Select Breeders Services Inc.
About
Select Breeders Service provides stallion collection, semen freezing, storage and distribution, mare management and embryo transfer services to horse owners in Cecil County, Maryland and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic Region (MD, DE, NJ, and PA). In January 2011, Select Breeders Services relocated to a new 13,000 sq ft, custom built facility in Chesapeake City, Maryland. This state-of-the-art facility includes research and clinical laboratories, a breeding shed, administrative offices and our frozen semen storage and distribution center. It also includes an eight-stall barn, round pen and numerous turnout paddocks within the gated perimeter fencing which secures the entire property.
Prior to our move in 2011, Select Breeders Services spent many successful years located on the property of Hilltop Farm in Colora, Maryland. "I am very excited to have had the opportunity to put nearly 30 years of experience towards the design of our new facility", Paul Loomis, Founder and CEO of Select Breeders Services. "While we have very much enjoyed our relationship with Hilltop Farm over the past 18 years, and will be forever grateful to them for providing such a wonderful place to develop SBS, we simply outgrew that facility. Our new location provides much needed additional laboratory space for the development of new techniques and services as well as enabling us to serve our clients more effectively." SBS continues to provide Hilltop Farm with collection services for their resident and guest stallions.
Our Maryland facility also serves as the headquarters to the Global SBS Affiliate Laboratory Network and administers the SBS Quality Control Program for the entire SBS Affiliate Network. This network consists of several laboratories throughout North and Central America, Europe and Australia. We invite you to click on these links to learn more about our Quality Control Program or how you can become a member of the SBS Affiliate Network.
All SBS proprietary media and extenders for the North American SBS Affiliate Laboratories are produced at this facility. A separate media preparation laboratory provides a controlled environment for the production of these extenders under ideal conditions.
Services
Stallion Management
At our facility in Chesapeake City, MD, we offer the following stallion services; breeding soundness examination, phantom training, semen collection and evaluation, processing for cooled semen shipment and semen freezing, storage and distribution. With more than 30 years experience working with hundreds of stallions of all breeds, SBS can also provide consultation for the problem stallion and investigate semen quality concerns. Our new hydraulically controlled breeding phantom is slowly lowered after the stallion ejaculates to ease the stress of dismounting and minimize injuries and fatigue to the stallion’s back and hocks.
Our laboratory is equipped to perform advanced semen processing techniques and customized freezing protocols for individual stallions to maximize semen quality in a cooled or frozen semen breeding program. We can also perform quality control analysis of shipped in cooled or frozen semen. Our frozen semen storage and distribution program is professional, cost effective and efficient. We ship nearly 700 containers of frozen semen each breeding season. Approximately 30,000 breeding doses are stored in liquid nitrogen in nearly 90 specially designed cryogenic containers that are maintained from a 1500 gallon bulk nitrogen tank located at the facility. SBS is always available to our clients to offer guidance on stallion management, maintenance of breeding records and management of breeding contracts.
Veterinary Services
SBS-VS offers complete equine ambulatory veterinary services in the areas surrounding our Chesapeake City, MD office. We strive to provide the highest standards of care for your equine companion and to form lasting relationships with our horse owning clientele. Our partnership with Unionville Equine Associates in Oxford, PA allows access to advanced diagnostic and laboratory services. It also allows SBS-VS to consult with a board certified veterinarian in internal medicine and experienced practitioners in lameness and other performance issues. Appointments for general horse health, dental prophylaxis, vaccinations, medical colic therapy, ophthalmic examinations, foal care, lacerations, respiratory problems, minor surgery, and other related issues can be scheduled by calling SBS-VS at (410) 885-3202.
Mare Management
SBS-VS offers mare management services at a newly renovated facility in Chesapeake City, MD. We provide complete breeding management, artificial inseminations with fresh, cooled, and frozen semen, low-dose and deep-horn insemination techniques, reproductive evaluations, diagnostic, and therapeutic treatments for the mares in your broodmare herd. A dedicated staff veterinarian, boarded by the American College of Theriogenologists, ensures the knowledge and experience to provide optimal reproductive care for your mares and foals. Dr. Scofield can provide detailed information to mare owners regarding other advanced reproductive technologies and help them determine the most appropriate therapy for sub-fertile horses.
While a normal mare's gestation averages 340 days, some mares can have normal foals at 320 days until over 360 days. During this foaling window, veterinary staff should monitor a high-risk mare closely. Some owners elect to monitor calcium carbonate values of mammary secretions to help approximate the time of foaling.
We offer foaling services to limit the anxiety and risk of your mare foaling unpredictably and unattended. Foaling services are offered on a first-come-first-serve basis, so please call SBS-VS to enroll your mare today.
Embryo Transfer
Embryo transfer is an advanced technique that places a donor mare’s fertilized embryo into the uterus of a recipient mare that has been correctly synched with the donor mare’s cycle. With Paul Loomis’ 20 plus years of experience in equine ET and with Dr. Scofield’s training and experience, SBS-VS provides the necessary attention to detail that produces embryo transfer success.
At SBS-VS, we can manage and flush your donor mare for an embryo, package and ship the embryo to a recipient herd, utilize your own recipient mare, or place the embryo into one of SBS-VS’s recipient mares. SBS and Unionville Equine Associates (UEA) in Oxford, PA have been collaborating since 2009 to bring ET services to UEA clients. We will continue to provide ancillary support to UEA veterinarians for their clients requiring embryo transfer services.
Embryo transfer is a proven reproductive technique that can be used for older mares that can donate fertilized embryos yet cannot carry a foal to term, performance or show mares in the height of competition, or mares where multiple pregnancies are desired. SBS-VS looks forward to expanding the availability of equine ET in and around Chesapeake City.
Mobile Service
Select Breeders Services in Maryland has two mobile laboratories and offers mobile service to farms and veterinary clinics in the Mid-Atlantic region and East Coast. The mobile lab is fully outfitted with all the equipment to process and evaluate semen including a controlled rate cell freezer and Hamilton-Thorne computer assisted semen analysis system. Our primary travel area extends from our facility in Northeastern Maryland to Southern New York State, New Jersey, Delaware, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA region, and Maryland. Regular trips up to New England and down to Virginia are also available by special arrangement. Please call for more information or email info@selectbreeders.com.
Frozen Semen Import and Export
SBS-MD is a USDA approved center for the collection of semen intended for export out of the United States. We regularly process and ship semen with export qualification for the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, UAE and South America. Depending upon the countries involved, export freezing requires additional health testing and possibly quarantine of your stallion during the freezing session. Please call or visit our FAQ page for more information on what is involved with export freezing.
Interested in breeding to a top European stallion? Select Breeders can also assist you with semen import and we can perform a quality control analysis to determine sperm concentration and motility. This will enable you to adjust the breeding dose if necessary to provide the recommended minimum number of progressively motile sperm/dose.
