ULTRASOUND Boot Camp


By Ann Daum Kustar “THIS IS BOOT CAMP FOR


ULTRASOUNDING MARES,” DR. KUBIAK ANNOUNCED to the three of us rookies the night before. There’s Chuck, who breeds Clydesdales, Jean, with Tennessee Walkers, and myself, Ann, a Warmblood breeder from South Dakota. Now it’s the next morning, and there’s no denying we’re


nervous. Three mare owners in our tenth-best clothes, contemplating the shiny rear end of the black Percheron mare standing in the stock.


We’ve all traveled to Ramona, California, to Dr.


Jim Kubiak’s Breeder’s Assistant short course to learn to ultrasound mares. We’ve watched hundreds of ultrasounds between us and asked a few thousand questions of our veterinarians. Most of us have inseminated our own mares and assisted with multiple foalings. So it’s not like we’re strangers to this end of a mare. But the actual act of ultrasounding has always been off-limits, not just due to the cost of the machine itself, but also due to the lack of any training-course for non-veterinarians. Dr. Kubiak’s short courses are one of the only options for a lay-person to learn the art and science of ultrasounding. And now that equine-specific ultrasound machines are available new for around $5,000, the time seemed right to make the leap. Laws in many states consider diagnostic ultrasound a


veterinary procedure, even though human ultrasounds may be performed by a technician rather than a doctor, and even though repro specialists with a masters degree, or simply breeding farm managers, may have countless more hours of experience with their arm inside a mare than the local veterinarian. But regardless, the law doesn’t regulate lay-persons ultrasounding their own mares, so that’s what our small group was here to learn.


WHY ULTRASOUND MYSELF As a graduate of Colorado State University’s Equine Science program, I learned to inseminate mares and palpate cattle but never ultrasound a mare. Most universities allow only their vet students or master’s


48 November/December 2010


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