MARE (HORSE)

A 'mare' is an adult female horse.
Most of the time, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a 'mare' is defined as a female horse more than four years old; in harness racing a mare is a female horse more than three years old. A younger female horse is called a filly. The word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras. A female donkey is usually called a "jenny."
A male horse is called a stallion, or, if castrated, a gelding. Occasionally the term ''horse'' is used to describe a male horse.

Contents

Breeding cycle

Behavior

Uses

Uses in history

Etymology

Heraldry

Derived terms

see also

Referencers

Sources and references

External links

Breeding cycle

Main articles: Horse breeding, Horse anatomy

Mares carry their young, called foals for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320-370 days.)Ensminger, M. E. ''Horses and Horsemanship: Animal Agriculture Series.'' Sixth Edition. Interstate Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8134-2883-1 p. 156 The estrous cycle, also known as "season' or "heat" of a mare occurs roughly every 19-22 days and occurs from early spring into autumn. Most mares enter an ''anestrus'' period during the winter and thus do not cycle in this period. The reproductive cycle in a mare is controlled by 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.Ensminger, M. E. ''Horses and Horsemanship: Animal Agriculture Series.'' Sixth Edition. Interstate Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8134-2883-1 p. 150
However, for competitive purposes, all foals are given an official "birthday" of January 1 (July 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.
Mares are sexually mature by age two and are sometimes bred at that age, but generally should not be bred until they themselves have stopped growing, usually by age four or five.Ensminger, M. E. ''Horses and Horsemanship: Animal Agriculture Series.'' Sixth Edition. Interstate Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8134-2883-1 p. 149-150 When a mare foals, she nurses the foal for at least 4 to 6 months before it is weaned, though in the wild a foal may nurse for up to a year.
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 mare owners also choose to ride their mares and thus do not breed them annually, as a mare in late pregnancy or nursing a foal is not able to perform at as athletic a standard as one who is neither pregnant nor lactating. In addition, some mares become very anxious when separated from their foals, even temporarily, and thus are difficult to manage under saddle until their foals are weaned.

Behavior

Mares are considered easier to handle than stallions. However, geldings have no hormone-driven behavior patterns at all, thus sometimes they are preferred to both mares and stallions. Mares have a notorious, if generally undeserved, reputation for being "marish," meaning that they can be cranky or unwilling when they come into season. However, there is considerable evidence that much "marish" behavior is the mostly result of humans expecting or allowing the mare to misbehave. Because horses in general are very attuned to the emotional state of their riders, expectation by a rider of difficult manners during estrus can create a self-fullfilling prophecy and a cranky mare. While a few mares may be somewhat more distractable or irritable when in heat, they are far less easily distracted than a stallion at any time. Solid training usually minimizes hormonal behavior. For competitive purposes, mares are sometimes placed on hormone therapies, such as the drug Regumate, to help control hormonally-based behavior. Some riders also use various herbal remedies, most of which have not been extensively tested for effectiveness.
Some mare owners claim that mares are more intelligent and courageous and will work harder for their owners, and there are many stories and legends about the loyalty of a mare to her rider. Conversely, others claim that mares are more nervous and high-strung. In short, much lore about "marish" mares is due to simple anthropomorphism, attributing stereotypically "female" behavior to mares.
Mares and geldings can be pastured together. However, mares may be a bit more territorial. Sex-segregating herds may make for less infighting, especially if kept in close quarters. However, studies also have shown that when a lead mare or "boss mare" is in charge of a herd, all remaining animals rest for longer periods and seem more at ease than do those in herds led by a gelding. In a wild herds, a "boss mare" or "lead mare" actually leads the band to grazing, water, and away from danger. She eats and drinks first, decides when the herd will move and where. The herd stallion usually brings up the rear and acts as a defender of the herd against predators and other stallions.

Uses

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, fillies have won classic horse races against colts, including the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.
Mares are used as dairy animals in some cultures, especially by the nomads and formerly nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Fermented mare's milk, known as kumis, is the national drink of Kyrgyzstan. Some mares, usually of draft horse breeding, are kept in North America for the production of their urine. Pregnant mares' urine is the active ingredient in the hormonal drug Premarin (derived from 'Pre'gnant 'ma'res' u'rin'e).

Uses in history

Until the invention of castration and even later where there was less cultural acceptance of the practice, mares were less difficult to manage than stallions and thus preferred for most ordinary work. Historically, the Bedouin nomads of the Arabian peninsula preferred mares on their raids, because stallions would nicker to the opposing camps' horses, whereas mares would be quiet. However, other cultures preferred male horses over mares either due to a desire for more aggressive behavior in a fighting animal, or to not be inconvenienced with a loss of work ability due to a mare's pregnancy, parturition and lactation.

Etymology

The word ''mare'' when used to describe a female horse originated from the Gaulish language and took several forms prior to A.D. 900: In Old English the form was ''mere'' or ''mȳre'', forms of the femine for ''mearh,'' the word for horse. The old Germanic form of the word was ''Mähre''. Similarly, in Irish and Gaelic, the word was ''marc,'' and in Welsh, ''march.'' The word has no known cognates beyond Germanic and Celtic.^[1] However, In most East Asian languages, the word for horse sounds very similar to mare, as in the Korean 말 (mar), Chinese ma, Japanese uma, etc.
There are some homophones that confuse the etymology of the word. The most common are the uses in Astronomy, derived from the Latin "mare" (ma-re, two syllables), the word for "sea". Another word, ''marescalci'' was a title for the Master of the Horse for the Frankish kings, later ''marescalsus,'' a major calvary officer.^[2], also referred to as a Marshall. The word was probably derived from the Latin ''marescalcia,'' the right of taking fodder for horses, an honor far beyond that of a mere stable hand).^[3] However, the term bears no resemblance to the Latin for horse, ''caballus,'' nor for knight or rider, ''eques,'' suggesting a non-Latin root for the word Mare.

Heraldry

The mare occurs very rarely as a charge in heraldry.

Derived terms

★ A 'broodmare' is a mare used for breeding.

★ A 'mare's nest' is an expression for "excitement over something which does not exist."

★ A 'nightmare,' or a bad dream, began as a term meaning "an evil female spirit afflicting sleepers with a feeling of suffocation."

see also

★ Horse breeding

★ Stallion (horse)

★ Gelding

★ Foal

Referencers

1. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/mare Multiple definitions of Mare and its etymological origins. Web site accessed August 22, 2007
2. http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-364525/marescalcus Military ranks, Encyclopedia Britannica
3. http://comp.uark.edu/~mreynold/recint1.htm Glossary of Latin words

Sources and references

★ Etymology OnLine

★ Concise Oxford - mare

★ Bartleby.com - brood·mare

External links

★ Mares

★ Information on mares in horse breeding