# why is my mare mounting other mares



## donnieray (Jul 30, 2009)

i have a mare who just turned three and she has not had a estrus cycle yet and i have a stud that just turned two and they have been together for awhile now and still no heat cycle .. my cousin brought his mare over that came in to estrus and it woke my stud horse up and now he knows what he is , and so my cousins mare went out of heat and has been for two weeks and now she is back in heat and my mare is mounting her and the stud has nothing to do with this mare and my mare with attack him if he gets near and so will the other mare as well , the mare in heat again is discharging and squatting and winking and all and we thought it was a little bit odd for her to be back in so soon , and for my mare to be mounting her .. so if you could help me figure out why my mare is mounting the other mare , and why she has not came into season yet and being three , and why is the other mare back in season after being out for two weeks , and what is the deal with my stud ... well cant wait for some feed back about this , thanks donnie


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## themacpack (Jul 16, 2009)

Non-sexual mounting (ie in castrated animals, same-sex, etc) is usually a dominance move.


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

Ha ha, a couple mares I know of do that too. It's just a dominance thing. You see it sometimes in dogs too, and cows. Some cattle ranches use it to their advantage to detect when to inseminate them.


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## cayuseranch (Jun 13, 2009)

I think its a dominance thing too, but I would say that I have a 4 yr old mare who hasn't come into a heat cycle as well. I think some horses mature differently. And if your stud is kicked at when interested, he will learn to shy from breeding.


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## Eastowest (Mar 26, 2009)

Are you absolutely 100% positive that your 3 year old has not been cycling "quietly" and been bred "quietly" by your stallion? Some mares do not show sings like squatting, peeing, winking, etc., but still cycle and ovulate normally, and some stallions, when given the choice, do not breed mares (or certain mares) with an audience present. 

The reason I ask is that in most cases I have heard of or seen, when a mare is acting "studdy", it is because of hormone swings due to being pregnant. Another cause of "studdy" behavior in a mare is a type of cyst or tumor on an ovary. 

Either way, you probably want to have this mare checked by a vet-- if she IS pregnant you can calculate a due date and begin prenatal care--- if she is NOT pregnant you can ask the vet to check for any reproductive concerns or abnormalities that would keep her from cycling/getting pregnant, and you can get those addressed, if your intention is to raise a foal from her.

if the 3 year old will not allow the stallion to pay attention to the other mare, you will probably have to split up the group as well and either just pasture the stallion with one mare at a time, or keep everyone separate from the stallion and hand-cover each mare as they cycle.


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## Eastowest (Mar 26, 2009)

Oh- forgot to mention-- a mare's cycle is usually around 21 days, so depending on the mare, thats around 4-7 days "in heat" and around 14-17 days from the time they go "out" until the day they show "heat" again-- so no, being back "in" two weeks later would not be unusual.


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## AlmagroN (Jul 19, 2009)

^^^ agreed. we have mares who show no signs of being in heat, some who show moderate signs (lifting tail when brushing, holding tail up long after peeing), and a special "chosen" mare who will crush you to death with her booty when she goes into heat. you can do nothing, i mean NOTHING with her when shes in heat. she will pin you against walls and just lay on you, pee on you, etc. unfortunately shes in heat 24/7/365 if we dont have her on regumate. although we did get a marble in her recently and it seems to be doing the trick!! *fingers crossed*

anywho, yeah i really wouldnt keep a stud with mares anyway, thats just asking for pregnancy!

for example: we just got a call from the previous owners of a ridgling we have. they called for a DNA test because apparently he bred one of the mares when he was turned out.... no one knew until now.... they dont always do these things infront of you!


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## morganshow11 (Dec 19, 2008)

This is not "normal" behaviour, and is suggestive of excess estrogen being synthesized to testosterone. Although 3 is very young for such a problem, I would have the mare evaluated by your veterinarian for the possibility of a Granulosa Cell Tumour or for issues related to a sex chromosome imbalance.
from~DK


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