Rainbow Equine Hospital is a British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) accredited centre for artificial insemination using fresh, chilled and frozen semen. We provide a comprehensive service for breeders from conception through pregnancy and beyond. General advice and recommendations can be sought regarding all aspects of mare and stallion venereal health including pre-breeding season disease screening, disease management and pregnant mare management.
Our reproductive services include Pre-breeding assessment of your mare, Artificial Insemination with fresh/chilled or frozen semen, Long term storage of frozen semen, Gynaecological management of natural cover mares, Pregnancy diagnosis/Foetal sexing, Infertility Investigation and treatment of barren or problem mares, Stallion infertility investigation and care of the newborn foal. The practice also looks after studs using natural cover and walked in mares.
The hospital enjoys a range of equipment and facilities which enable the most appropriate examinations and tests to be performed in the safest environment for both horse, handler and vet alike! This includes two sets of padded stocks to enable safe perineal examinations/procedures and a range of ultrasound scanning units giving excellent image acquisition and quality.
The hospital has a range of large stables allowing comfortable accommodation for your mare with foal at foot. Our mare and foal boxes are also monitored 24 hours a day using CCTV to ensure that your mare and foal enjoys the most thorough supervision and care during their stay at the hospital. We also have post and rail fenced paddocks allowing safe and secure turnout facilities for both mares and foals. Mares with problems that may prevent normal foaling can be foaled here at the hospital if desired by prior arrangement and discussion with your vet.
Traditionally, artificial insemination with frozen semen has suffered from inferior conception rates compared to fresh or chilled semen but recent research and modification of techniques used have resulted in a significant improvement in frozen semen conception rates. Certain criteria need to be considered to determine the most appropriate method of insemination for your mare such as age, parity, temperament and desired stallion availability. Your vet will be happy to discuss your mares’ requirements with you.
How your mare will be managed depends upon the type of semen to be used, please see the following section as a general guide:
Semen should arrive with a set of official health documents; these certify the health status of the stallion and stud from which the semen originates. If the semen does not arrive accompanied by health papers then we cannot inseminate your mare and significant time and money may be spent ascertaining the necessary information. If you decide to order semen from continental Europe or further afield, please ensure you do so through recognised and reputable channels to avoid any unwanted situations arising.
Fresh/Chilled Semen
Mares can be managed at home but are often more easily managed at the hospital. The semen is requested from the stud once the mare is confirmed in season and has a follicle judged to be within 24 hours of ovulation by serial internal ultrasound examinations. Timing is important as insemination should be performed within 24 hours of ovulation, in some cases a drug may be given to ensure ovulation occurs within the desired period. Semen can be delivered to your home address or the hospital and is delivered in an insulated chilled container which usually requires prompt return by courier within the following week. Weekends and bank holidays (here and abroad) can make semen collection and subsequent delivery difficult. Your mare will then be inseminated and an ultrasound examination will be performed the following day to ensure ovulation has occurred and there is no sign of fluid build up within the uterus which will adversely affect conception rates.
Frozen Semen
Mares entering into a frozen semen programme require more intensive veterinary involvement. As a result these mares require a short stay at the hospital as once defrosted; the semen has a very short lifespan (approximately 6 hours) and therefore requires inseminating into the mare at the time of ovulation to maximise conception rates. The semen must be thawed in a water bath at 37⁰C and when ovulation is imminent insemination is performed using a deep intra-uterine technique. This involves placing the semen at the entrance to the oviduct facilitating the coming together of live viable sperm and the egg hopefully resulting in a pregnancy.
Due to the amounts of veterinary intervention required by each mare undergoing insemination or natural service can vary, we have devised a veterinary package for both fresh/chilled and frozen semen. This allows breeders to budget and hopefully no unexpected large fees arrive on the door mat. Please contact one of our Veterinary surgeons for details of the packages.
Ultrasonography has revolutionised the monitoring and management of the mare both prior to insemination and during the early stages of pregnancy. You can also watch your mares’ reproductive examination in real time and discuss any findings with your vet. Ultrasound examinations are an important part of routine broodmare management because it allows:
- Follicular and uterine monitoring to allow ovulation prediction and oestrus cycle staging.
- Identification of pregnancy!
- Identify the number and location of pregnancies to allow subsequent twin reduction and pregnancy monitoring
- Identify a mare that has undergone early embryonic loss and therefore facilitate her rapid return to stud for breeding in the same season if appropriate.
Scanning for pregnancy is recommended to be performed on at least 2 occasions. The first scan is performed around 15-18 days post covering and the second examination around 25-28 days post covering. Some breeders have a 3rd scan done around 6 weeks post covering to ensure a viable correctly sized foetus is present. If you require foetal sex determination, this must be performed around 60-65 days post covering.
Twin reduction is a procedure best performed as early in pregnancy as possible to minimise the risks of damaging the remaining pregnancy and ensuring there is enough time for the uterus to clear up the remnants of the reduced pregnancy. Your vet will advise you of the precise timings of the examinations required on a case by case basis.
