The behavior of “instinctive innate” in the hearts of mares towards their foals .. Tracing the degree of “motherhood of families” reveals a strong correlation between “motherhood and blood” ..
Studies reveal: The degree of motherhood varies greatly between Arabian horses … and 4 groups that explain the degree of “mother’s concern and care”
The percentage of semi-mares refusing breastfeeding reaches 4 and 5% of the herd .. “They do not have a high degree of motherhood and do not breastfeed their young naturally.”
“Rejectionists for breastfeeding”: She issues severe aggression “kicks and bites” from the first moments … and her foals depend on artificial feeding.
For “those who care and educators”: The attribute of caring and natural motherhood must be chosen in the flock and the neglectful person should be excluded.
Motherhood in Arabian horses has secrets, which must be known in order to be able to understand their world, and to succeed in caring for them with the correct care and maintenance of their upbringing. Therefore, their behavior and language must be understood. The “maternal behavior” is an instinctive and instinctive behavior that God placed in the mind and heart of mares towards their foals, whose secret lies the life of the foal, so this behavior and its importance in the life of the foal “before its birth” and during the periods of its growth must be known.
In an attempt to approach and understand these secrets, one must first master the art of dealing with them in addition to understanding their needs to reach their feelings and emotions. At the beginning we ask a question .. Does the degree of motherhood differ among Arabian mares ..?
The answer is yes. The degree of motherhood varies greatly among mares. According to a study to reveal the secrets of motherhood in Arabian horses, they were divided into four groups according to the degree of mother’s interest and the degree of care that mares perform towards their foals to:
They are the affectionate mares: This group is considered to be a group of mares that enjoy a superior degree of motherhood, which is represented in the high rate of lactation “number of times per hour – length of breastfeeding” and the rate of approaching the foal and its ability to protect and defend it and the ability to accept and breastfeed any other foal, in addition to For her newborn.
The percentage of these mares can be described as small, as we can rely on this group of mares as surrogate mothers who take care of orphan foals as well as replace the mares who are able to breastfeed their foals because of their illness, weakness or death, and this group of mares is distinguished by its ability to produce a large amount of milk that is sufficient. She needs her foal and helps to nurse the orphan foal, and the growth rate of foals of this group is characterized by the ideal “in weight and growth rate in addition to emotional and behavioral balance.”
And the second group, which is the natural mares: These mothers enjoy a good degree of motherhood and increase the rates of approaching and defending the foal, but they do not have the ability to accept or breastfeed another foal with the exception of her infant, as the percentage of these mares reaches about 90% of the mares of the herd and can describe growth rates These mare are also very good.
And the third group comes, which is the semi-rejection of breastfeeding: This group of mares can be described as not having a high degree of motherhood and that they do not breastfeed their young naturally and the period of approaching, breastfeeding and taking care of their foal, meaning that they neglect the care of their foal for some time, as the percentage of these mares reaches what Between “4 and 5% of the herd.
The foals of these mares depend on “artificial feeding” in addition to their breastfeeding from their mothers because the milk they get is not enough for the foal to grow well, and the foals of this group of mares are characterized by lower growth rates than their peers in addition to their weak ability to resist diseases.
While the fourth group, which is the mares rejecting “ungrateful” breastfeeding: it is the group of mares that are very aggressive towards their foals “from kicking and biting”, and that is from the first moments after birth when trying to approach his mother or trying to breastfeed, and the percentage of these mares are few and their foals are totally dependent On formula feeding.
In addition, heredity plays a role in the inheritance of motherhood, as heredity plays a role in the transmission of the trait of motherhood. By tracing the degree of motherhood between different families, it was found that there is a strong correlation between the degree of motherhood and the blood of some families that inherit this trait to a large extent.
We advise those interested in Arabian horses, breeders and those in charge of breeders, to elect the attribute of compassionate motherhood so that we can focus on this trait in the flock of mares and exclude the prostrate mares from breeding, and thus we can increase the percentage of affectionate mares and natural mares and reduce the percentage of ungrateful mares.