04/20/2016
Well, it's not looking promising. I haven't heard from her this morning but I talked with the Vet yesterday for some time. And we're having a few breeding challenges:
1. Tight cervix.
2. Over-exaggerated cloudy fluid-accumulation reaction to the s***matozoa.
3. Failure to self-clear the fluids from the uterus.
4. Multiple ovulations in a cycle.
5. Weak Corpus Luteum (I've asked the vet this morning to update me on the state of her CL through all this, just out of morbid curiosity, since we haven't discussed it since the day of insemination. )
Here's the rundown so far for those who give a hoot: Sapphire was only bred with a single .5cc straw on Sunday morning (4/17/16, not on Friday like I mistakenly thought). She was not even bred with a full dose (which is four, 0.5cc straws) so we could see how she would react to the AI. Needless to say, it has been a terrible reaction.
My Vet is having to heavily sedate Sapphire so she can dilate her cervix and perform a saline uterine lavage and a uterine massage to expel all the fluids. And then Sapphire just fills back up again. I haven't heard the results of today's examination to see if she stayed clear after yesterday's sessions. Fluid accumulation with older mares isn't terribly unusual, but Sapphire's over-exaggeration of fluids and it's cloudy tint is concerning and unusual in my vet's experience.
To make matters worse, Sapphire released another follicle (egg) yesterday which of course now means she's ovulated twice in this cycle and it looks like she has two more eggs of mature size that may be released soon as well! WHO DOES THIS?! Doesn't Sapphire know she's only supposed to ovulate once per cycle?! LOL!
Anyway, as soon as the vet gets this fluid accumulation under control, then Sapphire will come home and the Vet will re-check her at Day 18; which if the day of insemination (Sunday) is Day 0 and today is Day 3 (post insemination), then we should know the outcome of this drama on May 5.
Although the plan to check at Day 18 seemed late to me, (from what I had read prior I thought it would be Day 14 or 15)... I have no horse breeding experience so I follow the lead of my Equine Reproduction Vet (who is working her heart out for us, let me add). I sense that the general feeling is that the breeding won't take and this Day 18 follow-up is more to check her next cycle. The vet says she wants to see if her next cycle will normalize or if she's just has abnormal cycles as a rule and then we won't try breeding again if that's the case.
Of course, Murphy's Law says that not only will she take with a single .5cc straw despite all this headache Sapphire is giving us, but due to multiple ovulations, there will be twins and It will be a tough job to try to pinch off a twin (for the safety of the horse and foals, it's best practice to "pinch off" a twin early in the pregnancy so that you don't risk losing the mare and both foals). Lol, but now I'm just being morose.
I'm feeling Pretty Sad today because all of this stuff happening is not very promising for hopes of an eventual conception and my Sapphire is such a wonderful horse... Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. I would have loved to have her offspring. But some things aren't meant to be, I guess. Or maybe it'll happen and it's too early to make any generalizations. I don't know. But it sure doesn't seem promising. Here's a pic of the fluid that pours out of her, if you're interested.
