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  Discussion on Lighting for early breeding
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Posted on Wednesday, Nov 7, 2001 - 11:19 pm:

I need help with lighting.
My vet said to have a 200 watt light that I could read the newspaper in the corner of the stall and a heat source since the mare will lose her winter coat.
I have a 500 watt halogen light and a 160 watt ultraviolet heat bulb. These will be 8.5 feet up in the stall so nothing will get close to them; however, I am wondering if the heat source will be enough or if the ultra violet can damage the horse in any way. Please advise.
Will a infrared heat source added to this be adequate for warmth or should I have another ultraviolet source. Thanks.

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8, 2001 - 3:22 am:

The trigger for coat loss is increasing daylight length, therefore you will need to have daylight for more than 12 hours a day to trigger the summer coat to come through - and thus your mare's cycle to start.

Research done at Liverpool University Vet School here in the UK used light only with no heat, and the ponies had summer coats in the middle of winter, with no additional heating. If you are worried about her being cold with a summer coat, you could rug her up once she starts losing her winter coat.

UV light is in normal daylight, and so should not harm your horse, as long as the bulb used isn't too strong (think about solariums!). I am unsure of the recommended strength of bulb, but a lot of TB breeders over here use lighting to stimulate mares, so bulbs must be sold commercially for this purpose....

So it's a matter of finding out exactly what strength UV simulates natural light, and rugging if she seems to be getting cold when her summer coat comes through.

Hope this helps

Posted on Friday, Nov 9, 2001 - 6:21 am:

Hello Lola,
I am not familiar with the UV heat source, here you usually see infrared bulbs for this use. I agree with Heidi, the best way to protect your horse from the cold would be a blanket.

Be careful with the Halogen light, it can get very very hot and has been known to ignite. Generally the recommendations is 200 watts of incandescent lighting. Halogen is more efficient at producing light (lumens) than incandescent lighting so you could put a 200 watt halgen bulb in there, save some electricity and burn a little cooler.

Don't forget how you add the light is important for more information see, Equine Reproduction: Breeding and Foaling: Stimulating Mares to Cycle Early.
DrO

Posted on Friday, Nov 9, 2001 - 8:40 pm:

Thank you so much.
I do appreciate the information. Your responses have really helped me. Thanks again.
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