Mares may suffer from a variety of genital injuries including vulval separations, vaginal lacerations and, less commonly, vaginal rupture. Possible sequelae to, and management of, these injuries are described, with additional mention of false entry by the stallion and persistent hymen in maiden mares.
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.
The stallion dismounts the mare after 15 seconds and may sniff or urinate over any of the secretions given off in mating. The entire mating process usually takes place in a minute or less, and feral stallions can mate with the same mare multiple times with a few minutes pause in between.
Your mare can be turned out with other mares as long as they get along. A pregnant mare should not be turned out with a stallion or even geldings. Geldings, while they no longer have the sex drive of a stallion, can still get an erection.
Mature stallions can breed two or three mares a day throughout a long breeding season and maintain a good level of fertility, but young stallions should not be expected to handle this level of work.
Dead Heat: Two or more horses finishing in an exact tie at the finishing post. For a dead heat the odds of a horse are divided in half to pay out each of the two winners evenly.
Don't turn colts, stallions or two dominant horses (of any sex) out together. They are likely to be too aggressive and might hurt each other or even run through a fence. When turning horses out together for the first time, always stay close by for at least 20 to 30 minutes to see how things go.
By the way, there is a 100% fertility rate in wild mares because they live with and know the stallions.” “And stallions absolutely do know their own foals and make a point of spending time with them.
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.
As a result, stallions have evolved strategies to safeguard against raising other stallions' offspring. And one of these instincts is to kill young foals – especially males – that are probably not their own, if the opportunity arises.
In addition to nudges, some stallions may smell and bite over the mare's body. Most behavioralists consider this display to be more important in the courtship process than odor recognition.
Minor accidents during natural mating are common occurrences during the breeding of horses. Mares may suffer from a variety of genital injuries including vulval separations, vaginal lacerations and, less commonly, vaginal rupture.
A mare allows the stallion to approach when ready to breed. Non-receptive mares generally kick-out at stallions and do not allow them to approach. The most intense estrus behavior occurs when a mare is most sexually receptive to a stallion and this intense behavior lasts about three days.
It may be that overstimulation of the dopamine pathway is causing the horses to become hyperaroused. Alternatively, spontaneous erections have been cited in the literature as a comfort behaviour, and Franzin has considered that dropping may simply be a sign of relaxation.
Mares reject foals for a variety of reasons including excessive stress around foaling time and separation during the early formative period. In some cases, there is no obvious reason. Foal rejection is more common in mares with their first foal (maiden mares).
Affection for Other Horses
As horses show their owners and caretakers affection, they will also show affection toward their herd mates and other horses. As mentioned previously, horses will lift their head and blow gently through their nostrils into each other's faces.
Summary. A fairly common complaint in veterinary practice is the gelding that acts like a stallion. These geldings may mount mares, act possessive of mares in a band, achieve an erection, or pursue mares even while being ridden.
The Faroese are not only one of the most difficult horse breeds to obtain as a beginner, but they are also nearly impossible to obtain. They have always been known for their stubborn nature, and unfortunately, the Faroese are one of the world's most endangered horse breeds.
By contrast, when kept in groups on pasture, stallions are more often kept with mares and foals than other stallions and geldings. It is a better alternative to place high-ranking, dominant stallions together with calm geldings [16].
This finding suggests that horses form strong memories of conspecifics, able to recognise them even after a long period of separation. This finding also indicates that the mare-foal bond remains strong even when foals reach one year of age and when they have not seen their dam for a long time.
Most stallions will have their testicles completely descended by 4 weeks of age. However, it can be normal for this process to take 18 to 24 months. If after 24 months both testicles are not easily palpated in the scrotum, the horse is considered a cryptorchid.
Horses might recognize some human characteristics, such as sex, and use these characteristics to classify them into different categories.
It is important to keep in mind that a horse can also grieve when one of his buddies is sold or otherwise moved, or if he is changing owners. Loneliness magnifies grief, and good company recovers the spirit, in humans and horses alike.
Living as part of a herd has many advantages for horses such as 'safety in numbers'. A horse living alone in the wild would be much more likely to be caught by a predator therefore horses feel safer when they have other horses around them. Horses take it in turns to watch over each other while they sleep.