Horse ownership can be difficult and confusing at first, with gender and age terminology that is hard to navigate. Being equipped with all of the pertinent knowledge can help enhance your relationship with your horse.
Mares are female horses over four or five years of age; those younger are commonly known as fillies.
Mare
Horses (Equus ferus caballus) have long been valued and treasured animals by humans around the globe. Horses have become integral parts of daily human life for millennia, becoming domesticated species that humans care about more and more each day. Horses may be further subdivided according to gender, age or purpose – just like all domesticated species.
A mare is defined as any female horse approved for breeding by a veterinarian to carry foals until gestation has taken place and bear them successfully to term. Fillies and colts are terms used when discussing these foals.
When pregnant mares are being monitored by veterinarians for optimal gestation, their condition should be closely monitored throughout. Most mares give birth one at a time while twin pregnancies are possible although can be extremely risky to the mare herself. A pregnancy typically lasts 338-343 days before giving birth.
Mares make excellent competitors in equestrian sports and form the core of many racing stables. Furthermore, mares produce top-quality dairy products like Kyrgyzstan’s fermented milk drink (known as airag or kumis). Furthermore, mares tend to be calmer and easier to ride than their male counterparts.
Young female horses under three or four years old are called fillies until they reach an appropriate age when they become mares. Fillies hold special meaning for horse breeders as they represent future mares that could compete successfully in equestrian sports.
Filly
Fillies, also referred to as yearlings in certain countries, are young female horses that have not reached four years of age.
Filly refers to any young female animal, though horses are the animals most commonly associated with this term. Horses make great pets and can easily be taught tricks; their social nature allows them to build trusting relationships with people. Fillies should be fed quality feed from time-to-time as they grow; monitoring by a vet or horse professional is recommended during their development period and high quality hay will ensure proper growth.
Fillies may be smaller than their male counterparts, but they’re just as fast. Some of the most renowned racehorses of history were fillies – they play an important part in horse breeding and competition today and hold special significance as an indicator of the future of breeding and racing.
At three years of age, a filly can begin being trained by an experienced trainer. If she remains healthy throughout this training process, she may come into heat before reaching four or five years of age.
If a filly does turn into a mare, she will become known as a broodmare – female horses which give birth and serve for breeding purposes.
Stallion
Stallions are adult male horses who have not been castrated, making them capable of reproduction and herd leadership. Stallions tend to be larger than mares and feature either cresty necks or more muscular physiques; they are known for their strength, herd protection abilities and performance in equestrian sports; however they are sometimes aggressive or dominant as well.
Trainers of horses with strong, dominant bodies that possess an acute sense of justice often find training these strong creatures a difficult feat, as their bodies remember any inconsistencies or mistakes made by humans and often remember any mistakes made by themselves or other horses in training sessions. Stallions can also be quite aggressive towards other horses and humans alike and display instinctive herd-protecting behavior which could prove dangerous when displayed publicly.
Stallions can be more challenging to work with than mares due to their higher testosterone levels and more unpredictable natures. Early gelding can help train them more towards work rather than breeding, helping reduce aggressive or dominant tendencies while making better work horses overall. Unfortunately, not all stallions transition smoothly between work and breeding; those that cannot manage this change become difficult to handle and must either be put out to stud (known as “shuttered”) and not allowed to breed or simply retired as “stelones”.
Gelding
Horses have been part of human culture for more than 6,000 years and are an iconic presence. Not only are they majestic animals, but also one of the smartest species on the planet – making them great companion animals! But owning one requires taking on great responsibility; therefore it is crucial that all parties involved know the appropriate terms when discussing different breeds or individual animals.
Mares are female horses that give birth to foals; mature male horses are known as stallions; their offspring, known as colts. Weanling foals have been separated from their mother and began eating roughage and concentrates. Once reaching one year of age, these foals become known as yearlings – depending on whether or not they’ve been gelded, yearlings may either be female or male depending on what species has been selected as breeding stock.
Castration (gelding) means rendering a horse incapable of breeding, eliminating any chance of hormonally driven behavior and making them easier to train and ride. Gelded horses tend to be calmer and less moody than their non-gelded counterparts and may make better first-time horse ownership experiences.
To identify whether a horse is a gelding, examine their belly near its hind legs. If there is a sheath there, that indicates they are male; otherwise they could have retained one testicle that never dropped, deceiving an observer into thinking they are male; this condition is known as cryptorchidism and must be surgically corrected to become female again.