give my mare a shot to go into heat?
 

Last Wednesday I brought my mare to a guy's house to get her bred... well it's been 4 days and she has not came into heat yet.. she was supposed to come into heat 3 day's ago... The guy that owns the stud said that we can call the vet & they can give her a shot so she goes into heat... DOES anyone know anything about this? Is it safe? How much does it cost? I plan on calling the vet tomorrow morning...

NOTE: my mare is 21 yrs

Thanks

You can but I'd give her a couple of days to settle in first. New environment, new neighbors, stress from trailering.... She's only a day late and she might actually be in but she's not showing. She needs to be palpated first.

How do you know she was supposed to be in heat? Did you have a vet perform a repro exam?

Horses arnt always 21 days between I have had one that would be 3-4 days off some months. The shot works but i would give it in the middle of the cycle not right before she goes in.

My mare wasw a week late on her natural heat and she was given the shot but it never worked on her. If she should be coming in soon then id just wait with her. One or two days over is nothing to fret about.

I'm a bit confused... if you took her to a stud to be bred, why would you want her in heat? I thought the shot was more or less to abort from an accidental/unwanted breeding?

Well prostaglandin can be used to abort or re-start the cycle, but it can also be used to bring the uterus into heat if there is folicular growth and the uterus is not in heat, there is no point breeding to a large folical if the uterus is not in heat.

Ah - there are many types of shots.


Here is a good article on short cycling a mare:

The Horse | Short Cycling Mares

So based on this information it seems this is used in AI or very early in the season. So why the need for it now in the middle of the year and since she's at the stud? I guess I'm wondering why the need for extra drugs when there is no urgent reason?
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This is getting to be the end of the season in Minnesota. Ideally want a foal on the ground before mid June. Heat/bugs. REALLY late in Texas (where the OP is from) where they foal from March - May to beat the bad heat.

Also mare care at a stud farm can add up quickly.