ISBN: 978-80-7701-109-9 | ISBN online: 978-80-7701-110-5 | DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-110-5

Analýza vybraných parametrů hřebčího ejakulátu s ohledem na jeho využití v chlazených inseminačních dávkách

Zuzana Rečková

The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of selected factors on the quality of fresh equine semen and to assess the impact of the diluent used on the quality of cooled insemination doses of stallions used in breeding. In the first part of the study, selected parameters of fresh semen from breeding stallions used at the National Stud in Tlumačov during the collection seasons of 2018 to 2020 were evaluated. During the observed period, a total of 240 ejaculates from breeding stallions were obtained, and the following parameters of fresh equine semen were determined: volume 42.39 ml, sperm concentration 282.60 × 106 ml-1, total sperm count 9.01 × 109, proportion of normal spermatozoa 79.19%, total sperm motility 88.68%. Statistically significant differences in ejaculate volume were found between different breeds of stallions. A higher average ejaculate volume was obtained from cold-blooded stallions (84.82 ml) than from warm-blooded stallions (39.04 ml). Among warm-blooded breeds, statistically significant differences were found between the ejaculate volume of Old Kladruber stallions (54.33 ml) and Holsteiner stallions (27.03 ml). The breed of stallions also influenced sperm concentration. Significantly higher sperm concentrations were obtained from Czech Warmblood (371.10 × 106 ml-1) and Oldenburg horses (338.91 × 106 ml-1) compared to other breeds. The average proportion of motile sperm was significantly lower in cold-blooded stallions (64.29%) than in other breeds. The average proportion of morphologically normal spermatozoa was variable during the reproductive season, with August being the statistically significantly worst month (70.29%), while the highest average values were found in March (84.98%) and April (84.67%). Pearson correlation coefficients indicate that higher sperm concentration, total sperm count, and higher proportion of morphologically normal sperm are associated with higher proportions of total sperm motility in the ejaculate. Conversely, higher ejaculate volume is associated with lower sperm concentration and motility. The aim of the second part of the study was to evaluate the effect of extenders on the qualitative parameters of sperm in cooled insemination doses of breeding stallions. In the 2018 season, a total of 13 stallions (82 collections) were monitored and 5 different diluents were evaluated. Relatively large differences in the average proportion of total sperm motility were found between individual stallions when using different extenders. Despite these differences, it is clear that BotuSemen Gold was the most suitable diluent for preserving cooled insemination doses in stallions. In the 2019 and 2020 seasons, a total of 19 stallions (158 collections) were monitored and 3 extenders, selected based on the results from the 2018 season, were evaluated. Differences in the proportion of total sperm motility were found between individual stallions, and statistically significantly higher average proportions of total sperm motility were obtained using BotuSemen Gold and INRA 96 extenders. The best results in terms of the average proportion of live sperm in cooled ejaculate were achieved using the INRA 96 extender.

Keywords: stallion semen, equine artificial inseminations, extender, cooled semen

1. edition, online: 2026, publisher: Mendelova univerzita v Brně