When do your mares come into season?

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Nakita

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Hi again,

As my mare is 14 and we aren't sure if she has had a foal before we are wanting to start breeding her as early as possible incase we have problems getting her in foal.
The vet suggested a hormone injection but the stud owners said they feel with older mares it is best to let them come into season naturally.
Obviously all mares are different and they start coming into season in spring but normally when do our mares have their first season of the year?
Despite having owned my girl for 4 years I have never noticed!

Thank you!
 
Really! My vet told me it wasn't worth getting her scanned because her ovaries will be "shut down" until spring!
So is this not the case?!
 
Most (but not all) mares become anoestrous (no cycling) through the winter months as the light decreases. As daylight levels increase, mares experience hormonal changes which reactivate cyclicity.

In the intial stages, mares may show sporadic oestrus behaviour - this is called the transitional phase which may last for several weeks. Once the transitional phase is complete the mare should cycle normally.

Some will cycle from February, others from March, and most will be cycling properly by mid-April.

The only reliable way to speed up this process is to put the mare under lights (artificially increasing light exposure) but at this stage in the year it won't make any difference. "Injections" are unlikely to make much of a difference, although there are a range of hormone-related treatments that are sometimes used with varying success.

Keep her warm, and she will start to cycle as the daylight increases. Scanning will show you what her ovaries are doing - some mares do not show oestrous without aggressive teasing from a stallion (and even then, some will not show "in heat" behaviour).

Hope that helps.
 
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