[𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞́𝐠𝐢𝐞 𝐝’𝐞́𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞]
The breeder is often faced with a dilemma: on the one hand, the younger the mares are covered, the greater the genetic progress. But on the other hand, these young mares are more difficult to test and, once they have successfully entered the competition phase, it becomes difficult to stop them for an embryo transfer, which has to be carried out quickly with a choice of stallions that are sometimes not very fertile because they are in great demand.
At BLH, we use ICSI to limit the negative impact of producing “average” mares and avoid disturbing the mares during the competition, while allowing us the choice of stallion, regardless of fertility.
During the winter of their second year, all our young mares undergo oocyte puncture and ICSI with the most suitable stallion. This allows us to build up a stock of frozen embryos. Rather than implanting these embryos the following season, we wait until the mare is ready to be bred, in order to best assess her aptitudes.
When the mare performs well, we know she’s a good breeder, and we implant the stored embryos. In addition to better selection, this strategy has an added advantage: the mare enjoys a certain popularity, which facilitates the marketing of gestations. Of course, we have to take into account the cost of ICSI on average mares, but this cost is much lower than that of maintaining and promoting a “bad” foal.
