When a Door Closes, a Window Opens
Special thanks to Beth Brannian and Dr Dave Sauter, DVM for their collaboration on this article.
It is said when life closes a door, it opens a window. Beth Brannian would say that is true. This story is about Beth’s horse Kaitlyn who sadly passed away of cancer at the age of 11 years old. Before Kaitlyn died, embryo transfers were performed and the results were two healthy foals- Zircon and Zenith.
Kaitlyn’s dam was Petra, a Patrick daughter out of a Hackney Horse mare. Her sire was Iron Spring’s Rampal. The Dutch Warmblood filly was a charming bay with a friendly personality. She became the keystone of Beth’s world. But challenges awaited both horse and owner- painful ulcers at 5 months old for the filly, Beth’s divorce, repossessing her parents business and her own illness, an immune disorder, that caused her to experience severe dizziness. Through it all, Kaitlyn and Beth’s bond was special and strong. They needed each other, took care of each other. Life took a good turn as financial difficulties dissipated and a new relationship for Beth gave her support and happiness.
The first signs of cancer were hard to detect. At 11 years old Kait’s breathing became a little loud and rattling. It was April of 2003 and the mare presented with a thick, whitish nasal discharge from the right side only. Occasionally a trickle of blood was seen from this same nostril. She was normal in other respects: active and had a good appetite. Kaitie was examined by a veterinarian. She did not seem like a sick horse and was enjoying all the attention! An oral exam was normal and an endoscopic exam revealed that the right nasal passage was narrower than the left. Soon thereafter she developed ocular discharge from the right eye and started loosing hair on her face below her right eye. She was scoped again and now the right nasal passage had narrowed even more, so much that the scope couldn’t pass all the way through. Radiographs were taken which revealed a mass in her right maxillary sinus. A surgical opening was made into the sinus and a biopsy was collected, which confirmed she had cancer involving right maxillary sinus. The amount the nasal passage had narrowed between the two endoscopic exams indicated that the cancerous tumor was growing rapidly.
The prognosis for survival was bleak. Shocked, Beth looked at her options. Kaitlyn was the only Dutch mare she had left. Petra had been put down at a ripe old age the autumn before and Kaitlyn’s two younger sisters had been sold. Internet research revealed that on her budget Beth could not replace Kaitlyn, considering the mare’s conformation, pedigree, and being broke to ride. Embryo transfer is expensive and Beth wasn’t sure it could be done on a budget. Her two other equine friends came to the rescue and through embryo transfer delivered two beautiful healthy foals. The vets at Kulshan Veterinary Hospital were less than enthused with the antique mares as recipients- Peanut, a 16 year old Dun, Clydesdale x AQHA cross and Starlight, an 18 year old TB x Percheron cross. Beth contacted Iron Spring Farm in Pennsylvania who owns Kaitlyn’s sire and the Dutch stallion that she eventually wanted to breed the mare to, Juventus. She explained the situation, sent them pictures of Kait, and asked permission for embryo transfer. The process went ahead with superb results.
All three mares were synchronized with hormones to get them to cycle together. Kaitlyn double ovulated, which normally is an undesirable occurrence. In the case of embryo transfer, it essentially doubles the chances of finding an embryo. Kaitlyn’s double ovulation was asynchronous – in other words the two follicles ovulated at separate times, the first on 6-11 and the second on 6-12. The recipient mares synchronized perfectly with Kaitlyn. Starlight ovulated shortly after Kaitlyn's first ovulation and Peanut shortly after her second ovulation. Three veterinarians teamed up on June 19th, 2003 to perform the flush, search, processing and insemination – Dr. Plotts, Dr. Stanfield and Dr. Sauter. Two healthy appearing embryos were found and transferred into Starlight and Peanut.
During all this time, Kaitlyn’s tumor was growing and beginning to enlarge and deform her skull. With the help of an energy therapist she had remained virtually pain free. Four days after the transfer of the embryos to the recipient mares the tumor began to cause severe changes in her quality of life and it became necessary to euthanize her. Soon after this, both Starlight and Peanut were confirmed pregnant by ultrasound. Both mares’ pregnancies and deliveries proceeded uneventfully. They are both wonderful mothers. Peanut has a filly named Zircon and Starlight has a colt named Zenith.
There are many Kaitlyn stories, like when she tried to climb a snowman filled with carrots Beth and one of her students had built in the arena, or her several attempts to get into the house, and the time she dug a hole in the arena that you could have buried a Volkswagen beetle in! The day Kaitlyn left Beth it closed a big door in her heart. But Kaitlyn saw fit to leave Beth with two new windows with which to view the world- Zircon and Zenith.... the story hasn't ended, new chapters are just beginning.
To contact Beth email her at Solarwind137@aol.com
Sidebar:
What is Embryo Transfer?
Embryo Transfer (ET) is the process of removing an embryo from a donor mare and then placing it in a recipient mare. The purpose of Embryo Transfer is to get a healthy foal. Horse owners can choose ET for a variety of reasons- to produce foals from mares with health or fertility problems, to produce foals from mares that are still in successful competitive careers or to increase the productivity of genetically superior mares, by performing several ET’s a year.
Generally two or more recipient mares are used and are synchronized along with the donor. The recipient that synchronizes best (ovulates at the closest time to the donor) is the one selected to receive the embryo. The donor mare is bred and then seven days later her uterus is flushed through a special filter that catches the embryo. The embryo, if present, is searched for from under a stereomicroscope. It is the size of a piece of dust and just visible with the naked eye. The embryo is prepared and packaged into a special insemination pipette. The embryo is then transferred into the recipient mare. 15 days from the ovulation date an ultrasound can be performed to check for pregnancy. At 30 days the ultrasound can be repeated, at which time a heartbeat is visible.
Embryo Transfer sounds simple but is very involved and is a fairly expensive process.
