First, checking a mare on a Friday evening is pretty pointless if you are planning on breeding with transported semen. Your vet should know better than that. If your mare had been checked EARLY on Friday a.m., you probably could have ordered semen for a Saturday delivery and been fine. Not sure why your vet gave her hCG. More expense for a non-breeding cycle.

With regards to short cycling her, she needs to have a fully formed CLfor Estrumate to work. So, if you check her on Monday and she has ovulated, Friday "may" be a bit too soon to try and short cycle her. Also, you need to consider when she will come back into season and by short cycling her on a Friday, you are setting yourself up for needing semen over a weekend again. On average, mares return to estrus three to five days after receiving prostaglandin (Prostin, Lutalyse, Estrumate) and ovulation occurs, on average 7 to 10 days after receiving the shot. 9.5 days is the average day of ovulation after the shot. With that said, I would be inclined to give the mare the shot on Tuesday, anticipating that she will return to heat 3 to 5 days later (Friday, Saturday or Sunday) and you'll be ready to order semen early the following week. Keep teh stallion owner informed, have the mare checked EARLY on Monday morning. At that point, you can determine whether or not she is ready to breed and take it from there. Good luck!

There is no specific "size" that you order semen at. Anything over a 35 mm follicle is considered a "breedable" follicle. However, I've had mares that will ovulate on a smaller follicle - unusual, but it does happen - and I've certainly had mares that have built follicles over 50. Consider that a follicle grows, on average, 3 to 5 mm a day, it can give you an idea of just how long it can take for some mares to be "ready" to breed. It's not just about the size...it's about how soft the follicle is, is the mare teasing, how much uterine edema there is and how open the cervix is. All of those things contribute to determining optimum time to breed. When you get the semen, if you have timed things appropriately, you breed immediately upon receipt of the semen. You can give an ovulation stimulant such as Deslorelin or hCG, you can figure that the mare will ovulate approximately 24 to 48 hours after receiving either. Some opt to give it when they order the semen, others opt to give it when they have teh semen in their hot little hands. I'm in the latter group, my hubby is in the former. Personal preference.

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine-Reproduction.com, LLC
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

I've posted on my page before to reply, but on a different forum, I did it like 5 times, lol.

I have a 90' Mustang http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...ageID=24511218

yes, I'm alive, lol

I might be going to a Rodeo this weekend, but IDK.

LOL! Thanks for the support and I will remember you if I need to talk

Yeah...using different phraseology would probably be a good idea <smile>. Good luck...

Kathy

It would be virtually impossible for me to make any kind of an educated guess as to what your mare is doing off of what you told me I would question putting semen in twice in less than a 24 hour period, as noted in my other posts on the board. And without knowing follicular size, how many follicles your mare had, etc., there would be no way for me to even speculate what is going on with your gal. Sorry. Wish I could be of more assistance. Good luck!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine-Reproduction.com, LLC
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

Ok love ya mom.

Yea grad in may.

It all went great mom, I ship June 9 next year. I go to Missour