When it comes to horse breeding, rarely is the process for creating new life a matter of "letting nature take its course". The mating of two horses is a highly involved, not to mention costly, process that has been carefully negotiated and controlled for. Contracts and clauses, such as a guarantee of a "live foal" by the stallion service to ensure that the procedure is legally sound and both parties receive their due.
Talk about taking the romance out of a relationship.
How a foal is conceived
The first step to conceiving a foal is arranging for the conception to take place. Stallion services charge breeders a stud fee to allow a particular stallion to breed with the brood mare. Stud fees are determined by the pedigree and performance of the animal - horses that have a good show or race history will fetch a handsome price and will receive many breeding opportunities. Meanwhile, a mare is often lauded for her ability to "receive a stallion" and successfully produce a foal.
Once the stud fee has been paid and the match has been finalised - the process of conceiving the foal can begin. Forget wining and dining and setting the mood - conception is all business. Most foals are conceived by "Live Cover" where a mare is brought to a stallion's stable to be bred. A "teaser" stallion is brought in to try and gauge the mare's readiness to mate. Once the mare is determined to be in heat, the real stallion is brought in to mate with the female. A number of handlers is usually necessary to supervise the process as it occurs as the act of mating can often result in injury, for example when a mare refuses to accept her mate and kicks the prized stallion instead.
Alternatively, mares can be impregnated via artificial insemination where stallion's sperm is collected and transported to the breeder. Different registries have varying rules on recognising horses that are conceived using this process - this prevents claims of a young racehorse being sired by the frozen semen of Phar Lap.
Foaling and Birthing
Once the coupling occurs, a veterinarian is brought in to confirm conception has taken place. The mare is then taken back to her stable for the pregnancy. The gestation period of a foal can be around 335 to 340 days, just shy of a year.
About 2 to 6 weeks before labour, the mare begins foaling which includes the actual delivery of the newborn. Full udders develop on the mare's body and she begins to produce milk in preparation for nursing. Once the mare goes into labour, the birthing of the foal, including the expulsion of the placenta could take around 8 hours. An owner may often be more excited about the birthing than the horse.
Of course, once a foal is born - the actual hard work begins! Young horses need to be broken and trained to be ridden. Many breeders will look to sell a horse that comes from a notable pedigree - hoping to earn a good return on the stud fee and boarding costs of breeding the mare. So while not quite a celebration of the "miracle of birth" - the birth of a foal is certainly nothing short of a miraculously complex process.
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