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Red Hot Cardinal Fan
Posts: 4122
 
| If you were interested in breeeding to a stallion that is about 6 hours away, would you choose to do so via shipped semen or keep her at the stud farm and have her AI'ed onsite? Assuming you have a good repro vet either way, which would you think would be the safest and most economical choice? Or what would you base the decision on? Looking at next season, not this years and just trying to get others insite. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 110
| Onsight, because I've only done a few at my house and cannot pretend to be good at it. |
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  Champ
Posts: 19623
 
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | It's kind of a wash. |
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Regular
Posts: 85
| If you have a good Repro vet and a finicky mare or one that requires special care (speaking from experience) you can monitor her better from home. I worked for a barn that had a mare that was on a special diet bc she could look at grass and gain 100lbs. One of the breeding barns got her so fat that she almost foundered and the owners had to go to some extreme measures to get her sound/healthy again.
The next year we took her back to the same area (the stud we were breeding her to didn't ship semen) but a different barn where we knew she would have the exact care we asked for and after leaving lengthy instructions, she was fine.
Apart from this specific mare, most breeding barns are very nice facilities and the mares are very well taken care of. We have even had show mares kept in shape (they had a freestyle walker) while they were there for breeding and ET. In the event that your mare doesn't take the first time or if the stallion has low counts, it is more convenience to have them at the breeding barn.
If you have a quality repro vet at both locations, I think it just boils down to your mare and what you prefer to do. Some people choose to have them foal out at the breeding barn, we let all ours foal out at home. |
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 A Barrel Of Monkeys
Posts: 12972
Location: Texas | I've found it more economical to go to the farm, but the distance does add to the cost. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Duvall, WA | Just curious, what does it cost to get a mare bred these days with shipped semen? Not including the stud fee. And what does an ET cost typically? |
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 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | I guess it would depend on if the first shipment was included. If it is, I would just haul to my vet and save $$. If it's not and the gas to get the mare there and back is cheaper then I'd take the mare there. |
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Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | NipntuckLR - 2016-07-19 8:13 PM
Just curious, what does it cost to get a mare bred these days with shipped semen? Not including the stud fee. And what does an ET cost typically?
I paid about $400 but I hauled the mare back and forth to the vet during the process. I'm not sure what I paid total counting fuel and my mare was a textbook case. |
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 Mature beyond Years
Posts: 10780
Location: North of the 49th Parallel | I sent my mare to the farm. Which was a no brainer really, because AI was included in the stud fee and the stud farm was only 45 mins away. Worked out better for me because I had moved 10 hours away and my mare didn't take the first time. |
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 Worst.Housekeeper.EVER.
Location: Missouri | I've done both. Last time I left her at the farm and she missed first try. I think it would have been more economical to have her home vs paying board and vet fees for a month??? Guess it depends on stud fees/shipping.
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 Peecans
| I would just ship semen. Espicaly if she had a foal on her. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 489
| I think a lot depends on your mare and how well you know her cycle. I figure it costs about $500 a shipment on average between collection/shipping fees and vet work on the mare end.
If I have a colt on the side, I don't like to haul them that far. How does your mare travel and does she do well in strange places? And you have to consider your fuel and time. If you really know how your mare NORMALLY cycles, I prefer shipped. If you don't know or she decides to play hold the follicle, shipping can get interesting. Also, how does the stud ship? Quality of semen plays into the decision for me. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 428
Location: God's country | To me it totally depends on how the stallion ships. Some stallions ship terribly and your best chance of success is to have the mare on site. If the stallion ships well then I'll usually just ship. My repro vet is great so I don't worry about her handling business. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 788
| To me it would mostly depend on how well the stud's semen ships. If he has good semen, then I prefer to just take the mare to my vet instead of driving 6 hours and having to leave her there for a month or more. |
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 Queen Boobie 2
Posts: 7521
| OregonBR - 2016-07-19 2:32 PM
It's kind of a wash.
This. By the time you figure time and fuel to haul her as well as mare care, money wise you'll probably be about the same either shipping or taking her there. Now, depending on the stud and how many mares they book and how they ship semen out as far as when you order it or have to be on the list for a particular day, a mare on site might get priority over shipped semen. |
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 Expert
Posts: 2013
Location: Piedmont, OK | If the first shipment is free then I would keep her home and have my vet do it. It depends on your vet fees though. I bred to A Streak Of Fling a couple of years ago and took her down and dropped her off. Their fees and their vet fees were quite a bit more. It would have been cheaper to haul her back and forth to my repro vet and pay for shipping. |
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