Horse Breeding
Horse Breeding
By: Halle Lucas
“Breaking babies” would sound strange to the average person, but not to someone in the horse breeding business. Working on a horse farm can be pretty tough but if you really have a passion for what you do you will go far. The occupation of horse breeding is the reproduction of domesticated horses, used to obtain specific characteristics of the breed desired, and is more recently known for multiple strategies in safety with technology while breeding.
There are multiple educational steps that one could take to get into the horse breeding business such as; personal experience, (practical hands on learning) volunteering at a horse barn, internships, shadowing, career centers and technical institutions, researching, visiting universities, and attending clubs and camps.
There are two ways to breed a horse, naturally and artificially. The natural way is when you introduce a stud horse to the mare and they proceed in having intercourse. The artificial way is extracting the semen from a stud horse and inseminating the mare by hand. Artificial breeding is much more safe and effective then natural for both humans and horses involved in the procedure.
Although it may seem like it horse breeding is not all about cute baby horses and having fun. There is a lot of work that goes into having your own breeding farm. There needs to be organization, rules, and you need to have a budget. However the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. In order to successfully foal a mare is to make sure the mare is in heat, then tease her with a stud. After that inseminate the mare and give her pre-foaling shots. Then, give the horse proper care and attention throughout her pregnancy and she should give birth to a healthy baby within 300-340 days. Now the difficult part is that you need to make sure the mare and foal are going to be okay during, and after birth; the foal needs to stand up and take its first steps as soon as possible after
By: Halle Lucas
“Breaking babies” would sound strange to the average person, but not to someone in the horse breeding business. Working on a horse farm can be pretty tough but if you really have a passion for what you do you will go far. The occupation of horse breeding is the reproduction of domesticated horses, used to obtain specific characteristics of the breed desired, and is more recently known for multiple strategies in safety with technology while breeding.
There are multiple educational steps that one could take to get into the horse breeding business such as; personal experience, (practical hands on learning) volunteering at a horse barn, internships, shadowing, career centers and technical institutions, researching, visiting universities, and attending clubs and camps.
There are two ways to breed a horse, naturally and artificially. The natural way is when you introduce a stud horse to the mare and they proceed in having intercourse. The artificial way is extracting the semen from a stud horse and inseminating the mare by hand. Artificial breeding is much more safe and effective then natural for both humans and horses involved in the procedure.
Although it may seem like it horse breeding is not all about cute baby horses and having fun. There is a lot of work that goes into having your own breeding farm. There needs to be organization, rules, and you need to have a budget. However the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. In order to successfully foal a mare is to make sure the mare is in heat, then tease her with a stud. After that inseminate the mare and give her pre-foaling shots. Then, give the horse proper care and attention throughout her pregnancy and she should give birth to a healthy baby within 300-340 days. Now the difficult part is that you need to make sure the mare and foal are going to be okay during, and after birth; the foal needs to stand up and take its first steps as soon as possible after
Citations: “Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia”. Horse breed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 6 Sep. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. “Horses and horse training, care, tack, and supply info”. Horse Breeding, Foal Care and Mare Pregnancy Information. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. . Deborah Lucas MSc.Eq.S.,CBiol., R.Nutr. - Consultant Nutritionist to HorseHage, "Why Feed Chaff to Horses?", . “Imprinting and Working With Foals”. Northern Foundation Farms. . .