La Giguellerie began in an old farm in Maison-Saint-Gérard. Thirty years later, we perform OPU-ICSI there. In between came a few boxes, new stables, a European approval and a great many mares.
A few boxes on a farm
In 1993, Isabelle and I graduate from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Liège. We marry and settle in her grandparents' old farm. The first mares are housed in a few boxes set up in the farm buildings.
In 2008, new stables are built. Today they can accommodate around a hundred mares and their foals during the breeding season.
A centre approved for Europe
Since 2010, the centre has been approved for intra-community trade, under number BF10/01. Semen collected here can therefore travel to any EU country, provided the stallion has undergone the required health checks, which we detail on the Semen collection page.
In 2016, we took over the Linalux Equins cooperative. We wanted to work with our colleagues rather than alongside them, and allow every veterinarian to have their clients' stallions' semen frozen without having to equip themselves.
The latest step dates from 2026. We now perform OPU-ICSI, which makes it possible to obtain embryos from mares that can no longer carry a foal.
Teaching, because it keeps us sharp
Every year, we welcome trainees. Students from UNamur, our neighbours, often come as early as their bachelor's degree, and we gladly stay in touch with them. Others come at the end of their master's, from Liège, Ghent or French schools, and we also host future veterinary assistants and young people training for careers with horses.
We also run training sessions for fellow veterinarians. Explaining a procedure to someone who is discovering it forces you to know why you do it that way. It is a discipline as much as a service.
Every horse, the same rigour
In our stables, a show-jumping stallion may stand next to a draught mare or a family's pony. They receive the same care, and their owners the same frankness about the chances of success.
The non-profit Au Petit Galop shares the site. It builds bonds between people, animals and nature, with children, older people, adults with disabilities, and anyone who wishes to join them. Its presence is a reminder that a horse is more than an athlete or a breeding animal.
What you will find here
Whether you have been breeding for thirty years or are preparing your first foal, you will be welcomed in the same way. We will tell you what you can reasonably expect, and what may fail. That is what we would expect from a veterinarian ourselves.