High or Low Body Fat Deposition in the Presence of a Normal Oral Sugar Test is Not Associated With Postthaw Semen Parameters in Stallions

This study compared the postthaw semen parameters of stallions with high and low body condition score (BCS) and evaluated associations between body morphometric parameters and postthaw semen parameters. Twenty stallions were split into Low BCS (BCS .05). Stallions with High BCS had greater SFT at the tail head than stallions with Low BCS (P < .05); however, there were no differences between groups in the SFT at the shoulders and withers (P > .05). All stallions had resting blood glucose below the cutoff for equine metabolic syndrome. There were no differences between groups for resting glucose concentrations or for a peak at 30 or 60 minutes after initiation of the OST (P > .05). There were no differences in sperm parameters between groups (P > .05). Collectively, the findings of the present study suggest that High BCS or Low BCS in the presence of normal OST do not explain post-thaw semen parameters. •There were no differences between groups for resting glucose concentrations or for peak blood glucose concentration at 30 or 60 minutes after initiation of the oral sugar test (P > .05).•There were no differences in motility, sperm velocity parameters, plasma membrane integrity, mitochondrial membrane potential, hydrogen peroxide, intracellular superoxide production, or lipid peroxidation between groups.•High or Low BCS alone cannot explain post-thaw semen parameters in stallions.