How we operate at International Horse Breeders
IHB has developed a distribution organisation which will transport semen anywhere in Australia without any loss of quality. We ship by road courier in liquid nitrogen tanks , keeping temperature a constant minus 196°C. Semen is delivered to your nominated vet and then transferred to their own storage facility.
Transport costs are additional to semen costs. There will also be a packing and handling fee of from the depot, a nitrogen charge and insurance is 3% value of the semen while in transit.
The advantage of frozen semen is that it can be kept for years without deterioration so long as it is handled and stored correctly in liquid nitrogen. Semen remains in storage until your mare is ready, upon which it is then thawed and immediately inseminated. If your vet is not happy with a particular cycle/follicle, he or she can wait for the next. This is the sort of flexibility frozen AI allows.
It is always better to have us deliver your semen a week ahead of time than a week late, thus avoiding panic! We will require a weeks notice prior to dispatch and remember that couriers do not work at week ends or on public holidays!
IHB can issue detailed instructions to veterinarians for the thawing and insemination processes which have been prepared with the assistance of leading professors in the field from Europe and America. Every vet who works with our semen is asked to sign a Vet Agreement Form which indicates that he or she recognises our terms of sale of semen and is willing to work within these bounds.
Please make sure that you contact us early in the season. If you contact us before the end of July, when we place our overseas orders, we can ensure that we bring in the stallion of your choice. We carry a large number of the most popular stallions but we are greatly assisted if you can let us know your exact semen requirements well before we import in September. Order as soon as you can to avoid disappointment! If on occasions we cannot import a particular stallion we will refund your money in full, or if you wish, replace it with another stallion.
Contracts of sale of semen are given to all clients wishing to purchase semen. Upon the return of these contracts, and in most cases, with half monies down, we can keep the semen in your name until you need it transported to your vet. Balance of monies are required before shipment out.
If at the end of your breeding season you have semen left over and your vet is unable to store it for you we can store it for you at 35c a straw per month.
Service certificates are issued upon presentation of the Mare ID and AI record form. These forms are emailed to all vets at the time of semen dispatch. Please make sure that your vet fills out this form during the insemination process and gives it to you when you pick up your mare.