What is the recommended protocol for breeding with frozen semen?
A. It is recommended that the mare be checked every 6 hours approaching ovulation. When ovulation is determined to be immanent the AI technician may want to reduce check time to every 4 hours. The mare should be inseminated with a breeding dose within 6 hours pre-ovulation and/or within 4 hours post-ovulation. If breeding with one breeding dose per cycle, the mare should be bred within 4 hours post ovulation. Q. How many straws do I get? A. A sample from every collection is test thawed. The progressively motile sperm of the test thaw determines a breeding dose. Breeding doses consist of aprox 300 million progressively motile sperm based on post thaw data at time of freezing. The number of straws per breeding dose may vary slightly from collection to collection but average 4-6 straws per breeding dose. It is important to always use the number of straws included in a breeding dose for the best chances of a successful pregnancy. As tempting as it may be to try and expand the use of frozen
