Content

• 1. Breeding Season
• 2. Semen Orders
• 3. Stud Fees
• 4. Change of Stallion / Non-Availability of Stallions
• 5. Embry Transfer and ICSI
• 6. Crediting
• 7. Shipping of Semen
• 8. Foal / no Foal Report
• 9. Restricted Acess to Stallions
• 10. Basis of Terms and Conditions
• 11. Place of Jurisdiction
• 12. Severability Clause
• 13. Additional Conditions Applying to Holsteiner Verband Stallion Stations
  • 13.1. Shipping of semen to Verband Stallion Stations
  • 13.2. Outstanding Receivables
  • 13.3. Folicular Control
  • 13.4. Mares previously bred in the same season
  • 13.5. Covering Certificate
  • 13.6. Mare health management
  • 13.7. Mare Eximinations
  • 13.8. Billing of Veterinary Charges for On-Station
    (at Holsteiner Verband Stallion Stations) and On-Farm (at Breeder’s Premises) Insemination

1. Breeding Season

The breeding season and the shipping of semen from Elmshorn begins around 16 February 2020 and ends around 10 August 2020. Fresh semen by stallions qualified to the National Championships is only available until 01 August 2020. Mares coming back into heat can be re-bred (also to a different Verband stallion than before) in the current year to an on-station stallion (Badendorf, Bokel, Sollwittfeld, Wellinghusen) until 31 August 2020.

2. Semen Orders

Orders to have fresh semen shipped over night must be received by 9.30 a.m. at the latest along with the following information:

1. mare – name, sire-dam, life no.
2. mare owner, name, address, membership no.
3. requested stallion
4. inseminating vet incl. address
5. shipping destination
6. intended use for embryo transfer/ ICSI
7. telefone no. in case of enquiry call

Semen orders may be placed on the telephone, by e-mail, by fax or online.

The semen order form can be downloaded from the Holsteiner Verband website. Prior to a mare’s first insemination by a Holsteiner Verband stallion, mare owner and stallion keeper must agree on an insemination contract confirming the person signing the contract to be the owner of the mare stated in the contract or to be authorized by the owner to arrange insemination.

3. Stud Fees

The stallions available by semen through the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn fall in four categories:

A: young stallions and sport stallions available by fresh and/or frozen semen
B: proven sires, available only by frozen semen, max. 2 inseminations per mare and season
C: various stallions available by frozen semen from the depot
D: external stallions or semen bought from outside the Verband

The fees for breeding to Holsteiner Verband stallions in 2020 are charged according to a two- or three-step system: stallion-specific basic fee – pregnancy rate – foal fee (certain stallions only).

The stallion-specific basic fee is the same for all breeders and is billed and payable after the first insemination.
In case no veterinary certificate stating the mare barren has been submitted to the Hengsthaltungs GmbH by 01 October 2020, the mare shall be deemed successfully bred and pregnant. By the end of the 01 October 2020, an additional pregnancy rate for the last stallion the mare was bred to becomes payable and will be billed.
From that point on, stud fee I differs from stud fee II.

To be eligible for the lower stud fee I, the following requirements must be fulfilled:

1. The expected foal shall be registered with the Holsteiner Verband (Original or Global) the same year it is born.
2. The mare is entered into the Holsteiner Original or Holsteiner Global studbook the year the foal is born.
3. The mare owner is a Holsteiner Verband member (for at least one year)

In all other cases, stud fee II will be charged.

Please find here the Membership application forms.

Some stallions incur a foal fee payable after a living foal has been born. Should a mare successfully bred in 2020 not produce a viable foal the following year, a corresponding veterinary certificate must be submitted to Elmshorn by 15 August 2021. Otherwise, a foal fee might be charged. In the case a foal resulting from a stud fee I insemination is not registered with the Holsteiner Verband Original or HV Global the same year it is born (not registered at all or registered with another studbook), the full difference between stud fee I and II, rather than the foal fee, is payable.

Please note: In any case, the person stated on the insemination contract as mare owner and thus breeder of the foal will be charged the pregnancy rate and the foal fee, even if the mare and/or the foal have been sold since.

4. With regard to the stallions in category A, B, and C, semen shall be provided exclusively in order to inseminate the mare documented in the insemination contract. This being the case, the delivered semen must neither be used to inseminate another mare nor for any other purpose nor resold. The Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH shall remain the owner of the semen. Any case of violation shall incur a breach of contract penalty triple the amount of the stud fee’s total sum. With regard to the stallions in category D, the semen is handed over in accordance with the specifications made by the stallion owner in question.

4. Change of Stallion / Non-Availability of Stallions

During the breeding season, a change of stallion is possible at any time. Please observe the following when changing to another Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH stallion:

1. For stallions falling into category A, B and C the stud fee already paid will be credited to the new stud fee due and only the higher stud fee respectively the difference will be charged. When changing to a stallion incurring a lower stud fee, the difference will not be credited. For stallions in category B a maximum of two straws per mare and season will be made available but the stud fee already paid will be credited when changing to a category A or C stallion then.

2. No crediting or transfer of the stud fee already paid can be effected for category D stallions. However, the breeders may use a 3-year-old stallion owned by the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH without incurring additional charges.

Should neither fresh nor frozen semen of a certain stallion be available at the appropriate time due to unforeseeable circumstances (illness, death, or the like) or because the stallion is shown in competition, he is considered non-available. In this case, breeders may also use a higher-priced Verband stallion for a mare previously inseminated by another Verband stallion without extra charges. Should the secondchoice stallion incur a lower stud fee and the mare conceive during the cycle, the stud fee difference will be credited, with no right to refund. Should the stallion the mare was first bred to be available again when the mare comes back into heat for the second time, then this stallion must be used. Should the breeder want to use the higher-priced stallion again, however, he is also charged the higher stud fee and has to pay the difference. Should the breeder choose to use a lower-priced stallion again, the difference becomes forfeit.

5. Embryo Transfer and ICSI

It is mandatory to state a mare’s intended use for embryo transfer when ordering semen and to record the intention every time the mare is inseminated. Moreover, mare owner and stallion keeper must sign a separate Embryo Transfer Agreement prior to the first insemination. Each flushing of an embryo as well as the surrogate mares must be documented and the breeder must inform the stallion keeper as to the result immediately after flushing. In case of an embryo transfer without prior notification, the double price is charged for each insemination. The stallion-specific stud fee will be charged for every flushed embryo (also when frozen). In case of successful embryo transfers, the pregnancy rate will be charged for each pregnant surrogate at the end of the breeding season (effective date: 01 October 2020) Casall is only available for embryo transfer with a special permission in writing.

Prior to the ordering party or a third party’s use of Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH stallion semen for ICSI, the approval of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH must be obtained in writing. In case the ordering party violates this obligation with the ordering party or a third party using Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH stallion semen for ICSI without obtaining the prior approval of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH in writing, this shall incur a €25,000 (incl. VAT) contractual penalty per each singular violation payable by the ordering party in favour of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH. Further existing Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH damage claims shall remain unaffected.

6. Crediting

Should a mare bred in 2020 not conceive and a veterinary certificate stating the barren status is submitted to Elmshorn by 01 October 2020, no pregnancy rate will be charged (thus no crediting).

Should a mare first inseminated by a category A, B or C stallion after 01 July 2020 not conceive in 2020, the stud fee will be credited for breeding the same mare to a Holsteiner Verband stallion the following breeding season. This right may only be transferred to another mare if the barren mare is dead or no longer used for breeding. If the mare is sold, crediting remains with the mare. If a lower-priced stallion is used the following year or the mare is not bred, the amount is forfeit.

No crediting whatsoever for category D stallions.

No pregnancy guarantee whatsoever for any stallion, the stallionspecific fee is due in any case.

7. Shipping of Semen

The Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn strives to provide all breeders with the chosen semen in the best possible way. The shipping of semen by frequently used stallions in great demand may be restricted to max. 2 straws per mare per heat cycle. Mare owners are advised to have ovaries, uterus, and cervix of their mares in heat examined by an experienced vet to determine the best time for breeding.

Please see page 123 for further information and shipping costs.

The stud fee overview on pages 124 to 127 provides you with information which stallions are available for on-farm insemination or shipping of fresh semen within Germany or Europe. During the breeding season, our website offers regular updates of this list.

8. Foal / No Foal Report

Foal/no Foal Reports are issued to the breeder by the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, after the stallion service reports have been checked in December. The Foal/no Foal Report has a different colour every year.

It involves:

• covering certificate (confirmed by the Holsteiner Verband office)
• Foal/no foal report card, to be completed by the mare owner legibly - preferably in block capitals - and to be submitted to the Verband der Züchter des Holsteiner Verbandes e.V. in Kiel within 28 days after foaling. An additional administrative fee of € 20,- (up to 4 weeks late) or € 50,- (more than 4 weeks late) plus VAT is charged for every foal not reported in due time. If the foal‘s dam has not been registered for breeding yet, the dam’s sire and dam must necessarily be noted on the foal report card.

9. Restricted Access to Stallions

Access to stallions may be restricted in accordance with the rules and by-laws.

10. Basis of Terms and Conditions

Conditions are based on the breeder’s breeding stock report as of 1 January 2020.

11. Place of Jurisdiction

German law shall apply under exclusion of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (GISG). Place of jurisdiction shall be the registered seat of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn provided that the customer is a merchant, a legal entity governed by public law or specialized agency subject to public law or the customer has no place of general jurisdiction in Germany. In case of doubt, the German terms and regulations shall apply.

12. Salvatorische Klausel

In the event that any or several of the conditions stated above should become void, this shall not affect any other conditions.

13. Additional Conditions Applying to Holsteiner Verband Stallion Stations

13.1. Shipping of semen to Verband Stallion Stations

To breeders within Schleswig-Holstein, semen of nearly all Verband stallions can be made available at any stallion station of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn. Semen is delivered to the chosen station by night courier free of shipping charges. On-farm insemination is another option for Schleswig-Holstein breeders. Here semen is ordered through a station and is shipped to this station free of charge. Upon arrival at the station, the semen is delivered to a contracted vet licensed to inseminate the mare directly on the breeder‘s premises.

13.2. Outstanding Receivables

The person in charge of the station is obliged to ask a member wanting to breed a mare for the membership number and the mare‘s equine passport. Should the owner have outstanding debts to the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, despite several reminders, the mare/s will not be bred!

13.3. Folicular Control

Prior to breeding / insemination by a frequently used stallion, the station director is entitled to have the station‘s vet examine a mare to ensure the presence of a good-sized follicle (at least 35 mm) even though the mare might be showing clear signs of heat to a stallion at the station in order to spare the stallion and to improve pregnancy prospects. All barren and all 3-year-old mares must be swabbed clean. If this is not the case, the person in charge of the station is entitled to refuse breeding the mare in the best interest of all breeders.

13.4. Mares previously bred in the same season

The owner of the mare is obliged to inform the person in charge of the stallion station if the mare has been previously bred in the same season when changing the station. In any case, membership number and equine passport/ registration papers must be presented anew.

Stallion keeper and station staff are instructed to refuse breeding in case these prerequisites are not met.

13.5. Covering Certificate

The covering certificate will be issued to the mare owner after the first heat cycle the mare has been bred / inseminated.

13.6. Mare health management

To boost fertility and to prevent the transmission of epidemic diseases to our stallions and mares, the following rules apply to the stallion stations of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn during the breeding season:

I.

1. On principle, only mares free from sexually transmitted diseases may be served by the stallions.
2.  All barren mares, 3-year-old and older maiden mares, mares which had an abortion or delivered a dead or a weak, non-viable foal as well as mares with postpartum problems (retained afterbirth, etc) should undergo clinical and bacteriological examinations (swabs) by a vet as soon as possible. It is highly advisable to have the mare examined and swabbed when in heat. The corresponding veterinary certificate must be submitted to the person in charge of the respective stallion station along with the result of the swab.
3. Under special circumstances, the management of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn reserves the right to issue additional regulations applying to all or to individual stations.
4. Mares from premises which are or have been affected by epidemic disease (inter alia viral abortion) may only be brought to a Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, stallion station for insemination with a permission of the respective stallion station’s vet.
5. Mare owners are free to arrange for further examinations to improve fertility. It is advisable to have mares failing to co ceive also tested for CEM.

II.

1. A mare coming back into heat for the second time cannot be rebred until a veterinary health certificate has been presented to the station director/ veterinarian.
2. The mare owner is advised to have the mare appropriately examined already when she comes back into heat for the first time.

III.

1. Owners are advised to have their mares’ pregnancy status checked at an early stage (day 15-17/ day 28-30, if necessary day 42, according to the insemination vet’s instructions).

13.7. Mare Examinations

Based on the experience of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, station vets it is suggested to have the swabs tested for the following germs:

1. beta haemolytic streptococci
2. haemolytic e coli
3. Pseudomonads
4. Klebsiella
5. yeast-like fungi
6. Staphylococcus aureus

Prior to breeding (live cover) a veterinary certificate confirming the mare free from the above mentioned germs must be presented to the station director. Only then natural breeding (live cover) of the mare is possible.

For artificial insemination, the swab tests required for live cover are recommended for 3-year-old maiden mares prior to breeding and for mares with a foal coming back into heat again after having been bred. Testing is mandatory for mares coming back into heat for the second time after having been re-bred.

The swab test results must not be older than six weeks and shall be in writing only.

13.8. Billing of Veterinary Charges for On-Station (at Holsteiner Verband Stallion Stations) and On-Farm (at Breeder’s Premises) Insemination

Insemination by stallions owned by the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, starts on 16 February 2019 (approximately). For each individual mare, the breeder has two options for settling the veterinary charges. The decision must be made and written down in the insemination contract completed at the station prior to the mare‘s first insemination:

1. Direct billing by the vet based on the veterinary fee schedule or
2. Billing according to the applicable flat rate fee.
   1. On-station insemination flat fee - fresh semen 180,– euros + VAT (total 214,20 euros)
   2. On-station insemination flat fee - frozen semen 400,– euros + VAT (total 476,00 euros)
   3. On-farm (breeder’s premises) insemination flat fee 330,– euros + VAT (total 392,70 euros)

General:
The applicable flat fee will cover gynaecological examinations and inseminations under three heat cycles. In case of b) the mare will be inseminated with frozen semen under the first two heat cycles, if she does not conceive, she will be inseminated with fresh semen by a Verband stallion under the third heat cycle.

Coverage/outset of the flat fee: In addition to showing clear external signs of heat towards a teaser stallion, the mare must have a viable, good-sized follicle (35 mm at least). The station vet decides whether the mare is ready for insemination. If there is no viable follicle, all examinations and treatment necessary until such a follicle is present will be charged extra by the vet.

As of the fourth heat cycle, veterinary charges will be billed extra by the vet.

The vet charges the mare owner extra for follicle examinations carried out when the mare is not in heat as well as for additional veterinary treatment, specific hormonal treatment, administration of ovulation induction agents, swabs, and pregnancy checks.

It is always advisable for the breeders to have all mares’ pregnancy status checked at that time of the year in order to be able to plan necessary veterinary treatment should a mare be barren or no longer pregnant in order to prepare and “clean up” the mares in good time for the new breeding season.

Whenever the stallion station is changed, the flat fee becomes payable anew and is billed directly by the vet in question. When changing the stallion station later than 1 August 2020, the flat fee cannot be opted for, but all charges will be billed directly by the vet in question.

Additional information to b)
As the mare must be closely monitored several times a day when using frozen semen, call-out charges incurred outside regular station hours will be charged separately at cost.

The frozen semen flat fee is only an option for stallions selected by the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, known for an acceptable AI fertility index.

Moreover, the frozen semen insemination flat fee is only available to mares accepted by the station vet as free from gynaecological disorders and diseases and with an acceptable conception prognosis and may be refused due to a mare’s old age, acute and chronic gynaecological disorders or a history of barrenness.

In this case, the station vet must state the reasons for his refusal and discuss it with the owner of the mare. Should the mare owner insist on inseminating the mare with frozen semen in spite of a doubtful or poor conception prognosis, the owner will be billed directly and alerted to the risk of increased charges.

In addition to c)
The following rules apply for on-farm insemination:

1.  The breeder’s stable must meet the basic requirement (examination stand (according to the vet’s requirements), floor space for ultrasound scanner and medical equipment, washing facility, mare is stabled on the premises (vet may charge extra for a long wait)). In individual cases, the vet can refuse insemination (for example due to inadequate conditions, excessive distance).
2. Only station vets or vets from a veterinary clinic contracted by the respective Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn insemination station qualify for on-farm insemination.
3. Semen is ordered through a Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn stallion station in the breeder‘s area which collects the appropriate information and places the orders at Elmshorn. Prior to insemination, the breeder has to conclude an insemination contract in writing. Semen is delivered from the Elmshorn station to the station in the breeder‘s area. Per heat cycle, a maximum of 3 insemination doses will be provided.
4.  The station vet or the contracted veterinary clinic receive the semen, inseminate the mare on the breeder‘s farm and bill the breeder directly.
5. The vet in charge of the insemination is responsible for correct completion of the documents. He must also take care that the Elmshorn insemination station receives a copy of the documents once the breeding season is completed.
6. Only stallions selected by the Holsteiner Verband board and the management of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn in cooperation with the director of the Elmshorn insemination station may be chosen for on-farm insemination.