Hope for problem mares

Ultrasound | Dr Joan Carrick
 

Scone Equine Hospital has continued its run of innovations in equine reproduction with another success story for Hunter Valley thoroughbred breeders. Middlebrook Station Thoroughbreds Jilly Henderson is delighted with the successful treatment of racemare Altezza whose stud career was rejuvenated with the ultrasound monitoring program offered at Scone Equine Hospital.

Altezza had difficulty carrying a foal full term for nine years and following successful monitoring by Dr Joan Carrick at Scone Equine Hospital, she delivered four foals in a row.

As the daughter of high-profile mare Princess Talaria and with several stakes-winning deliveries to her name, Altezza came to Middlebrook in 2001 with the potential to deliver new stars despite her troublesome delivery record. In her first stud season in 1997, Altezza delivered Mustard (Group three winner and high-end prizewinner) and from here her record is dotted with some excellent results and some failed deliveries.

When we got Altezza home we were keen to get a foal out of her with the potential for an Easter pedigree yearling. She was covered by King of Kings but lost the foal mid-term. This disappointment was followed with another failed pregnancy. In 2005, Altezza’s gelding Mustard was winning Group Three sprints so we decided to look closely at her problem. Initially, we consulted renowned veterinarian Al Simson, who got her in foal to Magic Albert showing no obvious signs as to why she couldn’t carry a foal. It was around this time, we heard that Scone Equine Hospital was specialising in problem mares with Joan Carrick leading a research team. At about 150 days, Joan embarked on a program of ultrasound monitoring of the foal. We were alerted immediately to any problems and treated Altezza accordingly. For nine years, Altezza had difficulty carrying a foal and now thanks to Joan and the program at Scone Equine Hospital, we’ve had four foals in succession.

The effort we put into treating Altezza’s problem has paid off and I thoroughly recommend the expertise and care of Joan Carrick and Scone Equine Hospital.