view - Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics and Herd Health

CHAPTER 5.1
treatment strategy for endometritis, semen handling and so on will also interfere with the final
fertility. In this thesis, the focus was partially on the quality of the semen and how it can be assessed
(stallion factor influenced by management), and partially on preparation of AI doses (management
factor influenced by the stallion and his initial semen quality).
Fig. 4. Schematic presentation of the different factors affecting equine fertility. The proportions of
the different factors are arbitrary. However, note how semen quality (in green as determined
by the stallion) is influenced by management when performing the analysis (pink border).
Vice versa, semen handing to prepare the AI doses is influenced by the initial sperm quality
(smaller volumes of highly concentrated semen are easier to process).
The influence of “management” on determination of the sperm quality should be minimal
and standardized, facilitating comparison. Correct analysis of the semen will also point out the
weaknesses in the semen preparation more rapidly, which will result in increased sperm
management. This will be discussed in the next section, where we evaluated the effect of
centrifugation on semen quality in horses.
Mare
Management
Semen handling
Semen quality
Stallion
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