AI Question

[Chilli's Mum]

Since buying my first mini I have spent a lot of time looking at different websites and gathering information and particularly, looking at studs all over the world and the different types of ponies being bred.

I have been surprised that none of the sites I have visited so far mention AI as an option. So I searched the Australian mini horse association site and found no mention of it either, although DNA testing seems to be very common.

I guess coming from a background in owning and breeding warmbloods I expected that AI would be just as common in mini breeding. It appears that is not the case and I was curious as to why. I have read a little about dwarfism and I would assume that increasing the gene pool would be a good thing (and this is kind of what AI enables since small populations can still access a range of bloodlines).

I'm just curious as to why, as I'm not planning on breeding my little princess in any case.

 

[*minis*]

Artificial insemination of miniature mares is to my knowledge very difficult. Plus, I think I have heard that research proofs that AI in miniature horses doesn't work as well as in warmbloods, there seems to be some sort of fertility problem.

There have been some threads about AI before with links and more information, you might want to have a look at them:

http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php?showtopic=50618

http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php?showtopic=86340

http://www.miniaturehorsetalk.com/index.php?showtopic=66165

 

[Joanne]

It was only a few years ago that AI was accepted for miniature horses by the AMHA. Before that live cover was the only acceptable "legal" option. Thoroughbreds and miniatures were that last two registries that did not allow it. Now we are down to just the race horses.

Olympian farm is heading the AI research in the United States and it has been done on other farms as well. Shipped semen for all the registries has been a problem. This is not commonly done in miniatures yet.

 

[kaykay]

my neighbor runs a foaling farm and has done AI on many many miniatures. He says it is just as effective as big horses as long as the vet on the mare end knows what they are doing. You do have to sign up and pay a fee with both registries to be able to do AI so I think the main thing is the cost that is keeping miniature farms from doing more of it

 

[Karin - NaKar Miniatures]

The problem seems to be in shipping the semen. In the past, I AI'd a lot of my own mares. Now just the ones whose cervix may be very tight so as to not allow the semen to get where it needs to be. The stallion is here on the premises. Semen is collected and within minutes inserted into the mare. I had very good results with getting the mare in foal when doing AI this way.

 

[Chilli's Mum]

Okay, thanks everyone and I will check out those links. I guess having bred warmbloods I am used to the cost involved but I have found that in most cases, with my good mums, the cost can work out cheaper than sending them interstate and having to pay shipping, agistment etc... Plus I then had access to stallions overseas of course. Live cover is actually quite hard to come by now in Australia as a lot of stallions are competition horses and the owners (quite understandably) don't want to risk their stallion.

I am curious as to why there might be fertility problems though. Perhaps (and I add this with no science to back it up) because only a small number of mares have been tried, the statistics don't look good but with broader use, the pregnancy rate would end up the same as with bigger horses. Mares are funny creatures and very individual - I have one mare who will not show to a stallion and cannot be live covered but gets in foal with chilled or frozen by AI first time every time. My other young mare has missed every time with AI but gets in foal first go with live cover.

Go figure!