The Endangered Equine Program

We donate bActivate for the problem mares of endangered breeds.

Every year, bActivate helps hundreds of broodmares get in foal. In a breed down to a few hundred animals, a mare that will not get in foal is not one lost foal. It is a lost bloodline. We donate bActivate for those mares, so your veterinarian can find what a standard swab misses.

The problem

You know the mare. Covered cycle after cycle, every swab clean, but she will not catch. In a mainstream breed that is a disappointment. In a critically endangered one, it is a genetic line quietly disappearing. The most valuable mares to a breed's survival are often the hardest to get in foal, because they are older and have been barren for seasons.

What bActivate is (and is not)

bActivate is a diagnostic growth medium. In many problem mares, a Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus infection lies sleeping deep in the uterine lining, where no swab can find it. bActivate wakes that sleeping infection so it shows up on an ordinary culture. bActivate does not treat and it is not a medicine. It activates the infection so your veterinarian can detect it and treat it with targeted antibiotics. We wake the infection. The vet detects and treats.

What we donate

For breeds on a recognized conservation watchlist, we donate bActivate for your problem mares, the ones that will not get in foal, for the coming breeding season. Free, with no purchase commitment. Each mare stays under the care of your own veterinarian. We support a limited number of mares each season, so we work with programs to prioritize the mares where a foal matters most.

Who qualifies

Breeds listed as endangered or at risk on a recognized conservation register, for example the RBST watchlist, the Livestock Conservancy priority list, FAO DAD-IS, or a national equivalent.

The evidence

The mechanism was shown in a placebo-controlled study (Petersen et al., Veterinary Microbiology, 2015): 64% activation versus 8% in the control group. In the field, among old repeatedly barren mares averaging 12.7 years and 6.3 barren cycles, 89% of the mares bred became pregnant in our own Kildangan Stud series. That is exactly the mare a conservation program is left with.

Sources: Petersen MR et al., Veterinary Microbiology 2015;179:119-125, DOI 10.1016/j.vetmic.2015.06.006 (placebo-controlled activation study). Kildangan Stud figures reported by the founders as a congress abstract, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 2018;66:117, DOI 10.1016/j.jevs.2018.05.162; no placebo group was included.

How it works

1. Your association or stud applies and names the mares.
2. We coordinate with your veterinarian and send the units.
3. Your veterinarian uses bActivate and reads the result.
4. If an infection is revealed, your veterinarian treats.
5. The outcome is recorded, and with your permission we share the story.

What we ask in return

One thing. That the mare's veterinarian records the outcome, and that the program lets us tell the story, with a foal photo and your name, if it succeeds. We neither can nor will claim to save a breed. We give breeders the tool that shows why their most important mares are not catching.

Frequently asked questions