Early demise due to illness or injury can shorten a mare’s reproductive career. Additionally, subfertility can also have a negative impact on a mare’s ability to produce a foal. There have been a multitude of advances in the past 20 years that have allowed for the preservation of genetics in mares. Techniques such as transvaginal ultrasound-guided oocyte aspiration (TVA) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) have allowed us to produce embryos in vitro, circumvent subfertility in mares, and preserve genetics from mares that have died.

Nestled along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail in Shelbyville, KY is Cerulean Farm owned by Jeanette Aumon.  She has been breeding horses for 21 years with a mission to restore the best quality of original breed standard, type, conformation, athleticism and temperament of select national foundation horses.  She also strives to be the source of world-class horses specialized to excel in all disciplines suitable for both the professional and amateur rider.   

Paul Loomis’ vision of creating a company dedicated to the responsible development of the equine frozen semen industry has taken several creative turns.  Most notably are his first partnership in a facility in Texas and the implementation of the SBS Affiliate Laboratory Network which is celebrating its 20^th Anniversary this year.  Formerly incorporated in 1987, Select Breeders Services, LLC (SBS) has grown into an internationally recognized leader in the industry of processing, storing and distributing equine frozen semen. 

In our January 2020 E-newsletter, we introduced the first of a four part series of videos about "Frozen Semen for Mare Owners".  Part 4 of this series covers the topic of "What is Flow Cytometry?" (click video to left or link below to watch).  In this video, Paul Loomis explains the process of flow cytometry and what the data tells us about the sample.  Links for all four videos and the six additional "quick tip" videos are listed below.