Equine Reproductive Services UK

05/09/2025

🐴 Futurity 2025 🐴

We were delighted to attend Futurity on the 27th August to celebrate the future of British sport horse breeding at Team Hayler’s immaculate homebase

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and fabulous results!

Special congratulations to our clients that achieved ⭐️ Elite Status ⭐️ with their youngstock, an amazing achievement

🏆 Julia Hodkin of Future Sport Horses with Future Iridescence (Chaccothage Blue x Iniki), a c**t foal presented for eventing (pictured)

🏆 Virginia Clegg and David Kilduff with their yearling gelding Joyful TickTock (Timolin x Opposition Angel Two), presented for eventing (pictured)

🏆 Paul Hayler with FJ Dallara (Durable x Fantine), a filly foal presented for dressage

Congratulations also to Flick Haigh of Designed4Dressage, who put forward a selection of her sports ponies; presented by Barrowby Stud and Connemaras for grading for the Sport Pony Studbook Society (SPSS)

🏆 Two stunning stallions, Designed To Dazzle and Designed To Dominate, were accepted and received their stallion licenses

🏆 The lovely broodmare, Designed To Shine, was accepted into the Head Studbook and her foal at foot by FS Next Diamond was awarded ⭐️ Gold Premium ⭐️ in the SPSS youngstock evaluation

🏆 The 2-year-old filly named Designed to Dream (pictured), also out of Designed To Shine, seriously impressed and was also entered into the Head Studbook and achieved ⭐️ Gold Premium ⭐️ in the SPSS youngstock evaluation

And finally! Thank you to everyone who entered our ‘guess the number of foals in the jar’ challenge for a chance to win a free chilled breeding scheme with us in 2026.. and the winner is…

🥇Frankie Hirst of Stud and Connemaras🥇Well done Frankie, you got it spot on!

Credit to Davis Photography

01/04/2025

A huge congratulations to our amazing sponsored rider, Eleanor Clark, for winning at The Badsworth & Bramham York South Point to Point 🎉🐎

Your hard work, dedication, and relentless drive have led to this incredible win, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of your journey. Here’s to many more victories and memories made along the way!

18/11/2024

❄️𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿❄️

29/10/2024

We are so happy to support this great competition, Well done to all competitors a fantastic day.

01/08/2024

Our phone system and internet is currently down, please only call for an emergency as we only have one phone line working. Please email us on office@ersvet.co.uk if your enquiry is not urgent.

We appreciate your patience!

15/06/2024

Massive Congratulations to Louis Pern winning the Macmillan Ride of their lives at York Races!
A massive amount of money raised for such a great cause!

17/05/2024

21/03/2024

13/03/2024

𝙋𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨

If you are in any doubt, speak to one of our veterinary team!

🔸️𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝟮𝟰/𝟳 𝗼𝗻 𝟬𝟭𝟲𝟱𝟯 𝟲𝟲𝟴𝟭𝟵𝟬🔸️

01/03/2024

𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗴𝗚)

As discussed in our previous post ‘The importance of IgG testing in newborn foals’; at birth foals have no antibodies of their own and must consume an adequate amount of good quality colostrum to receive these antibodies from their dam. A foal does not develop their own immunity until approximately 3 months of age, so it is essential that this transfer of antibodies from mare to foal takes place. The foal is only able to absorb antibodies through their gut up to 24 hours of age, with maximal absorption taking place up to 12 hours after birth.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺?

Colostrum the nutrient rich ‘first milk’, produced by the mare for up to 24 hours after giving birth. Good quality colostrum contains lots of ‘Immunoglobulin G (IgG)’ that the foal needs to be protected from infection in the first 3 months of life.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺 𝗶𝘀?

It is easy and quick to test the quality of a mare’s colostrum and this can be done at home by owners. Any of our vets or nurses would be happy to demonstrate how to measure colostrum quality.

𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁:

🔸️ BRIX refractometer (readily available online)
🔸️ Distilled water
🔸 ️Small sample (2/3 drops) of mare’s colostrum

The BRIX refractometer measures the % of solids (which roughly equates to immunoglobulins) in the colostrum. It should first be calibrated to zero using distilled water. 2/3 drops of colostrum gently stripped from the mare (just after foaling) can then be assessed.

𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆:

🔸️Excellent = >30%
🔸️Good = >25%
🔸️Average = 20-25%
🔸️Less than ideal = 10-20% (with 10-15% representing normal milk)

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺?

If a mare ‘runs milk’ prior to foaling, she is likely to lose her colostrum. This can also be indicative of other issues so we would advise these mares are brought to our attention.

If the mare’s nutrition is inadequate in her final trimester, the quality of her colostrum can potentially be reduced.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗺?

Don’t panic! We’re here to guide you.

We recommend all foal’s have a blood sample to check their IgG regardless of the mare’s status.

In cases where we know the colostrum has been of less than ideal quality, several options are available:

🔸️ Stomach tube or bottle feed with good quality frozen colostrum taken from a donor mare (before 12 hours of age)
o But it can be challenging get hold of!
o We DO NOT recommend using synthetic. colostrum formulas

🔸️ If the foal’s IgG levels are shown to be low, a plasma transfusion is recommended (please see previous post)

27/02/2024

A complete equine semen importation service from more than 45 studs in 10 countries. Elite Stallions has sought to find the best of the elite stallions in Europe both for dressage, eventing and show jumping.

26/02/2024

𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙋𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙮

Poppy joined us in January as an apprentice Equine Veterinary Nurse. Originally from East Yorkshire, Poppy has grown up around horses from a young age. She now owns Shane, the cheeky 8 year old Irish Draught pictured here with Poppy, who she competes on weekends. When not with Shane, she can be found out with her Jack Russell, Blossom!

Equine Reproductive Services is now accredited as a training practice for Equine Veterinary Nurses. We are very excited that Poppy is our first apprentice to join us, having done work experience with us in the past. Her training with us is undertaken over 36 months, so we are sure she will become a familiar face to many of you and your horses whilst out and about with our vets!