I have 24+ years experience live covering mares. The safety of your mare/foal and my stallion are very important to me.  I hand tease daily over a tall pipe fence. I allow them to tease on their time and get accustomed to Gunner talking to them.  I skip the first day of heat and breed the next and then continue to cover the mare every other day until she shows no sign of heat. On average, a mare will be covered 3 to 4 times.  Mares with foals at side will be teased together to ease the stress of the mare and lessen the chance of her not showing signs of estrus from worrying about her foal.  On the day the mare is ready to be bred, and after thoroughly teasing, foal is placed in a foal pen directly in front of where the mare will be bred. This eliminates any risk of the foal getting stepped on or kicked and keeps the mare calm. 

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If you stand your own stallion and plan to tease and bring the mare when she comes in heat, keep in mind that this is a new place with a lot of things going on and a new stallion. Please bring her just as soon as she shows interest in your stallion.  Some mares, especially those with foals at side, are nervous and take longer to settle in. If she is brought within a day of ovulation, but is too nervous to tease, she could be missed. A couple extra days of mare care will save money in the long run.

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Smylie Vet Clinic does an excellent job ultra-sounding mares for us. We can haul mares in a stock trailer the 45 minutes to be preg checked. The mare and her foal are in a compartment of the trailer alone.  Charge to the mare owner is $50.00 due when the mare is picked up. 

 

  I have individual outside pens for mares, roughly 12 x 20. Behind a windbreak for protection. They are offered free choice brome grass or alfalfa hay, a Redmonds salt block and fresh water. I am happy to offer grain if provided. Pens are cleaned every other day and before new arrivals.