Stallion Phantom Training

In order to be collected for shipping or freezing semen, stallions must learn to mount a phantom in order to be collected.  This does not come naturally for all stallions and they must be trained for the task.  Stallion handling can be a challenge in and of itself, but our training techniques are focused on encouraging good stallion behaviour in order to make the breeding shed a safe environment for everyone.

Stallion Collection and Processing for Shipment

We are well equipped and experienced for collecting stallions to ship cooled semen throughout Canada and the United States.  We recommend a test-cooling before shipping your stallion for the first time in order to evaluate his semen and assess its viability during cooling and shipping.  We have experienced in-clinic staff to handle all stallions in for collection and provide the tease mare and collection equipment.  We also have the equipment necessary to process semen from stallions that produce dilute semen samples in order to ship semen that meets minimum quality standards for commercial shipment.  Our staff has years of experience with shipping semen throughout Canada and the USA and has the knowledge required to facilitate this for our stallion owners.  

Stallion Semen Cryopreservation

Freezing your stallion’s semen (called “cryopreservation”) is a great way to preserve his genetics in the event that you wish to have him gelded, breed mares while he is busy showing, or protect against a sudden loss of the stallion.  The first time a stallion is in for semen freezing, we perform a “freezing trial” in order to perform a complete semen evaluation and determine the best semen extender (a product that is added to the semen for processing) to maximize the stallion’s fertility with frozen semen.  There are many different semen extenders available and individual stallions respond differently to each extender.  Once the freezing trial is complete, we can perform commercial freezing where the stallion is collected and the semen is processed packaged into straws and divided into doses based upon his freezing trial.  One straw from each semen collection is taken and analyzed in order to confirm that minimum commercial standards are met before the frozen semen is used.  The best time to have your stallion collected for freezing is either in the spring or fall when he is not yet busy with breeding or showing, but his semen quality has not yet declined for the winter season.  If you wish to have multiple collections frozen, a stallion is typically capable of being collected every other day without a detrimental affect on his semen quality.  As each stallion is an individual with differences in semen quality, we cannot guarantee a number of doses from each collection, however the freezing trial should give a good indication and help to determine if it is a good option.  Burwash Equine Services is also qualified to process and store frozen semen for export to the European Union and Australia.