December 2000

Lights Ready, Action
Preparing for the breeding season includes putting your mares under lights as early as possible to get them to start cycling in January.

Editor's note: Our regular writer Leigh Ann Howard will resume with her editorial contribution next month. This month we are including the following article that was originally published in the November 1997 issue of California Thoroughbred.

by CLYDENE BOOTS

(With thanks to Leigh Ann Howard of Valley Creek Farm and Mike Allen, farm manager of Golden Eagle Farm, for their input regarding techniques used at mid-sized and large farms, respectively.)

Getting the mare into a breeding mode
Most Thoroughbred breeders want their foals to be born as close to Jan. 1 as possible, so empty mares should be placed on an artificial lighting program providing a total of 16 hours of natural and artificial light, to mimic the longer days of mid-spring which trigger the heat cycles in the mare.

Sixty days under lights will get most mares at least started, so Dec. 1 used to be the common date to begin, but earlier is much better. Golden Eagle Farm starts Nov. 10 and Valley Creek Farm starts the day after Thanksgiving.

The important thing is to start at a time when you will be able to put the mares under lights every night, for consistency is critical. The advantage to starting earlier is the hope of having the mares start cycling in January. That first heat period is often erratic and non-ovulatory, but it gives an opportunity to culture the mare and begin treatment if she is infected.

It is wise to culture all empty mares. Some breeding farms may not require a negative culture on maiden mares, for example, but many do, especially those with heavily-booked stallions. If you are sending a mare to a popular stallion or one whose fertility is fading, it is especially important that she be cycling and breedable at the start of the season. Stallion managers want to get the empty mares bred, in foal and out of the way early in the season, before the traffic jam of foaling mares and problem mares later in the spring.

Here at Westview Farm, as well as at Valley Creek and Golden Eagle, the lighting program continues until late March, even for mares who have been checked in foal. Removing the mare from the program prior to that time may disrupt her hormonal system, as suddenly she would be receiving less light per day, as would be the case in the fall, when most mares stop cycling. By late March, the days are getting long enough that the natural daylight should be sufficient.

The mechanics of a lighting program are simple and can be modified to fit available facilities, so long as the mare gets the required amount of light for 16 hours. The usual rule is 200 watts for a 12 x 12 stall, or sufficient light to comfortably read a newspaper. Automatic timers, available for a few dollars, are the easy way if you have a few horses.

At Westview, I have a group of "Excell" wire pens in a semi-enclosed pole barn, with a row of six 100-watt bulbs running along the center top. The openness lets the mares socialize, yet they have their own space with no competition for their evening meal, and their feed ration can be individualized. Crabby, anti-social mares or very timid mares may do better in a stall.

Some farms leave the mares outside-especially the very large farms who may have dozens of mares under lights. At Golden Eagle the mares are in a large lighted paddock, then at 11 p.m., the night watchman turns the group out into a very large field. Old mares are kept in stalls to avoid the stress of the large group setting and harsh weather.

For very large operations, the large outdoor paddock is a practical solution. However, these require a major expenditure in lights and electricity to provide the necessary brightness. Visualize a football field lit up for a night game, and you can see there are more cost-effective ways for a smaller operation to put their mares under lights.

At Valley Creek, they have a lighted group of small individual pens just outside the barn. In the morning the mares go out into paddocks in compatible groupings. Thus they have the security of their own space for their evening meal and night's rest.

The last couple of years, I decided to try taking the mares out to paddocks or pasture at the end of the lighting period. I hated staying up that late, but it was a good trade-off. There is a big difference between cleaning up after seven or eight mares who have only been up for seven hours instead of 17.

An unexpected plus was the fact that about half the mares became "housebroken" once they realized they would be going back outside at 11 p.m. They would urinate outside as soon as they saw me preparing to bring them in at 4 p.m., and at 11 p.m., a giant ammonia cloud would rise over the Murrieta Valley once they were back in their outside paddocks. Removing heavy, urine-soaked straw is the nastiest and most back-breaking part of morning cleanup, so this made a big difference in our workload and kept the mares' living quarters much more pleasant.

Setting up a vet area
Westview Farm does not stand a stallion, but nearly all mares here will only go to the farm where they are booked when they are within a day or two of breeding and will return here after they have ovulated, with pregnancy checks beginning around 17 days. Thus a safe, convenient set-up is needed for my vet to palp the mares, do ultrasounds, etc.

Even if you send your mates out for breeding, a palp chute is great to have for many vet procedures such as tubing, suturing, scoping, dentistry-anytime you want the horse to be stationary. I also school horses in it as a prelude to schooling on loading in the trailer.

We built a roof off the solid end of the mare shelter and placed the chute there, which gives shade and some protection from rain, as well as giving access to electricity for the ultrasound machine and water for rinsing off the mares rear ends. There are several "Excell" wire pens very near the chute, where foals can be left while the mare is in the chute, in case there is no extra person available to hold the foal.

Very nice palp chutes are available commercially. Mine is home-made, and has done the job for many years. I prefer the kind with a door on each end, and they must be able to withstand extreme force. It is critical that the front door be very easily opened in case the mare freaks. Some chutes have nothing on the front, which makes them very safe for the horse and provides protection for a vet working at the rear, but limits their usefulness for other procedures. Plenty of room must be allowed for circling the mare through the chute.

Teasing arrangements
A good teaser is vital in your attempt to get the empty mares cycling early. The ideal situation is a stallion who is gentle and persuasive with the timid mares, yet sufficiently aggressive to appeal to those mares who prefer a more "macho" approach. He needs to be manageable, but keep in mind that even the kindest stallion should be handled with respect. His job is to make sexual overtures to the mares so you can tell by their response if they are starting to come into heat (estrus). Some of the tell-tale signs include leaning toward the stallion, lifting the tail, winking the vulva and spilling urine.

Some mares may fire a kick at the teaser, so a protective barrier is needed. Farms may use a teasing bar or chute, or tease over the stall door for mares housed in a barn. Large breeding farms will generally have several teasers for different sections of the farm, and will take the teaser around to the mares because of the numbers involved.

Large farm or small, the goal is effective, efficient teasing with safety for the horses and the handler. On a small operation with limited manpower, it may be safest and most efficient to take the mares to the teaser. Here at Westview Farm, the Thoroughbred stallion Tozz is housed in a large, strong pipe pen which is centrally located in the area where the empty mares are kept. He is within 20 to 30 feet of two pastures, several dry paddocks and several small pens. He and the mares can see, hear and smell each other, and the mares can easily be taken to him for a more structured teasing when they are going to or from the mare shelter. For protection, rubber stall mats were hung on the outside of the pipe pen at the two corners where teasing is done, to absorb the force of a mare's kick.

Tozz and the mares found the 11 p.m. rendezvous especially exciting-something about those ladies gliding out of the darkness toward his pen really brought him to life, and normally demure mares became downright brazen in the moonlight. The ongoing presence and attention of the stallion is thought to be helpful in inducing estrus in the mare, and thorough teasing of a maiden mare will help prepare her for the experience of breeding.

In a setup like this, Tozz and the mares can communicate throughout the day, and while I am doing other chores, I can be observing their behavior. It also allows me to observe the rest of the mares while teasing one. Some mares will be unresponsive to the teaser, then show heat to their buddy while I am teasing the next mare.

This arrangement is especially valuable during foaling season, as mares with young foals often react unfavorably to teasing. Yet if the teaser is 20 or 30 feet away, the mare may feel comfortable enough to show signs of heat.

At breeding farms, visiting mares and foals are generally in individual pens, so the teaser is brought to them. At Valley Creek Farm, they are in wire pens with an upper section cut out so "Shorty," the teaser, can reach over to romance the mare. The help refers to this open section as "the window of love." Just another effort to accomplish our elusive goal of getting the Thoroughbred mare in foal.

Copyright © 1998-2001 California Thoroughbred Breeders Association