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Arabian Horse Times
December Feature  Mare Management

Battaglia Farms Breeding Managers:
Russell T. Vento Jr. & Amy Alderson

Approximately 25 mares bred in house with shipping fresh cooled semen to 125+ mares per year.

1. I am a schedule freak.  Mares are fed at 7am, and teased at 7:30am.    They are then given medications and or hormone treatments if needed and turned outside by 9am.  The mares will be brought inside between 3:30 & 4:40, groomed and then fed at 5pm.  We will breed mares 7 days a week depending upon ovulation times within a 24 hour period.  The mares at Battaglia Farms are all kept in a 12 x 14 box stall at night and out in a pasture or individual runs such as a mare motel during the day.
   
   
2. I do not use artificial lighting.  Traditionally in Texas November through March the weather is beautiful with lots of sun and temperatures in the 50's & 60's.  Due to this our mares cycle during the winter season.  Our in house veterinarian, Dr. Mario Zerlotti of Double Diamond Ranch, does however use lights for the Embryo Transfer Recipients.  Ted Blanch has built a 5 acre pasture equipped with Stadium lighting like a football field.  The area has an automatic gate that opens at 4:30pm for the mares to come in to eat and the lights are on from 4:30pm to 11:30pm. Dr. Zerlotti uses the lights from November through February.
   
   
3. Thyro-L - is a supplement for low thyroid.  Many of the mares that we have are older and have low thyroid, this supplement helps to normalize their levels and has been great to assist in getting mares in foal.
   Isoxuprine  There are new studies out that suggest that using Isoxuprine assists in increasing the blood flow to the uterus, therefore increasing uterine health.  2002 was the first year for us to use Isoxuprine for breeding and we were very pleased with the results and will continue to use on older and problem mares. 
   
   Performance Plus - a general vitamin supplement which has all the vitamin requirements for young and adult horses as well as glucosamine.  This is our 6th year using Platinum Performance and we are very pleased.  We use this on all our show horse and breeding horses.
   
   
4. Vaccinations:  Routine - Rhino/Flu; VEWT; Strangles; West Nile; Pneumabort K (months 5, 7, 9 for mares in foal).  One month prior to due date, each mare will receive pre-foaling booster shots of Rhino/Flu, VEWT & West Nile.  We also give oral wormer every 60 days.    Pregnancies are very volatile for the first 60 days so we do not do any worming or vaccinations until each mare is check in foal at least 60 days, and then they only get one procedure within a 24 hour period, i.e. worming one day, then vaccination on the next.
   
   
5. Preparations are as follows:  enclose tail entirely in palpation sleeve and tie up out of way; then we wash mare three times with Palmolive antibacterial soap and wet paper towels, rinsing after each wash; then pat dry, do not wipe, with dry paper towels.  Mares will often develop fluid in their uterus' after insemination so we will give oxytocin 6 hours post insemination.
   
   
6. We have had great success with a rather unorthodox method for problem mares from Dr. T-Bone Buchanan in Navasota, TX.  Basically 12 hours after ovulation you start the mare on 15cc of oral Regumate, plus a 3cc I.M. shot of an estrogen/Progesterone supplement P+.  The mare is to receive the P+ shot twice a week, i.e. Tuesday & Friday, with the Regumate given daily.  Once a pregnancy is achieved maintain this schedule for up to 80 days.  Once beyond 80 days you can reduce the P+ to one shot per week, and keep the Regumate at 15cc per day.  One month prior to foaling, after all shots and worming have been completed, wean down the amount of hormones given daily, i.e. reduce Regumate by 3cc per day until off and P+ reduce the amount to 1 ½ cc for the final shot.
   
   
7. The oldest mare we ever got in foal was Ming Jade (*Bask  X Tiger Lily) who is 26 years old.  The process described above has achieved three pregnancies via Embryo Transfer.  Ming Jade carried her last foal at 22 with no problem but the actual delivery was too tiring for her.
   
   
8. I don't know that we do anything special but we always get to know the mares that we are breeding and what type of cycle they have, which in turn helps us to breed with optimal timing.  The one most important thing we do on a daily basis is tease each mare.  This stimulates the natural breeding instincts in the mare which makes everything easier.

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