Newbie question

debbiesshelties · Jul 18, 2005

Hello,

I am new to minis. I have 2 geldings and a mare. Do mares come into heat without a stallion present?

I have not seen anything that looks like heat in my mare.

Thanks,

Debra

HGFarm · Jul 18, 2005

Hi Debra,

That is a good question. Sometimes, without a stallion to 'tease', mares will either not come into heat or have a 'silent' heat. It may take someone to 'crank her up' to show that she is cycling. If she is not showing, do not worry about it. If you were going to take her to be bred, I am sure she would show to a stallion when it was time.

Laurie

tagalong · Jul 18, 2005

...and then you have many of our mares... who come into screaming heat when they see a gelding on the horizon...

...the distant horizon.

The most predictable thing about a mare is her unpredictability.

Miniv · Jul 18, 2005

Yep. Every three weeks approx. a mare will normally come into heat. However, you won't see it if they have nothing to "show for it"!

I've even seen a mare show for a goat, for crying out loud! So ya never know.

MA

lovable minis · Jul 18, 2005

I have 5 mares and no stallion and I know when 4 out of the 5 are in heat. When my 'silent' mare went to be bred she was not silent anymore...LOL. Most of mine I can tell by the way they hold their tail.

Relic · Jul 18, 2005

We have a few mares in the batch that tell us by screaming and mounting the mares in heat and right now they are making a big fuss over the oldest one out there who's 27 now but we don't breed her anymore. And l noticed this morning she stands and winks and pees for them so looks like a good heat anyway.

Leeana · Jul 18, 2005

Our old horse that we had (But sold a couple month ago) was the only mare we ever had. She wasnt a mini (16.4HH). But we had her in a stall next to our stallion and she came in heat im sure but we never really noticed a differense. I still road her daily usually. I guess it varies from personality to personality.