Mares and geldings can be kept together because no risk of reproduction exists and gender-based aggressive behaviors tend to be few and far between.
Many geldings display this type of behavior. I would not describe it as dominance but rather as male sexual behavior. He may also be dominant—that is, demanding first access to resources such as food, salt licks or the run-in. Most males are dominant to mares.
Stallions can be safely housed together if introduced gradually and thoughtfully, according to Swiss research. “In the wild, stallions start forming bachelor bands from the age of 2 1/2 and stay together until the age of 4 or 5, when they acquire their owns harems,” says Sabrina Briefer Freymond.
Geldings, while they no longer have the sex drive of a stallion, can still get an erection. Should a gelding mount and then penetrate the cervix of your mare, the pregnancy will likely be aborted.
Attacking foals.
In the wild, stallions often kill foals that aren't their own, and geldings that act like stallions have been known to engage in this behavior (though it's rare, as geldings seldom have access to foals).
It is normal for geldings to mount mares. Some are able to copulate with mares, but that is quite unusual. It is most likely to happen when horses are fairly new to each other, and shouldn't go on past a couple of months.
Stallions may always be “on,” but that doesn't mean they can constantly breed. After all, they do need time to eat, sleep, exercise, and socialize. A stallion can typically cover one to three mares a day and about 30 to 40 mares in one year.
This may take days or even weeks. Introducing a new horse to a single resident is similar to introducing one horse to a herd of two of more. Your existing herd already has its pecking order established. Even if it's only a herd of two, one will be mostly dominant and the other will mostly give way.
You should plan on giving her at least two breeding cycles in order for her to conceive so you will want to breed her first in April. Your mare will need at least one month prior to her anticipated breeding date for preparation, and so she should have a breeding assessment performed in March.
Teasing the mare means exposing her to a stallion or androgenised gelding to determine her sexual behaviour. It is used to assist in assessing the significance of structures on the ovaries. Ideally, mares should be teased daily to determine when they first show signs of heat.
Mares, in general, are known for being more sensitive and more temperamental than geldings. When they come into heat, they can be extra sensitive and persnickety.
The most likely reason that mares lie down after mating is because they are overwhelmed and need to rest to bring their heart rate back down to normal levels. Stallions can be aggressive and hyperactive when courting and mating, and horses are socially sensitive creatures.
Semen remains in the horse's accessory sex glands and the portion of the vas deferens not removed during surgery. There is usually enough present for one ejaculation. Therefore, gelded mature horses should be quarantined from mares for 14 to 30 days post-surgery.
The first rule is always Safety First!
If the horse is startled or scared, the horse will try to run away.
A dominant horse, especially a mare, will usually get the pick of food or prime grazing spot and other horses will defer to both her irritation or her affection. Stallions may exert more overt dominance over other males, including biting, rearing, kicking, or fighting.
You'll be able to see any experience you earn towards Horse Bonding thanks to a small icon shaped like a horse's head with a plus sign beside it. This icon appears on the right side of the screen each time you earn experience.
When it's hungry, feeding your horse more nutritious food, such as oat cakes, apples, and hay, or certain wild plant and herbs, will increase your bonding significantly. Feeding it less nutritional 'treats' like sugar cubes, peppermints, common bulrush and English Mace will increase bonding by a medium amount.
Remember the 1-2-3 rule.
1: Foals should stand by one hour of age. 2: Foals should successfully nurse by two hours of age. 3: Mares should pass her fetal membranes within three hours of delivery.
Optimal breeding is every other day while she is in estrus and before she ovulates. A mare will normally ovulate about 24 to 48 hours before the end of estrus.
The average gestation length of a mare (period between breeding and foaling) is 340 days. It can vary within 20 days either side. In one study, 65.5% of mares foaled at night between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m.
These geldings may mount mares, act possessive of mares in a band, achieve an erection, or pursue mares even while being ridden. They may be generally more aggressive and harder to handle than a typical gelding. They may or may not show stallion physical characteristics like heavy muscling of the neck and jowls.
In horses, as many as one third of completely castrated geldings will still achieve full erection, mount, insert, thrust, and ejaculate, especially when given pasture free access to females in estrus.
Summary. In a normal castration, the two testes and the associated epididymis (sperm storage site located next to the testes) are removed. A gelding is termed "proud cut" if the horse has been castrated, but all or a part of a testis remains after castration.