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How you breed a horse varies somewhat by the breed's regulations and your location.

Some breeds, like the Thoroughbred are only allowed to do 'live cover'. This means you must breed a live mare to a live stallion and it must be witnessed by more than one person.

Live cover can have a few variations:

1. Breeding shed type live cover: Most common in Thoroughbreds, this is where the breeding process is highly coordinated and controlled by the handlers. The stallion will be lead to a mare and allowed to inspect her before mounting and breeding. The mare will have kicking boots and possibly breeding hobbles to keep her from kicking.


2. Field cover: Where a stallion and either one or more mares are turned loose and allowed to breed freely for a certain period of time. This method is the most natural, but potentially dangerous if the mare kicks out and breaks one of the stallions legs.


Artificial insemination (AI) is where a stallion is taught to mount a 'phantom mare' and to ejaculate into a tube called an artificial vagina. The semen is then checked and divided into 'straws' (pipettes) which can then be used to impregnate the chosen mare. The semen can also be used to fertilize an egg which will then be placed inside a recipient mare instead of the mare whom the egg originally belonged to. This is done if the mare is competing, or may not be able to successfully care a fetus to term.

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Yazmin Sawayn

Lvl 13
3y ago

What else can I help you with?