Well, lets see just where I left off...
Oh, yes. Horse Girl had been released to be bred, had refused the stallion and had been hauled back to the vets clinic and had already ovulated, giving us only a 50/50 chance at conception. So the vet opted NOT to breed her. To save me some money. Thank you Dr. Jon!! So we short cycled her and off to Terry's house she went. And she stayed there until a couple of days before she should be ovulating. Then back to the vets office for ultra sound to watch her egg folicale develop and for the prime time to cover her. They opted to collect the first day, live cover the next day, and then breed her again via AI on the third day. Then back to Terry's for the next 15 days. On the date of her actual appointment for the preg check, the vet had an emergency and had to reschedule. So she was ultra sounded a 3 days later.
AND...the ultra sound showed fluid AGAIN! What in the world?? The vet did a culture and found no infection. Terry called and said that there was a folical developing and that it appeared as though it would be mature right before I got there to pick her up. Did I want her to cover her ONE last time as a last hurrah? The vet had given her a wee bit of pentocian (I think this is the drug he gave her...if it wasn't then it was oxytocian.) to cause a slight contraction of the euturous, just enough to try and "squeeze" out the fluid if I chose to try and cover her one last time.
I told Terry I was really bad at throwing in the towel and if the mare would accept the stallion, lets give it one more try. Terry said she was glad I said yes, because she really has a hard time quitting as well.
On August 17th I drove to Mindy's house, the first "leg" of my journey to pick Horse Girl up. Terry was able to cover her the afternoon of the 17th! (0: (Chad had to bale on me and I needed a co-pilot. So I drove to Mindy's to pick her up...then went South...It was a LONG drive...) Terry was able to cover Horse Girl again on Friday morning! Oh, happy happy, joy joy!! Mindy and I left her house in the wee hours of the morning and drove just outside of Sprague River Oregon to meet Terry and pick up Horse Girl.
So we our last date of cover as August 18, 2012. A month later than I had wanted but, but hey we still had a shot at a baby!!
So far nothing had gone as planned! Why am I shocked? I'm not, if it wasn't for bad luck, this mare wouldn't have any luck at all.
Tari was/is still at Mindy's so Horse Girl had a familiar face to chat with all night and settled right in and had a nice little rest before we drove back to Spirit Lake.
So we our last date of cover as August 18, 2012. A month later than I had wanted but, but hey we still had a shot at a baby!!
So far nothing had gone as planned! Why am I shocked? I'm not, if it wasn't for bad luck, this mare wouldn't have any luck at all.
Tari was/is still at Mindy's so Horse Girl had a familiar face to chat with all night and settled right in and had a nice little rest before we drove back to Spirit Lake.
My round trip on this little trip was 1842.5 miles in 3 days. (Driving to Mindy's added over 800 miles...) I have no asperations of repeating that again any time soon... Unless Mindy needs me to, then I would. But for myself, nope. Not going to do it!! If Horse Girl didn't take I promised her, myself, my husband, and my sister I will ship cooled semen!!
Fuel is a very large portion of the actual costs, as you can imagine. Average cost of diesel on the trip to pick up Horse Girl was $4.45 per gallon. The second major cost on this adventure was vet costs.
Indirect costs didn't really go up much..just a meal, drinks and some snacks: $478.37
Total out of pocket: $3109.37
(OUCH!!)
And what did the vet see when she (this is a whole 'nuther blog post) ultra sounded my horse?
NOTHING!
)0:
On the sad poor me note, there was no baby. But on the bright side of that, there wasn't any fluid in the uterus. I will be calling my regular vet to speak with him this week and discuss what happened with Horse Girl this breeding season. I will ask him to call Dr. Jon and talk to him, to see if collectively they think that the infection she had to begin with just put us behind the eight ball on getting her bred.
I called Terry to let her know our diagnosis...and she was just as bummed as I was. She also fed me a little bit of info I either missed or didn't get. The infection in Horse Girls uterus was a staph infection... Makes me think that her tissue just wasn't healthy enough to allow an egg to implant... But what do I know? I'm just an arm chair quarterback. (0:
So my friend, who started this little blog series, was right. Goodness I could have bought a few REALLY nice horses in this wee bit down market.. Could have bought two years worth of hay.... Could have, should have, would have....
Better luck next breeding season to me! (0:
(OUCH!!)
And what did the vet see when she (this is a whole 'nuther blog post) ultra sounded my horse?
NOTHING!
)0:
On the sad poor me note, there was no baby. But on the bright side of that, there wasn't any fluid in the uterus. I will be calling my regular vet to speak with him this week and discuss what happened with Horse Girl this breeding season. I will ask him to call Dr. Jon and talk to him, to see if collectively they think that the infection she had to begin with just put us behind the eight ball on getting her bred.
I called Terry to let her know our diagnosis...and she was just as bummed as I was. She also fed me a little bit of info I either missed or didn't get. The infection in Horse Girls uterus was a staph infection... Makes me think that her tissue just wasn't healthy enough to allow an egg to implant... But what do I know? I'm just an arm chair quarterback. (0:
So my friend, who started this little blog series, was right. Goodness I could have bought a few REALLY nice horses in this wee bit down market.. Could have bought two years worth of hay.... Could have, should have, would have....
Better luck next breeding season to me! (0:
4 comments:
Darn, I have been waiting for this post and was really hoping for a little baby horse girl to be on the way. She is soooo pretty. What I wouldnt do to have her in my pasture.
Damn! That is too bad. I was sure hoping she'd get pregnant.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda's -eh? Think we all have them, but no looking back. Here's to a fantastic breeding season next year :)
So next year will you get her vet checked first to be sure she is sound for breeding? Cooled shipped semen would be cheaper than all the driving you had to do, if you have a good vet to do the implanting for you.
Anon- Thank you for the comment! (0:
She is a good girl and we love her!
Kelly- I'm still going to hope she's got a bun in the oven until April, when we go to the vet again...
Shirley- Yes. I had her vet checked sound for breeding this year with my vet...and then she had a staff infection...I guess we had a bad test?? I don't know how... )0: I'm just hoping that there are no lasting negative affects from the infection...this is my first experience with something like this (dirty culture/uterine infection.)No more driving for us...if it isn't coming in a cooler, it's not happening this time. Mindy and I had fun traveling, but next year we will stay home!
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