prego mare mounting mares...why?!?!? newbie paranoid

[SSFLandon]

in foal (checked at 35 days and will be palpated again next week now at about 60 days) is humping another pony mare in the paddock. She does it alot but, it's her turnout friend and they get along fine. The other pony does not mind. She also will pee a thicker yellow pee at times and hold her tail up for a little bit after...

when introduced to boys she gets defensive but, does not seem to squirt or try to turn herself she just strikes out....

anyone have a thought on this??

[ElegantExpressionsFarm]

My one mare with this pregnancy and the last one she act VERY studdish to the mares she is out with when they are in heat. The talking, puffing up, prancing etc...but with the first foal she would turn and the pee would come flying out of her...whether she was standing still or running around...she was like that the entire time!! You did not want to be behind her when she was loose!! She luckily was not like that when I was working with her...so...I have no real 'technical' help here...just wanted to share my stories so you wouldn't feel so worried! I would also love to know if anyone can shed some light on this!

[SSFLandon]

My one mare with this pregnancy and the last one she act VERY studdish to the mares she is out with when they are in heat. The talking, puffing up, prancing etc...but with the first foal she would turn and the pee would come flying out of her...whether she was standing still or running around...she was like that the entire time!! You did not want to be behind her when she was loose!! She luckily was not like that when I was working with her...so...I have no real 'technical' help here...just wanted to share my stories so you wouldn't feel so worried! I would also love to know if anyone can shed some light on this!

interesting...I don't know if the pony she was out with is in heat but, other mares on the farm are so it is possible as it seems they are all on the same page...looking forward to others here

[SSFLandon]

anyone else?!?!? I can't have the only mounting mare!

[Sugarbrook]

I have one doing that right now, and have had others in the past perform the most amazing breeding routine on another mare. Its quite interesting to watch!! Nothing to worry about. Just silly behavior, but its all about hormones.

[Faiths CremelloWB]

No help, but this past winter I had a mare doing that as well. When she was 9 or so months pregnant she mounted a mare who was in heat. That was when I decided she would only go out with other pregnant momma's.

[Dutch]

I had two mares both acting studdish for almost their entire pregancies this past year. And yes, one actually mounted another mare. I had never seen it before, myself, so no help there. I think the other mare was as surprised as I and she walked off. It only happened the one time that I saw. But the nickering, neck arching, etc., went on right up until delivery. I kept them in the herd as they had all grown up together - and got some great photos of arched necks. Post-foaling, it was back to normal. Both delivered fillies, by the way. Don't know if that is relevant or not.

[SSFLandon]

I have one doing that right now, and have had others in the past perform the most amazing breeding routine on another mare. Its quite interesting to watch!! Nothing to worry about. Just silly behavior, but its all about hormones.

I know you are laughing at me right now but, it's your kid's kid here so thanks for the reply....ugh! I hate not knowing things. And I wish my other mare would take after my pony mare here and get it's act together. That one thinks it's a gelding.

anyhow the vet will check her because I HAVE to...he'll just palpate I'm sure.

any thoughts on the big yellow pee??

well, she is moving barns to live out with a band of pregos....they are bigger then her so I think she will learn she is not the boss!

THANKS!!

[eggbutt]

Our mare acts uber-studdish with every pregnancy....so much so that's how we know she's caught before the first ultrasound! :lol: At first we thought it was a sign she was having a colt, but she's had a 50% rate of fillies to colts. Our vet says many mares act studlike when pregnant due to hormones and it's not uncommon and nothing to worry about unless she's hurting other horses. We've grown to like it since it's become a true indicator of continued pregnancy for her:yes::yes::yes:

[Signature]

We have one that acts studdish when in foal and the other mares will tease to her as she performs her neck arching and studdy vocalizations! LOL She has never mounted though. :)

[SSFLandon]

and what about the milky yellow pee?? do some do that too??

[eggbutt]

and what about the milky yellow pee?? do some do that too??

I've never noticed that.....I would call the vet and ask the question just to be sure if I noticed "milky" pee. In humans, milky pee = infection (at least in my experience)!:eek:

[Equine Reproduction]

At different stages of pregnancy, different hormones become active. One of the hormones is testosterone, which is secreted during mid-to later pregnancy by the fetus itself. It has been noted that the increase in circulating testosterone levels in the mare increases ten-fold from the first to seventh month of pregnancy, decreasing thereafter to a base-line level by the time of parturition. This is somewhat interesting, as during early pregnancy the fetal gonads are not developed, or at least are not developed adequately to secrete testosterone or other androgens. Silberzahn et. al. recorded two peaks of testosterone recorded from pregnant mares, one around 65 days, and a (significantly) higher one around 190 days of pregnancy. The hypothesis put forward for the early peak (in view of a lack of fetal source) is a response from the maternal gonads to the secretion of eCG that commences at about day 36.

If you haven't followed the somewhat technical explanation and jargon above, the simple answer to your question is: "it's normal in some mares" :)

And before anyone asks: No! - there is no link to there being a higher incidents of colts in mares that display stallion-like behaviour during pregnancy. Filly fetus' also secrete testosterone! :)

On the "milky pee" subject (added after I started writing my original reply!) - another hormone seen during pregnancy is estrogen, and - as you may have noticed with a mare in estrus who will also get "milky pee" - what you are seeing is excess estrogen being secreted in the urine, and again it's perfectly normal. Estrogens start to be significantly produced during pregnancy around day 35-40 (thought to be as a result of follicular activity in response to eCG secretion - follicles secrete estrogen), then levels dip slightly around 60 days or so, then start a steady increase from about 70 days through to about 210 days as a result of the fetus secreting estrogens. Again, it's all perfectly normal.

In humans, milky pee = infection (at least in my experience)!
Be very, very careful extrapolating information from other species - especially the human - to the equine! This is a classic example of why! If the same were true for the equine, then one would presume that mares have a recurrent infection one week out of every three! :) (See above for explanation as to why).

Hope this helps.

[SSFLandon]

I have contacted the vet just to have her checked by palpation but, he won't be out until next week and he said it will be what it will be but, was not worried. Since she is not acting sick the vet can't and won't promise anything. However, in the meantime being a newbie I wanted to hear from other breeders about this behavior....

I'll try not to stress :) and perhaps learn quite a bit during this process!!

[SSFLandon]

I've never noticed that.....I would call the vet and ask the question just to be sure if I noticed "milky" pee. In humans, milky pee = infection (at least in my experience)!:eek:

I have seen milky like pee in mares lots of time during heat...so this part to me seemed normal I just wondered if it was a sign of heat and or perhaps she lost the breeding....

[hrfponies]

I have a mare also who thinks she is "mister" it. She is mounting her field buddy and very aggressive towards any other horses. I just think her hormones are adjusting.

[Windswept Stable]

I have also had a couple pony mares act like that.
One mare "shows" to the stallion and squirts the entire pregnancy--in fact this year --she did it the day before she had her foal. Thats just the way she is.

Another mare was my resident "stallion" in the mare herd. She would tell me when the others were in season--and she got it right every time. I could tell by her studdish behavior. Same mare-- would have absolutely NOTHING to do with my stallion when she was in season. She would show to the other girls and to a yearling colt--but NOT to the Stud. In fact, she wanted nothing better than to kill him. I always wondered if it was related to the fact she is an air fern.. she was on Thyro-L til the last 2 mos of pregnancy and had a rock solid neck crest with lumps.. this was living in the dirt lot with only a handful of mineral pellets & some orchard hay.

Just wondering--why your vet does not ultra sound? If worried about the pregnancy, I would feel better seeing that everything was ok --in stead of a palpation. Also feel better with at least 2 early ultrasounds to make sure no twins --just so the vet has 2 chances to look around good.

[Adamantane]

The hormone fluctuation explanation is what I would have guessed, but what is really interesting to me is that the mounting behaviors seem to be hard-wired in response to the surge of testosterone (and/or other androgens) you mention.

Given the lack of suitable hardware, it seems surprising to me that such behavior is part of any mare's repertoire.

Wonder if the same thing is seen in the dog world with pregnant bitches.

[Kyzteke]

in foal (checked at 35 days and will be palpated again next week now at about 60 days) is humping another pony mare in the paddock. She does it alot but, it's her turnout friend and they get along fine. The other pony does not mind. She also will pee a thicker yellow pee at times and hold her tail up for a little bit after...

when introduced to boys she gets defensive but, does not seem to squirt or try to turn herself she just strikes out....

anyone have a thought on this??

I can't help much except to assure you that certain mares do this sort of stuff and it doesn't seem to mean much. I have a Hanoverian mare who was "courting" another mare who was hard in heat. This courting included squealing, pawing, herding the mare about and even 1-2 attempts to mount.:o

What made it even more bizarre was that mare #1 was about 300 days in foal herself (which made the mount process difficult to say the least) and the mare being mounted was her half-sister :eek:

Well, what can I say....this IS Idaho...;)

And BTW, Mare #1 delivered her own sweet filly without problem and Mare #2 apparently still likes stallions, although she stood pretty well for her sister. Hey, don't ask me, I just feed 'em!