Leea K. Arnold, DVM

06/27/2024

06/28/2023

Update: the main phone line has been repaired. Thanks, again, for your patience!

Good morning.

Once again, we are having phone issues with our main number. You can reach us by calling 817-594-1107. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you.

05/24/2023

Update: phone service has been restored. Thank you foe your patience.

We are experiencing a problem receiving and making phone calls this morning; however, we can still receive text messages at 817-594-6900.

03/24/2023

UPDATE (3/25): OUR PHONE LINE HAS BEEN REPAIRED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

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3/24: Our main office phone line is not working for receiving calls, however, you can still text us at 817-594-6900. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Hopefully, the line will be repaired by the end of day tomorrow. (Saturday 3/25)

12/11/2022

The last woman to win the NCHA Futurity was in 2000... Tonight, Lindy Thorn riding Phil N Dangerous for owner Misty Greeson made history!

This incredible team marked a smoking 228 to claim the Open championship during the Metallic Cat 2022 NCHA World Championship Futurity! Congratulations on an unforgettable win!

📸 Video West Productions

11/17/2022

2023 BREEDING CONTRACTS NOW AVAILABLE!

$2,000 stallion fee (includes the $675 farm fee)

SWEET LIL PEPTO is an on-site only breeding stallion. Standing at 360 Leea Ln., Weatherford, Texas.

Sweet Lil Pepto (Peptoboonsmal x Sweet Lil Lena) is an amazing outcross to all Cat mares. He is 5 panel negative and nominated to the Super Stakes and Breeders Invitational. With LTE of $237k, produce earnings over $6 million, an impeccable pedigree and a breeding fee at great price, you can't go wrong breeding to this stallion!

To book, please contact us at (817) 594-6900 or email [email protected] for more information.

11/15/2022

‼️ Reminder:

It is time to start lighting your mares to begin breeding in February. Horses need approximately 60 to 70 days of artificial photoperiod to begin ovulating. 💡💡💡

Please give us a call if you have any questions about lighting management practices. We are excited to work with your mares for the 2023 Breeding Season.

See you soon! 🐴

11/11/2022

Happy Veterans Day! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Thank you to all the men and women, past and present, for your selfless sacrifice and service to our nation.

For keeping freedom alive, thank you veterans!

🎨: "The All American Cowboy" painting by Randy Follis

09/30/2022

One management practice here at The Arnold Reproduction Center that cannot be emphasized enough is lighting your mares. The decrease of darkness during springtime increases follicular activity in horses. To artificially induce ovulation to begin breeding in February, approximately 60 to 70 days of photoperiod is needed (Patrick McCue, DVM). To achieve this, mares should be put under lights starting the middle of November. 💡💡💡

Lights should be on at 7:00 am and turned off at 11:00 pm allowing for 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. It is recommended that a mare be under ’10 foot-candles or more of artificial light’ which can be done in a 12ft-by-12ft stall using a 200-watt iridescent lightbulb. A newspaper should be able to be read in the darkest corner of the stall. Be aware that if your mare in not locked in the stall starting in the afternoon and is moving about to an outside run, this artificial lighting stimulation will be insufficient. Your mares should be kept in this lighting situation until she is confirmed in foal.

08/26/2022

Have a great weekend 😎

08/23/2022

Have You Herd?

One of the oldest mares on record to give birth lived in Australia; she was 42 years old! Even though mares can become pregnant and foal at 20 years of age or older, reproductive potential starts to decline around 15 years of age (Patrick M. McCue, DVM).

Older mares usually develop follicles at a slower growing rate. Because of this, delays are seen to affect the first ovulation of the year and the time between cycles. Younger mares, on average, will ovulate 2 weeks earlier than older mares and the inter-ovulatory interval (the time between cycles) is 4 to 5 days shorter than older mares. Breeding old mares can be a challenging and expensive process because chances of ovulation failure increases. 13% of estrous cycles in mares 15 years of age or older are observed to fail (McCue).

Decreased fertility is a normal and predictable event that occurs in older mares. To have a successful breeding program with old mares requires adjusting management practices, a good nutrition program, and choosing a fertile stallion. Talk with your veterinarian for techniques and breeding management plans to optimize success in your mares.

08/16/2022

Have You Herd?

“My foal was born completely white with blue eyes! Is this normal?”. Some breeds of horses will produce foals with white markings or will be completely white; these foals are sometimes seen to have OLWS. What is OLWS you might ask? “Overo Lethal White Syndrome” is a genetic mutation resulting in underdeveloped intestines in foals. These foals seem to be normal at birth besides their unique coat and eye color, but eventually will become colicky due to the inability to pass f***s. Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this condition and euthanasia is recommended for these foals.

It is important to note that not every white foal or horses with white marking have OLWS. They may have another white coat color gene or are a carrier of OLWS. Overos, particularly framed overos, have the greatest risk of carrying the OLWS gene at over 94 percent (Nichol Shultz, DVM and Molly McCue, DVM of the University of Minnesota Extension). Horses bred from an overo linage that do not have white markings themselves are sometimes seen to carry the gene. Which breeds does this occur in?

♞ American Paint Horses
♞ American Miniature Horses
♞ Half-Arabians
♞ Thoroughbreds
♞ Quarter Horses with a lot of white markings

It is advised that frame overos and descendants of these horses be genetically tested for this gene. Carriers should not be bred to each other.

Photo 1: horse with frame overo coat pattern; UC Davis Veterinary Medicine

Photo 2: University of Minnesota Extension

08/09/2022

Have You Herd?

A mule and a mule are not seen to produce a mule foal, but a female horse and a male donkey produce a mule. How can this be? Mules have an odd number of chromosomes making them infertile. Because of this odd number of chromosomes, they are unable to perform meiosis to create viable gametes: eggs and s***m. This is likely to occur in stage 1 of meiosis due to the mismatching of horse and donkey chromosomes. The DNA pairs do not match which means the rest of the meiosis process cannot occur. A horse has 64 chromosomes, and a donkey has 62. During this mating, a mule receives 32 chromosomes from the horse and 31 from the donkey allowing for 63 chromosomes. Throughout history, there have been cases where mules have reproduced, but by and large, they are infertile. There are other interspecific hybrid animals within the Equus genus that are not able to reproduce like the hinny (female donkey x male horse), zeedonk (zebra x donkey), and a zorse (zebra x horse).

Here is an article of a documented mule foal: https://www.npr.org/2007/07/26/12260255/befuddling-birth-the-case-of-the-mules-foal

Photo: ScienceABC

08/05/2022

Has this happened to y'all?!

Have a great weekend!

08/01/2022

Have You Herd?

Foals are born with slippers! Well, not actual slippers, but they sure do look like alien feet. These finger-like projections that you might see on your newborn foal’s feet are nothing to be alarmed about. Foals are born with soft, rubbery hooves that are very important in preventing tears to the dam’s birth canal during parturition. These deciduous (able to fall off) hoof capsules are called eponychium [ep-uh-nik-ee-uh m]. Once the air hits the foal’s hooves and they stand up and start moving about, these will fall off and the hooves will begin to harden. Other names some may have heard these being called: “fairy fingers”, “fairy slippers”, or “golden slippers”.

Photo: Department for horses, Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Zurich

08/01/2022

Customized Gunner x Starjac Vintage
Grade 2 - 8 day embryo
Nonie Casselman-Reed

07/26/2022

Have You Herd?

In Cremona, Italy on May 28, 2003, the first cloned horse was born. They call her “Prometea” and she was born to her genetically identical Haflinger dam. She was named after the Greek mythological figure, Prometheus. Even though the first equine clone, a mule by the name of “Idaho Gem” was born earlier in 2003, Prometea is considered the first clone to be carried by her twin mother. Skin cells were cultured from the Haflinger mare to create the genetic double. These cells were then fused to oocytes that had no nucleus. Over 800 embryos were created, but only 14 female and 8 male embryos were viable after the seven-day culture. Numerous embryos were transferred into recipient mares, but only one survived to term: Prometea.

Image credit: National Geographic and Toronto Star

07/25/2022

Hay U x Metallic Rebel
Grade 1 - 8 day embryo
Kade Smith

07/22/2022

There are two strains of bacteria that are commonly seen in the mare’s uterus: Streptococcus equi (zooepidemicus species) and Escherichia coli. Infection from these microorganisms usually is caused by f***l debris and/or ge***al flora that is pulled in by faulty uterine protection (cervical incompetence) and poor reproductive conformation in the perineal area.

On the other hand, there are many mares that develop an irritation from stallion semen. This is a normal physiological response when introducing semen into the uterine environment. Uterine contractions occur 24 to 48 hours after breeding to aid in the removal of anti-inflammatory cells.

On occasion, mares will need help in expelling fluid. If the retained fluid is not removed, a harsh environment is present for an embryo. It is believed that repeated episodes of fluid build-up and introduction of foreign bodies can create chronic endometritis; being a severe inflammation of the endometrium, or the uterus lining. What are some preventative measures to minimis uterine irritation from developing into a chronic endometritis state?

♞ To assist in decreasing post-breeding induced endometritis, a uterine lavage can be done to flush fluid and remove neutrophils (the immune system’s white blood cells that respond to infection and indicators of inflammation in horses).

♞ Most often, a Caslick’s operation, or vulvoplasty, can be done on the upper part of a mare’s vulvar lips to decrease the introduction of f***l matter. This procedure is done on mares that have a tilted vulvar conformation which catches f***l droppings.

Although there have been years of research on acute and chronic equine endometritis, the exact cause is still unknown. It is important to understand measures to keep mares reproductively sound to have the highest chance to produce foals.

Have a great Friday!

07/21/2022

Fueled With Dinero x Eddie Stinson - Stallion
Grade 1 - 8 day embryo
Alyssa Urbanek

07/19/2022

Ms Mimosa x Metallic Cat
Grade 1 - 7.5 day embryo
Rocking P Ranch