Equine Services was founded in 2001 by Nicole Germann-Oberstein. She grew up in a small town in the Black Forest area of Germany. She has loved horses since she was a little girl which is an interest she shares with her dad. Throughout her childhood she owned her own horses and competed in Warmblood jumping competitions. It was her dream to make a career of working with horses.
In 1998, she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Equine Sciences from Colorado State University (CSU). She realized early on in her studies that she wanted to further her education by receiving a Master of Science degree in Equine Reproduction. Thus, she remained at CSU for the next few years and completed her Masters Degree in 2000. While in graduate school Nicole worked closely with Dr. Ed Squires, her research mentor. He is also the the one who recommended her to Paul Loomis as a possible addition to the SBS Affiliate Lab network. Therefore, when she returned to Germany she started her own equine reproduction company, Equine Services, and then in the summer of 2002 she became an SBS Affiliate Laboratory.
Located in the Black Forest, Equine Services is an approved European Union (EU) breeding station and an EU embryo transfer station as well as a semen depot. In over 10 years, it has expanded to one of the largest frozen semen storage and distribution centers in Germany. Nicole said,
“In the last year we expanded and purchased more storage and shipping tanks to fulfill the needs of our customers as a result of the increasing popularity of frozen semen storage and distribution.”
Due to her background and connections in the USA the majority of frozen semen in storage at Equine Services is from Quarter Horse, Paint Horse and Appaloosa stallions. However, they will and do store frozen semen from many different breeds.
Their distribution program is designed to relieve the stallion and mare owners of many of the burdens associated with managing a transported semen breeding program. The distribution service eliminates the scheduling problems typically associated with shipping semen. Once a stallion owner books a mare to be bred to their stallion Equine Services handles the rest. Each year Equine Services processes several semen shipments for domestic and international use. Nicole said, “We are equipped with an abundant inventory of nitrogen shipping containers, all housed in special protective shipping cartons. Each and every shipment contains detailed information about the semen including post-thaw semen quality and handling and thawing instructions.” Their staff is always available for consultation with the receiving veterinarians. They are also capable of providing a hassle free export shipment if the semen is stored at their facility.
Log in to join the conversation.