• Semen has very precise storage requirements to preserve sperm viability and as a result is relatively expensive.

Multiple doses

• More than one “dose” of semen is usually shipped, to cover multiple inseminations – often three.

Semen Storage

• Once your mare is pregnant, any remaining semen doses may be stored at our facilities until required at a later date. The charges for this service are modest, a quarterly fee paid in advance.
• Semen is stored in a liquid nitrogen canister at –196 degrees. At this temperature the sperm cells will not degrade and the semen can remain in the storage vessel indefinitely. 

Agistment

• To enable us to give your mare every chance to conceive, it is important that she is monitored closely on a regular basis. For this to happen, it is important that the mares are agisted at the clinic around the time of their heat cycle. We will discuss this with you on an individual mare basis. We may be able to inject the mare to bring her into heat (and therefore admit her to Hospital) at a predictable time.
• Agistment is offered at reasonable rates and, with careful management, minimal length of stay is possible.

Post-insemination evaluations

Ultrasonographic examination is then performed 11 to 15 days after breeding, to determine if the mare is pregnant and to ensure that, if twins are present, they can be reduced to a single pregnancy at this optimal time. Twins can occur in approximately 10% of mare pregnancies but are rarely naturally carried to term. If a twin pregnancy cannot be diagnosed and dealt with at 14 – 15 days, a successful A.I. result may be jeopardised.

A final, 45 day pregnancy test can then be done at the Hospital site.