaglandin). These hormones can also be used to terminate an unwanted pregnancy at the very early stages of pregnancy. With my Friesians I have notice that a mentionable few (not all) have not given me a viable follicle on the cycle post injection of these hormones. I have had a few conceptions using this hormone to "short cycle" a mare, however I should also mention I witnessed an elevation in early loss when these products were used (loss prior to 50 days).
** brand names are not shared because it is not the brand or product that is faulty in any way. Various brands were used over several years, the abnormalities are believed to be breed specific and are only mentioned to share trends that were experienced with Friesian mares. These situations were not witnessed with other breeds during this time.

The above two apply directly to my Embryo Transplant (ET) issues discussed below. The vet will most likely want to use an ovulation inducing drug to 1, better time the ovulation for accurate flushing at 7 days. 2, to save on semen shipments and make sure the semen gets there on time for the follicle and that the follicle lets go for the freshest semen. Ok those all sound good BUT if your mare fills the above description.... you won't have a viable follicle resulting in no conception or weak embryo at transplant and potentially early loss (before 50 days). You don't have to use this drug to do ET. You can ask the vet to scan the mare regularly till the mare naturally ovulates. You can ask the stallion owner to send 3 doses, or plan on a 2nd shipment if the stallion's semen doesn't last long. They can inseminate  (Friesian at 50/55mm and 55/60mm and if they have to 60/65mm). Yes it's time consuming but if it's what it takes to get your foal it's not impossible.

Now the next step after flushing the embryo out is to give the mare the hormone to break down a CL so that if there is a 1% chance there is an embryo in there, it doesn't survive to conceive. Also so that the vet can get the mare back up and ready for another try because ET can take a few tries for complete success. BUT... again if your mare is like the one's above then the follicle the offer on 2nd cycle will be less viable and possibly contribute to not conceiving or early embryo loss for your try # 2 so you keep repeating again and again with the lower and lower success chances each cycle. You can do ET without this hormone. You can request that your vet not use it, and that they scan the mare at 15 days post ovulation and if the embryo is in there (usually not after the 3 flushes to transfer) but if it's there then you as the owner have 2 choices, keep a foal and have your mare carry, or pinch the embryo off and she will cycle again in about 5-7 days.

White keuring bridles

If you are going to an FPS/FHANA Keuring you should know the traditional presentation of the breed. Traditionally you will show all horses 2 and older in a white leather headstall with a bit. This headstall is the brow band style with a throatlatch. There is no noseband on this bridle. Instead of reins you will have a lead attached to the bit. You can use a chain or clip to the bit but it’s usually a chain on the end of your lead. So prep your young horses to have that chain hit their chin and slide across the bit before they get to the show. You should also get your young horses used to the bit that they are going to use. They make traditional gold bits with horse shoe shapes on either side, but that is not a requirement. Any clean snaffle bit that fits your horse is appropriate. If you horse is very hard to handle and stop and the best bit for them is a curb bit then that can be an option. Ideally you will want your horse to go in some sort of a snaffle that doesn’t have a chain under it. Just remember the stud chain on the end of the lead will run through the bit and act as a curb chain.

We sell White Keuring Headstalls and Leads at http://sableranch.net/whitetack.html . We have white bridles with padded browbands, crystal browbands, Rolled leather bridles and matching leads. All of the white bridles that we sell have been used in keruings and are acceptable for keurings.

Once in a while you will see people show their horse in a black bridle. This is not against any rules. It is not traditional but you will not be asked to leave if you have a horse that wears a black bridle. It should still not have a noseband, and it should have a browband and throatlatch.

If you are showing in IFSHA the rules say traditional. That would mean white, but there are many people that show in black bridles. Not all judges are familiar with what is traditional for Friesians because they may not even have their Friesian Card for judging. Check with the Rules Official at your local show to see what they expect you to wear. It’s always safe to wear white, but if you prefer black (most people do) then consult the Rules Official. They ultimately control the rules of the show and If the judge doesn’t know then they ask the Rules Official. But Traditional is White.

Semen– Frozen vs. Chilled vs. Fresh

Quality semen
Fertility rate is the best indication of sperm quality. Many factors affect the quality of semen. Stallion physical health, nutrition, frequency of collection and diseases can affect the quality. How the semen is handled post collection is very important. Maintenance of temperature, frozen or chilled is very important. Semen can usually only last 24-48 hours chilled. If it’s frozen it can last forever, but if it’s thawed slightly it will affect it’s viability. Progressive Motility is not an indication of fertility, however it is an indication of the health of the semen, if nothing is swimming forward, nothing will get to the egg. Fertility rate is truly your best indication of healthy sperm.

Frozen
No all stallions produce the same quality semen. Some can be frozen and some can’t. If you are picking a stallion that is not in the same country as your mare you will be limited to Frozen semen. There are sometimes decreased fertility rates with Frozen and some mares don’t conceive well with Frozen semen. Frozen semen on average will have a lower Progressive Motility than chilled, but remember PM is not an indication of quality.

As a whole Frozen semen is a great opportunity to increase the DNA variation of your offspring and the population, and to have sperm on hand exactly when you need it. When it’s stored on site it can be thawed out right when your mare ovulates and you don’t have to wait on stallion collection schedules and shipping. There are many people that sell and import Frozen semen, but be careful who you buy it from. How the semen is handled affects it’s thaw motility, so it’s important that it’s handled correctly at collection, transport, storage, and thaw and insemination.
Some people sell Frozen semen from stallions that have low fertility with frozen semen. Frozen semen usually doesn’t come with a guarantee of fertility, motility or a live foal guarantee. Questions to ask the seller is if they have ever tested the semen either under a microscope or by breeding mares, find out what their success rate was with the semen. Find out if they have been trained professionally to handle frozen semen, and where it’s been stored.

We have frozen semen available for Fabe, Dries, Bente, Gjalt http://sableranch.net/frozensemen.html, all of our semen was tested under a microscope or on mares. I’ve been trained by Colorado State University in Handling Frozen Semen. We are happy to help you with your frozen semen needs.

Chilled Semen
This is the most common method when using stallions that are in the same country as the mare. Some stallion owners provide frozen and chilled but chilled is the most common.
The fertility with chilled depends on several factors. The stallion health, collection method, The extender, the travel time to get to the mare, how the mare reacts to the extender, and more. You will not have much control over the stallion handling prior to shipping but you will what to make sure that the semen is shipped to you with next day delivery. The faster the semen gets from the mare to the stallion the better. Stallions are usually collected on a schedule so know that schedule. If they only collect Monday, Wednesday, Friday you will only have semen on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Saturday delivery may not be available in your area so be aware of the schedules. So when you are getting your mare ultrasounded you need to account for collection schedule, shipping time, and ovulation estimation.

Fresh
With fresh your mare and stallion have to be in the same location. It’s still recommended to artificially inseminate (AI) even with the two of them in the same location. The reason to AI is to avoid having the mare kick the stallion, the stallion bite the mare, added weight on the mares hips, and the most important… Diseases. There are many diseases that can be transferred from mare to stallion and stallion to mare. If you choose to live cover there are some things you can do to protect both the stallion and mare. Check to make sure the mare is actually in heat and receptive to the stallion. It’s amazing how angry a mare can get towards a stallion when she is actually not in heat. Secondly you should wrap the mares tail so that the hairs don’t cut the stallion or get pulled into the process. Also there are breeding hobbles that can restrict the mare from getting a good kick at the stallion. They are not fool proof and they are not a guarantee of no kicking but they might help. Also if your mare has never worn them before you should test them out prior to introducing the stallion so there are no surprises.


If your mare has less than desirable results have your semen checked by a veterinarian. You can also ask if the stallion had any infections or illnesses in the past few months, or if there are other people having the same problem conceiving. Also have your mare checked for infection, thyroid deficiency, allergic reactions to the extenders, ect. Not all breeding problems are the stallions fault, the mare contributes her fair share of problems also. (See the Thyroid Blog, Infection blog, mare uterine exam blog)

Babies Babies Babies!!! – Breeding/ Insemination Information

Breeding your Friesian mare is similar to that of any other horse. You have to have a mare that is in heat, usually from April to September in North America. A mare comes in heat approximately every 18-25 days for 3-8 days depending on the mare. Take the time to get to know your mare. Realize when she is showing signs such as blinking the vulva after urination or at another horse, posturing while urinating in small spurts, cream colored urine, more irritable than normal. There are many signs. But you may have a mare that has no signs. I have noticed that my Friesian mares don’t show very much and when they are presented to a stallion they take a while to warm up to him to start showing. In those cases ultrasounds are very helpful. Most Friesian stallion owners know this but please be aware that Friesians ovulate at a much larger follicle than the average horse. Our mares ovulate between 55mm and 65mm, the average quarter horse will ovulate at 35-45mm. Friesians are also known for holding on to their follicles for an extra day or two. So please work with a vet that is familiar with the specific reproductive habits of the Friesian mare, and more importantly your Friesian mare. The time of ovulation is the most important time because you have a narrow window on either side of ovulation to inseminate. About 8 hrs before and 4 hours after, Less if it’s with frozen semen.

Babies Babies Babies!!! - Timing your baby

Spring is just around the corner! Babies on the way, babies just arriving, planning for new babies. There is SOOOOO much to think about. Let us help you with some thoughts.

Timing your baby

Are you showing your foal in the FHANA Keuring? Are you focusing on IFSHA shows? Are you worried about weather? Is your mare open (not pregnant) in foal? What kind of timing do you have to consider for YOUR foal.......

Gestation for a horse is 11 months. Friesians have been known to have foals about 2 weeks early so don't set the date on your calendar in pen. All of our calculations are going to be based on a general 11 months to keep things simple.

If you are planning on showing your FPS Friesian foal at it's foal Keuring, it is best to have your foal be 3-4 months old. Historically the USA Keurings are in September/October. You will want to be thinking about breeding in April and May. If you know your mare takes a few cycles to conceive you should account for that by starting a little earlier.

The reason 3-4 months is ideal is because the foal must show with it's Dam at the keuring. A 1-2 month old foal is very small and doesn't show off their movement as well because they are still "wobbly". If your foal is starting to naturally wean itself you will find that they just run around the arena without paying attention to it's Dam. If your foal is not 3-4 months you can still show at the Keuring, the judges have seen all ages and sizes and will give their best opinion that day. But if you are planning, and your mare doesn't already have a foal on the way, and the foal Keuring is important, April is the start to your breeding season.

If you are focusing on IFSHA shows then you will be thinking along the lines of show season starting in the Spring. Do you want your foal to show early in the season in halter classes? Do you want your mare to be showing not the foal? The general idea is to have your foals born as close to January or February (breeding season starting in Dec. Jan) so that the foals are larger for their age. The weather in your area may not accommodate winter deliveries and you will probably have to have your horse on lights to get them jump started on heat cycles in the winter. If you want your mare available for show season you might want to consider having the mare either give birth in January so that the foal can be weaned at 4 months (April) and you can still have most of the show season without a foal tagging along. Or you can have the foal born late in the year so that the mare can show all season then have the foal and enjoy being a mom all winter. IFSHA World/National Championships are usually the end of October so if the foal is planned to be born in late November or December then the mare can still show.

Planning when it’s best for your foal to be born is a very important part of breeding. If your mare is open (not pregnant) then just sit down with your schedule and the calendar and figure out what is best for you and your foal. Remember to plan around 11 month gestation and 4-6 months of nursing.

Welcome

Hello to all!!
We are very excited to start this new blog on Friesian Horses. It will be a chance for us to share our experiences with you and for you to share helpful information about Friesian Horses with everyone else. We would like this blog to be eudcational and a great resource for Friesian horse owners, breeders and addicts. We will be posting Keuring information, breeding information, interesting facts, tips. We will share products that are Friesian and wide horse friendly. I hope you enjoy this blog and find it very helful in your adventures with your Friesian. You can always find extra information on our web page http://www.sableranch.net/
Thank you for joining us
Allison