To make your breeding experience with Steve Heckaman Quarter Horses a pleasant and hassle-free one, we recommend you read this page for tips and guidelines.
Thank you for booking your mare to a stallion at Steve Heckaman Quarter Horses. We are looking forward to breeding her for you and will make every effort to get her in foal. Our breeding season will begin in early February and no new mares will be accepted on site after June 1, unless special arrangements have been made. Please contact us prior to your mares arrival so that we can make preparations for her. Our regular receiving hours are between 8 am and 5 pm, however, you may contact us and make alternate arrangements if you cannot meet this time frame.
Here is a list of needed information to have upon arrival or sent prior to arrival:
Health Certificate
Coggins (EIA) test
Copy of registration papers (front and back)
Negative uterine culture (maiden mares excluded)
Health record (Rhino-flu, Encephalitis, Deworming)
Signed breeding contract and booking payment
Insurance information and numbers (if insured)
Address, phone number, etc. of owner
Upon arrival, please contact someone prior to unloading. The breeding barn is located north of the training barn and west of the covered riding arena. Broodmares are not permitted in the training area or training barn.
It is our goal to get your mare in and out as quickly as possible for you. Let me advise that most dry or maiden mares do not have true, productive heat cycles during the winter months unless they have been under 2 months of lights since the onset of winter, regardless of behavioral signs of heat. Therefore, it is beneficial to have had your mare under artificial lighting beginning in November. After your mare is bred, pregnancy examinations at the proper times are very important, weather this is performed here or by your veterinarian at home. If done at the Heckaman Ranch, there is a one time, seasonal ultrasound fee, regardless of the frequency, and individual palpation fees. Pregnancy exams are typically carried out at 16, 21, 30, 45 and 60 days post-ovulation in order to monitor fetal development.
All veterinary and farrier accounts must be settled by or at the time of departure. Depending on the length of stay, billing may occur on a monthly basis or only at departure. A 48-hour notice prior to pick-up will allow us ample time to prepare your bill. We offer Mastercard and Visa services if you wish to use this payment method.
Mare should be prepared for breeding as normal. Sixteen hours of light [er day to stimulate the transition to estrus. A negative uterine culture and satisfactory Equine cytology with sensitivity report is required for all open/barren mares that are not maiden. This should be done at least 30 days prior to breeding. Your vet should follow the pregression of follicular activity daily by rectal palpation and we prefer to be notified the first day of heat cycle by phone (940-686-2700) or fax (940-686-2701).
Have your veterinaria determine the approximate date of ovulation and order semen, preferably by fax using this Shipped Semen Order Form. This provides a written document of your shipping instructions. Email requests accepted only with phone confirmation. Your mare should be inseminated from 12-24 hours prior to ovulation and up to 6 hours after ovulation. We request that semen orders be placed by fax by 8 pm central standard time the night before collection days. Shipments are made using FedEx Priority Overnight for the ground shipment fee or we can arrange same day delivery using counter to counter to your closest airport. There is a $100 extra charge for this service due to airline shipping and counter costs. Please note, weekend shipments wil lhave to be counter to counter to ensure semen viability on delivery. Some Saturday FedEx deliveries are possible in larger cities.
Before we ship, please have all paperwork in order. We need to have the completed contracts (breeding and shipping and shipped semen order form), copy of registration papers and payment or credit card information and authorization before shipment.
We will ship double the number of cells required for an on the farm insemination and endeavor to send two separate doses whenever possible. When the shipment arrives, do not opent he container, until your veterinarian has your mare prepared for insemination. Notify us after your mare has been checked 14-18 days post ovulation. Occationally, a shipment will go astray in the mailing or air shipping process. Please understand that we have no control over this, but we try to work with you. A Shipping Confirmation Form will be faxed back with the FedEx tracking numbers or airline arrival and air bill information. This will help youlocated your shipment should it become lost. After insemination, please immediately return the shipping container to: SHQH, 11411 Friendship Road, Pilot Point, TX 76258.
Heckaman Ranch is located approximately 2 miles east of Highway 377 on Friendship Road. Please make note of our fax number (904-686-2701) and, if possible, use this method to inquire about your mare. All faxes are answered daily and promptly.
We appreciate your business and assure you that your mare will have quality care throughout her stay.
