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Timing and Fees
The beauty of using frozen semen is that it can be ordered at your convenience with a longer delivery date -- to save shipping fees -- and ready when your mare is ready. Gone is the anxiety of ordering a collection and praying that it doesn't arrive too late or too early, according to your mare's needs. Before ordering frozen semen, a fully completed and signed contract must be returned along with payment for the dose(s) of frozen semen. The cost for each dose is $100. There is no additional booking fee. Purebred Connemara mare owners also must return a copy of the mare's HWSD test results with the contract and fees, even though Cliff is HWSD N/N. It is important that all purebred mare owners know the HWSD status of their mare(s). All shipping costs and container rental fees are the responsibility of the mare owner and will be paid directly to CSU before shipping. The mare must be pregnancy checked by day 18. If more frozen semen is requested, the same fees apply. No additional semen will be released unless the inseminating veterinarian follows best-practice protocol for equine frozen semen. Cliff's 2017 stud fee of $950 is due at day 45 of the pregnancy. There are no re-breeding rights if the mare's health hasn't been maintained properly throughout the pregnancy. Current USEF members receive a $50 discount off the stud fee. We also will reimburse mare owners the $35 USEF Lifetime Recording fee for the foal of this mating if purchased before December 31 of the year of the foal's birth. Cliff Kids Like Their SireAs a sire, Cliff consistently passes his athletic movement, excellent conformation and kind temperament onto his progeny. Yet never overlook the fact that the quality and temperament of the dam is just as important as the quality and temperament of the sire, so always follow the old axiom: breed the best to the best and hope for the best.
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Plan Ahead
Bred mares that have not produced a live foal within the past two years and mares that have failed to conceive in a full breeding season must have an endometrial culture, a cytology smear and a biopsy. Older mares that have not been bred in many years need these tests, as well. The written results from these tests must be provided prior to the mare owner ordering semen. Better to know if your mare is reproductively clean and sound before you breed instead of spending all the time, emotion and money of breeding with no foal in the end. And don't keep putting off breeding your beloved mare. It is heartbreaking when tests show that it is too late to breed her, barring great expense. It also is in the best interest of mare owners to use veterinarians with experience in equine reproduction, specifically with equine frozen semen. If your location lacks veterinarians with this experience, the veterinarians at the CSU Equine Reproduction Lab are happy to provide your vet with free consultations since CSU is a teaching university. |
More About *Smaragaid Cliff
Cliff is brown, negative for the creme gene and negative for the grey gene. He is an ACPS Premium Stallion as well as a USEF Leading Dressage Sire. According to the Connemara Pony Breeders Society in Ireland, Cliff's pedigree makes him an important outcross for mare owners to consider. Read more here Cliff also has tested N/N for the Connemara Pony Hoof Wall Separation Disease (HWSD). He is normal and is not a carrier of the recessive genetic disease. That said, Cliff WILL breed quality purebred Connemara mares that are N/HWSD and HWSD/HWSD. Why? Isn't that being an irresponsible stallion owner? No. Based on the advice of the international Connemara Pony Research Group: "If genetic diversity is not encouraged in the here and now, then the future for the breed is grim and increasingly at risk. Exclusion of carrier ponies and affected females from the breeding herd will spell doomsday." The results of all Cliff's genetic color testing and HWSD testing -- all performed by UC Davis -- are available upon request. The results of Cliff's HWDS testing also are on file with the ACPS and the Connemara Pony Research Group. Learn More About Breeding Mares Visit the Colorado State University Equine Reproduction Lab Web site for a wealth of information. Just Click here. Contact Information To discuss breeding your mare(s) to *Smaragaid Cliff, contact Karen Laden at 719-495-3892 (Mountain Time) or email her at [email protected] |
Expert Advice for Breeding Equine Athletes
In the article "Forecast: 2016 Sport-Horse Breeding" by Judy Wardrope, published in the 2016 USDF Online Stallion Guide, a description of equine athletes' most desirable traits aptly fits *Smaragaid Cliff. The following is some expert advice from the article worth noting by those who are considering breeding:
"German Olympic gold medalist Monicia Theodorescu, whose international-competition heyday was in the 1980s and 1990s and who now coaches the German dressage team, said, 'I think the conformation is very, very important to make it easier for horses to sit, to pick up, to become light in the front, to take the weight on the hind legs and the quarters, to have a strong-enough back without being stiff. This is not only a point of training, but of conformation. If the conformation is right and correct, then it is easier for the horses and easier to train them. They come into a nice, uphill balance.' "
"Regardless of type, the basic qualities of soundness, conformation, and temperament cannot be forgotten. These are the qualities sought by both professionals and amateurs," said Mary Alice Malone, owner of Iron Spring Farm.
"Jill Giese, co-founder with John Dingle of Dreamcatcher Meadows Ventures Ltd, . . . cites breeding for extravagant front-end movement without correspondingly good movement behind as an example of a current fad that she finds 'foolish.' "
"Theodorescu, too, thinks that judges and trainers must take care not to reward exaggerated movement at the possible expense of a horse's soundness and longevity. . . 'Ask for a normal trot. They have a lot of health problems with too-big movements. . . The trainers are now looking for a not-too-big trot, not exaggerated, because of the soundness issue.' "
"One trend worth noting: As the demand for smaller mounts has increased, many Warmblood registries are now inspecting ponies (13.2 to 14.2 hands) and including a section for them in their studbooks."
Malone also said: "Both trainers and amateurs are looking for performance and ridability. Meeting these needs by producing exceptional individuals that are a pleasure to ride should be a breeder's ultimate goal."
"German Olympic gold medalist Monicia Theodorescu, whose international-competition heyday was in the 1980s and 1990s and who now coaches the German dressage team, said, 'I think the conformation is very, very important to make it easier for horses to sit, to pick up, to become light in the front, to take the weight on the hind legs and the quarters, to have a strong-enough back without being stiff. This is not only a point of training, but of conformation. If the conformation is right and correct, then it is easier for the horses and easier to train them. They come into a nice, uphill balance.' "
"Regardless of type, the basic qualities of soundness, conformation, and temperament cannot be forgotten. These are the qualities sought by both professionals and amateurs," said Mary Alice Malone, owner of Iron Spring Farm.
"Jill Giese, co-founder with John Dingle of Dreamcatcher Meadows Ventures Ltd, . . . cites breeding for extravagant front-end movement without correspondingly good movement behind as an example of a current fad that she finds 'foolish.' "
"Theodorescu, too, thinks that judges and trainers must take care not to reward exaggerated movement at the possible expense of a horse's soundness and longevity. . . 'Ask for a normal trot. They have a lot of health problems with too-big movements. . . The trainers are now looking for a not-too-big trot, not exaggerated, because of the soundness issue.' "
"One trend worth noting: As the demand for smaller mounts has increased, many Warmblood registries are now inspecting ponies (13.2 to 14.2 hands) and including a section for them in their studbooks."
Malone also said: "Both trainers and amateurs are looking for performance and ridability. Meeting these needs by producing exceptional individuals that are a pleasure to ride should be a breeder's ultimate goal."
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4