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
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