Mare

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A broodmare. Note slight distension of belly, indicating either early pregnancy or recent foaling.

A mare is an adult

equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, but a female donkey
is usually called a "jenny". A broodmare is a mare used for breeding.

Reproductive cycle

A nursing foal. Domesticated mares may nurse their foals an average of four to six months, occasionally longer, depending on human management decisions and the temperament of a given mare.
Reproductive organs of the mare. (superior view)

Mares carry their young (called foals) for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320–370 days.)[2] Usually just one young is born; twins are rare. When a domesticated mare foals, she nurses the foal for at least four to six months before it is weaned, though mares in the wild may allow a foal to nurse for up to a year.

The

photoperiod (length of the day), the cycle first triggered when the days begin to lengthen. As the days shorten, the mare returns to the anestrus period when she is not sexually receptive. Anestrus prevents the mare from conceiving in the winter months, as that would result in her foaling during the harshest part of the year, a time when it would be most difficult for the foal to survive.[3]

However, for most competitive purposes, foals are given an official "birthday" of January 1 (August 1 in the Southern Hemisphere), and many breeders want foals to be born as early in the year as possible. Therefore, many breeding farms begin to put mares "under lights" in late winter in order to bring them out of anestrus early and allow conception to occur in February or March. One exception to this general rule is the field of endurance riding, which requires horses to be 60 true calendar months old (5 years) before competing at longer distances.

Fillies are

sexually mature by age two and are sometimes bred at that age, but generally should not be bred until they have stopped growing, usually by age four or five.[4]

A healthy, well-managed mare can produce a foal every year into her twenties, though not all breeders will breed a mare every year. In addition, many mares are kept for riding and so are not bred annually, as a mare in late

anxious when separated from their foals, even temporarily, and thus are difficult to manage under saddle until their foals are weaned
.

Illustration of a cross-section of the birth process, though the foal in the womb has a leg back, illustrating a problem delivery

The formation of the bond between a mare and her foal "occurs during the first few hours post-partum , but that of the foal to the mare takes place over a period of days".[5]

Behavior

Mares are considered easier to handle than

stallions. Some equestrians consider mares to be more difficult to handle than geldings. The results of a study by the Sydney School of Veterinary Science suggested that women riders have gendered assumptions about the suitability of mares, geldings and stallions for different disciplines and for different riders and chose different and more negative descriptors for the behavior of mares. This is despite an absence of scientific data confirming the assumptions. This may be significant for the handling and welfare of mares.[6]

In wild herds, a "boss mare" or "lead mare" leads the band to grazing, to water, and away from danger. She eats and drinks first, decides when the herd will move and to where. The herd stallion usually brings up the rear and acts as a defender of the herd against predators and other stallions.[citation needed]

Uses

Lady's Secret Stakes
.

Mares are used in every equestrian sport and usually compete equally with stallions and geldings in most events, though some competitions may offer classes open only to one sex of horse or another, particularly in breeding or "in-hand" conformation classes. In horse racing, mares and fillies have their own races and only a small percentage compete against male horses. However, a few fillies and mares have won classic horse races against colts, including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes, the Melbourne Cup and the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Mares are used as

Premarin
(derived from Pregnant mares' urine).

Until the invention of

parturition and lactation
.

Etymology

The word mare, meaning "female horse", took several forms before A.D. 900.

However, an interesting hypothesis links these Indo-European words to Mongolian морь [11] (mori, horse). [12] [13] In addition, the Wiktionary entry for морь [11] includes a comparison to possibly related words for horse in Korean, Manchu, Chinese (馬/马 mǎ), Japanese (うま uma), and old formal Arabic is Mahrمهر One possible derived term is a mare's nest, an expression for "excitement over something which does not exist".[8] The term nightmare, is not directly connected etymologically with the word for female horse, but rather to homophones that meant "incubus" or "goblin".[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Oxford Dictionaries | The World's Most Trustegd Dictionary Provider". Oxford Dictionaries. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
  2. p. 156
  3. p. 150
  4. p. 149-150
  5. .
  6. .
  7. ^ "mare". www.dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-05. Retrieved 2009-09-30. Multiple definitions of Mare and its etymological origins. Web site accessed September 30, 2009
  8. ^ a b c d e f Etymology OnLine Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, accessed November 25, 2007
  9. ^ Vries, Jan de (April 28, 1977). "Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch". E.J. Brill – via Google Books.
  10. JSTOR 40848753
    .
  11. ^ a b Wiktionary entry for Mongolian морь (mori, horse)
  12. ^ Article "Of horse riding and Old Sinitic reconstructions" on Language Log at the University of Pennsylvania.
  13. ^ Article "Mare, mǎ, etc." on Language Log at the University of Pennsylvania.
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