Live cover how often

Question
Hi Sandy,

How often do you recommend allowing a stallion to cover a mare? is there a standard proceedure such as every other day? or are there determining factors, what are they and why?

thanks,
Claudette

Answer
Hi Claudette,

The recommended procedure is to cover the mare every other day and the reason for that is that the semen will live inside the mare for 48 hours.  So by covering her every other day, you are insuring that there will be live semen inside the mare when she ovulates.  You want the semen to be present just prior to ovulation.  A lot of folks won't start covering the mare until about her 3rd day of heat, but I generally start on their second day and keep covering every other day until she no longer accepts the stud.

Hope that helps.