I am interested in Embryo Transfer, what is the procedure and what are the chances of having a foal? Who supplies the recipient mare?
Embryo Transfer although more common place today is still somewhat a mystery to many people. It is the process of taking a fertilized egg from the donor mare and placing it in a recipient mare, so she may carry it to term and have a live foal. There are many reasons to perform embryo transfer but the most common are the donor mare cannot carry a foal to term without a high risk to herself or the fetus, the mare needs to continue to show but a foal is desired at the same time and more than one foal a year is desired from the mare. The chances of sucess depend on the ability to obtain and embryo (about 50%) and the ability of the recipient to recognize the pregnancy and carry it to term (about 70%). The recipient mare can be supplied either by the owner of the donor mare or by the embryo transfer facility. We have our own herd of closely screened recipient mares for both in house and shipped embryos.
