So I have entered into a deal with Deb, the owner of the barn where I work, with one of her mares, a golden palomino with a blanket called Nez Tea. I am going to pay for all of the breeding costs for getting Nezi pregnant, and the resulting baby will be mine to do with as I please. Then next year I’ll pay to breed Nezi again and the resulting baby will be Deb’s. This allows me to “lease” a mare to breed without having to pay all of the board and care costs of the mare since I don’t want to use my mare yet since I’m still using her to learn to ride.
Nezi was not under lights, so it was only about the beginning of last week that her uterus started waking up. The vets said we should check her again Monday (yesterday). Well Friday afternoon she was very clearly showing us that she was in heat. Unfortunately it was already too late to order semen that day and Char-o-lot doesn’t collect on weekends, so I prepared to miss her while we waited for Monday.
Monday morning came and the vets checked her to find three follicles on her left ovary, the largest of which was a 41. On their recommendation, I ordered semen and gave her a shot of HCG. The semen arrived today just after lunch. The busy vets were only able to get out to the farm by 3:30 and the 41 follicle was rather predictably gone.
The vets put in all of the semen we had received since Nezi had already ovulated hoping to catch the recently released egg or one of the still growing follicles will ovulate in the next 36 hours with the HCG shot.
In one way it’s nice because it saves me from having to pay the vets to come again tomorrow to put in a second dose and/or check for ovulation. On the other hand it makes me nervous that she just won’t get pregnant and we’ll have to try again. It really does make a difference knowing it’s my money that will have to pay for a recollection, but I really didn’t want to go much longer. I would certainly love to get her pregnant now as the beginning of March is a good time for babies to be born…you know. Right near/on my birthday.
—
And yes, I didn’t really explain what the heck I’m talking about, but this is more of a record for me than anything. Though if anyone shows interest I’m more than happy to explain more about what goes on in trying to get a mare pregnant.
