help!!

Question
i am going to cover my Welsh D mare (she is turning 4 this year) in the spring time, just now she is about 14hh-14.2 but she is in the middle of a growth spurt and is way up behind (front end got some catching up to do!)
what i want to breed is a sports horse/small hunter type and am looking at warmblood stallions approx 16hh in height
would a 16hh stallion be too big for her, the ones we are looking at are all by AI so that is the next question is chilled or frozen semen best?
thanks

Answer
Hi Caroline,

Since you would be breeding by AI, the size isn't going to matter too much.  A mare will not carry a foal that is too big for her to deliver.  But that doesn't mean that complications during foaling cannot occur. The thing you need to concentrate on the most, is choosing a stallion will complement your mare.

As for chilled or frozen semen, which is the best, a lot of that depends on the stallion's semen quality and what his conception rate has been with either chilled or frozen.  Chilled is generally better than frozen, as you can expect some of the semen to die off during the freezing process.  So, the stallion's semen quality is definitely of importance when using frozen.

A word of caution, when using AI, it generally is more difficult to get a mare settled.  And where this will be your mare's first attempt, you should be aware that it may take more than one heat cycle to get her pregnant.  So just make sure that you fully check into the stallion owner's policy on the amount of collections and shipping their stud fee includes.  Most stallion owner's who offer shipped semen, will include one collection and shipment for the stud fee.  So, you could end up paying more for a second collection/shipment.

Best of luck,
Sandy