Preparing For Your Shipment of Cooled Semen:
The cost of shipping semen in the U.S. and Canada is $175 and is in addition to the stud fee.
Once you have booked your mare for breeding and signed the addendum to the breeding contract for shipping semen for your mare, please familiarize yourself with the following procedures and contact Tina Lewis at The Lewis Ranch Stallion Station at 559-909-2156 if you have questions and to let her know when you expect your mare to come into heat or foal.
1. Phone me, Tina Lewis, at 559-909-2156 on the First day that the mare is in heat or the day she foals if you plan to breed her on her foal heat. This alerts me to be prepared to ship semen to you and places you on the priority list for semen in the event of limited semen availability on a particular day for a particular stallion.
Schedule your veterinarian for a palpation/ultrasound of your mare by day 2 or 3 of her heat.
***Do not wait too long as we cannot ship the same day you call...we must have 12 hours notice!!!!
a. It takes more than one person to collect a stallion for shipment and my assistant does not live here at the Stallion Station so we need to plan for a shipment (although she may feel as if she does during breeding season). We also might have already collected that stallion or bred him via live cover to another mare by the time you call and therefore would not be able to collect him again that day and get any kind of quality semen for shipping.
b. Fed Ex requires a certain amount of notice to pick up the package-we live in a rural area.
c. I may not be at the ranch and able to accomodate...if I know I am collecting...I will be ready to do so.
***The remaining balance of stud fee, shipping fees must be paid in full prior to shipment-unfortunately, there will be no exceptions to this due to dishonest people in the past.
2. Phone me to request semen by 8:00pm (California Time) on the day prior to needing the semen shipped.
559-909-2156 on my cell or 559-564-2641 at the Barn.
(Semen can be shipped on weekends only at an additional cost to mare owner). Your vet can tell you when she will be ready for semen after his/her palpation/ultrasound.
3. The Stallion will be collected and 2 doses of semen packaged for shipment via overnight carrier (Fed Ex). The Lewis Ranch Cooled Semen Information Sheet and Instructions, and the AQHA or APHA Collection/Insemination Certificate will be sent with the cooled semen in the container. The shipment will be sent to the address given by you on the Breeding contract/Addendum for shipped semen.
4. Tina Lewis will phone you to verify that the semen has been successfully collected and shipped and provide you with the Fed Ex tracking number.
5. You or your Vet receive the container from the courier.
6. Your Veterinarian will remove 1 dose of semen from the container and assess the progressive motility according to the Cooled Semen Instructions provided with the shipment.
(and included below)
**Note: If your veterinarian does not own or have access to equipment to assess the progressive motility, then omit this step but it is highly recommended that the progressive motility be evaluated prior to the insemination of each dose to provide you with the assurance that the semen is of adequate quality. *if it is not...call Tina Lewis immediately. Do not discard the semen!
7. If the progressive motility is adequate, inseminate the mare. The semen does NOT need to be warmed.
8. Remove the second dose and repeat steps 6 and 7 on the following day if the mare has not ovulated. Insemination of the second dose is not necessary if the mare has ovulated. **Be sure to record the progressive motility on the Cooled Semen Information Sheet and fill out paperwork and mail according to your registry instructions.
9. Return the container with its accessories within 7 days via Fed Ex or UPS ground or regular mail. Include any paperwork needed to be sent back to Stallion Owner with it.
Please remember that you are responsible for getting the paperwork where it should go and the container back to The Lewis Ranch Stallion Station...do not leave this up to your Vet. It may not get done and you may be paying for a container and/or have an unregistered foal due to lack of paperwork at AQHA/APHA. They are sticklers about Shipped Semen paperwork.
After your shipment arrives...(this will also be in your package with the semen)
Cooled Semen Instructions
F).
5. Assess the progressive motility (be sure to check several sections of the sample).
6. If the progressive motility is adequate (i.e. greater than or equal to half of the initial motility-see the Equine Cooled Information Sheet for the initial motility of the semen that was shipped in this container) continue with step 7.
NOTE: If the progressive motility is not adequate, prepare another slide and check the motility at intervals of 2, 4 and 6 minutes insuring that the slide is kept warm between examinations. If the motility is still not adequate, contact me. DO NOT DISCARD THE SEMEN!
7. Inseminate the mare. Do NOT warm the semen.
If you do not have the equipment necessary to assess the progressive motility of the semen:
8. Remove one insemination dose (i.e. one syringe, one plastic bag, or one tube). Close the container to keep the second dose cooled.
9. Inseminate the mare. Do NOT warm the semen.
Repeat the above procedures on the second day for the second dose of semen if the mare has not ovulated. Insemination of the second dose is not necessary if the mare has ovulated.
Sign and send paperwork to appropriate registries and back to The Lewis Ranch Stallion Station as instructed on the respective paperwork.
