16/ FEBRUARY 2024 THE RIDER VISIT OUR WEBSITE


www.orha.on.ca


Ontario Reining Horse Association


President, Banquet Dan Fletcher president@orha.on.ca


1st Vice-President Rules & Disciplinary John Purdie


2nd Vice-President/ Treasurer Terri Purdie, finance@orha.on.ca


Past President Gary Yaghdjian


Elected Director - Secretary


Joanne Milton


Elected Director - Futurity Programs Leona McAtee orhafuturity@orha.on.ca / ob- bofuturity1991@gmail.com


Appointed Director - ORHA Futurity Programs Tracy Nelson nelsontracy@gmail.com


Appointed Directors - Professional Committee/ Sponsorships Loris Epis


Elected Director - Memberships


Samantha Speed - memberships@orha.on.ca


Appointed Director - Youth Advisor


Rebecca Nelles - oryha@orha.on.ca


Appointed Director - Media/Marketing


Alyssa VanKleek - socialmedia@orha.on.ca


Appointed Director - Print Media/Show Support


Ashley Janzen - ashleyjjanzen@gmail.com


Elected Director – Shows Mike Munroe, shows@orha.on.ca


How Much Is That Doggie Foal In The Window On The Ground?


By Ashley Janzen It’s foaling season! The next few months will


bring numerous birth announcements of beautiful babies! And you’ll look…and maybe one will catch your eye, and you’ll inquire as to whether it’s for sale…you’ll ask the price, and then… STICKER SHOCK. So then you think: maybe I’ll breed my mare


and make my own… There are so many consider- ations when deciding whether to breed a horse or not: health, conformation, performance, lineage, etcetera - but this article is not about those factors. Here, we look at 2 small breeders’ recent breeding experiences, and do the math on what it could cost to get a healthy, well-bred foal on the ground.


Similarities: Both small breeders already owned the mares they decided to breed, both mares were maidens of a similar age (7 and 9). Both owners have some previous experience with breeding - but limited - and are certainly not running breeding programs. Both had their vets perform uterine cul- tures and ultrasounds to make sure the mares were clean and ready to breed before attempting the first insemination, as well as ultrasounds to confirm pregnancy afterwards. They both chose to use cooled, shipped semen for the artificial insemina- tion of their mares. Both breeders vaccinated their mares to guard against virus-induced abortion at appropriate times while pregnant. Both plan to nominate the resulting foals into NRHA and regis- ter them with AQHA, and these costs have been factored into the totals, as have been the estimated costs of routine veterinary care after healthy, un- eventful births (- neither have foaled at the time of this submission for publication). What has not been included in the calculations is each person’s regular costs for feeding and caring for the mares, as they’d be paying those either way. Now here are the differences in their experi-


ences, and how they added up…


BREEDER A chose to breed her mare to a Cana- dian reining-bred stud who previously qualified for the Run For A Million, standing in Alberta with a stud fee of $1600. Him being in Canada allowed for domestic shipping of cooled semen to Ontario, which reduced costs and time. She was able to keep her mare at her home farm, and reported only a very small increase to the normal cost of feeding her (~$60). Her vet attended her farm to complete all work. She had a very easy, textbook breeding experience: her mare checked clean on uterine cul- ture, was ovulating nice and early in the season, had a good sized follicle when checked, and caught on the first attempt! Her progesterone levels were good, and she did not require regumate to maintain them. She experienced no illness or other issues during the course of her pregnancy, and - assuming all goes well between now and her late-January to early-February due date - her total breeding-related costs will be approximately $4400. A seemingly simple and straightforward experience, and a steal if that baby comes out how she hopes!


In comparison…


BREEDER B, chose to breed her mare to a fairly big-name stud, standing at a leading Stallion Sta-


tion in Texas, whose fee was $4481 (an odd num- ber because this is the CDN conversion). She sent her mare to a breeding farm in Michigan, which did incur extra costs for Coggins, International Health Certificate, CFIA approval, Federal vet in- spection, and fuel to get her there (she hauled the mare herself with her own truck and trailer). But this choice also meant shipping would be within the USA (making shipping costs and time compa- rable to those of Breeder A in Canada), the process would be managed by experienced breeding pro- fessionals, there would be a vet on-site almost daily due to the number of mares in for breeding and foaling, with meant shared call-fees when the vet was needed.


These factors should have resulted in lower


costs - and they would have, if everything had gone according to plan, but…the mare did not catch the first time - or the second, or the third. Her follicles looked great, she was ovulating on time, the semen was perfect…disappointment, confusion, and frus- tration ensued. For lack of any better ideas, the breeding


manager suggested doing another uterine culture. Although her culture had come back clean before starting the process, this time, it was positive for bacteria in the uterus. This isn’t a huge deal, but did require a round of antibiotics, and caused her next cycle to be missed while the infection was treated. Time is money! And at a rate of approxi- mately $18/day more than what it cost to care for the mare at home, that added up quickly. Extra shipments and chute fees for repeat tries are also money. The fourth time was a charm, though, and the mare caught the first time she was bred after clearing the infection that had probably been the problem all along. YAY! But…while waiting the appropriate length of


time for ultrasound to confirm a heartbeat, a Stran- gles outbreak hit the breeding farm! Breeder B’s mare had only a mild infection that the vet assured her would not put the pregnancy at risk or nega- tively impact the foal - phew! - buuut, she became a carrier, which basically means that while she no longer had any symptoms, she continued to test positive for the virus, which meant she had to be quarantined where she was, and could not return home to Canada. It took 3 rounds of treatment in- cluding guttural pouch flushing to clear the infec- tion


- CHA-CHING, CHA-CHING -


CHA-CHING! The mare was boarded at the breed- ing farm for a total of 6 months before her owner was able to bring her home - luckily, just in time before her health papers expired, or that would have been another expense! Her progesterone levels were low, so she


needed to be kept on Regumate to manage them for a while. She could have been re-tested and likely weaned off the Regumate at a later date, but in consultation with the vet, Breeder B decided it was worthwhile to keep the mama-to-be on it “until they see a foot” (as in, the foal is being born) to protect the investment in getting to this point. After all of the stress surrounding getting this mare healthy and safely in-foal, her owner was under- standably nervous, so had 3 extra ultrasounds done, just to be sure that baby was still in there! But it was, and all went well for the remainder of her pregnancy. Again assuming all goes well between


now and her mid-March-early April due date (- I am too superstitious to not include the crossed fin- gers!), her total breeding-related costs will be…ap- proximately $18 000. Yikes! Puts the prices of finished reiners into perspective now, doesn’t it? These are just 2 small breeders’ experiences.


Larger breeder’s have the benefit of the numbers game (a few successes may offset a few losses), but also have significantly higher investment. ICSI and Embryo Transfer are options available to all breeders that offer some advantages, but also incur higher costs. There are risks to the mares, and other finan-


cial factors like loss of use for parts of their gesta- tion and after birth while they care for their babies. While Breeder B’s experience seems tough com- pared that that of Breeder A, there are many who try and try (and spend and spend) - often for years - and never succeed in getting their mares pregnant, or to carry a foal to term. That heartbreak is some- thing you can’t put a price on. I’ve never heard the expression “not for the faint of heart” used as fre- quently as I have when talking to people about breeding horses. The goal of this article is not to discourage


anyone from breeding! It can be a wonderful and exciting experience, very rewarding, and some- times quite profitable. But there are a lot of vari- ables and risks that someone who has successfully bred their horse has undertaken to get that foal on the ground - all of which must be factored into their sale price. So if you’re looking to buy…prepare yourself to avoid the sticker shock ;) Go hug your horse, or hug a breeder - they probably need it!


Mary Dancey Clarke Memorial Class It is with great sorrow that we share the


passing of Mary Dancey Clarke. Newer members may not have had the pleasure of knowing her, but those who have been around will tell you: no mat- ter who you were, you could count on a “woot woot” from Mary while you showed. Her bright personality could only be matched by the bright pops of colours she’d rock in her hair. She had a contagious smile that would spread like wildfire. She loved Freestyle Reining, and one of her most memorable rides was her “Flight of the Bumble- bee.”


Before she passed, Mary named the ORHA


as an organization to make donations to in lieu of flowers. To honour our bright Bumblebee, we are pleased to spread the buzz about the Mary Dancey Clark Memorial Rookie Class, with all donations as money added, to take place at the ORHA Spring Fling show in May.


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