We have just released our Winter 2011/2012 Newsletter.  Please click here to view our newsletter

As of the 5th December, part of the recipient herd here at Twemlows were placed under lights this is to encourage them to come into season earlier than their natural cycle.

Breeders wishing for an early foal in 2013 can also do a little extra preparation to be ready for the stud season.
A mares reproductive activity is seasonally dependant; the natural breeding season lasts from early spring until late summer.  Ovulation in a mare over winter is minimal or absent and over the summer period is at it’s optimum.  Over the spring and autumn period the oestrus cycle can become irregular this is considered to be the transitional period.

Horses are known as “long-day breeders” this means that their normal cyclic activity is primarily activated by an increase in the length of daylight in early spring and secondly by an increase in temperature and a higher dietary profile.

Artificial lighting is used to advance the onset of the breeding season, and this is still the most reliable way.
Artificial light is added at the end of the day to provide a total of 14-16 hours of light daily, this results in your mare cycling 60 to 75 days later.  If you are wishing to start breeding with your mare in early February it is recommended that you start your light regime around early December.

The lighting in the stable must be bright enough to read a newspaper easily in every corner. Good stable lighting should be sufficent.

Twemlows Stud Farm would like to thank all delegates who attended the AI Technicians Course on the 23/24 November 2011.  The course once again received great feedback:

“Amazing – all sessions well presented and explained.  I have done other courses and not felt as relaxed or educated for a lot more money” – Jo Greenland

“Everything was very well explained and demonstrated.  Lectures were made interesting and weren’t to long.  Very enjoyable two days” – Mark Zipfel

If you are interested in attending the AI Technicians Course or any other training courses run here at Twemlows, please contact Liz Wilkinson on 01948 664966 or email: lizwilkinson@twemlows.co.uk.  To book a place on any of our courses please click here to be taken to the Booking Forms page.

We have just released our Summer 2011 Newsletter. Please click here to catch up on news and events at Twemlows Stud Farm.

Provisional course dates for AI Technicians, Foaling the Mare, and Foal and Yearling Management have been added to the website today.

AI Technicians

23rd & 24th November 2011

15th & 16th February 2012

7th & 8th March 2012

27th & 28th March 2012

Foaling the Mare

4th March 2012

31st March 2012

Foal & Yearling Management

1st April

You can find out more about the courses we run in the Training Courses pages.

We’ve had a busy week of courses here at Twemlows Stud Farm; Foaling the Mare on Saturday and Foal and Yearling Management on Sunday. Thank you to all involved for making it an interesting and informative couple of days.

We’re also running an AI Technicians training course this week; the penultimate course until after the stud season. Our final course (AI Technicians training) will be held on the 19th and 20th April. To find out more and to book one of the few remaining places please click here. Keep checking back for the next batch of course dates to be announced later in the year.

Course Feedback

“Well structured fantastic day” (Foaling the Mare)

“Really good course – I am a novice so all was relevant and delivered in a way I could follow easily” (Foaling the Mare)

“Excellent course and well worth coming from Scotland!” (Foaling the Mare)

“Fantastic, informative course. Thoroughly enjoyed it!” (Foaling the Mare)

“Fantastic course!” (Foal and Yearling Management)

“Very informative, a very good day” (Foal and Yearling Management)

“Very interesting day, thank you” (Foal and Yearling Management)

“Great course – well presented – thank you” (Foal and Yearling Management)

“Brilliant! Thoroughly enjoyed this one too! Such inspirational people!” (Foal and Yearling Management)

“An excellent, well run and extremely factual course. Thoroughly enjoyed it thank you to all!” (AI Technician Training course)

“Thank you fo a great couple of days, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Would highly recommend to others”  (AI Technician Training course)

“Excellent lectures – relevant and engaging” (AI Technician Training course)

“Throughly enjoyable , beneficial, professional and friendly. Would recommend to anyone” (AI Technician Training course)

For further information about the courses we run please click here.

Now is the time to think about your mare foaling  and to decide whether to foal her at home or send her to a professional stud.

Foaling at home is an exciting time for any mare owner but can be stressful, time consuming and along with a lack of sleep not the right thing for everyone if juggling with a full time job.  At Twemlows Hall we run foaling courses to  assist owners wanting to foal mares at home with what to expect at foaling time so they know what is normal and when problems may arise and how to deal with the situation.

Twemlows Stud Farm also offers a  foaling service and has fully equipped foaling boxes with cameras and foaling alarms, as well as on site qualified staff.

If you are thinking of taking your mare for foaling to aprofessional stud, it is recommended that she arrives  three weeks before the due date. This will help her to settle into her new daily and nightly routine and environment.

Sandford Ruby - Successful ET Donor mare

We were delighted to have a visit in September of members of the Suffolk Horse Society. We have always had an interest in rare breeds at Twemlows Hall and last Christmas Richard     Matson gave his wife a two year old Suffolk filly. She is now in foal to Whatton Albert but on the way to achieving that we learned that hardly any Suffolk semen is available for AI. The only frozen semen from our first choice of stallion was not successful and we had to turn the clock back and take the mare to Nottingham where Albert resides on a top class thoroughbred stud.

There have been some problems with breeding pure bred Suffolks possibly due to the closely connected bloodlines; some mares have difficulty in maintaining a pregnancy and one such mare came here for embryo transfer and the largest mare in our herd of recipients is now carrying a pure Suffolk foal. We keep our fingers crossed that all goes well. We believe it will be a “first” for the Suffolk breed.

The members of the Suffolk Society showed great interest, and many of them incredulity, at the attention to detail that we go to obtain a pregnancy in problem mares. Noelle Lowry MRCVS  our resident vet at Twemlows Stud Farm, Tullis Matson and Ben Ryder-Davies MRCVS all gave talks on aspects of equine reproduction and the members went away with much food for thought.

In 2006 when we were launching our Embryo Transfer (ET) service, we felt it was a good opportunity to publicise the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) slogan “Breeding from the Best to Produce the Best”. The problem with breeding from top competition mares is that when they are at their optimum age for breeding, they are required to fulfil a competitive career which cannot accommodate carrying or nurturing a foal. ET was the way forward and in order to publicise this we launched a series of scholarships for mares to breed during their competitive career at very little cost other than the stud fee.

Our first “Scholar” was Headley Britannia who won Burghley in 2006. The day after she won Badminton the following year she was here for AI to the stallion, Jaguar Mail, which along with a subsequent visit resulted in the birth in 2008 of two foals. They were  born during her build up to winning a silver medal at the Hong Kong Olympics the same year.

Subsequently Little Tiger (2008) and King’s Temptress (2009) have won scholarships at Burghley Horse Trials and been guests at    Twemlows Hall. This year it was the turn of Be My Guest II, ridden by Clayton Fredericks to win the award in September.

For showjumping, based on the year end BSJA National Rankings, Fresh Direct Corlato ridden by Tim Stockdale (2007), Insul Tech Wonami Van Den Aard ridden by Michael Whitaker (2008) and Limelight De Breve ridden by Laura Renwick (2009) have all won two embryo scholarships each.

We were very keen to support a brave new and local initiative on the showjumping scene, Bolesworth Show Jumping Classic in Cheshire. We introduced a single embryo scholarship there in 2009  which was won by Soliegette ridden by Vicky Tulloch and this year it was won by Charlett ridden by Thomas Whitaker.

As the progeny grow we are going to have many horses to follow and it is going to be fascinating to see just how successful one can be   when breeding from the Best to produce the Best.