# Do mares have discharge when in season?



## mbender (Jul 22, 2009)

Don't ever think your ?s are stupid.  all I've ever owned is mares. Yes, that is normal. Not pretty, but its normal.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Thank you! Today I rode her and she didn't appear to be leaking either before or after, so that's good. :lol:


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Since you're new to mares, just more info to add (from wiki). As winter approaches, you'll see less, then none until it starts back up in the spring.

_A __mare__ may be 4 to 10 days in heat and about 14 days in diestrus. Thus a cycle may be short, i.e. 3 weeks. Horses mate in spring and summer, autumn is a transition time, and anestrus rules the winter._
_A feature of the fertility cycle of horses and other large herd animals is that it is usually affected by the seasons. The number of hours daily that light enters the eye of the animal affects the brain, which governs the release of certain precursors and hormones. When daylight hours are few, these animals "shut down," become anestrous, and do not become fertile. As the days grow longer, the longer periods of daylight cause the hormones which activate the breeding cycle to be released. As it happens, this has a sort of utility for these animals in that, given a gestation period of about eleven months, it prevents them from having young when the cold of winter would make their survival risky. This is why these animals can only reproduce during certain times of the year._


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## tealamutt (Aug 21, 2009)

Totally agree- if we were all born knowing everything, there would be no need for places like the horse forum, it is here so we can all share different areas of expertise and learn from one another- don't ever feel stupid! And as you may have noticed, horse urine is pretty thick. This is because they have a lot of mucus glands in their urinary tract. The first time I saw a mare pee inside (years ago) I was totally alarmed and sure something was wrong because it was not clear and totally foamy. Blech!


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Thanks again everyone! 

I am sure she is fine now as there was no sign of it today, so it must be a normal part of her cycle. I just didn't want to ignore it if it was an infection or something like that. Then I would feel terrible! I really love my girl! 

But I was kind of thinking it was okay because it was clear, otherwise if it was something bad it would have a color to it. 

A few days after she foaled she had a rusty colored, slimmy discharge and I had the vet out at the same time because the foal had some issues, and he told me it was just her body cleaning up from the pregnancy. So yeah, the mares have some more interesting things to worry about than the geldings, don't they? With the geldings, I just basically clean them up once in while and they are good to go. :lol:

And even though I've had Izzy for almost a year now, she was pregnant nearly the entire time I've had her, so all the mare estrus stuff is new for me. But I am very happy to find that her personality is as sweet as when she was pregnant and there really has been no change there other than the occasional flirtations with the geldings.


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