Equine

Equine Vaccination Schedule

Gibson Veterinary Clinic offers comprehensive equine services, customized for the needs of the individual, whether you raise horses for pleasure, work, or show. Consult with Dr Tucker for your individual equine or herd wellness care needs, including:

Vaccinations
Equine reproduction
Nutritional needs
Equine dental care
Preventative care for horses

Equine Dental Care

We provide comprehensive dental care for most equine needs. All horses, from weanling to senior, benefit from annual dental examinations. This simple routine care can reduce the amount of tooth loss, diagnose other medical conditions such as choke and colic, and may ultimately prolong a horse’s lifespan.

Power equipment is used in our dental work under sedation, increasing accuracy, promoting efficiency, and aiding in precise and complete correction of dental problems. These services are offered at either our clinic or your farm for your convenience and the comfort of your animals.

Equine Artificial Insemination

Aside from basic herd wellness and care, we offer extensive equine reproductive services, including artificial insemination and reproductive ultrasounds.

Equine Artificial Insemination

We provide equine artificial insemination services with cooled semen. Breeding mares with cooled semen requires that all parties involved—mare owners, stallion managers, and veterinarians—need to coordinate semen shipments with the mare’s ovulation before shipping semen. Some potential items to consider:

Cost of stallion collection
Cost of preparing semen for shipment, number of collections provided per breeding, the cost of shipping by air, and how shipping containers must be returned
Days of the week stallion is collected
Times when stallion is unavailable
Days notice stallion manager needs before semen shipment
Longevity of semen
First cycle conception rate of the stallion
Method of transport used
Number of times mare can be bred if she does not conceive, according to the contract

First cycle conception rates tend to be slightly lower with shipped semen than with natural breeding. Cooled semen opens up increased opportunities for available stallions, decreases some risks, and eliminates transport of the mare to the stallion’s breeding facility. Artificial insemination does require more intense breeding management, and veterinary costs are higher. Mares need to be examined regularly and bred within 24 hours of ovulation. Using HCG can influence ovulation, although response can be variable between mares.

Equine Reproductive Ultrasound

he use of reproductive ultrasound for breeding evaluation, as well as insemination timing, can increase the likelihood of pregnancy in your brood mares. Pregnancy diagnosis can be performed at or around 15 days post-insemination, giving sufficient time to reorder semen if needed.

The technology of reproductive ultrasound is safe and relatively low in cost, making it a necessary tool for the equine breeder. Gibson Veterinary Clinic offers skill and experience in the use of reproductive ultrasound. Contact us for any questions you may have or to schedule your appointment with our Dr Tucker.

For the industry’s best information about equine care, visit the website of the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

For information about horse vaccines, see the links above or view the American Association of Equine Practitioners website.