Good Question

The question below came privately as the writer thought it may be a dumb question but actually this question was great, I've had more than one person ask about the same thing so this is the question and below that my answer: 

Okay, Judy, I've been looking at your blog and have a question for you. I saw that your male horse Killian is out with your herd. Doesn't that run the risk of him impregnating one/some of them and you not know what/when/where? I'm sure the answer is probably something very elementary, but when it comes to horses, I'm on the kindergarten level--but have learned a lot from reading your blog! Happy New Year!! 

THIS isn't a dumb question at ALL. There are a few answers. The first is mares usually only cycle in the spring, summer and fall so if you don't want them bred it is usually safe to put a stallion out with them only in the winter. The other thing we do is usually sonagram the mares first if we don't want them bred to Killian to make sure they are already in foal to the other stallions or not cycling before putting them out with the herd. Lastly we actually hope any mare that lost her foal or was not bred WILL get pregnant by Killian as none of the mares out there are related to him. We know there was only a slight chance of that happening though as he is still pretty young. A 2 year old can get mares in foal but it is not likely. A young stallion doesn't replenish sperm as quickly as a little older stallion. It is the mating later in the mares season, right before she ovulates, that generates the best chance for conception. A mares season is usually 4-7 days. A young stallion will spend his energy breeding too early in the mares season then when the timing is optimal won't have made enough new sperm to get the job done.