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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.