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Mares carry their young (called foals) for approximately 11 months from conception to birth. (Average range 320–370 days.) [2] 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.
A foal at about weaning age. A foal is an equine up to one year old; this term is used mainly for horses, but can be used for donkeys. More specific terms are colt for a male foal and filly for a female foal, and are used until the horse is three or four. When the foal is nursing from its dam (mother), it may also be called a "suckling".
A foal will begin to eat hay, grass and grain alongside the mare at about 4 weeks old; by 10–12 weeks the foal requires more nutrition than the mare's milk can supply. Foals are typically weaned at 4–8 months of age, although in the wild a foal may nurse for a year.
Free-roaming mustangs (Utah, 2005). Horse behavior is best understood from the view that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight response.Their first reaction to a threat is often to flee, although sometimes they stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is untenable, such as when a foal would be threatened.
Mare with a foal. Gestation lasts approximately 340 days, with an average range 320–370 days, [50] [51] and usually results in one foal; twins are rare. [52] Horses are a precocial species, and foals are capable of standing and running within a short time following birth. [53] Foals are usually born in the spring.
According to Pliny the Elder, [7] the Hippomanes, which are said to be found as tough bodies on the forehead of the newborn foal, are eaten by the mare immediately after birth. If the mare was prevented from doing so, she would feel no affection for the foal and refuse to feed it, which is why it was believed that the power of love was ...
The breeder of a foal is the owner of its dam at the time of foaling. The person designated as the breeder may not have had anything to do with planning the mating of the mare or be located where foaling occurs. [19] breeding 1. The mating and care of horses to reproduce, usually through selective breeding practices. [8]: 70 2.
Live foal guarantee is a common provision in horse breeding contracts. It is a form of a warranty offered to the mare owner by the stallion owner. Basically, it says that if the mare fails to produce a live foal from the breeding, the stallion owner will breed the same mare again without charging another stud fee. Therefore, the stud fee is ...