Procedures are entered to Ardex via Main > Procedures - see the ‘Recording Procedures in Ardex’ user guide for further information. There are a number of system procedures that are essential to managing horse breeding in Ardex, and users need to understand what changes these procedures bring about in horse breeding records when processed.
It is very important that breeding procedures are recorded in chronological order (oldest to newest), this issue will be addressed in detail later in this guide.
Breeding Procedures in Ardex
You will note that data entry fields available in the procedures screen change depending on which breeding procedure you select for recording.
Mare Served
The Mare Served procedure allows for entry of a date and time of service (mating). No other information is required although it is common to set a worksheet reminder that a pregnancy scan will need to be done after a certain number of days.
The system takes information regarding the stallion performing the service from the Bookings screen. If no stallion booking has been entered for the mare for the current breeding season, an error message will display and the service will not record.
Recording the Mare Served procedure creates a Service Details entry and a Breeding History entry on the horse record. The significance of these entries is addressed later in this guide.
Scan Positive
The Scan Positive procedure requires no information to be entered other than date of scan, although it is common to enter some comments which will appear on the positive scan advice, which will normally be sent to the horse owners by e-mail or mail to confirm pregnancy.
Normally a horse breeder will have the following pregnancy scan procedures available for recording in Ardex (procedure names may vary from business to business):
Final Scan Positive
Also known as Pregnancy Test Positive, this is normally the third and final scan performed to confirm that a mare is ‘in foal’ (pregnant) and therefore due to give birth on a certain date (due date). This scan is normally done 45 days after service.
In the examples above the pregnancy has progressed well with all scans positive, resulting in the Mare being recognised as in foal, with a projected due date. In the case where one or more scans return negative results the service details and breeding history for the Mare will reflect this.
Final Scan Positive – Last Season
If you find yourself in the situation where the breeding season has finished and you forgot to record positive scan procedures on a Mare that was served last season, then when you try to record the Mare Foaled procedure the system will return an error that the mare is not ‘in foal’ (and therefore can’t give birth).
In this case the ‘Final Scan Positive – Last Season’ will change the breeding status of the mare to ‘in foal’ so that the ‘Mare Foaled’ procedure can be recorded, and a foal generated in the system. If you keep your breeding procedure entry up to date, you shouldn’t need this procedure.
Mare Slipped
Use this procedure if a Mare has been recognised as ‘in foal’ - all scans and tests positive - then the pregnancy miscarries or is terminated. This will reverse the ‘in foal’ breeding status and remove the foal due date. The mare will then cease to display on a number of foaling related reports.
Mare Barren
This procedure removes a Mare from the list of mares to be served by a Stallion for the current season only (does not create a permanent barren status for the mare). Normally if a number of services (coverings) have already taken place and the Mare has failed to become pregnant, then a decision may be made to not try again, and the Mare Barren procedure recorded.
Mare Foaled
This procedure is recorded on birth of a foal. The procedure automatically generates a ‘Born’ system procedure in the background, and a new horse record is created in Ardex to represent the foal. The foal is considered to be a ‘Foal at Foot’ and when the Mare changes location, the foal will automatically move with her.
The Mare Foaled procedure requires that the colour and sex of the foal be recorded, and an agistment status must be selected for the Mare (normally Foal at Foot agistment).
When the Mare Foaled procedure is recorded, a procedure ‘Born’ will automatically be recorded at the same time. This procedure creates the foal in your database.
After recording Mare Foaled, if you go to Main > Horses and click Refresh you should be able to find the mare and foal on the horses list. The date of birth for the foal will be the date the Mare Foaled procedure was recorded.
Breeding Summary Update
If you go to Main > Horses and double click the Mare, you can now see details of the foal born in the Breeding Summary area of the main horse information screen. The Mare Foaled procedure actually brings about changes in many areas of the application and effects a number of reports.
Foal Horse Record
If you go to Main > Horses and double click the foal you will see that the Sire and Dam are recorded, sex, colour and date of birth. The Foal will be set to the same property and paddock as the Mare and will be considered a Foal at Foot which means the foal will move with the Mare automatically from one property to another until it is weaned.
The Foal name will default to Dam / Sire (or Sire / Dam) depending on your database preferences, until the horse is named.
Foal Weaned
Record the Foal Weaned procedure once the Foal no longer needs daily milk from the Mare, and can feed independently. Once Foal Weaned is recorded, the foal agistment status can be updated and the foal can be moved from one paddock to another independently of the Mare.
Mare – Foster Mare
The Foster Mare procedure is used where a foal is attached to and raised by a Mare other than its mother. This may be due to illness of the mother, or an inability to produce milk, or for other reasons. The Foal becomes a Foal at Foot to the Mare selected for the procedure and moves with the Mare from property to property until Foal Weaned is performed.
In the Procedures screen enter the name of the Foal and select procedure Mare - Foster Mare. When you click Add you will be asked to select a Mare to adopt the foal, and to set an agistment status for the Foal (normally Foal at Foot).
