Why are Mares so "Mareish"?

In this video, Kim Hallin talks about why mares are so "mareish". She explains their estrous cycles, heat behaviors and why domestic life is so challenging for them.

[@Noctessa]

I have always had geldings that I mostly worked with and only one mare that was surrounded by gelding so I love that you shared so much insight!!! Love it

[@joserafaelabreu4458]

..

[@muleskinner4495]

Great job!!!

[@jennachica]

Great video

[@nancy6160]

Makes it plain! Very helpful .

[@ajsmith890]

Can you give advice for a gelding that is getting bit and raked by teeth by the two mare pasture mates? It’s a 3 horse herd (1 gelding, 2 mares). The gelding is very herd sour and will ram fences if he is separated from the mares.... but the mares keep biting him when he doesn’t know they are trying to breed :/

[@KimHallin]

It is hard to give advice without a lot more context. How long has the gelding been with these two mares? What is his history? Does it only happen when the mares are in season? Do the mares go into season at the same time? Are the mares competing with one another and he gets caught in the middle? Do you have any video footage of what’s happening?

[@ajsmith890]

Kim Hallin absolutely!!! That was pretty silly of me to not give much context :) My answer to folks is always “it depends...” pretty assuming of me to not give you that same allowance of knowledge of the situation;) The mares are both 17, been together for 7-8 years. The gelding is 22 and been with them about 5-6 months. He is very timid and in his old herd was bottom of the rank. He really tries to be friends with them. He will mutually groom with our lead mare. It’s the less dominant mare that is biting at him. I feed them all separately, multiple water tanks, and they are on about 17 acres with rotational grazing to keep grass. They get hay at night in the pastures in multiple piles very spread apart . They are fed alfalfa mash in the mornings in feeding stalls and otherwise are out 24/7 with a large run in for shelter. Each horse is ridden on our trails about once a week on average. The mares don’t seem to compete for him. It seems to me the lower mare is trying to ensure she isn’t on the bottom rung of the herd, so she has to always go at him and make him move. Our dominate mare will move him with lesser things like ear pinning or “mare nose”... but the lesser mare seems to go from zero to 60 with moving him... very aggressive tactics. I wish she could see that he will easily move off of her space with the good deal offered of an ear flick... that she doesn’t need such aggressive measures to move him! I considered a fly sheet , but we are in TX and really don’t have cool temps much . He is a Haflinger so he has a layer of cushion he could stand to lose ;) he stays fat on air it seems :) The mares never had a gelding in the herd before. They both seem to have a hard transitional cycle as they go dormant. Lots of fence walking to a neighbors pasture that has mares where they will “tease” even those mares. Our gelding has never attempted to cover either mare and seems he has no thought of it. As I said, he is in his 20s and was gelded as a Youngin. Thank you for your time and consideration to the matter

[@KimHallin]

@@ajsmith890 - thanks for this additional info. First of all, it sounds like they have a really nice set-up and that you are being careful to try to limit competition for resources, etc. Unfortunately, the one thing you can't grant equal access to is the "dominant" mare. It sounds like both the gelding and the other mare really want to be with her. A herd of three is always challenging dynamics because one has to be the "odd-horse out" in any given situation unless all three are tightly bonded (rare because, well, horses don't get to choose who they live with in the domestic world and the chances of randomly putting three together who are all BFFs naturally is next to nil). The other thing is that anytime you have a stable "herd" of any number that has been living together a long time, like your two mares, it's going to take quite a while (sometimes literally years) before a new horse that is added in is fully accepted and there are little to no quibbles. Think about how long it takes for children and families to adjust to step parents or other changes in a family's makeup. It's hard. As long as neither of your mares are actually hurting the gelding I'd just keep doing what you are doing (unless you have the option of adding a fourth horse in, which would likely help a lot). With time, the dynamics should settle down.

[@ghulamrabbanighulamrabbani7329]

@@KimHallin I Love you

[@joaoedesio1285]

​@@KimHallin ❤ 😊ou

[@maximillian1109]

I have only ever had mares myself, and I have never experienced them as “marish” at all. Can they be a bit more sensitive while in heat? Yeah, absolutely! But I find that if you just respect her needs and show sympathy for her, you will just grow closer.

[@michaelhayes1340]

Interesting thank you for letting us know this important information on mares

[@franciscooliveiradasilva2904]

L

[@franciscooliveiradasilva2904]

L

[@stovepipe9er]

I like mares, but they sure can make you work for a bond lol

[@sambur6480]

Regumate. We don’t let our poor ladies suffer .

[@shynn5827]

I have one mare and i m about to buy a stallion my mare is standing in a 4 by 4 metre stable close to our home all alone we take her out riding at the sea 5 minutes away daily and we have a small land 10 minutes walk from our house... i was planning to make another 4 by 4 metre stable 3 metres away from my mare's stable is this even possible or will they break down the place and fight day and night? My other option is probably to castrate my stallion or to leave them both at the small land we have...

[@KimHallin]

I am not an advocate for stabling horses. They need room to walk, graze, meander and play. Their bodies are designed for constant gentle movement. I definitely would never stall a stallion next to a mare! And, unless you plan to breed the stallion with the mare, I would definitely recommend gelding him several weeks before you bring him to live with her -- stalled or not.

[@shynn5827]

@@KimHallin Thanks a lot! I'll call the vet tomorrow! And hopefully we'll find a bigger land for them soon... Thanks!

[@ElizabethMBoyd]

I have a stallion and 6 mares they share a fence line and sometimes the stallion is free to run with the mares I have 30 acres

[@brittanyritenour4695]

I really find find mares to be moody, even when in heat. I think people sometimes assume mares are moody and mares can sense your moods too.

[@1972mjones]

I'd say its important to recognize that all wild animals and even domesticated ones can sense the mood or stress of the humans around them. This is partly because they already communicate with each other mostly that way because they cannot talk

[@emilycorwith1119]

Very nice video ... thank you!

[@josealbertogarcia1062]

José.alverto.Garcia

[@brittanyritenour4695]

I don't really think mares are marish. I think people just misunderstand mares a lot.

[@1972mjones]

A lot of guys misunderstand women a lot, in all species

[@itszduc_1365]

Is marish even a word👀

[@NoraFeonix778]

Oh yes. So many horse ppl have stories of mares being mare-ish 🤭 even some geldings can appear to behave mare-ish 😆

[@abdulhaseebkhan5525]

Mares are the best

[@viralanimals5787]

good video

[@SamyDLuffy-bh6ui]

So the mares are in heat before the studs lol

[@KimHallin]

I don’t own any studs. This horse is a gelding.

[@juanemilobarret5134]

Hola saludos mi gente buena

[@Teamknotty]

buen video, buenas yeguas calientes, alguien con yeguas en mexico?

[@ArturoOrtiz-fe8sz]

Chido 😁😆😃

[@garethneysmith-davis8011]

Ok👌

[@marcosmoura5770]

Bom dia meu amigo tudo tranquilo

[@nivaldocdasilva9766]

Top cavalo

[@brittanyritenour4695]

Paso Fino It looks like in that chestnut gelding, good video

[@rbg01]

i noticed that 4 beat gait on him too.

[@brittanyritenour4695]

@@rbg01 I know!!

[@brittanyritenour4695]

@@rbg01 I saw that too!!

[@brittanyritenour4695]

@@rbg01 yess!!

[@KimHallin]

Yes! He is a Colombian Paso!.

[@williamgoolsby211]

You

[@FranciscoCastillo-pr7bp]

No jodas

[@user-rb9vw7he8e]

مساء الخير مشتاق

[@odyso2791]

Почемунепоказываетесекслошади

[@odyso2791]

Чтомолодихжеребцовнету

[@SonyatheTocaLabPlantsFan]

#marehorse

[@williamgoolsby211]

Iooooi iooooiooouoooou

[@SonyatheTocaLabPlantsFan]

#mare

[@skitariisoldier7367]

Mares mares mares!

[@misspinkpunkykat]

I used to take riding lessons as a kid. My teacher and her husband had a rule that the only ridable horses were boys. You could pet the mares and groom them, but not ride them.

[@wayneballintine9532]

You don't know much its is called in season or horseing when a mare wants a stallion to mate with her and when a female dog wants a male dog to mate with her its called on heat that shes on heat a female dog is on heat for 3 weeks all togeather one week coming on heat and one week fully on heat and one e week going off heat

[@lesterkirby3367]

I worked with mixed breeders ... and poney stud.. here in IRELAND ...it called in USE...in other part of the world... in season... in heat.. from cork Ireland...

[@lesterkirby3367]

Wayne ballinline.. thanks for texting me back...i had a irish draft x TB ..16.2hh ..had her 12yrs did a lot off hunting and charity rides ...i had a TB mare ...unraced..15.2hh..and a mule mare... ridden and carted as thay say here...15hh...OK... to ride ...got her handy money... packed it all up 8yrs ago ...59yrs now to old for it now...🙁 .stay safe ...cork IRELAND...😉..

[@NoraFeonix778]

Hey, be kind 🤨 In our region, we say She’s Open (for Season). The amount of light affects their pineal glands stronger than mere dogs. Esp in Thoroughbred programs timed stalling (min. 200watt bulbs) in December plays heavily in open mare estrous cycles with a 16da : 8ni, to prep for a perfect February estrous register (11mo gestation or 340d avg). Timers are used. Twins? Mares will birth 3-4mo earlier per possible uterus dystocia.