Embryo Transfer - More Information??

My former neighbors at Sillhouette Farms in Mt.Pleasant MS do this some. Or at least they have done it. Bobby and Sally are wonderful, if straight-forward people. They would probably answer your questions if you email them. They're not huge computer people but they may help.

Please forgive my confusion here.  Are you talking about Embryo Transfer or Artificial Insemination? 
 
If the former, the surrogate mare has no direct relation to the foal as it is an embryo taken from another mare. Artificial Insemination is often used for Embryo Transfer though the insemination is done in the actual dam of the foal.  Then the Embryo is washed out of her and implanted into a Surrogate mare (Embryo Transfer). 
 
Thus, my confusion as to Cheyenne's owners' attitude.  Cheyenne is nothing more than the surrogate for the Gypsy foal who will have no direct relation to her at all.  Then again if Cheyenne is Artifically Inseminated, then she actually is the dam of the foal.  But that isn't Embryo Transfer.
 
Artificial Insemination is relatively reasonable in cost.  I've been looking into it for my own mares as there aren't any Hackney Horse Stallions available on the West Coast of suitable size and bone.  The cost of shipping my mares to the Midwest or Canada is prohibitive.  Thus, A.I. is the alternative.  
 
I am also considering E.T. as an alternative for one of my mares as she has problems with her legs and may not be suitable for breeding, where the other is fine and is suitable.  Thus, through E.T. I can get two foals out of the same mare in the same year.  Possibly three, if I use yet another mare.   However, the process of Embryo Transfer is very expensive.  One has to artificially time both mare's estrus (sp?) cycles to match perfectly or the embryo won't take in the surrogate mare.  The local vet figures it will cost around twelve to fifteen hundred per foal with no live guarantee.  So times three comes to between thirty-two  and thirty-eight hundred dollars!    
 
So... which is it?   
 
 
[quote=DressageQueeny24]

I'm looking into turning Cheyenne into a surrogate mare for a year or two whilst continuing training. She is FASCINATED by little things, children, kittens, puppies, you name it, she loves it. 

We all think she would be a great mom. I just don't have the money to raise an additional horse. Granted, she is a lease, anything that I want her bred to the owner doesn't want right now. (She wants a Gypsy bred to her..) 

Anyway, has anyone done this before? What are some additional risks? Do you guys think I should do it? What are some things to expect? Where should I advertise? 
Thanks a bunch!
-DQ24

Artificial Insemination is one of the things that from time to time has proved to be very vital in reproduction. Embryo transfer, I'm not sure about it.

Silhouette Farms only breeds by AI, no live cover ever. They do this for protection of the animals and also to conserve. They have a cryo facility and ship all over the world. (I lost track of how many World Grand Champions Spot and his offspring have collected) It's pretty fascinating - how many sperms have to be in a test tube to ship for AI. (they have a machine that counts!) Also, when a customer receives the shipment they may decide to use it for more than one mare, which is fine but they couldn't register the second foal unless they paid for the second breeding.
 
There are mares out there that are champions and might have medical reasons why they can't carry to term (age, etc) If they can be AI'd and conceive, the embryo doesn't attach for a certain number of days. Silhouette Farms ultrasounds all mares for several reasons but once they see a viable embryo they can attempt to transfer it to another mare who is ready. Now what all they have to do to get the other mare ready is beyond me. I know they've done this but I'm not positive what kind of results they've had. If anyone wants, I can get in touch with them and get more info on success rate, etc.
 
Yes, it seems like it would be an awfully costly procedure and I avoided the question in a previous post but I'm sure there are many people wanting to ask: WHY?
 
I don't know if the OP is around but this might be something she imagined might be a good idea and was just asking for input. Not sure unless she gets back on here!

Hunter, I can't answer for the OP, just myself.  In my case, the Hackney Horse is an endangered breed.  With just seven hundred fifty horses nationwide, that's a very small genepool.  This breed is even endangered in England where they originated.  My horses are even more rare in this 'pool' as they are imported from Argentina (well one of them anyway, the other's sire was the immigrant).  This is a resource I don't want to see lost as very few of those horses were either bred or have any offspring.  Just how I'm going to do this is a mystery.  The reason I'm considering E.T. is because the Argentinian mare is over twenty years old.  I'll be lucky to get one foal out of her.  Thus with the E.T. I can get several.  Still, the clock is ticking (loudly) and I have to get off my duff on the subject.

See, Stude, that makes perfect sense, as do the other examples which is why the neighbors do/did it. The OP's reasoning escapes me but, hey, if you have the money and want to try - but with someone else's mare... still not really getting it. I think she was just throwing it out there - I'm way too opinionated. [:-]

[quote=hunterseat]

- I'm way too opinionated. [:-]

 
LOL, like I can talk?

My question for the op's situation was why?

Rare breeds of course. 
My interest is in the Indian Shufflers but I find the Sugarbush Draft as or even more intriguing?
Is there any breed rarer than Sugarbush Draft??
http://livinlargefarms.com/stallions.html

Nice looking horses.  Gosh, and I thought Hackney Horses were rare!  Sugarbushes are well past endangered.  They'll have to cross out to preserve the breed, and even then what kind of preservation is it?  Sadly, I think there will be many breeds in this situation before very long.

DO IT MARY! Breed Sarcee to him!!!  []  I had to log on to comment on that link. How beautiful!!

The Sugarbush Draft was created in the 1950's by crossing Percherons with Appaloosas. If there's any interest in keeping the breed alive, it shouldn't be too hard to go back to the beginning and start crossing them again.

I wish we had that option with the Hackney.  Sadly Yorkshire trotters and the two other breeds needed to re-create the Hackney are extinct.  The rate things are going, it's not inconceivable that the Hackney could be as well in fifty years or so.


[quote=AppyLady]

The Sugarbush Draft was created in the 1950's by crossing Percherons with Appaloosas. If there's any interest in keeping the breed alive, it shouldn't be too hard to go back to the beginning and start crossing them again.

Stude it would be so cool (to me) to have a TWH be surrogate mother to a Hackney embryo transfer. I wish money was no object. [>:]