Pregnancy disruption in artificially inseminated domestic horse mares as a counterstrategy against potential infanticide.

The research suggests that the success of pregnancy in domestically bred horses post artificial insemination might partly depend on the mare’s social surroundings and birthing history, hinting at how they perceive conception. The results imply that mare welfare can be improved and pregnancy preserved by preventing exposure to stallions or geldings who are not the sire.

Objective of the Paper

• The study was undertaken to understand why there are high instances of pregnancy disruption in domesticated horses after artificial insemination (AI). One aspect the study delved into was whether such disruptions occur as frequently as natural matings away from home.
• The researchers also examined if the social environment where the mares are kept after mating and the number of foals they’ve previously delivered have any influence on these disruptions.

Experimental Process and Findings

• The researchers based their findings on 77 records of artificially inseminated mares. It was discovered that the likeliness of pregnancy disruption post AI was closely linked to the mare’s social surroundings after insemination and the number of foals she had previously given birth to.
• It was found that like natural matings away from home, pregnancy disruption post AI was more probable if the mare did not share her enclosure with male company but there were stallions or geldings in an adjacent pen.
• The statistical models implemented yielded the odds ratio of 8.17, suggesting that the mare perceives conception post-AI similar to natural mating with an unfamiliar stallion.

Implications of the Study

• The study’s results imply that the failure of pregnancy in mares post AI may be prompted by the social conditions of the home environment, like those mated naturally away from home.
• Taken practically, this suggests that horse breeders, to lessen the risk of pregnancy disruption and improve mare welfare, should position the pregnant mare in a setting with no stallion or stallions/geldings either in the same or adjacent pen.