By Melissa Sykes

Caring for a stallion before and during breeding season can be a big job.  Experts follow different practices in managing their breeding stallions in regard to weight, routine care, and breeding frequency.

Some farms beef up their stallions in anticipation of weight loss during the season.  But a stallion’s weight plays only a minor role in fertility.  “It’s difficult to increase or decrease a horse’s weight so that it affects semen quality,” said Rolf Larsen, associate professor at the Alec P. and Louise H. Courtelis equine teaching hospital at the University of Florida.  “There are horses that get a little depressed and horses that get overcharged (during the breeding season).

“There’s not a hard and fast rule,” Larsen said, when it comes to a stallion’s ideal breeding weight.

At Bridlewood Farm (in Ocala, FL), stallion manager David McClure has been caring for stallions for the past 22 years.   He likes for a stallion to be a little on the heavy side.  “We try to beef up the horses as they come in from off the track,” he said.  “We’ll up the number of feedings and amounts for horses that may start to lose weight.”  In order to maintain what McClure considers each stallion’s ideal weight, the horses are weighed monthly.

Stallions covering books of 60 or more mares are becoming more and more commonplace.  “We see a lot of studs breeding 75-80 mares,” said Larsen.  “The male horse is physically capable of covering that many mares provided he has good libido and no inherent fertility problems.”  Stallions can easily cover two mares per day, but it may prove to be a toll on them psychologically.  In that case, Larsen suggests giving the stallion a day off.  “We breed seven days a week,” said Mark Roberts, farm manager at Adena Springs South.  “If I have a horse starting to back off from his mares, especially a young horse, we’ll give him a rest.”  But, unless there’s a medical reason, a stallion usually will only need to miss one or two breeding shed appointments before he decides to get back to business.

The day-to-day care of stallions during the breeding season is not much different than during the off season.  According to Larsen: “Since the breeding season is six months long, it’s almost impossible to delay” any form of routine care, such as vaccinations and worming, to the off season.  “It’s more of a farm policy issue since the Thoroughbred is bred only through natural cover.”

“We vaccinate our studs for flu/rhino and worm every month,” said McClure.

Roberts prefers to vaccinate and worm every other month.  “Worming and vaccinating is a normal routine for these horses,” he said.  “Some people don’t like to vaccinate (stallions) during breeding season because they might spike a temperature the next day.  And if that fever doesn’t come down quick, you’ve got bigger problems.”

Keeping a horse mentally fit plays right along with keeping them physically fit.  At both Adena Springs South and Bridlewood, stallions spend their nights (weather permitting) outside in large paddocks.  Although many stallions are never ridden again once they retire to the breeding shed, some farms feel this form of exercise is beneficial.  At Three Chimneys Farm in Kentucky, every stallion goes out with an exercise rider.  “All of our stallions are ridden,” said general manager Dan Rosenberg.  “They go out six days a week, because the rider needs a day off.”

Riding a breeding stallion and riding a horse in race training are two very different things, said Rosenberg.  “We’re not asking for any speed,” he said.  “We let the stallion tell us what he wants to do.  If he wants to break into a canter or just jog, it’s not something that we’re making him do.”

However the stallion may act with a rider up, his ground manners usually are much improved.  “Allowing a rider on his back is a submissive gesture,” explained Rosenberg.  “The level of control is greater from on his back than from on the ground.  We find that we have less problems overall handling them.”  On average, the stallions at Three Chimneys will “hack” between one and three miles under saddle.  The key, said Rosenberg, is to be consistent with the exercise program.  “Don’t start and stop on them,” he advised.  “We ride our stallions year round.”

That included the late Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.  “At his age (27) we wondered if there was a point when you stopped doing this,” Rosenberg said.  “The advice we got was to let the horse tell us if it was too much.”  Exercising in this manner may be what kept this popular sire a potent, healthy breeding animal, Rosenberg believes.  “If you’re physically fit, you feel better and live longer.  This is keeping the excess weight off and exercising the cardiovascular system.”  An added benefit Rosenberg has noticed is that his stallions appear to be happier horses.  “They like having a job to do,” he said, and they apparently like doing what they were bred and trained to do.

As Roberts pointed out “You just need to treat them like normal horses.”

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By Jos Mottershead

There are probably two major keys to successful transported semen breeding – preparation and communication.

Carefully preparing your mare, and the associated monitoring of her estrous cycle will hopefully result in a timely breeding. An endometrial swab should be taken, and a cytology smear made, with further diagnostics and/or treatment carried out if indicated (more information on this is available by clicking here and here). It is essential that the mare’s estrous cycle be followed carefully, and ongoing follicular activity monitored (this is known as “following the follicle”) and recorded. In order to do this, a person experienced in palpation or ultrasound use is needed – most usually a veterinarian. Hormonal manipulation of the estrous cycle may also be called for, in order to pinpoint ovulation more easily or accurately. This is especially important if the stallion is not always available for collections – some stallions are not collected if they are showing; some farms will only collect on an every-other-day basis; and some farms will not collect on weekends. (For more information on monitoring estrus and hormonal manipulation, click here).

Rectal palpation of the ovaries is an important tool in determining optimal breeding time. (I believe the steps in the foreground should be considered “emergency equipment” here, in case this very small palpator “falls into” this very large mare, and needs rescuing!!!)

This is where the “communication” aspect starts to come into play. Communicate with the farm where the semen will be collected. Make sure that you are aware of any limitations on collection BEFORE your mare is ready to be bred. Ask the farm if semen from the desired stallion is always available; ask if they have a preferred protocol for ordering semen – some farms require one to have called in the order no later than 8.00 am on the day the shipment has to be sent. Other farms require a call the evening before that.

An added note concerning communication by the mare owner to the stallion farm – show consideration in the timing of your telephone calls! The farm manager – especially if it is a busy breeding farm – will be receiving many phone calls during the breeding season, in addition to completing the regular days work. I’m sure most managers will appreciate it if you make sure that you call at a civilized hour – so remember time zone differences!

Another point that can produce subsequent frustration is discovering that your foal is not eligible for Registration by the Breed Registry because some important Registry requirement was overlooked: Does the Registry permit the use of transported semen? Does it require a Veterinarian to perform the insemination, or if an A.I. Technician is permissible, must they be “approved” by the Registry? Are transported semen permits required? Is the stallion required to be specially licensed? These are all items that should be checked out before your mare is bred, and is quite often most easily achieved by contacting the applicable Registry directly.

Once your mare enters her estrus phase (“heat”), it is often helpful to call the stallion farm to advise them of the fact. They will then be aware that they will probably need to be shipping semen to you within the next 3-5 days. If you have already had the mare palpated or ultrasounded at this stage, tell them the results. Follicular size will be a rough indicator for them as to how many more days before you will need semen – the follicle typically grows at between 3 and 5 mm per day, and is unlikely to ovulate prior to being 35 mm in diameter. Remember that although at this stage it seems as though your whole life is focusing around getting your mare bred, you may only be one of many mare owners contacting the stallion farm, and therefore they need to schedule their collections.

Make sure that your palpator and inseminator are available at all times. It’s no use having a mare ready to be bred and the semen in your barn if there’s no one to inseminate! Likewise, if your mare is palpated with a 3 centimeter follicle on a Friday, will your palpator be prepared to come out on Sunday and palpate if the farm needs to know by Sunday night for a Monday collection and shipment?

Find out what method of transport the semen will be shipped by. Will it be a courier company, or a counter-to-counter airline shipment? If it’s a courier, find out if they will be able to deliver by a certain time of day (this usually depends on your location – some remote locations are a 2 day shipment, which will probably be useless for the semen). If you wish to pick up the shipment at the courier depot, it must be marked “hold for pickup”. Picking semen up often results in your being in possession of it sooner than if you wait for a delivery. If the semen is being shipped counter-to-counter by an airline in North America it is essential that the shipping farm has “verified known shipper status” with the airline being used. Without that status, due to security constraints, the semen will not be accepted for shipment. Also be aware that this status is not a blanket status for all airlines, but must be obtained separately from each airline used. Someone will need to be available to pick it up at the airport. What time will it arrive, and when does the freight department close? Note also that if you are using different airlines in your counter-to-counter shipment, with a transfer in the middle, you will require someone to physically carry the container from one airline’s counter to the next. Neither airline will be likely to provide that person, and that the person must have “verified known shipper status” in order for the shipment to be accepted by the second airline! Remember too if the semen is traveling between Canada and the US, even though there is no longer a requirement for agricultural inspection, it will still have to “clear Customs”, and there must be an officer present to do that. Many of the smaller International airports do NOT have Customs officers present around the clock. For semen entering Canada, remember that it is likely that you will be required to pay Canada Customs “GST” or “HST” on the value of the semen when it arrives and the shipment must be accompanied by a Customs Invoice. If this is a repeat shipment and you have already paid the tax, make sure you take your receipt with you, as you are not required to pay the tax more than once if it is a repeat breeding on a mare that did not conceive.

If your semen is being shipped by one of the larger airlines or courier companies, get a Bill of Lading number from the stallion farm, and you can “track” your shipment over the Internet. (“Click” on the following company names to go to their tracking sites: FedEx; Purolator; UPS to track courier shipments). This will enable you to find out when your shipment left the stallion farm, where it is en-route, and if it has been delayed. If you note that it is sitting a long time at one location, make sure that you contact the transport company immediately to find out if there is a problem.

If you have any questions at any stage of the shipping or breeding process, do not hesitate to ask someone. Remember that the only stupid question is the one that’s not asked! If your mare ends up not pregnant as a result of some silly hitch that you weren’t aware of, you will be very annoyed with yourself!

So you have the semen, and you’re starting to breath a sigh of relief! The inseminator is on their way, your mare is in flaming standing heat, and everything is looking good…. What should you do now? Well, whatever you do, DO NOT open the semen shipping container! It must stay closed until immediately prior to the semen being removed for insemination. Avoid extremes of temperature for the semen container. If the weather is hot, keep it in a cool place; if cool, keep it in the warm. Have your mare in a stall, tail wrapped, and ready to be inseminated. Have a bucket of warm water ready, and sit and wait for your inseminator to arrive!

Once the inseminator does arrive, upon opening the container, make sure that they confirm the identity of the stallion whose semen it is! A competent and thorough semen collection facility will have sent a collection report with the semen that will identify the stallion. If the stallion is not identified in some way on the semen container, make a note of that on any registry AI report – it could save you, the mare owner, considerable grief if next year the foals DNA does not match the sire and dam! Other information that will be provided on paperwork by the responsible stallion operation may include the time the collection took place, the motility at that time and the number of sperm shipped, as well as the type of extender and antibiotic used. Once identification and paperwork is checked, ensure that the inseminator gently mixes the semen before they inseminate. Often the sperm will settle to the bottom of the package during shipment. All that is necessary is to invert the package three or four times before the semen is drawn into the insemination syringe. The type of syringe used is important too. Make sure it is an all-plastic syringe, without a rubber seal on the plunger such as is seen on regular syringes. It has been determined that standard syringes can be highly spermicidal with some stallions semen.

Once the mare is inseminated, or indeed, if you have enough assistance available before she is inseminated, a small sample of the semen should be evaluated to determine the sperm percentage progressive motility. Make sure that this sample is warmed prior to evaluation, as in the cooled state motility will be alarmingly reduced. If your inseminator does not have a slide warmer or incubator, a temporary one can be easily made using a bowl of warm water, and “cling film” kitchen roll, a Zip-Loc bag, or a rectal sleeve filled with warm water. (Click here for a description of this). Using the information from the semen collection report that hopefully accompanied the shipment, multiply the total number of sperm shipped by the percentage of progressively motile sperm that you are now seeing. Ideally you will want to have inseminated 500 million progressively motile sperm. The lowest number that is acceptable is 100 million – and that only if ovulation is imminent. If the number is below that, notify the stallion farm of your concern. Only do this though, if you are sure that the sample was mixed and warmed prior to evaluation, and after evaluating several samples. It is very frustrating for the stallion manager to be told that the semen was not of an acceptable quality, only to find later that there was nothing wrong with the semen, but the evaluation was sub-standard!

One of the big debates in transported semen is whether to inseminate two insemination doses at the same time if two are shipped, or whether to hold one until the following day. There are valid arguments to be made for both schools of thought. Generally I will take action according to whether I feel confident that the mare will ovulate within the 24 hours after insemination, or not. Also, my decision will take into account the number of progressively motile sperm present in the insemination dose upon receipt.

If I believe the mare is going to ovulate within the next 24 hours (which is certainly what we aim for), and if the progressive motility of a single insemination dose yields more than 100 million progressively motile sperm, then I will inseminate just a single dose. The greater the volume of the insemination dose, the greater the possibility that a mare with a delayed uterine clearance problem may be incapable of clearing it – more commonly older or multiparous mares. Hopefully a single insemination dose has been calculated to be 1 billion sperm. That will then provide between 100 and 500 million progressively motile sperm at the time of insemination. As research has shown that inseminating greater numbers of sperm does not increase pregnancy rates¹, there is nothing in my opinion to be gained, and yet much to be lost by inseminating both doses at once.

If I feel that the mare is not likely to ovulate within 24 hours, then I will usually retain one insemination dose for use the next day – but this second insemination will not be performed until at least 24 hours after the first in order to avoid placement of sperm into a still-inflamed uterus. Recent research² has suggested that sperm that are stored in extender rather than seminal plasma have an increased binding tendency to the inflammatory cells, therefore lowering pregnancy rates substantially. Extended semen does usually contain seminal plasma, but it may be diluted, so this effect, although not as pronounced as with all of the seminal plasma removed, may still be apparent.

It is important to note that the post-breeding inflammatory response is a perfectly natural occurrence, and indeed is essential for the successful establishment of pregnancy under normal circumstances. When one looks at the mare’s perineum 16 or so hours after breeding and sees pus dripping from vulva, what is being seen is typically normal clearance of the post-breeding inflammatory response (not a “reaction to the extender”!). In susceptible mares however – usually older or multiparous mares, but not always – the mare is unable to clear this fluid, and the result is an inhospitable environment in the uterus for the conceptus. Consequently the pregnancy is lost shortly after descent of the conceptus into the uterus about 5.5 days after fertilization. This problem can be very easily, cheaply and successfully managed with the use of oxytocin in such a manner as is laid out in the article available here.

One area that I very definitely feel is a false economy in the transported semen breeding process, is not following up with a palpation or ultrasound the day after breeding to make sure that the mare did indeed ovulate. Some mares will “hold on” to the follicle just to prove everyone wrong! If the mare has not ovulated 48 hours after insemination, you should be considering obtaining another shipment for insemination as soon as possible.

The use of transported semen is not complicated, and although there can always be unfortunate errors during the experience. If planning and communication are good, those errors will be kept to an absolute minimum, and hopefully your transported semen experience will be straightforward and successfully result in a pregnancy.

© 2000, 2003 and 2004 Jos Mottershead and Equine-Reproduction.com
Use of article permitted only upon receipt of required permission and with necessary accreditation.
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Many stallion sheds will open their doors in mid February and the current breeding season will be off and running. Although you may think there is plenty of time to get your mare in foal, many stallion managers close their sheds in July only 135 (from February 15th to June 30th). If you’re breeding a sport horse mare the stallion sheds may stay open until July or August. If you are one of the breeders who wants an early foal and you haven’t put your mare under lights you are a little late and you need to get into action now. If you are a breeder who wants to wait for the mare’s natural breeding season, spring and summer, it’s still not too early to start. If your mare had difficulty settling last year, one factor is clear: the earlier you get started, the more cycles you have to achieve a successful breeding season this year.

Preparing your mare for the breeding season involves having her healthy – both in terms of general conditioning and reproductively, completely vaccinated, and cycling before she is to be bred. Because under the best circumstances horses are not the most fertile animals (conception rates for the species are in the range of 60%), optimal health is essential to achieve the maximum reproductive efficiency.

General Health
It is best to have your mare in good physical condition before breeding time. You don’t want a mare requiring a weight loss or gain diet when you’re trying to breed her. Neither scenarios are conducive to regular cycling and conception and add unwanted and avoidable complicating factors. Optimal health is achieved by good body condition which in turn is directly affected by high quality feed, healthy teeth, and low parasite load. Have your horse’s teeth examined and floated before you take her to be bred. Good dental health and proper deworming every 6 to 8 weeks are the best ways to ensure the optimum feed efficiency (amount of nutrition absorbed per pound of feed consumed).

Vaccination
Vaccination requirements for your area should be met before you breed. Although vaccine reactions are rare, the remote risk of such a reaction to interfere with breeding is eliminated if vaccinations occur before the season. A comment should be said about West Nile Virus vaccine. Rumors about this vaccine’s supposedly detrimental effects on reproduction are rampant. None of them, that I am aware, are corroborated by veterinarians involved in the breeding business. Reproductive vets want only one thing, pregnant mares. If any vaccine was thought to have a detrimental effect on this outcome we would not use it; more than 95% of the mares I successfully bred last year were vaccinated for this disease. If one uses the same line of logic proposed by critics of this vaccine (horse vaccinated = problems followed) the vaccine seems to be a fertility enhancer in my hands (horses vaccinated = pregnancy followed). In reality the vaccine doesn’t enhance nor decrease fertility. The threat of this disease is real and has been seen across the continent (see USDA site http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/nahss/equine/wnv/). To date the concerns for not using the vaccine unfounded and appear to have reached urban myth proportions.

Artificial Lights, Mare Transition, and Early Cycling
Having the mare cycle before you are trying to breed is one of the most important aspects of preparing for the breeding season. Mares for the most part are seasonal breeders. They are receptive to the stallion, ovulate, and are able to become pregnant during spring and summer- when the days are getting longer. The time between non breeding and breeding season is known as the transitional phase or transition. During transition mares don’t show heat consistently, don’t ovulate in a predictable manner, and generally make breeding inefficient, frustrating, and needlessly expensive. Transition ends when the mare ovulates her first follicle. After this first ovulation, mares will cycle regularly and ovulate every 21 days until fall when they again enter the non breeding time of the year. It is to the advantage of every breeder to have their mare ovulate at least once before attempting to breed. One of the main goals of preparing for the breeding season is to get them through transition as early in the season as possible.

The easiest way to get your mare cycling early is to put her under lights. We can shorten transition and bring about normal heat cycles by pushing their physiological ‘clocks’ a little. Exposing mares to 16 hours of continuous light per day during the winter makes for a “long day’ and fools the brain into thinking it is springtime. Following 70 days of artificial light 50% of mares will ovulate, after 85 days 95% of mares will have ovulated. The protocol for lights is simple. Bring your mare inside at dusk and leave a light on until 11:00 p.m. The lights need to be bright enough so that you can easily read newsprint from any corner in the stall. Also make sure that she can’t place her head into a dark space (like out a window or dutch door into the darkness).

Although lights are very effective some mares will not respond as expected. One reason is due to the way some horses are stabled. Many performance and show mares are housed in a barn where lights are left on late in the evening all year long. Getting these mares to cycle normally can be frustrating. The problem arises because mares exposed to long day length (via artificial lights) all year long will still continue to be seasonal breeders. That is, although we can fool them for a little while with lights, if they are kept under lights all year their breeding and non breeding seasons can have no correlation to the calendar and they may go into their non breeding season in late winter or spring!

One way to correct this problem is to take these mares outside and allow them to experience darkness and cold weather (use a blanket if your mare isn’t used to the cold). After as little as 30 days of short daylight and winter conditions, these mares often respond and start cycling when you put them under lights

Shortening the Transition Period With Light and Pharmaceuticals.
Breeders have long known that putting the mare under lights in November will usually result in a mare cycling when the breeding sheds open in February. Recent research has shown that using 2 drugs domperidone and sulpiride along with light can shorten this time by up to 2 weeks. Also if you were late in putting your mares under lights these drugs may help. Seventy five percent of mares put under lights and treated with sulpiride beginning January 1st will ovulate within 40 days. Mares that were put under lights without sulpiride ovulated 2 weeks later. Sulpiride and domperidone treatment can be valuable to the breeder wanting an early foal by shortening the transitional phase.

Because of the limited time available during the season it is particularly important to prepare infertile mares (required 3 or more cycles to get in foal) for the breeding season. Placing these mares under lights is very helpful because the sooner you have this type of mare cycling the more chances you have for pregnancy. Uterine cytology and culture are commonly taken and additional examinations via ultrasound, biopsy, and endoscopy are all valuable diagnostics in infertility.

Maiden Mares
Preparing maiden mares (mares never bred) can be useful. Maiden mares under 6 years of age are more fertile than older maidens. When mares reach 12 years of age many will start to have lower fertility and by the time they are 16 most will have declining fertility. Like infertile mares, older maiden mares need the benefit of lights and early cycling.

Pregnant Mares
The last type of mare we’ll discuss are pregnant mares. How can we prepare these mares for the next breeding season? Once again, the answer is lights. If your mare is due this winter you may want to put her under lights now. Doing so will increase the likelihood that she cycles after she foals. If she is due in late spring or summer, lights aren’t usually necessary, as almost all mares will cycle after foaling in the long day season. If you do put her under lights now, her pregnancy won’t be altered and it will help ensure that she will start cycling after foaling. One note of caution on these mares: if you use the lights before foaling, do not stop using the lights after she foals, turning the lights off may inadvertently encourage the mare to go into the non breeding mode.

Breeding on Foal Heat
Foal heat usually begins 5-12 days post foaling, with most mares ovulating by day 21. Through the years many conflicting things have been said about foal heat breeding and run the whole gamut from “always breed on foal heat” to “never breed on foal heat”. Historically mares bred at foal heat had pregnancy rates 20% lower than mares bred later. New research shows that if mares are looked at as individuals they usually fall into a few basic categories upon which sound breeding decisions can be made.
Foal heat usually begins 5-12 days post foaling, with most mares ovulating by day 21. Through the years many conflicting things have been said about foal heat breeding and run the whole gamut from “always breed on foal heat” to “never breed on foal heat”. Historically mares bred at foal heat had pregnancy rates 20% lower than mares bred later. New research shows that if mares are looked at as individuals they usually fall into a few basic categories upon which sound breeding decisions can be made.

The first breeding is often the best chance; repeated attempts frequently result in residual inflammation. When looked at as a “group” mares bred on foal heat have about 20% lower pregnancy rates than mares bred at later cycles. Recent research involving hundreds of mares bred artificially showed that if mares were bred properly on foal heat their pregnancy rates were comparable to maiden, and mares without foal at side. Other researchers have shown similar research and what is becoming quite evident is that following foaling mares can not be “grouped” into one large category. In other words, the decision to breed on foal heat should not be based on your previous experiences with foal heat breeding, “common knowledge”, or even the mares previous history. Instead the decision to breed post foaling should be based on the individual mare and her specific condition following foaling. Several factors are critical in the decision to breed on foal heat or not. They all revolve around the health of the uterus and to a physiological process known as uterine involution. Uterine involution is the process of the uterus shrinking in size, becoming more capable of muscular contraction, and evacuating all the fluid associated with pregnancy. Normal mares will contract their uterus from the large size capable of holding a foal to one that is often less than 6 inches in diameter. Involution and muscular contracting ability of the uterus are key in the ability of establishing the next pregnancy. One very interesting new finding is that mares that are exercised have a dramatically better involution with better evacuation of pregnancy associated fluids than stall confined mares. Take home message: make sure those post foaling mares get lots of exercise!

Some veterinarians recommend uterine treatments to improve pregnancy rates in foal heat mares. These treatments include antibiotics, hormones (oxytocin and prostaglandins – to improve uterine contraction), and lavage (to physically evacuate uterine fluid). These treatments have been advised either on the day of or shortly following foaling. Unfortunately the benefit of these treatments post foaling is unreliable and inconsistent when scrutinized with controlled research.

Friedman Veterinary Service & The Oregon Equine Reproduction Center
P.O. Box 695  |   Lake Oswego, OR 97034  |  (503) 675-0757  |   ron@oregonequine.com
(C) Friedman Veterinary Service & Oregon Equine Reproduction Center 2009. All rights reserved.

by Stephanie L. Church, Editor-in-Chief of The Horse

http://www.warhorsemovie.com/trailer

My eyelids have finally returned to normal after two days of crying-induced puffiness, so it’s time to weigh in on War Horse, the source of my emotional display in a Lexington cinema on Monday.

The highly anticipated film whose trailer even had me in tears when I saw it for the first time back in August was one I will return to see in the theater and will own on DVD.

I’ve avoided reading other blogs on the subject so I wouldn’t be tempted to parrot or build on their messages. What’s my specific angle? Like many of the War Horse watchers, I’ve spent a lifetime around horses. I love a good film, especially a Spielberg one. My sister studied film set design and in watching movies with her, I’ve picked up on some of the nuances for which she watches. Like many I also have a penchant for war stories, after hearing my grandmother describe stories from the other World War (I visited the museum to that war in Caen, France, in 2000). What might make my angle a little unique is that in my career I’ve focused primarily on horse health, and as an editor I’m generally fastidious about details and accuracy. This is sometimes to the detriment of my consumption of a movie. I’ve also seen some remote areas of France while competing in an orienteering competition on horseback (mind you, I wasn’t good at this sport, but I did finish a nine-hour solo ride with a map, a compass, and an Arabian named “Uloa”). From this perspective, here are some things that impacted me the most about this movie. Warning: There are spoilers ahead, if you haven’t yet seen the film.

• A truly idyllic setting that embraces the viewer almost immediately, reminding them of past rides on memorable mounts. If you’ve traveled in Europe—especially if you’ve ridden in Europe—and enjoyed your visit, you might begin having pangs of homesickness within minutes. I guess this is true for any idyllic scene (California? Virginia?) where the warm afternoon light hits the fences, trees, and grass in such a way that you’d like to bottle it for safe keeping. Before I remembered from reading our recent articles (Horses Get Star Treatment on War Horse Set, Movie Magic, Makeup, and Tricks shape War Horse) that most of the film locations were in England—nope, haven’t gone riding there—I had convinced myself that I’d seen that bend in the road, that tree, that field. The ability for the viewer to relate to the setting was uncanny.

• A swift but subtle transport from reality to story. Joey’s first few nickers and whinnies at Albert’s family’s farm came from a horse whose nostrils weren’t moving (that I remember). Something about that moment made me say, “Okay, Steph, this is a movie. Let it go.” At that point details in the rest of the film—from the sequences showing training and behavior to comical tricks—did not distract me in the least, aside from one moment in the barbed-wired-no-man’s-land scene where I pulled myself out of the story long enough to remember this was not a live horse suffering amidst a tangle of rusted wire. (And thank God it wasn’t.) Bobby Lovgren and the other trainers did an incredible job of training the multiple Joeys and the background horses, and of replicating the body condition scores of animals that had been at war. It had to have been an epic task, and I applaud their hard work.

• The almost-charmed existence of Joey, a horse who always had an advocate. Whether it was Albert, Captain Nicholls, Emilie, or a host of others, this horse always had caretakers looking out for him the best way they could or knew how. They may have been uneducated in their efforts at times, but Joey was patient and gracious. Alternately, they may have been well-educated in husbandry and wanted to do more to help Joey, but did not have the means, so they did what they could. In return Joey cared for them (although he probably would’ve done it anyway) and for his equine friend—in a sacrificial, unconditional way that could open yet another angle of discussion, but I’ll leave that to a friend who will be writing about spiritual themes throughout War Horse on another blog. I also want to put a plug in for the veterinarian who comes through and continues Joey’s treatment after he and Albert reunite; having an advocate in that veterinarian also impacted me as well, seeming that I love me some compassionate vets!

• The filmmakers don’t rely on gruesome effects to represent loss. As I recall the moment where Captain Nicholls sees his plight, and the immediately following scene where Joey continues galloping forward toward the enemy, riderless, my waterworks begin again. So many filmmakers rely on assaulting viewers’ senses to draw them into the story. My awareness of the sheer enormity of what World War I soldiers were faced with in their trenches was heightened, but I wasn’t so pummeled with gore that I had to look away or that I became desensitized. There was an ebb and flow to the awareness of the pain, misery, fear, and courage that happened in those battlefields.

• The bond between a person and his/her horse is profound. Where my heart strings were pulled especially taut was the portrayal of the strength of a bond between horse and human. Like many of our readers, I’ve had a bond with a particular remarkable horse—a bond that to this day brings tears to my eyes when I recall it. It’s a oneness that to others who haven’t experienced it might sound a wee bit too mystical or cliché. For nonhorsepeople, maybe it is best likened to a bond between them and faithful friends of another species—dog, cat, whatever. But Spielberg and his team captured this bond between boy and horse probably more closely than I’ve seen in any other movie featuring an animal as its protagonist over the years.

My hope is that this movie will reach people who have never been around horses, and they might seek to experience the bond that is between rider and horse—taking a riding lesson, perhaps, or visiting a friend who owns horses and learning how to groom or help with the stalls. Also I hope that they’ll linger on the themes of sacrifice, steadfastness, and loyalty, something that we don’t necessarily see all too often in theaters, or even in our day-to-day.

Your Turn: If you’ve seen the movie, what did you think? What aspects impacted you the most?

National Reined Cow Horse Association leading rider Todd Crawford has made history once again, becoming the association’s first $2 Million Rider.

Crawford, who won the 2006 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity, has also been named the American Quarter Horse Association Professional Horseman of the Year. His earnings in the National Reining Horse Association exceed $866,000, and he is a two-time United States Equestrian Federation Champion.

In the reined cow horse world, Crawford passed the million dollar mark in 2006, when he won the Snaffle Bit Futurity on Smart Crackin Chic, and was the association’s leading open rider in 1999, 2005-2007, and 2009.

He achieved $2 million rider status at the 2011 NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity, and he now has NRCHA earnings of $2,012,000.

Crawford won over $75,000 on five horses during the Snaffle Bit Futurity, led by Cat Can Dew with $38,875. He also won money on Fancy Boons N All, Sinful Cat, Hes A Stylish Rey, and Ill Be Skeets.

Crawford, who began showing cow horses in the late ’80s, noted, “You try be competitive at every event you show in, and, for me, that’s where the excitement comes from. Winning this much is just a bi-product of doing what I love.”

He was quick to give credit to his wife, Pam, and his family, for being a large part of his success. He added, “I also have a great group of sponsors who support me. Over the years I’ve been blessed with wonderful owners who have given me the opportunity to have some very talented horses. All of them deserve a big thank you as well.”

Crawford has been involved in the reined cow horse industry as an executive board member in the past, and has just been re-elected to the Board for 2012

The NRCHA, now in its 62nd year, is the governing body of reined cow horse competition. The NRCHA is responsible for promoting the sport, insuring high standards of competition, and educating members and the public about the history and tradition of the cow horse. Through the support of a Corporate Partner family that includes Bob’s Custom Saddles, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Cinch, Classic Equine, Gist Silversmiths, John Deere, Markel Insurance, Merial products ULCERGARD and EQUIOXX, Nutrena, Pfizer Animal Health, Quarter Horse News, Rios of Mercedes, San Juan Ranch – A Division of Santa Cruz Biotechnology, and the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino, the association works to keep the vaquero tradition alive in today’s equine industry. For information on the National Reined Cow Horse Association, call 580-759-4949 or visit the NRCHA Official Web Site at www.nrcha.com.

We would like to thank everyone for entering the MyHorseForSale.com photo contest.  We had over 250 entries in five categories: Holiday/Seasonal, Farm & Ranch, Foal, Action, and General.  As always, it wa very difficult to choose just one winner from so many wonderful photos.  So… we have decided to choose some of the runner ups and highlight them on Facebook and in upcoming newsletters. Winners will be notified of their prizes via email.

Also, do to the large number of truly impressive entries we couldn’t pick just one. We have also selected a few honorable mentions. Look for them to be highlighted on the MyHorseForSale.com Facebook page and in upcoming newsletters.

Congratulations to all our photo contest winners!

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THE POWER OF THE PEN

That power has changed the world…the power of the pen.  My awareness of the just how powerful the written word can be in our personal lives began around the age of forty when I attended an “Improve Your Memory” seminar.  Like most of us, I thought I was going to an event that would cause me to remember everything without effort.  Imagine my surprise when the “expert” opened up the training session with… “One of the first and best things we can do to help our memory is write things down!

“Well, good grief!” I thought to myself.  “I knew that.  I wanted some fancy secret information about memory.” When I mentioned to the instructor his first recommendation was somewhat obvious, he said, “So you know the power of writing things down?”  I answered that I did.  He replied, “I doubt that.  If you really knew about that power, you wouldn’t be here.”

Once I heard someone ask television star and early talk show host, Steve Allen, how he could be so creative having written forty books and four hundred songs.  Allen answered that he was no more creative than anyone else.  “Everyone has thoughts and ideas,” he said.  “The difference between most other people and me is that when I have a thought, I write it down.”

Later, an interviewer asked Roger Miller how he could be so creative with his music.  Miller said, “I’m no more creative than anyone else.  It’s just that when I have a thought or hear a rhyme in my mind, I jot it down on a sheet of paper and drop it in the cookie jar.  In a few months, I’ll have a couple of hundred ideas.”

Novelist Joseph Wambaugh, who wrote such best-selling police/detective thrillers as The Onion Field, The Blue Knight, and The Black Marble, among others, said that all of his work could be attributed to “the hundreds of scraps of paper I generate with little notes on them.  I write everything down.”

Still later, I would read – and hear – the words of Earl Nightingale, the gravelly voice radio storyteller of the fifties and sixties, who explained the foundations of success in life.  “If you chart the lives of 100 men,” he said, “when those men reach age 65, you will find only five have achieved their heart’s desire in life.  Why?  Was it because the five were blessed with good fortune?  Were they born into wealth?  Just lucky?  No.  You will find early in the lives of the five who succeeded, they did something most people don’t…they wrote down their plan for living on paper!”

Naturally, some scoff at this notion.  “How could writing something down affect the outcome?” they might well ask.  All I know is that I was an F student for years.  Then, a kind professor told me to write down what the teacher said.  My life changed in a most dramatic way.  I no longer made Fs.  And then there is this…

Twenty years ago, I stuck a little yellow sticky note on my bathroom mirror.  “First Book,” it said.  Now there is a little yellow sticky note on my bathroom mirror that says, “Eighth Book.” While none are Gone With the Wind (sadly) I have managed to eat most every day during all that time.  Writing things down causes us to focus.  Noted horse trainer, Craig Hamilton, suggests that once our session with the horse is over for the day, that we take a moment to make some notes about what went well, and what we might key on in the coming days.  In a similar fashion, nothing has helped my roping – or golf swing – more than making notes after a practice session to pinpoint my crosshairs on what needs to be done tomorrow.

The memory expert was right.  Had I known then the power of writing things down, I would have been too busy to attend a memory seminar.  Putting thoughts to paper causes us to zero in on our heart’s desire.  What we think about, talk about, write about, and do something about causes the thing to come about.  The goal or desire put to paper causes us to not worry about food or drink, but rather to keep our eyes fixed on the prize.

And it is the only way in the world to remember everything your wife tells you to get at the grocery store.   

Horses not only remember people who have treated them well, they also understand words better than expected, research shows.

By Jennifer Viegas | Wed Mar 17, 2010 04:58 AM ET

THE GIST:

• Horses remain loyal to humans with which they have had past, positive encounters.
• The animals remember people even after long separation.
• Horses understand vocal commands better than expected.

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Horses reacted positively to trainers they recognized as friendly, even after not seeing them for eight months.
MorguefileHuman friends may come and go, but a horse could be one of your most loyal, long-term buddies if you treat it right, suggests a new study.

Horses also understand words better than expected, according to the research, and possess “excellent memories,” allowing horses to not only recall their human friends after periods of separation, but also to remember complex, problem-solving strategies for ten years or more.

The bond with humans likely is an extension of horse behavior in the wild, since horses value their own horse relatives and friends, and are also open to new, non-threatening acquaintances.

“Horses maintain long-term bonds with several members of their family group, but they also interact temporarily with members of other groups when forming herds,” explained Carol Sankey, who led the research, and her team.

“Equid social relationships are long-lasting and, in some cases, lifelong,” added the scientists, whose paper has been accepted for publication in the journal Animal Behavior.

Ethologist Sankey of the University of Rennes and her colleagues studied 20 Anglo-Arabian and three French Saddlebred horses stabled in Chamberet, France. The scientists tested how well the horses remembered a female trainer and her instructions after she and the horses had been separated up to eight months.

WATCH VIDEO: University of Minnesota gives Discovery News a tour of their cutting-edge horse treatment facility.

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The training program for the horses consisted of 41 steps associated with basic grooming and medical care. For example, the horses had to remain immobile in response to the verbal command “reste!” which is French for “stay.” The horses also had to lift their feet, tolerate a thermometer inserted into the rectum and more. When a horse did as it was instructed, the trainer rewarded it with food pellets.

With tasty rewards, the horses “displayed more ‘positive’ behaviors toward the experimenter, such as sniffing and licking,” the researchers wrote. Horses do this as a sign of affiliation with each other, so they weren’t necessarily just seeking more food.

The scientists added, “Horses trained without reinforcement expressed four to six times more ‘negative’ behaviors, such as biting, kicking and ‘falling down’ on the experimenter.

Nevertheless, after the eight months of separation, the horses trained with food rewards gravitated towards the same experimenter. The horses also seemed to accept new people more readily, indicating they had developed a “positive memory of humans” in general.

“From our results, it appears that horses are no different than humans (in terms of positive reinforcement teachings),” according to the researchers. “They behave, learn and memorize better when learning is associated with a positive situation.”

While people often train dogs in this way, also using verbal commands, Sankey and her team point out that “the majority of horse-riding training is based on tactile sensations — pressure from bits, movements of riders’ legs, weight change in the saddle.”

Since “horses are able to learn and memorize human words” and can hear the human voice better than even dogs can, due to their particular range of hearing, the scientists predict trainers could have success if they incorporate more vocal commands into their horse training programs.

Jill Starr is president and founder of Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue, a non-profit that provides refuge, training and adoption placement for otherwise slaughter-bound wild mustangs and domestic horses.

Starr told Discovery News that she’s observed horses responding well to verbal commands, such as “trot,” but she still feels “horses and people get along better if the person doesn’t chatter, since this causes the individual to have greater awareness of body language that is more familiar to horses.”

She, however, agrees that horses are loyal, intelligent and have very long-lasting memories — of both good and bad experiences.

Starr said, “Horses can be very forgiving, but they never forget.”

I thought this article by Dr. Lenz has some good comments about walking a horse versus letting them lay down. For many of our clients it is faster to load the horse and haul to a clinic. For our veterinarians the workup done at a hospital is more in depth and can be performed more safely. If a horse is wanting to lay down, that is not a reason to avoid a trailer ride. It is much easier to pull a horse off a trailer, than it is to try and do colic surgery on the farm. Intense pain is an emergency and one we believe should be addressed at the hospital as quickly as possible. – Ben Buchanan, DVM, Specialist Internal Medicine, Specialist Emergency and Critical Care
What Is Colic?:

How to recognize the symptoms and what to do about them.

What should you do if your horse is showing signs of colic? Journal photo.

_By Dr. Thomas R. Lenz in_ The American Quarter Horse Journal

Colic remains a major cause of sickness and death in horses.

Approximately 10 percent of all horses suffer at least one bout of colic during their lifetimes. And a little more than 6 percent of those die, nearly twice as many horses as are affected by other diseases or injuries. Here, we’ll focus on what to do while you’re waiting for the veterinarian to arrive.

What Is Colic?

The word “colic” simply refers to abdominal pain. It covers a multitude of abdominal and intestinal problems, ranging from simple excess gas in the intestines to severe torsion or twisting of the intestines. It can also include stomach ulcers, uterine pain in pregnant or post-foaling mares and pain associated with disease in organs of the abdomen.

It is critical for horse owners to recognize the early signs of colic, because the sooner the horse is seen and treated, the greater his chances of recovery. All colics begin with mild pain and subtle symptoms. If the horse is lucky, it will be a mild colic and resolve on its own or with moderate treatment from a veterinarian.

However, the first clinical signs might be an early stage of a life-threatening colic that will eventually require extensive treatment or surgery. Unfortunately, no one can tell at the beginning.

Signs

Signs of colic in the horse vary, but include not eating, yawning, restlessness, groaning, repeatedly curling the upper lip, looking at the flank, continuous or intermittent pawing, circling, backing into a corner or post, standing in a stretched position, lying down repeatedly, rolling and sweating excessively.

Remember that these signs are not specific for any particular type of colic and no colicky horse is likely to show all of them. Know how your horse acts normally to recognize anything unusual.

What Do You Do?

Remember that all colics are emergencies and a veterinarian should be contacted as soon as possible. Once you’ve determined that your horse is colicking, call a veterinarian immediately. Provide the veterinarian with as much information over the phone as possible. This should include the clinical signs (pawing, sweating, rolling, etc.), the horse’s rectal temperature (normal between 98 to 101.2 degrees Fahrenheit), the horse’s heart rate (normal is 30 to 40 beats per minute), and the horse’s gum color (normally pink, but might be blue if the horse is in shock or dark red if the horse is toxic).

Now that you’ve made the call, and the veterinarian is on his way, what should you do while waiting?

Here are a few simple guidelines. First of all, do not allow the horse to eat. In severe colic, the horse will not want to eat, but in a mild colic or during periods of low pain, the horse might attempt to eat. Although interest in feed is a good sign, it could make the colic more severe or interfere with oral treatments. If nibbling a little green grass seems to help, that is OK, but do not allow access to hay or grain. If possible, move the horse to a grassy area with good footing and few obstacles. This will make it easier to handle the horse if he wants to lie down.

To Walk or Not to Walk?

The big question is whether or not to walk the horse. It is commonly believed that if a colicky horse rolls, he will twist an intestine. That can be true in horses with severe colic where intestines are filled with fluid and devitalized. However, in the vast majority of horses, rolling is not going to twist the intestine. Most twists and displacements occur while the horse is standing, and rolling is an attempt to get comfortable. The real problem with horses rolling, especially uncomfortably, is that they are very likely to injure themselves or their handlers, and they expend huge amounts of energy.

Here are my guidelines for when and when not to walk a colicky horse.

Remember that a horse lies down and attempts to roll to relieve pain and find a more comfortable position. If the horse lies down and stays down quietly, even in an unusual position, leave him alone. If he wants to get up and change positions periodically and then lie down again, leave him alone. If he constantly gets up and down and tries to roll frequently, walk him around.

Long-term walking can actually tire a horse, so do it only when absolutely necessary to take the horse’s mind off his pain. There is some debate as to whether or not walking stimulates intestinal motility. Occasionally, a horse suffering from gas colic will benefit from trotting or a trail ride, which seem to move the gas along. But there is no evidence that walking either stimulates intestinal movement or corrects a twist. Unless specifically instructed to do so by your veterinarian on the phone, do not medicate the horse before the veterinarian arrives. Many common sedatives and painkillers decrease intestinal movement and might actually make the colic worse. Others affect heart rate or lower blood pressure and can put the horse at risk of shock.

Note any unusual character, color or composition of the horse’s manure and the frequency of defecation or urination. Also, note if the abdominal girth has changed during the colic episode, especially if it is enlarged. Note the frequency and intensity of the painful episodes and whether they are continuous or increasing in severity. All of this information will help the veterinarian determine the cause of the colic.

Colic is a true emergency, and getting a veterinarian on the scene as quickly as possible is the key to saving the horse.

The herd of wild Mustangs at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, part of a birth-control vaccine study. | Photo courtesy of Terry Netts, Colorado State University

Deep inside the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, a herd of wild Mustangs are doing what wild horses do–grazing, resting, playing, pooping and reproducing.

And Colorado State University researchers are hoping that last one is starting to slow down.

“Theodore Roosevelt National Park is a unique park in that is it totally enclosed by fence,” said Terry M. Nett, a professor of the Animal Reproduction & Biotechnology Laboratory at Colorado State University. “So there’s no place for the animals to go, and as their numbers increase, they’ll start causing problems such as forage damage, and then they’ll start dying of starvation.”

To prevent that, park officials became interested in limiting the Mustang herd’s numbers, Terry said, and wanted to try the same gonadotropin-releasing hormone (Gnrh) contraceptive vaccine that proved to be successful on the elk herd in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park.

While the vaccine can be administered by dart, Terry said, researchers instead opted for the wild horse herd to be rounded up and treated, in order to make sure all the Mustangs got the full vaccine at the same time.

So 110 of the wild horses were rounded up, and that number was culled to 67 by selling part of the wild horse herd for domestic use. Of the remaining wild horse herd, half the mares were treated with the vaccine, and half were treated with a placebo.

Now for the next four years, researchers will be observing the herd and collecting poop samples left by identified mares in order to run pregnancy tests on them.

“We’ll check their fecals to see if any are pregnant or lost a foal,” Terry said.

And who gets that fun job? Some Colorado State University students, as well as some volunteers who have been observing, photographing and identifying the herd for years, he said.

The study, which began in October 2010, will run through October 2014, Terry said. It’s co-sponsored by the Colorado Horse Development Authority (CHDA), as well as the Morris Animal Foundation.

“It worked great on the elk–the vaccine had a 90 percent success rate after the first year,” Terry said. “It’s too early to tell if it’s going to be effective on horses, but observations after the first year are that the vaccine is 50 to 60 percent successful so far.”

Categories: Horse Breeds & Information, Wild or Rescued Horses.

Tags: Colorado State University, horse, horses, Morris Animal Foundation, mustangs, vaccine, wild horse, wild horses

By Amy Herdy