Word of mouth is a great way to find an equine
reproduction specialist, as is the internet. The Soci- ety for Theriogenology has a searchable database at
www.therio.org where individuals may search for vet- erinarians based on several criteria, including loca- tion. This can make it easier to find veterinarians who are board certified in theriogenology.
Growing Popularity Carol Austin has been brokering semen since 1999. She says her business grows every year and estimates it has doubled in the last five years. She notes that some people like to breed maiden mares with fresh semen for their first foal before switching to frozen for subse- quent foals, and some people will switch to fresh semen if they’re having a season where they’re not getting a pregnancy from frozen. Nonetheless, she says, in her ex- perience the overall popularity of frozen semen contin- ues to grow. Carol adds that not only is the popularity of frozen semen increasing, but the market is expanding as well. “Dressage breeders have always been the majority of my business and I still sell the most frozen semen to dressage breeders,” she says. “But there’s been more interest in the
last few years from jumper breeders, and in the last three to four years I’ve been beefing up the roster of eventing stallions too.” She’s also seen an increased interest in fro- zen semen from breeds like Friesians, and she’s added Dutch Harness Horse stallions to her line up after getting interest from a most unlikely source—the Amish! As the use of frozen semen grows in popularity,
there are also more North American stallion owners opting to offer frozen semen from their stallions. Jos Mottershead of
Equine-Reproduction.com LLC reports that he’s seen a definite increase in the number of U.S. and Canadian stallion owners having their stallions’ semen frozen. Although it remains unlikely that frozen semen will
ever replace the market for fresh shipped semen, fro- zen semen will likely continue to increase in popularity as more veterinarians and mare owners become com- fortable with it. While science will provide advances in insemination protocols to make the process easier and more affordable, we can expect the “fear of frozen” to continue to lessen over time. As that happens, mare owners will find themselves with more and more op- tions—which can only be a good thing as we work to improve our domestic breeding.
Totilas Foals, Made Possible with Frozen Semen
In 2010 Scot Tolman of Shooting Star Farm was among the first breeders in North Amer- ica to buy frozen semen from the world champion and famous stallion Totilas. “The stud fee was about $8,000 and there was no live foal guarantee,” he recalls. “My hands were shaking when I paid that stud fee.” Scot was no stranger to frozen semen however, having been breeding with frozen semen since the mid-1990s. By 2010 Scot already had his own ultrasound machine and was palpating, ultrasounding and inseminating his own mares. When it came time to breed his Keur mare Orchis (Jazz / Roemer / Eros) to Totilas, he handled all of the palpa- tions and ultrasounds himself and also inseminated her with the valuable frozen semen himself. And then he held his breath. “There is no recourse if you receive bad semen when there’s no live foal guarantee, and there weren’t any Totilas pregnancies in North America at that time,” he recounts. In 2011 Galearites SSF was born—the first Totilas foal born in North America. “She was
Galearites SSF (Totilas / Jazz / Roemer) at her keuring in 2014.
super, everything I wanted,” he says. In 2014 she was the fourth highest ranked dressage mare for the KWPN’s 2014 keuring tour. She’s currently in training and Scot says the plan for her for now is to focus on sport. He also has a full sister who is one year younger who will become part of his broodmare band. Scot uses both fresh and frozen semen in his breeding program. “We’re expecting eight foals this year—three
are from frozen semen and five are from fresh,” he says. “I love the convenience of frozen semen, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best choice for everyone. The vet expenses are much higher, it’s more expensive to ship, and there’s no central place to get reliable statistics on frozen semen, so I wouldn’t buy any without a live foal guarantee unless it was proven.” As for Galearites, Scot believes that she’s a really super mare. As a rising four-year-old she’s still young, but with
a very bright future! Warmbloods Today 77
JPD Equine Enterprises
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