Stud Facilities & Services

We can arrange for your mare to be naturally covered by a stallion of your choice at The Colony Stud. This could be one of The Colony Stud stallions, or another - we can help to make all the necessary arrangements with your chosen stallion’s stud. 

Traditionally, when a mare comes into season she is covered every other day until she goes out of season. Alternatively for some mares, it may be preferable for the vet to examine her and determine the optimum time of covering.

We offer a unique, professional trying area which ensures the safety of your horse, the stallion and handlers safety at all times.

There are other options such as Artificial Insemination; this is a specialised process so please get in touch with us for some more information.

Fees:

Pure Suffolk Mare: £450

Other breed of Mare: £350

You may bring your mare to our Stud for foaling. We recommend you bring the mare to us at least 4 weeks before the expected foaling date to allow her to become well-settled.

We offer secure stabling for visiting mares and foals, including five extra-large foaling units, each with CCTV to enable 24/7 live monitoring, and an experienced team of grooms.

Fees: £300

Once your foal has been born and the mare and foal have recovered from foaling, we regularly handle the foal to train it to get used to being led and having its feet picked up. 

Regularly handling while the foal remains at The Colony Stud will help to make the foal easier to handle when you take the mare and foal home.

Fee: £25 per week

As we usually have groups of similar aged foals, we can offer to wean the foal from the mare before they return home. Alternatively, we can take-in foals specifically for weaning.

In addition to livery for breeding services, we also offer general livery services for Suffolk Punch horses and Suffolk cross-bred horses, or other breeds by arrangement.

Fees:

Stabled £17 per day

At Grass £12 per day

We can take-in mares for breeding by natural cover.

A Mare's Cycle

Timing is crucial to successful breeding. A mare releases an egg (ovulates) every 18 – 24 days (a process called cycling). Each egg forms inside the ovary in a structure known as a follicle. 

A mare is in season (oestrus) for 5 – 7 days, and is then out of season (dioetrus) for 14 – 15 days. 

During a mare’s season, follicle growth coincides with an increase in the fluid (oedma) within the lining of the mare’s uterus.

When the follicle reaches a key size (usually over 50mm in Suffolk mares), an ovulation-inducing drug can be administered. A mare should then ovulate within 24 – 48 hours, which is the window of time within which the mare should be presented to a stallion (natural cover).

Stress

Mares are more likely to conceive if they are not stressed and well-settled into the breeding environment. 

We recommend bringing a mare for breeding to The Colony Stud at least a few days before breeding. Maiden mares or mares prone to stress may need longer to become settled.

Health

Mares for breeding will need to need to meet the following additional health requirements:

• Equine viral arteritis (EVA) and equine infectious anaemia (EIA) - a negative blood test taken after 1st January of the current year

• Contagious equine metritis (CEM) – a negative clitoral swab taken after 1st January of the current year

Ultrasound

A mare may have routine rectal ultrasound scans pre- and post-covering or insemination.

A mare will have a first pregnancy scan at 15-16 days from insemination or the last covering, and an in-foal heartbeat scan at around 28 days. We recommend that the mare stays at The Colony Stud at least until this scan. 

A further scan at around 42 days can also be performed at the owner’s discretion.