Take part in a research study on equine caregiver experiences with mares and mare-specific behaviour.

E

Equinevetresearcher

New User
Joined
29 January 2025
Messages
5
Visit site
What experiences have you had with mares? We would love to hear your opinions, find out what problems you have faced with mares and how you manage them!

I am an equine repro vet currently undertaking an MSc dissertation research study with The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh. The study aims to investigate the experiences of equine owners, riders and caregivers in relation to mares and mare-specific behaviour. For more information and to take part in the anonymous survey associated with this project please click the link below.
https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/edinburgh/mare-behaviour-survey-2025
 
I tried but I gave up.

I've had a few mares, a couple of them were dreadful tarts, aloof with people and more interested in the company of other horses than me. With one of them, sometimes if I wanted to bring her in I had to bring in the boyfriend first otherwise she wouldn't be caught.

I've had a mare that was a sensitive worrier but have had geldings the same. I've had one that I never knew was in season (owned her 9 years), she was darling with us but could be aggressive with other horses who weren't part of her herd, she had to wear a red ribbon at shows. She would also play people up if they didn't treat her fairly. She was a very loyal friend to both human and other horses, I miss her terribly.

All the mares I've had have lived with geldings, there would be excitement and extensive flirting when new geldings were introduced but the novelty would soon wear off.

I once looked after a mare that was aggressive in the stable but a dream to ride. That was years ago, I managed to handle her with what would now be called natural horsemanship techniques but it wasn't really a thing then, I just did what worked for us by trial & error. I have no idea if she had any underlying problems, I didn't own her and only looked after her for a few months.

Other than some being a bit clingy and distracted when in season, I've never had unmanageable behaviour and never really done anything different to when not in season. I've had more unmanageable behaviour from geldings.

I currently own a mare, she is a darling, loved her boyfriend when she had one even though he was horrid to her and that's why she's on her own now, which she's also fine with.

ETA I've had two mares (one was the one I miss) that appeared to be possessive/protective of their equine friends, noticed out hunting and at shows.
 
Last edited:
I tried but gave up. After having our first horse a gelding pts, we have had mares only since 1984. The first one was at livery in a mixed herd, which had to be split into mares and geldings so I would never want to have a mixed herd again, for safety.
Every mare we have had and we have had up to 5 at a time, has been different, with different behaviours both in and out of season. I found I was writing the same essay, over and over again, so stopped.
 
I gave up too, initially tried with all the mares I know well, but they are very different, so I then tried focusing on my mare- her seasons have very little impact on her and she has always had gelding field buddies who she never flirts with - but my answers were really boring
 
Roxylola said:
I tried but I hate gender bias at the best of times. I've managed far too many horses to generalise that much they're individuals - I manage them appropriately, look for pain when appropriate rather than dismissing "mare" behaviour 🤷‍♀️
Click to expand...

I'm in the middle of it and stating this when appropriate.

I have gone through the "behaviour when in oestress" questions and then another set appears of the same question when in "dioestress". I'm confused, as I presumed the oestress questions were "abnormal" behaviours that would then obviously just be absent when in dioestress? Maybe these are just more targeted at people in repro who are looking for like, clinical signs?
 
I gave up.

Mine barely show signs of being in season. They certainly don’t show any outside of the field. Equally, they are all different. I have 8 - ranging from so patient and kind you couldn’t wind her up if you tried, to touchy and a little special. That’s their personalities. Because they are not robots and are all different. How can I tell you something they have in common in different parts of their cycle when the only thing I ever see is them squirting (well, some don’t even bother with that) when in season and besides that they are so very different!
 
Equinevetresearcher said:
What experiences have you had with mares? We would love to hear your opinions, find out what problems you have faced with mares and how you manage them!

I am an equine repro vet currently undertaking an MSc dissertation research study with The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh. The study aims to investigate the experiences of equine owners, riders and caregivers in relation to mares and mare-specific behaviour. For more information and to take part in the anonymous survey associated with this project please click the link below.
https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/edinburgh/mare-behaviour-survey-2025
Click to expand...

Your link isnt opening for me on Safari browser / ipad, tried a few times.

The screen is white with this message in the centre :

Application error: a client-side exception has occurred (see the browser console for more information).​

 
The only indication of either of my mares being in season is that one of the geldings becomes a bit more attentive. The mares’ behaviour does not change at all. I have completed the survey, but don’t feel I can have added anything useful.
 
Ambers Echo said:
Done. I think posters are giving you a bit of a hard time! Mares are entire and do often change/struggle with seasons, as multiple threads on here can attest to!

Managing that a with a degree of empathy and some useful strategies seems a reasonable thing to do a survey about.
Click to expand...

I agree with you about managing strategies. I think the problem is that the questions aren't posed as asking about managing individual mares but about all mares.

The aim of the study is stated above as

The study aims to investigate the experiences of equine owners, riders and caregivers in relation to mares and mare-specific behaviour
Click to expand...

and the only mare-specific behaviour I have ever experienced is "come get me" stance, squirting, and season-timed behaviour. Otherwise, they have been pretty much identical in their variety of behaviour to geldings, and sometimes the geldings have been worse because their behaviour has been full time instead of every 3 weeks.
.
 
I've had mares like Dolly who showed no signs, mares like Amber who was a nightmare when in season, and mares like Lottie who changed a bit but not much. But did get more sensitive and sometimes a bit uncomfortable. So I just anwered in general: if my mare struggled with seasons I would x,y,z. Which seemed to be what was being asked.

We don't know what the author is looking for. It may be that a lot of people over-attribute characteristics to 'mareness' for example saying mares in between seasons are unpredictable and aggressive. I don;t believe they are and any aggression should be invesigated not just written off to being a mardy mare. But the survey may be seeking to identify that some people attribute behaviours that are not normal of mares to them being a mare. Finding that out would be very useful, I think.
 
Ambers Echo said:
I've had mares like Dolly who showed no signs, mares like Amber who was a nightmare when in season, and mares like Lottie who changed a bit but not much. But did get more sensitive and sometimes a bit uncomfortable. So I just anwered in general: if my mare struggled with seasons I would x,y,z. Which seemed to be what was being asked.
Click to expand...

Ambers Echo said:
We don't know what the author is looking for. It may be that a lot of people over-attribute characteristics to 'mareness' for example saying mares in between seasons are unpredictable and aggressive. I don;t believe they are and any aggression should be invesigated not just written off to being a mardy mare. But the survey may be seeking to identify that some people attribute behaviours that are not normal of mares to them being a mare. Finding that out would be very useful, I think.
Click to expand...


I agree fully with your last 2 sentences but I don't think this survey is set up to do that.
.
 
I'm finding the survey hard work because I have owned a few mares in my time, and they are all different. It's hard to speak generically, i.e. Gypsum could be a complete unrideable lunatic for a few days at the height of her season, but Hermosa is always kind of fine. She might be a bit spooker, and her attention might wander a bit more towards cute geldings (cobs! always cobs!), but it's not a problem.
 
I’ve answered it best I can but it is very difficult. I currently own 5 mares and they range from a Jazz mare who is typically ‘jazzy’ and difficult (not dangerous but definitely not an amateurs horse) to a gypsy cob who unless you want to worm her you could do anything to her she is very chill… but none of this behaviour is to do with being mares really it’s more just who they are. I have geldings with equally diverse personalities…

Equally I have mares that during their seasons they are peeing on everyone and squatting anywhere near a male horse and ones that uou wouldn’t know were in season… they are all individuals
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top