"Last year, we worked with 103 different horses representing over 15 different breeds from across the U.S. and Canada, including Appaloosas, Friesians, Shires, Hanoverians, Trakehners, Quarter Horses and Appendix Quarters, Arabians, Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians, Saddlebreds, National Show Horses, Paints/Pintos, Rocky Mountain Horses, Andalusians, and Pony of Americas. We are extremely fortunate to have established a good reputation among local horse owners and have many repeat customers from Southwest Virginia," explains co-owner Debbie Burke.
Amethyst Acres specializes in equine reproduction and serves as a stallion station and mare care facility for all breeds of horses. Breeding services offered include: semen evaluations, collection and shipping of cooled semen, teaching stallions to mount a phantom, a regular teasing program to monitor heat cycles, artificial insemination with cooled or frozen semen and frozen semen storage. "We had a very successful breeding season last year," explains co-owner Mark Burke. "We worked with 12 different stallions, teaching six of them to mount a breeding phantom for the first time. We bred 28 mares on site using artificial insemination, including two mares that were bred with frozen semen imported from Germany. Of the 28 mares, 82% conceived on their first breeding cycle and 18% conceived on the second breeding cycle, for an overall 100% conception rate." Mark has a degree in Animal Science from Texas A&M and over 20 years experience in the horse industry, including Breeding and Farm Manager positions at Arabians Ltd., Colonial Wood, Glorieta Ranch and Discover Arabians.
The facility also has two 12' x 16' foaling stalls and offers a 24-hour foal watch service, assisted foaling and weaning and halter breaking. "Many owners are not comfortable with the foaling process and some just don't have the time to monitor a mare until she foals," says Mark, who has foaled out over 400 mares in his career. "We had seven babies born here last year and we always try to video the process for our owners."
In addition to breeding and foaling services, Amethyst Acres offers halter training and starting young horses under saddle. Mark worked for several years with well-known Arabian trainer Rick Moser and utilizes a gentle, "positive reinforcement" approach when teaching horses. He also works with amateurs who are interested in learning to show their halter horse and with owners who want to learn to safely ride their horse. "Last year Mark started 17 different horses under saddle, and always worked closely with the owner to help them feel confident riding their new mount," notes Debbie.
Debbie Burke, co-owner of Amethyst Acres and Mark's wife, assists with the breeding and training, and also offers sales and marketing services for clients. Both owners are dedicated to providing a professional, customer oriented environment focused on helping their clients achieve their breeding or training goals, or just have fun with their horses. "We sold 16 horses for our clients last year and we have a whole wall of 'thank-you' notes from new owners who are tickled to death with their new friends," says Debbie.