Breeding Question - When is it too much?

[HGStables]

This is a little off topic. My AQHA mare is at the studs to be bred, she's 4 year old and maiden. She has been bred 4 times now and is still in standing heat this is the 8th day. They did not count the days she was in heat but not standing for the stud so she's been in a while. They are afraid they might over breed her but don't want to miss getting her pregnant. They where talking about giving her an Oxytocin shot to make the follicle drop. I have never herd of this and it is making me uncomfortable. Several of my friends told me to tell them to stop breeding her and just bring her home and see what happens, a few others said to let them keep breeding her until she's out of heat. What do you guys/gals recommend I do?

I wish she was as easy to breed at my two mini mares. They where both bred 6 weeks ago and have not come back into heat, I'm going to get them checked when Molly gets her ultrasound.

Her names Molly "One Cool Tesign" she's a 6X AQHA World Show Qualifier but she is a little "small" to be highly competitive at that level. She's only 15.1 but looks like a body builder. I am going to show her at the AQHA shows around my state and continue to get points on her in halter, she has both her ROMs and I would love to see her get her Superior titles.

Here is a picture it was from February

 

[HGFarm]

I am not sure I am understanding.... breeding her too much? If she was pasture bred, she would probably be covered by the stallion several times a day round the clock. Is this the first heat cycle she has been bred this year? Cripes, they need to give her a chance. Many times mares do not even settle on their first heat cycle of the year, and I dont believe in giving drugs to force a situation. They need to relax and give her a chance - especially being a maiden mare. My understanding is that mares ovulate at the end of their cycle so they could have really skipped the first couple of days. I have had mares stay in heat as long as 10 or 11 days, so they should continue to cover her til she goes out.

 

[ohmt]

Some of my mares stand for up to 14 days-i have typical lengths written down for each mare so I don't breed until 4 days before the last day. Each mare gets covered 1-2 times. Last year every mare I bred took their first cycle, except for 2 maidens. With "biggies" believe 8 days Is considered LONG right? I know they're a little bit different. If she goes too much longer, talk to your vet, but for now she's just fine. If it's her first heat of the year, it's typical to go a little long. Is she being bred EVERY day? Every other day or 2 days is sufficient,unless the stallion has low fertility.

 

[HGStables]

They bred her April 13th, 15th, 16th, 17th

She stood for the first time for the stallion on April 13th

She's a maiden mare but she cycled twice before she went to the stallion so this is her third cycle of the year.

I don't like using shots, I had to do it once with that crud that puts them in heat, its nasty stuff. I used Dezeralin once too but that just speeds up droping the folicle. It didn't have nasty side effects. But the mare never took so I try to do it naturally.

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Mares normally are in heat 3-7 days of a 21 day cycle.

Longer times, early in the year usually implies the mare is still in transition. I doubt this breeding will be successful, but probably won't do any harm either. Like most things, patience is key. Her next cycle will likely be more fertile than this one.

Dr Taylor

 

[lil hoofbeats]

She will have longer heat cycles this time of year, and as the days get shorter, her cycles will become more fertile, and much shorter, , and sometimes only 3-5 days each. A mare will ovulate 24-48 hours before she goes out of heat. But the sperm have to be in there a sufficient time to do something called Capacitate, so they can fertilize the egg. Please encourage the stallion manager to only breed her every other day, Absolutely no reason to do it more often, and plenty of reasons to not do it more often. You can give a shot of HCG and they usually ovulate (if the follicle is large enough) about 24 to 48 hours after that.

I have personally done this many times, and it did work extremely well. I gave them she shot, bred them 24 after, And all did ovulate! not necessarily become pregnant on that cycle, but did ovulate. Several did become pregnant.

I agree with OHMT, that is a long heat, Dr. B (one of my Vets) says that with a heat cycle that long the egg is too old to be fertile, However , I have bred mares that have been in heat that long, and they conceived! So! This may be your lucky cycle, so i would finish it up.

Hope you have an awesome baby next year!!!.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

omg.... get your mare out of there!!!

Oxy does NOT cause a follicle to ovulate.

Breeding every OTHER day is all that's needed.

They didn't tease her or ultrasound her to know if she even has a follicle?! She may very well be in spring transition!

Do it yourself, and have them ship semen. And make sure they have a VET do it, as they obviously don't have a clue!

 

[HGFarm]

LOL, Nathan, I totally missed the oxy comment.... no that is NOT what drop helps with the follicle at all! And we have always only bred every other day. That worked fine with excellent conception rate! I agree with Nathan, I dont think they really have a clue!

 

[lil hoofbeats]

What the heck is Dezeralin?

 

[Windhaven]

As some have said already, this mare only needs to be bred every other day! Also you shouldn't start breeding until the third day of standing heat. That way you have less coverage to cause infection since MOST mares ovulate at the end of their heat cycle and less wear on the stallion, especially if he is covering several mares at one time.

If they started breeding her as soon as she would stand she probably could have 2 or 3 more days of standing heat.

Tell them to back off and only bred her every other day and they will probably only breed her one more time.

Good luck.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Deslorelin is a synthetic GnRH injection. It causes the mare to release her own wave of LH (and a little extra FSH) which caused the mare to semi-naturally ovulate. The other option is hCG, which is only good for one to three uses per year (as the mare develops antibodies to it), and acts like LH would. The difference is the des goes up one step, and the hormone that causes ovulation is the mare's own. Downsides of Des, its expensive, and its slower than hCG (about 36 hours).

 

[lil hoofbeats]

This is the first time i have heard of it, I have only used HCG, and had really good results with it, i think its pretty pricey about 25.00 a shot, but i can usually do 2 minis out of one vial. ,

The difference is the des goes up one step, and the hormone that causes ovulation is the mare's own.

Is Deslorelin a more effective drug than HCG? Meaning will more mares ovulate from it than HCG? What is the price difference in teh two drugs?

 

[Sandy B]

It sounds like she is in transition where her cycles may be erratic. You might want to consider having a vet ultrasound her and give her HCG to take her out of heat. You could then ask about short cycling her so you can gets try again sooner rather than waiting for her to come back in on her own. If she has not been under lights to get her cycling early I really think she is just not quite there yet.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Its usually twice as expensive as hCG (lowercase h means human). hCG generates antibodies, because its human in origin. This means you only get one to three good responses to it per year, in each mare. If you are doing embryos, or multiple breedings on a difficult mare, they will become immune to it. GNRH will not have this problem, because its the same in all species, and it triggers the mare to release her own hormones, which do the ovulating. There are different flavors of GNRH out there now too, I don't know all the names. The ones I've heard all end in "lorelin". Because its a compounded drug, your results and price will vary.