Industry figures and the Government are working together to combat foreseen issues when new border control posts (BCPs) come in at the height of the breeding season.

As a requirement of official controls being applied following Brexit, Britain has to introduce BCPs for animals and germinal products, including equine semen and embryos. The former are due to open in the autumn but the latter in late April and all consignments must enter Britain through a BCP from the published dates.

Most germinal product consignments are semen, and come in from Europe to East Midlands Airport, where the busiest BCP will be. At the height of the breeding season, this could be 40 or more packages a day, all of which will have to be checked because they fall into the high-risk category of imported products.

Jan Rogers of The Horse Trust and British Horse Council, who is one of those who have been working with the Government on BCPs and other issues, told H&H the flights normally arrive early in the morning.

“All consignments must go through that bottleneck,” she said. “It’s first thing in the morning, outside current BCP operating hours, and there’s such a short time frame before the consignments go on connecting flights or are picked up by couriers. Without some changes, there just isn’t time to deal with such volumes.”

Ms Rogers said meetings have been arranged, with vets, key breeding businesses, Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency, including a visit to the airport.

“We’ve been to the Government, raised our concerns and got the right people together,” she said. “We’re trying to pool knowledge and expertise and work with them to find solutions, and we hope to resolve it.

“We’ve been working very closely with the teams building the infrastructure and the operating processes at Sevington, Kent, where the inland BCP will be for live animals and have been bringing about positive changes, which makes us more confident we will be able to find a way of dealing with the [germinal products] issues too. We’ve highlighted challenges and worked together to develop quite a few solutions.”

One issue is that it is unclear why equine semen is classified as high risk; all consignments are checked by an official vet before departure and certified as being from the right stallion, who has been health-tested and in quarantine for 30 days. The semen is then checked again in this country by the inseminating vet.

Tullis Matson, managing director of Stallion AI Services, will be among those at the meetings.

“We’re trying to see if we can get an exemption, or lower the risk status,” he said. “To me it’s bonkers these products are classified as high risk.”

Mr Matson raised the concern that should no changes be made, the risk is that semen could lose its viability owing to delays, and some people might then try to avoid the BCPs.

“We could go back to where we were years ago when people tried to sneak it in without health papers,” he said. “I believe certain people will do that; if they can’t get it in the proper way, they’ll send it disguised as a pair of shoes or something, and that’s a bigger risk to all of us.

“The health testing is very strict, so either there needs to be an exemption or it’s moved to medium risk, which means only a certain few have to be checked.”

A Defra spokesman told H&H border controls are “vital for keeping the UK safe by protecting our food supply chains and agricultural sector from disease outbreaks that would cause significant economic harm”.

“We are working closely with all affected sectors – including in the equine industry – and trading partners around the world to support readiness for this new model,” he said. “This includes agreeing resourcing plans with the APHA and port health authorities to effectively deliver these important new controls.”

He added that Defra is working with the equine industry to ensure border checks are implemented smoothly.

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Breeders hoping to get hold of frozen semen from Hickstead, the mighty showjumper who collapsed and died while competing in Verona (news, 7 November), are likely to be disappointed.

H&H has learnt that the amount of semen available from the stallion – who won more than $3.7m ( £2.3m) during his illustrious career – is negligible.

North American agent Francis Berger, who is based in Ontario, Canada, has received over 500 emails from breeders prepared to sign a blank cheque for a straw of semen.

Mr Berger told H&H: “The demand has far outstripped the supply. There is none left in North America and only a very limited amount left in Europe. At this stage, we are unsure of exactly how much and to whom it might go.”

Hickstead has only been certified as an approved stallion by the Dutch Warmblood Breeders’ Association since winning Olympic gold three years ago.

As a two-year-old he was refused studbook approval on the grounds that he was too small (at 16hh) and not powerful enough to make a top grand prix horse.

Since the Olympics, only a limited amount of his semen, between 20 and 40 straws a year, has been available, at a cost of $5,500 ( £3,420). This has resulted in fewer than 100 foals worldwide.

“Eric [Lamaze, his rider] was concerned about the risk of Hickstead injuring himself during collection,” said Mr Berger. “Because of his size, there were concerns about the strain it would put on his back.”

It had been anticipated that the 15-year-old would have retired from competition in a year or so to breed full-time.

During a press conference Eric Lamaze paid tribute to the horse who “changed his life”.

“There have been many great horses but I think any rider will concede that Hickstead was the best in the world,” he said.

“I hope all riders get a chance to experience what I experienced on such a horse. It changes your life and career.”

A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death was an acute aortic rupture that led to heart failure.

This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse and Hound (17 November 2011)

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Owners of rare breed stallions are again being asked to help boost Britain’s threatened natives by putting their animals forward for semen collection.

The Rare Breed Survival Trust (RBST) has made £20,000 available this year to collect semen from up to eight stallions to be stored in its National Gene Bank as part of a scheme that was launched in 2002.

RBST covers the cost of the required pre-entry health checks, livery for the period that the stallion is at the stud, semen collection and storage and transport or fuel costs.

“Our stocks of equine genetic material are relatively limited and the long-term goal is to collect semen from 25 stallions from each of the 12 breeds on our ‘watchlist’,” said Claire Barber from RBST.

Many native British breeds are on the RBST’s “threatened” list, including Exmoors, dales, hackneys and Clydesdales.

And with less than 300 registered adult breeding mares, Cleveland bays and Suffolk horses are listed as “critical”.

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This article was first published in Horse & Hound (2 September, ’10)

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World number one Moorlands Totilas continued his unbeatable form at the Munich, Germany (16 May) leg of the Exquis Dressage World Masters.

Crowds of 6000 crammed into the stadium to witness Edward Gal’s 88.45% grand prix freestyle win on Moorland Stables and Moorland Investments black stallion.

Edward picked up the inaugural €25,000 riders award in the process, based on his results at Cannes, Hickstead, Palm Beach and Munich.

Only six horse and rider combinations contested this the “richest competition in dressage” — the prize fund is €100,000 at each of the five shows in the league.

World Dressage Masters CEO Anthony Kies was unconcerned by the lack of entries, explaining that the goal of the competition was to get quality not quantity.

Edward Gal said: “To get so much money for six minutes of riding is amazing.”

Totilas was “a little excited” in his test, Edward said, due to the proximity of the large crowd.

“So many people love the horse and want to see him perform,” said Edward, who added that, although semen is being collected from Totilas three times a week, it has “not really made any difference” to his attitude.

This was the pair’s first outdoor competition since they took gold at Windsor Europeans last August. Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival beat them there in the special, but could not surpass them again in Munich — scoring 83.1% with some minor mistakes.

Germany’s Isabell Werth was third on Warum Nicht FRH with 81.9%, and Austria’s Victoria Max-Theurer (Augustin 13) fourth on 79.25.

The next competition in the World Dressage Masters calendar is Cannes, France (10-13 June), followed by Falsterbo, Sweden (8-11 July) and finally Hickstead (29 July – 1 Aug).

See pictures of Moorland’s Totilas in Munich

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Moorlands Totilas is being limited to 125 breedings in 2010, of which 12 have been allocated for British use.

The current holder of the dressage freestyle world record, Moorlands Totilas, is a 17.1hh 10-year-old black Dutch warmblood stallion from the KWPN stud book. He is by Gribaldi and his dam is Lominka — by Glendale.

Twemlows Hall Stud Farm has been asked to handle the UK frozen semen allocation from the stallion. Inseminations will take place at Twemlows’ adjoining mare insemination and embryo transfer unit. The allocation is to approved mares only.

Managing partner Edward Matson said: “To have the greatest dressage stallion in the world effectively standing here at stud is a great honour for Twemlows Hall.”

Read more sport horse news in today’s Horse & Hound (29 April, 2010)

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Would you like to be able to choose whether you breed a colt or a filly? American breeders will be given exactly that choice for the 2010 season using “sexed semen” — but UK breeders are sceptical.

The world’s first sex-selected horse was bred by US-based XY Inc in 1998. Now US companies Sexing Technologies and Equine Reproduction Innovations are collaborating to make sexed semen commercially available for the first time.

Using a “flow cytometer”, Sexing Technologies is able to sort the chromosomes in the semen into X (female), Y (male) and undetermined. The company claims the process has a 93% accuracy rate.

The cost of the procedure could not be confirmed but is likely to run into the thousands.

“I imagine it would be possible over here, but I doubt there would be a huge demand for it in this country,” said Dr Madeleine Campbell from the British Equine Veterinary Association, who runs the Hobgoblins Stud in Sussex.

She queried whether breeders could justify the cost.

Tessa Clarke from West Kington Stud in Wiltshire agreed: “It’s a useful tool, but whether breeders can justify spending so much on deciding the sex of a foal when there are other more urgent things they need to pay for, is another thing.”

Cattle farmers in the UK have been able to choose the sex of calves they produce for 10 years thanks to Cheshire-based company Cogent. But a spokesman said they would not be dealing with equine semen.

Ms Clarke added that equine semen is not so concentrated or robust as cattle semen so it would take longer to process and could be damaged easily.

Though the racing industry could better afford it, artificial insemination is completely banned in thoroughbred breeding to protect the diversity of the stud book.

Warwickshire sport horse breeder Penny Roots believes sex determination is a good idea, price dependent.

“It would be beneficial if you had a very good horse and you wanted to continue their bloodlines,” she said. “But it would probably cost more than you could sell the horse for.”

But Lizzie Murray from Catherston Stud in Hampshire told H&H she believes nature should run its course.

“It’s quite nice not knowing what you’re going to get. If everyone wanted the same sex, you could upset the balance of breeding patterns for the future,” she said.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (26 November, ’09)

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Vets have expressed grave concern about the possibility of illegally imported equine semen starting an outbreak of infectious disease in the UK.

The British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) has urged everyone involved in artificial insemination (AI) to ensure they stick to the rules surrounding semen importation.

Chairman of the BEVA AI committee Madeleine Campbell said: “The potential for infectious disease, particularly Contagious Equine Metritis (CEM) or Equine Viral Arteritis (EVA), to be introduced via imported semen is a real worry.

“The UK is essentially free of both of these notifiable diseases, but on the Continent EVA is fairly prevalent.”

European legislation demands that semen imported from the EU and elsewhere must be screened for disease before importation.

During the 2009 breeding season BEVA learnt of several instances of importation of uncertified semen into the UK. It is now in discussions with Defra about how better to enforce the legislation.

A Defra spokesman said: “The horse industry has a responsibility to use only semen in artificial insemination of mares that has been collected and stored in accordance with the regulations.”

British Breeding spokesman Jan Rogers said: “We advise people thinking about breeding to read the British Horseracing Levy Board Codes of Practice, which are the bible of reproduction.”

A BEVA AI technicians’ course is being run from 28-29 November in Glos. For more information, tel: 01638 723555.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (8 October, ’09)

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Legislation that prevents imported equine semen being shipped around Europe is to be discussed this week by the European Commission (EC).

Currently equine semen can be imported into the UK from anywhere in the world and then exported again — to anywhere except the EU.

Frustrated equine studs and AI agents say rules for other species have been rewritten to allow “triangular trade” and so have no such restrictions.

EU legislation states that semen must be “collected, processed and stored for trade within a member state”, on the “day it was collected until the date it is despatched”.

But a working party involving Tullis Matson, owner of Stallion AI Services and Tessa Clarke, stud manager at West Kington Stud oppose this rule.

“You would think if the semen can make it into the EU in the first place, then it would be fine to ship it to the rest of the Continent,” said Mr Matson.

Ms Clarke added: “We’re supposed to have freedom of trade within the EU, so it seems pretty peculiar. It affects us financially and loses us custom.

“Free trade would also open up a bigger market as we could import more breeds — but it’s just not cost-effective to import if we can’t send them on.”

Ms Clarke declined to comment on how much of her trade this legislation affects, but warned the rule could tempt people to alter health certificates, which is illegal.

The leglislation was originally drawn up in 1995.

Last year it was amended for cows, and a spokesman for the EC said a similar change for equines was being worked on.

She added the issue was on the agenda of the Standing Committee (8-9 September), but could not say when the law could change.

This article was first published in Horse & Hound (10 September, ’09)

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A legal battle over the ownership of frozen semen from top dressage stallion Lingh is proving to be a wake-up call for British breeders.

“We all need to learn from this case,” said Jan Rogers, who is the head of equine development at the British Equestrian Federation.

“Guidelines are lagging behind the science in the breeding industry, which is moving fast, and with frozen semen and embryo transfer increasingly being used for sport horses, we need to learn how to protect our interests.”

US rider Karin Reid-Offield, who owns Lingh, a Dutch warmblood by Flemmingh out of Columbus, won a law suit against his previous owner because he would not return several hundred straws of frozen semen.

Ms Reid-Offield bought the stallion in November 2006 with an agreement that Theo van Sadelhoff could use the frozen semen for the 2007 breeding season, and return what was left in storage to her.

Lingh’s breeding manager Susanne Hassler said winning the court case was important for Lingh’s career as a stallion.

“Lingh is currently competing, so the inventory [of frozen semen] is all we have to carry on his lines at the moment,” she said. “We are now able to move ahead with selected mare owners in the US and Europe for this season.”

Jan Rogers has been helping to set up the lead body for British Performance Sport Horses and Ponies (news, 22 November 2007), and plans to raise issues from Lingh’s court case at a series of roadshows planned for later this year.

“This is a wake-up call, because contractual issues like this are not on our radar and they need to be,” she said.

Ms Roger’s views are echoed by Tessa Clarke, manager at West Kington Stud, who said: “We have strict guidelines with contracts for storage and paperwork for proper returns, but it becomes a grey area when a stallion changes hands.”

Tullis Matson of Stallion AI Services at Twemlows Hall Stud Farm, who stores frozen semen from over 400 stallions, said the case highlights the need for clarity in sale contracts — particularly if semen has been frozen.

Mr Matson said: “It is important to agree before the sale is closed who owns any frozen semen and how it may be used. Storage is usually in the hands of a third party who gets caught in a dispute.”

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (15 May, ’08). To be among the first to read H&H’s exclusive news get your copy of the magazine every Thursday.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now