1969 Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1969 January Voice RS | Page 40

ditions is a must. Some mares get married to other mares while in the pasture and of course must be sep­ arated when teased. More Little Things Another thing I think is important: do not take the mare away from the stallion when you are through serv­ ing her, take the horse away from the mare. Under most circumstan­ ces, I don’t believe in using a teaser for many reasons. If a stallion is handled regularly, he will soon learn the routine and will not get upset if he is not bred after teasing. I believe that using a teaser is one of the greatest causes of low conception due to poor quality semen coming from a stallion that was bred too quickly. Some people make the mis­ take of using teasers and getting the mare all ready, washing her, etc.; of course, while this is going on the breeding stallion doesn’t know all this and in many cases when he is brought out to serve the mare he is not ready. One of the most im­ portant things at this time to watch for in a stallion is to be sure that he is ready. It generally takes about ten or fifteen minutes to really get a stallion ready at which time sem­ inal fluids should be very evident. When using your stallion to tease t mares, teach him the difference be­ tween the days he is going to serve a mare and when he isn’t. After teasing, if a mare is to be bred, I tie the horse up while getting the mare ready to breed. In this manner the horse, even while tied up, is ac­ tually in the process of getting ready to breed. If no mares are to be bred, I turn the horse loose inhispaddock. In this way he learns that the only time to worry is when he is tied up after teasing which always means he is going to be used. By turning the horse loose in his paddock after teas­ ing this always means that he is not going to be used. Teasing Now, for teasing procedure and heat signs. Be quiet with the mares and don’t let the horse rush them, especially fillies. I only serve a filly once during her first heat as I think she is very easy to infect at this time. This is the reason that it may be valuable to check with your vet on the hymen thing we talked about a few paragraphs back. There are many signs which a mare will show during the heat cycle. However, there are four or five signs that I like to look for when I decide she is on the money or standing in heat. They are, in the order of their importance: (1) The eyes of the mare must be very docile and placid; (2) Ears must be forward and slow moving; (3 )The tall must be absolutely still and raised; (4) She must turn around and back into the horse and completely empty out. I don’t believe in teasing a mare from the side or rear of a teasing chute. You can tell more if you will start at the front. The urine will be very milky in color, vulva relaxed and neck flat, not arched. After see­ ing mares bred and settled on the range, you will probably, like I have, give up the notions about throwing water on a mare, walking her, stop­ ping her from straining, etc., after being served. After teasing a mare and deciding she is ready to breed, I like to get her covered as soon as possible instead of waiting for her to go out or nearly out. When getting a mare ready to breed, weholdherfoal as close to her head as possible. We bandage her tail, hobble her and wash her with plain water and a new piece of cotton. Never use a sponge on this operation. If we are manually examining mares to see the condi­ tion of the cervix, we would rather do this by hand than with a specu­ lum. By hand no air gets in and with a speculum we sometimes get quite a bit of air. This could be somewhat infectious. A mare is never ready for service until the cervix is fully re­ laxed. It is a real good thing for the breeder to know how to tell when the Aft f it TV 7 „ 11 _ J--- TJf__ _