| Abstract: | Early pregnancy loss in the mare is a major cause of infertility and economic loss. To study this important problem, sequential ultrasound examinations were completed on breeding farm mares (n = 404 pregnancies). The incidence of pregnancy loss between Week 2 and Week 8 post ovulation was 42 losses out of 404 pregnancies.(10.4%) More (p<0.05) pregnancies were lost at 2–4 weeks post ovulation than at 4–6 or 6–8 weeks post ovulation (23/42 vs 9/42 or 10/42). The number of days from detection of pregnancy loss until the subsequent ovulation was higher (p<0.01) for mares in which pregnancy loss was detected at 6–8 weeks post ovulation than for mares in which pregnancy loss was detected at 2–4or 4–6 weeks post ovulation (21.1 ± 3.90 days vs 12.7 ± 1.59 or 9.5 ± 1.05 days,respectively). Thirty-one of 45 mares which lost pregnancies were again bred. Sixty-five percent (20/31) of these mares again became detectably pregnant but forty percent (8/20) of thesepregnancies were subsequently lost. |
