Artificial Insemination Key for Arabian Horse Breeders
The Arabian is the oldest purebred horse breed in the world, with some horses living today with pedigrees going back for over two thousand years. Although the Bedouins were the first Arabian horse breeders, they were also some of the first to try the most modern of horse breeding equipment. The first Arabian horse breeders were so careful to keep the bloodlines pure, that they would take out foals from the breeding programs if their dams (mothers) had ever been mated to a non-purebred stallion.
The Dangers Of Natural Breeding
Arabian horse breeding done the natural way is a very dangerous business for both humans and the horses involved. Any breed of horse is liable to be dangerous when they are aroused. They will also be prone to attack one other horses, including young foals, as well as any nearby humans. The other horses could be seen as threats to steal the partner.
Domestication has made the Arabian horse breeding process even more dangerous, as horses do not instinctively know what to do. Like humans, horses have to learn how to mate. In the wild, young horses could learn from watching the antics of the older horses. Modern Arabian horse breeders can't give their foals that opportunity.
The Advantages Of Artificial Insemination
With artificial insemination and frozen semen transport, Arabian horse breeders now have much safer and much more reliable means of getting their mares pregnant and getting healthy foals on the ground. Artificial insemination assures that the horses are safe, the people around them will not get attacked and the mare can be bred to a champion stallion that may have passed away.
You can also save a lot of money with having a few vials of frozen semen shipped to your veterinarian, who will then inseminate your mare. You won't have to transport your mare and have her boarded at a strange stud farm for a couple of months. The stress of being at a new place could be enough to make her not get pregnant.
Arabian horse breeders were one of the first to recognize the potential of artificial insemination and frozen semen transport. Some breeds, most notably the Thoroughbred, will not allow any horse bred by artificial insemination to be registered. If you can't register your Thoroughbred, you can't race your Thoroughbred. Foals conceived by artificial insemination were allowed to be registered as soon as the technology was available.
