06/10/2026
Long day yesterday. I was up at 5:00. Fed the horses. Trailer was hooked up. Drove to Williston, which is a good 1:45 to 2 hour drive depending on the traffic, picked Ewan up, then 20 minutes over to the Repro center. Equine Medical Center of Ocala, EMCO. Unloaded and hung out there for a few hours while they worked on collecting Ewan. First go around, he couldn’t make it work 🫣young man;) I left and they called me to come back. Success! Think maybe he didn’t like his Mom watching! One shipment went to an out of state mare. Second collection was for my mare, Mona Lisa. She is on the other side of Ocala, another half hour away. Tracy, that owns Jillian took the semen over to her farm to wait for the vet. Then I loaded Ewan up and ran him back to Linda and Larry Poulins Farm. He will be there another month, more than likely. After that, I drove across town, another hours drive- to meet Tracy and the Vet to inseminate MonaLisa. Vet had an emergency colic, she was really late. I’m not sure we didn’t miss the ovulation. If we did, nobody’s fault. Lots of moving parts. It’s always best to take the mare to the Repro center. Leave her. The vets follow the follicle, then I bring the stallion. Breed. Take the stallion. (Last year I loaded Ewan first, then put Mona Lisa at the back of the trailer, that worked just fine.) Home, then run back up to bring the mare home. About 2 weeks later, I take the mare back up to EMCO for a pregnancy check. That sounds difficult, but I feel this gives me the best odds of a successful breeding. Yesterday was a perfect reminder why I don’t like to deal with local vets and non Repro centers. Simply too many players, and not having hands on to follow the follicle. It can be very frustrating and a waste of time, effort, and money. Although, never a second thought if she catches, right?
