Build a Breeding Dummy
Breeding dummy or phanton with AV in place. Curly Horse stallion Sterling Silver mounting the dummy for a collection.
Building an Equine breeding dummy with a space for an AV (Artificial Vagina) doesn’t have to be high tech. Just solid and safe. There are some really fancy models of “phantom mares” on the market though, for a price.
It certainly simplifies things, if you can lead a stallion up to a dummy and he breeds it basically as he would a mare. It’s safer than a real mare and there is no need for an extra person usually required to hold the AV. An experienced stallion handler can certainly manage a collection on their own with a well trained stallion, but I’m not advocating that for beginners at all. There is no substitute for experience.
Dummies for Dummies
I built my dummy for next nothing basically. I had a telephone pole for the upright “legs”/supports and some roughsawn 2×6 for the angled “body” of the mare. The padding was high density foam from couch cushions. I covered them with a nice soft fleese blanket that I laced tight underneath. I custom built it for my stallion, but I can add or remove footing in front of the dummy to “adjust height”. That’s basically it for materials. This dummy is stalled outdoors and mine has stood up for about 8 years so far. I just throw a tarp over it to keep the foam from getting saturated.
Dummy before cover was added
