- Breeding
- The History of Horse Breeding
- Breeding Costs: Things to Consider
- Horse Breeding, Part 2: Breeding and Gestation
- Buying a Horse
- How to Buy Horses: A Step by Step Process
- How to Buy a Horse
- Top 3 Ways Using Horse Classifieds Can Save You Money
- General Horse Articles
- Longeing for Riders
- An Introduction to Dressage
- Sleep and Your Horse’s Health
- Horse Feeding
- 5 Horse Feeding "Don'ts"
- You’ve Got the Right Feed, Now What?: Proper Feeding Practices
- A Look at Horse Feed
- Horse Grooming
- Mane Saving Ideas
- eZall Shine & Detangler Transforms Ratty Manes and Tails Into Flowing Tresses
- An Overview of Horse Grooming
- Horse Health Issues
- An Introduction to Equine Massage Therapy
- Evaluation the Equine Athlete from the Outside In
- Common Horse Illnesses: Laminitis
- Horse Training
- Training Mythunderstandings: Groundwork: From Basics to Games
- Training Mythunderstandings: Little Things Do Mean a Lot
- Training Brasilia
- Horses & History
- The Missing Equine Link: How the Modern Horse Came to Be
- The Feral Horse and Its Impact
- Battle-Ready: A History of the War Horse
- Horses & Sports
- Halter Horse Show
- Ask Chelsie Natural Horsemanship - What Does It Mean To Disengage My Horse?
- Nearly $7 Million Generated Annually for the District of Columbia
Horse Breeding: Covering a Mare
05/26/2008
There are two ways to breed a mare (called “covering”): live cover and artificial insemination.
There are two ways to breed a mare (called “covering”): live cover and artificial insemination.
Live Cover
The mare is brought to the stallion’s residence and put in the breeding shed, where breeders can control the horses should they kick or bite each other. She is introduced to the stallion, however separated, where breeders can gauge her reaction to him – either passive or hostile. This is called a teaser. Generally, though not always, a mare will tolerate a teaser, and present herself to him by holding her tail to her side. When readiness is determined, the stud and the mare will be cleaned in preparation. Handlers will then bring the mare and the stallion together for breeding.
This process is standard for all Thoroughbreds; artificial insemination is prohibited.
Artificial Insemination
There are advantages to using artificial insemination, as opposed to live cover. These include:
• Separation of mare and stallion. This eliminated the risk of injury to either horse as a result of kicking or biting, and other breeding accidents.
• International breeding. Sperm can be transported from another country to be cross-bred with another breed of horse easily.
• The process is less stressful on the mare, as the mare (and any foals she may already have) does not have to travel anywhere.
• Sperm from one stud can be split amongst multiple mares.
• Artificial insemination reduces the risk of any spreading of sexually transmitted diseases.
• Mares or stallions with physical health issues that could prevent physical impregnation can still breed.
• A stud’s sperm can be frozen and kept after he is dead (though this is not always the case).
During artificial insemination, a stud is trained to mount an artificial mare, and the semen is collected and processed in a laboratory. The semen is then usually chilled or frozen and sent to the owner of the mare. When a mare is shown to be ovulating and ready for impregnation, the semen is introduced directly using a syringe and a pipette.
There are more advanced reproductive techniques, many for older mares, but these two are the most common breeding methods available for the general horse breeder.
