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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.
A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. [1] In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than four years old.
Foals are usually born in the spring. The estrous cycle of a mare occurs roughly every 19–22 days and occurs from early spring into autumn. Most mares enter an anestrus period during the winter and thus do not cycle in this period. [54] Foals are generally weaned from their mothers between four and six months of age. [55]
A mare may be in heat for 4 to 10 days, followed by approximately 14 days in diestrus. Thus, a cycle may be short, totaling approximately 3 weeks. [21] Horses mate in spring and summer; autumn is a transition time, and anestrus occurs during winter.
The cycle is controlled by several hormones which regulate the estrous cycle, the mare's behavior, and the reproductive system of the mare. The cycle begins when the increased day length causes the pineal gland to reduce the levels of melatonin , thereby allowing the hypothalamus to secrete GnRH.
In a harem model, the mares may "cycle" or achieve estrus more readily. Proponents of natural management also assert that mares are more likely to become pregnant in a natural herd setting. Some stallion managers keep a stallion with a mare herd year-round, others will only turn a stallion out with mares during the breeding season. [10]
Say you have a 4-year-old Labrador named Comet — with the new equation, Comet's real "dog age" would be slightly older than 53. The reason for the difference is actually pretty simple.
Many dogs (family Canidae) and bovids take about a year to reach maturity while primates (including humans) and dolphins (Delphinidae) require more than 10 years. Some whales take even longer, with the longest duration being recorded for the bowhead whale ( Balaena mysticetus ), which reaches maturity at an age of only about 23 years.