Do you want to breed your mare this September?

Horses are often stabled under lights during winter to reduce the development of a thick winter coat. But did you know that light can also be used to advance the perceived timing of Spring and the start of reproductive activity?

Horses are what we term “long-day breeders” which means that their reproductive cycle is linked to the amount of daylight hours they are exposed to. Thus, as day length increases in Spring, so too does reproductive activity. Decreasing day length has the opposite effect whereby reproductive activity shuts down.

Historically the horse’s birthday has been designated as the 1st of August each year. Because of this people often want to breed their mares as close to 1st September as possible. However, these dates do not correlate well with the physiological changes occurring in our breeding mares. Unfortunately, many mares are not yet cycling by the 1st September as the daylight hours at this time of year are still quite short. This can be a frustrating problem for those horse breeders who want early born foals.

To solve this problem light therapy has traditionally been used to bring the mares reproductive cycle forward. Putting mares “under lights” has been used for many years to advance the onset of reproductive activity. Mares are put into stables or yards where lights are left on until 11pm each night. To ensure that mares are cycling by 1st September mares must go under lights on the 30th of June.

In recent years blue light masks (Equilume Masks) have become popular. It has been found that exposure to blue light has the same effect as exposure to sunlight. These masks shine blue light into one of the horse’s eyes and have an inbuilt timer which switches the light off at 11pm. Mares can stay in the paddock. This saves on expenses such as electricity, bedding and labour involved with having mares under lights. To ensure mares are cycling by the 1st September your Equilume masks must go on by the 15th of June.

If you have plans to breed your broodmare in September this coming breeding season please ring Ovens Valley Equine clinic on 03 5725 1464 for further information on light therapy or to order your Equilume blue light masks.

For those wanting to go ahead with a September breed, we are debuting our new Early Bird Embryo Transfer Program! We will now be offering Recipient Mares for Embryo Transfer to clients who reserve a spot now! Spaces are limited so please contact us as soon as possible to hold your spot. Please call us in the office at 03 5725 1464 to learn more about this program!