I want to try this, what do I need to do?

If you want to bring your mare out of anestrus you will need to begin early. We turn our lights on the week before Thanksgiving in order to have the mares cycling in January. The reason we begin early is to get the first cycle out of the way... usually this is an irregular cycle that is very difficult to settle a mare on. We want our mare cycling normally so I can predict exactly when she will be ovulating. Getting a mare settled is difficult enough (55% chance success on the average) . Having her cycling irregularly when trying to settle her only complicates matters.

You will need to have a 100 watt bulb for every 144 square feet of box stall. You should also invest in a timer. We use a fairly inexpensive one. Oh, you need to have an electrical source that is live all the time and doesn't go off when you turn the barn lights off.

You also need to understand that once you begin this program you have to carry it out to completion. If you decide that you're not going to bother with the lights after your mare has begun to respond to them then you are only going to send your mare back into anestrus. She will be back in October or November even though it may be December, January of February. If this happens you will not be able to do anything to get your mare cycling again. At the very quickest it takes 20-40 or more days to bring a mare out of anestrus with artificial lights.

Lights need to be on for 16 hours a day to have any impact on bringing a mare out of anestrus. Normally this means having the lights come on at 4:00: AM.. and off at 8:00 PM. or if you have a timer that has two switches you can have them turn on at 4:00 AM. off at 8:00: AM. on again at 5:00 PM. and off at 8:00 PM.

Note: Keeping the lights on longer and/or using brighter light bulbs will not speed up the process. It takes time!