OCT/NOV 2014
In this issue...
- The Rare Breed of the Year Show
- A Meeting of Minds
- In Other News
Keep Up With Us ...
IN OTHER NEWS
// 2 MINUTES WITH TULLIS
Blog #3 - This month, Tullis provides a mini tutorial on the Laboratory. He runs through how to set it up and the equipment needed to obtain the best results from semen processing. To watch this video, click here. Don't forget, you can also view other videos on our YouTube channel by clicking here.
//ARKO III IS BACK!
Arko has returned to Stallion AI Services for semen freezing this Winter and we couldn't be happier to see our friend's head over the stable door. He was voted the best horse in the world for 2 years running in 2004 and 2005 and was the Number 1 showjumper in Europe in 2004, 2005 AND 2006 so it is a real privilege to have him here during the Winter months. Click here to visit his page on our website.
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The Rare Breed of the Year Show
Houghton Hall Equestrian Centre, UK
// RARE BREED SURVIVAL TRUST (RBST)
Tullis and Faye were invited to the Rare Breed of the Year Show at the beginning of October to sponsor the Rare Breed of the Year Supreme Championship. The event was a spectacular demonstration of the country's finest rare breeds, shown in hand, under saddle and being driven. The Championship was won by the Dales pony, Sunglow Philomena ridden and owned by Mrs S B Hobday.
As you may be aware, Stallion AI Services works closely with The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST) in preserving the world's rarest equine breeds. There are currently 12 breeds on the RBST’s watchlist of endangered horses and ponies. In the critical category are the Cleveland Bay, Eriskay pony and Suffolk horse — which each has less than 300 registered breeding mares. Breeds at risk include the Shire horse, Highland pony and Fell pony. The RBST aims to collect and freeze semen from 25 stallions from each of the breeds listed as part of their ReGENEration appeal, to ensure that, should a crisis occur in the populations, there will be adequate semen supplies, to prevent any breeds becoming extinct. All stallions must be registered and have an accurate, minimum three-generation pedigree, to ensure the semen bank holds the broadest genetic diversity in the current population. Of the semen collected 55 per cent goes into a national archive, 30 per cent will be used for conservation breeding programmes and 15 per cent will belong to the stallion’s owner. Collection costs will be covered and the semen will be stored by the RBST. The ReGENEration appeal was originally set up in 2001 as a direct response to the foot and mouth outbreak as the effects highlighted the need for reserves of genetic material for all species and breeds listed. The semen bank is one project funded by the appeal — the second was the development of the National Rare Breeds Library at Stoneleigh which opened in 2003 and houses studbooks.
A Meeting of Minds
Bart Kools, Michaela Kölling and Nicole Hoffman visit Tullis and Kate at Stallion AI Services
// FIVE HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE!
We are constantly aiming to tweek and improve the methods of semen collection and processing. So we feel it is important to discuss techniques and ideas with other experts in the field. Bart Kools collects and processes the semen from Paul Schockemohle's stallions and has done for the past 15 years. Michaela Kölling and Nicole Hoffman are Veterinarians who run Tierarztpraxis Gestüt Buchenhof, a stud in Germany. Those of you who have taken your mare to Twemlows Stud Farm in previous years, may remember Michaela who was the Embryo Transfer Stud Vet there during the 2008 and 2009 season. In addition, Tullis and our guests visited Genus Bovine Freezing Unit in Ruthin, which was partiularly interesting to compare freezing and processing methods on semen from another species. This is the second meeting with Bart (the first being 6 years ago) and all parties found the process mutually beneficial so moving forward, we will no doubt make this a regular, annual fixture in the diary.
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