Since graduating from Edinburgh University in 2008 Dr Niamh Lewis has spent several stud seasons across the globe, as well as set up the first ICSI centre in the UK in collaboration with Twemlows. Ahead of speaking at Getting Mares Pregnant, she tells us why an evidence-based approach to breeding with frozen semen works for both practitioners and clients.
Artificial insemination now accounts for the majority of sport horse breeding and use of frozen-thawed semen specifically, offers horse breeders an option to breed to stallions regardless of their current availability or geographic location. Its use is considered by some to be too labour intensive and perhaps not suitable for all mares. Additionally, there is increasing commercial pressure to reduce the “dose” of frozen semen which can be problematic for some stallions.
In 2015, myself and others published data based on records from 1023 insemination cycles (578 mares) utilizing fresh, chilled or frozen semen from 240 stallions, over a three-year period from a single AI centre. This paper was published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science and presented at AAEP as one of the top studies of that year. BEVA’s Getting Mares Pregnant course will review that paper and discuss the latest evidence to highlight that when used appropriately, insemination of frozen semen can achieve similar pregnancy rates across a population of mares with varied reproductive histories, ages and susceptibility to persistent post breeding endometritis. We will also review the various insemination protocols to demonstrate that frozen AI need not be that labour intensive for the practitioner.
This is highly relevant to both practitioners and their clients as it suggest that choice of chilled vs. frozen semen need not be influenced by mare factors. Furthermore, willingness to offer frozen AI as a service greatly widens the range of potential stallions that may be used as sires for clients’ individual mares.
Find out more about our Getting Mares Pregnant course.