The third installment in the 2025 OwnerView webinar series was held on May 6 and featured veterinarians from Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital discussing broodmare reproduction during breeding season.
The conference is hosted by The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and presented by Bessemer Trust, Keeneland, and Stoll Keenon Ogden. The panel was sponsored by Airdrie Stud Inc. and Equilume.
A Q&A was sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, and attendees were able to ask questions through a Q&A link, which were answered at the end of the webinar.
Gary Falter, project manager for OwnerView, moderated the panel with guests Dr. Maria Schnobrich and Dr. Pete Sheerin, both veterinarians at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital. Dr. Schnobrich works as a theriogenologist with a primary focus on challenges faced with mares and stallions. She practices both ambulatory reproduction and advanced reproductive techniques. Dr. Sheerin graduated from the University of Florida with a specific interest in large animal theriogenology.
The webinar began with a question pertaining to the steps owners need to keep in mind when transitioning a filly from her racing career to her broodmare career. "The first thing is it's going to depend on the time of year that they retire. So, if it's in the fall, you're going to do a reproductive exam. So, we'll palpate the mare, ultrasound her ovaries, do a vaginal speculum exam, essentially making sure that all the parts are there," Dr. Sheerin said. "If they're going to try to get her bred as soon as possible, they want to put her under the lights."
Dr. Schnobrich explained that putting mares under the lights enables them to have artificially lengthened daylight to stimulate cycling. "What it does is it takes that breeding season and just moves the whole thing forward so that we can get the mare covered the beginning of February, so we get that January foal," Dr. Schnobrich said.
The discussion continued to cover all aspects of mare reproduction, including gestation times, broodmare age considerations, twins, and complications during pregnancy and foaling.
The panel also included Dr. Sheerin and Dr. Schnobrich explaining procedures during various videos showing the different stages of pregnancy.
The replay of Tuesday's Thoroughbred Owner Conference panel is available at bit.ly/OVVideos.
Seven additional Thoroughbred Owner Conference virtual panels are scheduled for 2025. The next session, "Promoting Thoroughbred Ownership," will be held June 10 at 2 p.m. ET. A full schedule can be found here: bit.ly/OVSchedule.
There is no registration fee for the 2025 virtual conference series, but registration is required. For more information about the owner conference series, including the schedule and registration page, please visit ownerview.com/event/conference or contact Gary Falter at 859.224.2803 or gfalter@jockeyclub.com.
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