Stallion owners.... WWYD?

[Dressage_Diva333]

So today was going to be busy anyways. I had the farrier coming for 6 horses, the vet here to sedate one of them for the farrier. I was going to have to show one of the stallions to somebody (they canceled though), must pull manes and straighten the place up for a photoshoot for the horses tomorrow. Just a busy day as it was.

So, I get a call this morning (around 9ish our time) for semen. Which I normally would have been totally fine with, if I would have gotten the call by yesterday evening (contract states that orders must be received before 5pm the day before semen is needed), or even a warning that their vet is going to check the mare first thing in the morning, and they may need semen. Now, I have somebody come and collect him. She has to bring her phantom and all of her equiptment. She had things going on today as well, but she is great to work with, and we got him collected and shipped. Thank God my farrier was understanding, as he has stallions too.


So it wasn't a big deal today, because although I had things going on, I was planning to be home all day. So what if this happens and I was, say, at a clinic or something that required me to be gone all day. If I get a notice the night before, I can have somebody here to handle the stallion (he's such an easy boy to deal with). This is my first year standing a stallion. So, would I just say "sorry, I can't get you a collection"? I know how frustrating it is not to be able to get a collection when the mare needs it, but I also can't be getting calls at 10am that somebody needs a collection. As normally we like to be done collecting by 10am, I am willing to take the stallion to a clinic to get him collected if the normal person is not available.

I will do whatever it takes to get a mare owner a collection, and am on stand by at all times. So, I guess my question is, how strictly do you stick to your contracts? I would feel awful if I weren't able to get semen shipped (we've shipped quite a bit, and it hasn't happened yet!)

TIA for any advice :)

[Equine Reproduction]

So, I get a call this morning (around 9ish our time) for semen.

Our cut off time is 10 a.m. on the day the shipment is needed. We PREFER that we get a call the day before giving us a heads up that the mare owner may need a shipment of semen. With that said, in order to get semen out, we have to notify FEdEx by 12:30 p.m. in order to get a pickup. We are very rural where we are and the closest drop off location is 35 miles away. Consequently, if we get a late request for semen, it means not only do we have to schedule it in to the day, we also have to run the semen down to the drop off location. With gas being over $4.00/gallon these days, we really prefer to not have to make that run.

So, what do we do? Well, we figure if you're going to be standing a stallion, there are concessions that "do" need to be made. It's a service industry and I think that it's pretty well documented here those stallion owners go above and beyond the pale in getting semen out. What we do when we get a late request is charge a courier fee to run the semen down to the drop off location. We have written into our contract that there is a $100.00 late collection fee, but generally we just charge the cost of the gas and paying whoever wants to make the run - $25.00 <smile>.

I think location is a big issue, as well. The West coast is in a bit better position in that mare owners on the east coast have a couple extra hours to get their mares checked and get a call in to the stallion owner for a collection. We're in Central Time Zone so, kind of in the middle. I got a call yesterday at almost 2 p.m. from a breeding facility in Colorado needing semen <groan>. We were at the feed store and had a 30 minute drive back to the facility to get the collection done, but we did <smile>. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often, but I find most mare owners are grateful for the extra effort made to get the shipment out. I know "I" am when I have a mare sneak one in on me !

Hope that helps!

Kathy St.Martin
Equine Reproduction Short Courses
http://www.equine-reproduction.com

[Fairview Horse Center]

I have gotten a call as late at 4 PM, and was able to get the shipment out. I am just 20 miles from a FedEx hub that accepts until 9 PM, and Dulles is only a few miles more, open till 10. I just built that into my collection fee, and make the run with all of my shipments. It works really well as I have an outdoor phantom, and the barn shades it around 3 - 4 PM. We collect about 5, as it is cooling off. It also gives the mare semen that is 8 hours fresher, and not waiting in a shipper thru the heat of the day - important on those 48 hour disposable shipments to Canada.

A suggestion if you really need to know the evening before, at least if they expect to have their mare checked - send a note to your breeders saying how important it is to let you know what is happening ahead of time. You may still get the occasional, "my mare teased in this AM, and WOW she has a 4.0, can you ship?", but maybe it will eliminate most of those.

[Daydream Believer]

All you can do is your best. I have certainly had last minute panicked calls for semen and I need to get help lined up to collect here at my farm...I can't do it alone...and it's not easy sometimes to get people who come to help you collect to see someone else's crisis as motivation to totally reschedule their appointments and day. So far we've managed to accommodate everyone but there will probably be a day someday when we'll not be able to respond fast enough. Those are the breaks.

[Fairview Horse Center]

In all of the years I have been doing this, I have not been able to make 2 collections. Both were in September, beyond my contract breeding calendar, and both called me out of the blue, after not hearing from them for months, no response to "is she pregnant?"

I left the farm for a few days, and got a call. "Sorry, bring her back in next week". One was very nice, decided to wait to the next spring. One threatened me, demanded a refund <nope, not after I worked for you all spring, and met the contract, and then some>. She did sell her breeding to another person, thankfully.

[Windswept Stable]

It happens a lot. The only way that I have found around it--is to board my stallion at the clinic during peak times. That way-- that piece of the equation is out of the way-- i.e--(I am a mom/ a wife/ a breeding barn owner/ training/sales barn owner....--thus last minute requests can be very hard to accomodate.)

There has only been one time thus far--that I have not been able to accomodate-- stallion was at home.. I was literally on the way out the door to be a room-mother for a field trip for my 7 yr old son ( 915 am) . My son was so excited for me to go on the field trip--and I could not disappoint him. He had already asked me a few months before if I loved my ponies more than I love him--so No way was I going to let him down. I was busy thru lunchtime. And the vet clinic did not have a stallion handler after lunch... So... it could not happen that day.

My advice is to just do the best you can. Cover yourself in writing and request 24 hour notice. Knowing all along that times will come up that it is not possible for the mare owner to give notice. Help them out as best you can. Its everyone's goal to get the mare in foal---so sometimes we have to bend and shake to get it down.

[KitterCritter]

Dressage Diva - Aren't you like 14 years old? Maybe turn 15 later this year?

Isn't "the vet" your father?

Do the MO's have a contract signed by you - a minor?

What is your plan to collect the pony when you are in school (presume you're out now for the summer)?

As a MO, I would want to know if I were dealing with a SO who is a minor child. That is why I ask. That is not to say that you wouldn't do a fantastic job and all that. But would be something, as a MO, I would want to be aware of.

[Ladybug Hill]

Dressage Diva - Aren't you like 14 years old? Maybe turn 15 later this year?

Isn't "the vet" your father?

Do the MO's have a contract signed by you - a minor?

What is your plan to collect the pony when you are in school (presume you're out now for the summer)?

As a MO, I would want to know if I were dealing with a SO who is a minor child. That is why I ask. That is not to say that you wouldn't do a fantastic job and all that. But would be something, as a MO, I would want to be aware of.

WHAT in the world?????

Who cares about any of those details? The question was valid and well articulated.

If you have a beef with the OP, then take it outside.

[showjumpers66]

It is up to you as to where you draw the line in regards to your collection schedule. :lol: I am terrible about drawing the line. While we do require that mare owners call by 10:00 am CST the day that they need semen shipped, many call during the afternoon. I even had a call at 8:30 pm a couple of weeks ago that I scrambled and got it out. Mare owners are a bit at the mercy of their mare and the vet's schedule, so I try to work with them as much as possible but there are limitations and I can't always accommodate them. If you want to hold firm to the guidelines set forth in your contract, I would suggest reviewing your collection limitations with the mare owners at time of booking so that they understand that there are no exceptions and no surprises later in the breeding season.

[MagicRoseFarm]

I know how frustrating it is not to be able to get a collection when the mare needs it, but I also can't be getting calls at 10am that somebody needs a collection. As normally we like to be done collecting by 10am.

Sorry, I just really want to be of best service to mare owners, but still have a life myself!

Your end goal like the MO's , is to get the mare in foal.... we stand two stallions on a small breeding farm.. we KNOW that we have no life from March 15 to July 15..

It is a difficult time of year to plan much, but you will find in time that most Mare Owner's bend over backwards to give you appropriate notice when you have been careful to request it..

It's their girls that sometimes don't cooperate!!

[camohn]

Some SOs do not have jobs off of the farm. Many of us do. My day job allows me to be pretty flexible so I have some wiggle room but I can't guarantee a no notice collection. In addition to my schedule is the fact our stallion stood at an outside collection facility that is about a 30 min drive away. Technically THEY require notice the day before. There were a couple close calls where I got an I Need It Today call, I had a light day at work/could do it but the collection facility was up to their eyeballs in collections. They did find a corner to squish him in......but sometimes it is also not only the SO involved..........

[rideagoldenpony]

As a stallion owner, we bend over backwards to meet the needs of our mare owners whenever humanly possible.

Our contract states that we need notification the day before the collection is needed, and we do not guarantee same day order/shipment.

However, in the four busy seasons we have had with our current stallion, I have only ever turned down a mare owner once. And that was simply because her vet called me at 4 pm and demanded (quite a rude woman) that we get it to her THAT SAME DAY. I suspect she was overamped because the mare had gone much faster than she had expected/predicted, but in our location FedEx overnight is our ONLY option -- and at 4 pm, the FedEx plane was LONG GONE from the airport!

You need to realize that while everyone may have good intentions, you are most often going to get the "I need it shipped today!" phone calls. I would say that 75% of our semen orders are same day orders.

Being that we are on the west coast however, that is a big advantage for our eastern customers, as far as getting their mares checked early in the morning and still having time to order by our 10 am cutoff.

[Dressage_Diva333]

KitterCritter- If you have a problem with me, please take it up with me privatly. As I am not interested in argueing with you... You information is false anyhow.

Thank you for everybody's comments, they are greatly appreciated :)

[Lesley Feakins]

We stand two stallions and both stallions are collected off the farm approx 45 - 60 mins drive. The stallion in FL is in a training barn and we have have to have notice the evening before to get his collection organised, the Vet clinic only has the technician & Vet there til noon and my trainer has usually a full day booked of lessions and rides. I can be more accommodating here with the stallion in PA and SBS have been wonderful to work with with regards to me phoning in the morning off and asking to bring him in.

I'm with Magicrose...pretty much know I have no life during breeding season which also happens to be foaling season here too.

I do so appreciate MO who keep me in the loop with regard to their mares cycle and I try to do the same when I'm breeding to outside stallions. However, I've also brought in a mare to check who looks like she is doing nothing and there she has a 4.0 follicle...so I've been the one asking for a collection a very short notice too.

For me its not too often I get late calls for collection and its almost like a challenge then to get it done anyway I can.

This is a competitive business and excellent service as a SO will start to build your reputation. As breeders we do appreciate the SO who goes that extra mile :-)