Equine Reproductive Management
Babies require lots of TLC!
When God created the horse,
he said to the magnificent creature:
I have made thee as no other.
All the treasures of the earth shall lie between thy eyes.
~ The Koran
Equine Reproductive Management Program (ERM)
The Issue: Falsely inflated horse prices over the last decade has resulted in “backyard” breeders who breed indiscriminately in hopes of making huge profits, or of somehow breeding that perfect horse. In fact, most of these breeders lack the knowledge and/or the funds to sustain an operation of this kind. The result is that many colts who should be gelded are left intact; cost being one of the main reasons, but also procrastination and lack of knowledge are a problem. Often people don’t realize that even a yearling colt can breed a mare - until he breaks down the fences and sires yet another unwanted foal. Once the young colt shows signs of developing hormones they are often kept completely segregated from other horses, and stalled for most of their lives. The life of a stallion is often lonely and unhappy, and they can become bad tempered and dangerous.
Conversely, the life of a brood mare is often not a good one either. Young fillies are being left untended for years, until someone decides to breed them (many because they are unmanageable to handle). These mares are consistently neglected, their farrier and dental needs not taken care of, and their nutritional needs often not met. When the time comes to sell these horses they have little or no value beyond meat as they are not trained for any use. These mares are often shipped to auction and subsequently to the meat plants. The cost of spaying is approximately 3 – 4 times higher than gelding and is rarely done.
Our Solution: We plan to raise public awareness of the problem through media and tradeshow exposure. In addition we will be establishing a fund to help people with the costs involved with gelding colts. Since the cost of spaying is so high, we propose an alternative procedure, MRM (Mares Reproductive Management). A sterile marble can be inserted into the ovaries of a mare which will prevent the mare’s oestrus, preventing her from being covered. Should she become pregnant anyways (the procedure is only 41% effective) the marble will cause her to miscarry in the first days.
Benefits: This program will seriously reduce the birth of unwanted horses into an already overpopulated community. Additionally, the future of a gelding or a mare is much brighter as they are more likely to be used and are generally more able to find suitable homes, rather than being randomly bred and put out to pasture.
