Embryo Transfer

Our reproduction vet Greg Staniek BVMS MRCVS has together with John Newcombe BvetMed MRCVS run an embryo transfer service for 10 years. They have extensive experience with this exciting procedure and have throughout the years worked out a routine that has proved to be very successful with more than 75% pregnancies from transferred embryos. From 2008 we are proud to offer the service at Home Farm Stud.

What is Embryo Transfer?

Embryo transfer is taking an approximately 7 day old embryo from one mare (the “Donor”) and placing it into the uterus of another mare ( the “Recipient”). The recipient mare will then carry the pregnancy to term and mother the foal until weaning. The donor mare, who no longer is pregnant, will be free to be bred again or continue competing.

Why consider Embryo transfer?

• You can have more than one foal from a top mare in one breeding season (subject to Stud book and Breed society regulations).
• A valuable competition mare can continue competing and still produce foals every year.
• Embryo Transfer allows mares with problems that would prevent them carrying a foal to term (e.g. age related uterine degeneration, injuries) to produce foals each year.
• Recipient mares available for hire

What is involved with Embryo Transfer?

The Donor mare will be inseminated or bred as if she was to carry the pregnancy with the exception that the precise time of ovulation is established by regular ultrasound examination of her ovaries.

The Recipient mare can be one of your own mares or a mare from the Home Farm Stud’s pool of recipient mares. She must be at the same stage of her reproductive cycle as the Donor mare (ovulated within two days of the Donor mare’s ovulation).

Approximately seven days after the time of the Donor’s ovulation both the Donor and the Recipient must be present at or brought to the Stud. There the uterus of the donor mare will be flushed out using a special embryo flushing medium. This flushing medium is recovered from the uterus, filtered and examined under the microscope for the embryo.

Once found, the embryo is checked for normality, specially prepared by washing and then transferred to the uterus of the Recipient.

The Recipient mare can then be scanned 6-7 days after the procedure to confirm pregnancy and if she still is pregnant further routine scans will be performed in order to check for a normal development of the pregnancy.

For further information please contact:

The Stud Manager on 07879 422 444 or Greg Staniek at Bourton Vale Equine Clinic on telephone 01451 820137 or his mobile phone 07836 700728