Horse Breeding & Reproduction, Mating Horses

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Horse Breeding

Horse breeding is an important part of horse ownership.  Many horse owners breed their horses with precise care, paying utmost attention to characteristics that one of the mates has and horse breeds.  Most owners involved in horse breeding would agree that it is best to breed purebreds.  Purebred horses are of specific horse breeds.  Selecting horses for horse breeding is often called selective mating, because it allows horse owners to essentially select the traits of offspring.  While horse breeding is not an exact science, selective mating has been very successful in many cases.  There are certain horse breeds that are more desirable than others for horse breeding, because of historical speed or beauty. 

Oftentimes, horse breeding takes place without much forethought to horse breeds.  Usually when this is done, the resulting foal (baby horse) is meant to be a companion animal for another horse.  When having a purebred is not important, horse breeding is done with a stallion and a mare that are located near each other, so a foal will be born, without the horse owners intending to show or race it. 

Gestation is an important concept in horse breeding.  A mare will carry a fetus for about eleven months.  Additionally, horses are only receptive to horse breeding once a year, for a period of about three weeks.  Horses begin to be ready for horse breeding when the day begins to lengthen, so some horse breeders will place lights where a mare lives to simulate a longer day, thus increasing the length of time she can get pregnant.  Once in labor, a mare will usually deliver her foal within thirty minutes.  The foal will attempt to stand and nurse from its mother within one hour of birth.  Of course, there are many more minute details involved with horse breeding. 

Horses are believed to have been domesticated animals for over five thousand years, so it stands to reason that a great deal of horse breeding information will be available everywhere. Of course, as with any topic, it is best to take the horse breeding information that applies to your situation and disregard the rest.  It would be too challenging to take all of the horse breeding information you obtain and apply it to your own situation.  Gather all of the horse breeding information you can, but remember that every horse is unique. 

There are hundreds of horse breeds.  When horse breeding, horse breeds are often considered.  There are horse breeds that have been developed for speed, size, gait, color, or any other number of traits.  There are also several horse breeds which were developed by humans, and later became extinct.  There are modern horses and also archaic horses, when discussing types of horse breeds. 

Finally, it is best to take the information about horse breeds that best meets your needs, as there is so much.  Because there is such a vast background to draw from, nearly everyone has tips on horse breeds and horse breeding to share.  These tips about horse breeds and horse breeding generally come from experience, but can also be taken from research, or even stories passed down within a family.  Whether you're new to horses or an old hand, information about horse breeds and horse breeding can be immensely helpful.  You really can never have too much horse information.

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