Stallion Semen Tests: Which to Use and What Do They Mean?

Learn what different semen evaluations can tell veterinarians about a stallion’s fertility.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Because breeding is a business, having a veterinarian evaluate your stallion’s semen to determine his fertility (or lack thereof) is a key component of a breeding soundness examination. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse

Because breeding is a business, having a veterinarian evaluate your stallion’s semen to determine his fertility (or lack thereof) is a key component of a breeding soundness examination. But semen evaluations are not always black and white, and there are many types of tests your veterinarian can perform. So at the 2013 Society for Theriogenology Conference, held Aug. 7-10 in Louisville, Ky., Dickson Varner, DVM, Dipl. ACT, professor and Pin Oak Stud Chair of Stallion Reproductive Studies at Texas A&M University, walked attendees through the tests he would use to evaluate semen.

Although most of these tests haven’t changed in recent years, Varner said they were worth reviewing, as “there are a lot of tests we currently perform that we might not be doing correctly, or the people we’re overseeing at the farms aren’t doing correctly

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Alexandra Beckstett, a native of Houston, Texas, is a lifelong horse owner who has shown successfully on the national hunter/jumper circuit and dabbled in hunter breeding. After graduating from Duke University, she joined Blood-Horse Publications as assistant editor of its book division, Eclipse Press, before joining The Horse. She was the managing editor of The Horse for nearly 14 years and is now editorial director of EquiManagement and My New Horse, sister publications of The Horse.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
285 votes · 285 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!