- published: 06 Mar 2014
- views: 28100
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine.
In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse age three and younger. However, in Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old. The word can also be used for other female equine animals, particularly mules and zebras, though a female donkey is usually called a "jenny." A broodmare is a mare used for breeding. A horse's female parent is known as its dam.
An adult male horse is called a stallion, or, if castrated, a gelding. Occasionally the term "horse" is used in a restrictive sense to designate only a male horse.
Mares carry their young, called foals, for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320–370 days.) Usually just one young is born; twins are rare. When a domesticated mare foals, she nurses the foal for at least four to six months before it is weaned, though mares in the wild may allow a foal to nurse for up to a year.
The estrous cycle, also known as "season" or "heat" of a mare occurs roughly every 19–22 days and occurs from early spring into autumn. As the days shorten, most mares enter an anestrus period during the winter and thus do not cycle in this period. The reproductive cycle in a mare is controlled by the photoperiod (length of the day), the cycle first triggered when the days begin to lengthen. As the days shorten, the mare returns to the anestrus period when she is not sexually receptive. Anestrus prevents the mare from conceiving in the winter months, as that would result in her foaling during the harshest part of the year, a time when it would be most difficult for the foal to survive.
Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare, Italy
Monterosso al Mare, Italy: Cinque Terre Resort Town
Cinque Terre . Part I - Monterosso al Mare (Italy)
Monterosso Al Mare Italy
Vernazza to Monterosso Al Mare Hike | CINQUE TERRE
Alan's Italy Show # 104 - Monterosso al Mare, Part 2, The New Town
MONTEROSSO AL MARE... transiti da gustare...
Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terre, La Spezia, Italy, Europe
Monterosso al Mare - Beach
Public Ferry From Vernazza to Monterosso Al Mare in Cinque Terre