How soon can a broodmare be covered after foaling?

Answer 1

About 10 days after foaling, a mare will have a "foal heat". Although this is not a perfect time (because of decreased fertility and increased risk of early embryonic death) - this is the first time after foaling that a mare can be covered.

Answer 2

Wait until she is in her foal heat. During pregnancy, the mare's ovaries are inactive, so when she has her foal, they are ready to ovulate again quite soon, generally in about half the time of a normal heat cycle.

In horses, this means that generally their foal heat occurs approximately one week or a little more after having her foal, depending on the mare and time of year.

Sometimes, although a mare is physically in heat, she is not psychologically and does not accept the advances of a stallion. This is generally thought to be because her maternal instincts are so strong, and her want to protect her newborn foal from the charging, screaming stallion is far greater than her desire to breed.

Do not breed on the foal heat if your mare had a difficult pregnancy or if she held the placenta for more than four hours after delivering the foal. Also if you are using cooled semen or if you have to ship the mare and foal a long way to get to the stallion, it's probably a better idea to wait two weeks after foal heat until the next heat, when she will be much more fertile and receptive.

Answer 3

Horses are not covered naturally. Wild horses never get covered. Horses really do not want to be covered and really have very little business being covered.