By Heidi Smith, DVM

Shipped semen is becoming more and more common in the horse industry. Every year, more and more mare owners inquire about the availability of shipped semen from a particular stallion, and more stallion owners are offering this service. Is shipped semen for you? I'll discuss here a few of the considerations to think about in making that decision.

If you are a mare owner, there are several advantages to shipped semen. First of all, it enables you to shop for stallion services over a much broader geographical area than you may have been able to consider previously. This can be a tremendous tool to help you find the most compatible stallion for each mare. I would caution mare owners to use this tool wisely, though. Shop carefully and consider what is really best for your mare, and don't get hoodwinked into breeding into the latest fad or to the stallion whose owner just happens to have the best ability to promote through advertising. If you are considering a stallion a great distance away, get a discount plane ticket and fly to see him-it is far cheaper to go yourself than to transport your mare!

Once you have chosen a stallion, whether or not you choose to ship semen will likely be determined by economic factors and risk factors. The biggest economic factor is distance. The farther away the stallion is, the more expensive it is to transport your mare. Because of the expense of transport, you would also likely leave your mare at the breeding farm for an extended period of time to determine that she is safely in foal before bringing her home, which adds considerable expense. For stallions that are far away, shipped semen is comparatively cheap. Expect a few additional charges from the stallion owner for collection and shipping (these should not be exorbitant, especially if the farm is collecting semen for artificial insemination anyway). You will also have the cost of shipping. (This ranges from $30 to $90, usually, depending on the type of transport used, such as Fed-Ex or air freight.) In addition, you will have a few additional veterinary expenses. To maximize your chance of success, you will want to have your veterinarian palpate your mare daily while she is in heat to accurately determine when to request your shipment of semen. (You should have a complete reproductive work-up and culture done on your mare prior to the heat cycle in which you plan to breed her, regardless of whether you are planning to ship semen or send her out to breed.) When the semen arrives, you will need to have your veterinarian inseminate your mare, and then follow up over the next couple of days to be sure she ovulates. (At most breeding farms, you will be billed for a certain amount of veterinary care anyway-about the only difference between the way I handle mares expecting shipped semen is the daily palpation, as opposed to every-other-day palpation at most breeding farms where the mares are in residence.) Compare these costs to transporting your mare cross-country and boarding her for two or three months-shipped semen is the clear winner unless the stallion is relatively close.

Even when a stallion is nearby, there are sometimes risk factors involved in shipping your mare that may make you opt for shipped semen. Most risks are with mares that are due to foal and that you wish to re-breed. You have to make the choice of shipping your mare to the breeding farm when she is heavy in foal (and also gambling that she will have an uneventful foaling and be able to re-breed) or shipping her when she has a very young foal at side. It can be traumatic to ship young foals. It is also quite a stress to their immature immune systems to be exposed to new bacteria and viruses that they may not have protection for from their dam's colostrum. This may be a consideration even when the stallion is only 50 miles down the road. Sometimes in cases involving nearby mares and stallions, you can save yourself shipping costs by simply driving to the breeding farm yourself and picking up the shipping container of semen. (In cases where one of my clients is using a stallion belonging to another client, or even to another local stallion, I often even pick up semen containers myself on the way to inseminate the mare.) Especially when mares have young foals at side, this works extremely well.

There are also advantages to shipped semen from the stallion owner's perspective. By shipping semen, you can market to a much wider geographic area and attract more mares that might cross well with your stallion. You can service a larger number of mares without having to expand your physical facility to house them during breeding season. In addition, you save yourself the labor of feeding, mucking, teasing, and in general caring for visiting mares. You also save yourself the responsibility you face should something happen to visiting mares in your care.

What you should expect to do if you offer shipped semen from your stallion is good service to your clients. If the mare was visiting your facility you would breed her at the optimum time to try to ensure pregnancy, so you must also be willing to collect and ship on the days that your distant clients need semen for their mares. I do recommend, however, that you question new shipped semen clients to determine if they have the know-how and veterinary back-up to have a reasonable chance of success with shipped semen. If you are not comfortable with their level of expertise, have your veterinarian talk with their veterinarian to see if they can smooth the way.

If you have questions about shipped semen, whether about shipping from your stallion or receiving shipped semen for your mare, contact your veterinarian for more details. It may be easier than you think!

	Heidi Smith, DVM P.O.Box 103, Tendoy, ID83468-0103 Phone: 208-756-6060