During spring and summer, mares are most likely to give birth to foals after completing their 11 months of gestation period. A big one, isn’t it? The time when a horse gives birth to foals is when there is plenty of grass around. During this time, the mother horse can eat as much as she wants and avoid roaming around in search of food. The gestation and birth cycle of horses do not sync with that of humans, for which humans have taken out a solution of bringing heat to the mares so that they deliver the baby before 11 months.
All about seasonal breeding
Usually, the heat of April to October invites mares for the fouling. Quoting the fact that horses take 11 months for their gestation is almost unlikely to hear. If bred at the end of the annual seasonal cycle, the mare would be carrying the baby weight during the next summer.
Age of racehorses
Along with the unfamiliar gestation period of horses, they have a different origin of deciding the age. If the foul is thoroughbred or standardbred, it turns a year old on January 1. There are some unusual and unique factors determining the age of the new-born foul. If the foul is born in late January and the start of February, it has an original one-year time to be called one year old, according to January 1. What surprises the most is, if the foul is born on December 30 or 31st by any chance, it will turn 1year old the very next day of its birth. It’s amusing that legal birthdays of horses decide what their age would be and not the same as us humans.
Also, the ones who are born in May or June, they are at some significant disadvantage. They would legally turn one year old on January one, which is half their age if seen practically.
That’s how they fool Mother Nature
To fool the mare according to your own needs, you can silently and smartly fake the environment and surroundings that are reasonable for them for their breeding period. The horse usually breeds during spring. So to make them feel like it is spring around, you need to be careful about little things like switching on the light on time that makes their biological calendar reminds them to breed. Faking the springtime around is what people today do for their benefit. There are some tricks that people around play to make the surroundings feel like it is spring even when it is snowing outside. Fooling Mother Nature is what people do for their good.
And comes the foaling time
Finally begins the foaling period after 11 months of gestation period. Unlike humans, mare usually waits for delivery until there is no human around. If the horse is fouling for the first time, it is generally the basic period of 11 months that they complete or otherwise a week or two above. Just six or four days before the delivery, mare’s nipples start filling up, and the colostrum begins to drip.
To conclude
It’s the most beautiful time for a mare and horse to experience. This period is unique for the one who takes care of her during the period. Though, some unlikely situations could be controlled with time.
