Breeding Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS of the Holsteiner Verband Stallion Keeping GmbH for insemination/ stallion service for the 2023 breeding season

The following terms and conditions govern the contractual relationship between the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH and the particular mare owner as contracting parties as to stallion service/ insemination by a stallion stood by the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH, Elmshorn, in the 2023 breeding season. Particular individual agreements with the contracting party (including additional agreements and amendments) shall take precedence over these Terms and Conditions.

1. Breeding Season

The breeding season and the shipping of semen from Elmshorn begins around 16 February 2023 and ends around 10 August 2023. Fresh semen by stallions qualified to the National Championships is only available until 01 August 2023. 

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.    Phone no. in case of enquiry call
Semen orders may be placed on the telephone, by e-mail, by fax or online.
You can order directly online here -> Order Semen. 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 2023 are charged according to a two- or three-step system: stallion-specific booking fee – pregnancy rate – foal fee (certain stallions only). 

1. The stallion-specific booking fee is the same for all breeders and is billed and payable after the first insemination. The booking fee includes the insemination of a mare within one season up to the first pregnancy. 
For category B stallions, the booking fee includes only two insemination doses per mare and season. As stipulated under 4.1. of these conditions, further inseminations require changing to a category A or C stallion.
In case of frequently used stallions, the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH may limit insemination to max. two doses of chilled semen per mare/heat.

2. In case no veterinary certificate stating the mare barren has been submitted to the Hengsthaltungs GmbH by 15 October 2023, the mare shall be deemed successfully bred and pregnant. By the end of the 15 Oktober 2023, 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 mare owner is a Holsteiner Verband member 
        as of 15.10.2023
    2.    The mare must be entered into the Holsteiner Original or 
        Holsteiner Global studbook the year the foal is born. 
    3.    The expected foal shall be registered with the Holsteiner 
        Verband (Original or Global) in the year it is born.

In all other cases, stud fee II will be charged.
Membership application forms are available at the stallion stations or can be downloaded on the website.

3. Some stallions incur a foal fee payable after a living foal has been born. Should a mare successfully bred in 2023 not produce a viable foal the following year, a corresponding veterinary certificate must be submitted to Elmshorn. Otherwise, a foal fee might be charged. 

If a foal from an insemination under stud fee I is not registered with the Holsteiner Verband (original or Global) in the year of birth (not registered at all or registered with another breed association) instead of the foal fee, the entire difference to stud fee II must be paid.
Please take note: The pregnancy fee and the foal fee will be charged to the account of the contract partner who has owned the mare at the time of insemination and is thus considered the breeder of the foal in any case, even if the mare and/or the foal have been sold when the payment is due. 

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. Unused semen has to be returned to the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH. 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.

3. 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 second-choice 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. Apart from this regulation, a change of stallion is possible as stipulated under 4.1. of these conditions.
 

5. Embryo Transfer

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: 15.10.2023) Any embryos frozen at that date will be billed separately (stallion specific charge upon request). Casall is only available for embryo transfer with a special permission in writing.

6. ICSI

On principle, neither the ordering party nor a third party may use semen of stallions stood by the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH for the ICSI procedure. Prior to the ordering party or a third party’s use of Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH  stallion semen for ICSI, the consent of the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH must be obtained in writing. For each ICSI session, the breeder is billed the stallion specific booking fee. Upon completion of the ICSI procedure a final invoice is drawn up. Taking into account the already paid booking fee, each produced embryo will incur a stallion specific embryo fee. This embryo fee replaces the general stud fee, no additional pregnancy rate or foal fee is collected. Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH stallion semen may be used for the ICSI procedure either at the Clinica Avantea in Italien or at VetEmbryo in Denmark.
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 prior consent by 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 Hengsthaltung GmbH damage claims shall remain unaffected. Information on availability, terms and costs upon request.

7. Crediting

Should a mare bred in 2023 not conceive and a veterinary certificate stating the barren status is submitted to Elmshorn by 15 Oktober 2023, 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 2023 not conceive in 2023, 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 stallion-specific fee is due in any case.

8. 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 doses of chilled semen per mare per heat cycle. Any stallion not stationed at Elmshorn will incur semen shipping costs. This also applies if the semen is shipped to a Verband station or picked up at Elmshorn. Shipping boxes and/or returnable equitainers must be returned to Elmshorn within 14 days at the breeder’s expense; otherwise they will be charged to the breeder’s account. 
Please see page 100 for further information and shipping costs. 
The stud fee overview 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.

9. 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 Holsteiner Verband office 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.

10. Restricted Access to Stallions

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

11. Basis of Terms and Conditions

Conditions are based on the breeder’s breeding stock report as of 1 January 2023.

12. 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.

13. Salvatory clause

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

ADDITIONAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

of the Holsteiner Verband Stallion Keeping GmbH for stallion service/insemination at Holsteiner stallion stations

The following terms and conditions additionally govern the contractual relationship between the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH and the particular mare owner as contracting parties as to stallion service/ insemination at Holsteiner stallion stations. Particular individual agreements with the contracting party (including additional agreements and amendments) shall take precedence over these Terms and Conditions.
 

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.  

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 or unpaid debts to the Holsteiner Verband Hengsthaltungs GmbH, Elmshorn, the mare/s will not be bred!

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.

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.

5. Covering Certificate

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

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.

a. On principle, only mares free from sexually transmitted diseases may be served by the stallions.

b. 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.

c. 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.

d. 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.

e. 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.

a. 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.

b. The mare owner is advised to have the mare appropriately examined already when she comes back into heat for the first time.

III.

a. 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).

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

8. Billing of Veterinary Charges for Insemination at Holsteiner Verband Stallion Stations

Insemination by stallions stood by the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH, Elmshorn, starts around 16 February 2023 . For each individual mare, the breeder has two options for settling the veterinary charges. The decision must be made and written down in the stallion service/ insemination contract completed at the station prior to the mare‘s first insemination: 

Any travel costs incurred (§ 10 Para. 2 of the GOT (travel allowance)) and, if applicable, the home visit fee (§ 40 GOT) will be invoiced separately.

General:
The applicable flat fee covers gynaecological examinations and inseminations during one heat cycle. 
Coverage/start 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 on the mare’s readiness 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. 
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, for example administration of ovulation inducing agents, swabs, pregnancy checks and frozen semen specific hormonal treatment.  
For extra follicle examinations, a separately invoiced 2023 special price of 32,- euros applies (on-station only, not on-your-premises!)
Frozen semen on-station flat fee: if a mare is not pregnant after having been inseminated with frozen semen during the first two heats, from the third heat she is to be inseminated using fresh semen by a Verband stallion.
Switching to the fresh semen flat fee is possible already in the second heat (120,- euros + VAT).  
With several examinations per day necessary when using frozen semen (“spot-on insemination”), call-out fees incurred outside the regular station hours will be charged separately at actual cost. 
Only stallions chosen by the Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH, Elmshorn, with a proven AI record and a sufficiently high fertility index are eligible for the frozen semen insemination flat fee. Mares must be declared reproductively healthy with a sufficiently positive pregnancy prognosis by the station veterinarian to be eligible for billing under the frozen semen insemination flat fee. The flat fee may be refused because of old age, acute as well as chronic disease of the reproductive organs, repeated barrenness, etc. The station veterinarian must state and discuss the reasons for such a refusal comprehensively with the mare owner. Should the mare owner insist on frozen semen insemination despite an obviously questionable or poor pregnancy prognosis, direct billing has to be applied while pointing out the risk of increased costs.
Each change of stallion station necessitates a new veterinary contract (either direct billing or new flat fee starting at the 1st heat rate). 

Other:
Embryo Transfer Mares: 
Provided that one or more embryos are flushed (around day 7) and the mare is presented for re-insemination, the 1st heat rate shall always apply due to the increased effort (fresh semen 190,- euros; frozen semen 250,- euros). Provided that no embryo is flushed or the next heat is used to have the mare carry the pregnancy herself, 2nd heat rates apply (fresh semen 120,- euros; frozen semen 250,- euros).

Raw Semen Insemination: 
The Holsteiner Verband offers the opportunity to have problem mares inseminated by Verband insemination technicians at Elmshorn using raw semen. 
Should the breeder make use of this offer, regardless of this external service, flat fee rates apply all the same. 

Pregnancy Check:   
Breeders are advised to have all mares’ pregnancy status checked by 15 September of the year 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.