Reproductive Trends and Cryogenic Insights from Guiding Eyes – presentation by Clover Williams

This session will discuss a variety of fertility trends seen at Guiding Eyes, as well as some statistics, considerations and advice for those curious about pursuing frozen semen at their organization.

Clover Williams brings her experience as the Reproduction and Cryogenics Manager of Guiding Eyes for the Blind, where she has worked for the past 20 years. She holds an associate degree in Equine Science, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Business, and spent her early career tending horses at various equine hospitals and breeding farms. She gratefully acknowledges her love for animals and reproduction was firmly cemented in childhood, with the calves and foals on her family’s dairy farm in Vermont, which still exists today.

Her two teenaged children, Jack and Hope, and a ruby Cavalier named Rooster, fill her home with challenges, laughter, and love.  She finds that riding her bike or gardening brings peace amidst the chaos of daily life.  

At Guiding Eyes, conducting the health screenings of breeder candidates and providing oversight of the 80 plus matings each year, keeps her quite busy. Over the years she has hosted and mentored veterinarians and technicians from the U.S. as well as abroad, in various aspects of reproduction and cryogenics, primarily the Transcervical Insemination technique. Clover cites international shipments of semen and live animals as the reason for her gray hairs but takes great pride in seeing the legacy of Guiding Eyes dogs continue in pedigrees around the world. International exchanges and collaborations are some of the most rewarding aspects of her work and she is pleased to be a part of this Breeders Workshop.