One of the craziest things to me about breeding horses is how quickly we go from rejoicing over a new foal to fretting about getting the mare bred back for the following year. Because a mare's gestation is around 11 months we are working on a tight timeline to try to keep as many mares as possible foaling in the spring, on fresh grass, rather than in the heat, mugginess, and flies of summertime. We do have some summer foals and they always amaze me with how well they handle it but overall we prefer to have as many born in April/May as possible.
A mare will naturally come into heat and be ready to re-breed within the first 1-2 weeks after foaling. In the wild, it's not at all unusual for the stallion to breed the mare and keep the cycle going. In a managed breeding program there's a lot more that goes into the care and decision whether or not to breed on the 'foal heat.' We are looking at things like- was the delivery normal and uncomplicated, did the mare clean as she should have, does her uterus appear normal on the ultrasound, how long after foaling is she ovulating, when would she be due, is this a mare we even intend to foal out the following year, etc. If anything at all seems off we can skip the foal heat and breed on the next cycle, around a month after foaling, which puts the following foal due at around the same time of year.
As we grow our breeding herd and work hard to tighten up our foaling season this leads to a very hectic period of ultrasounding, managing and breeding mares that have recently foaled. This year, we bred 8 horses in the first 2 weeks of our breeding season. Although it's unlikely that they will all take on the first cover (but we're hoping for it anyway) if they did that would put nearly half of our anticipated 2022 foals due in that two week timeline! I'm tired just thinking about it...
In this crazy period it takes work to consciously slow down and enjoy the fruits of last year's hard work. It's easy to get caught up in the stress and micro-managing of trying to get another mare checked off for the following year, but the really amazing part is the foal we have on the ground and growing! The young foals are a little shy for the first week or two but as they mature and get a bit more independent from their moms we enjoy spending a few extra minutes loving on them and marveling at their unique personalities and looks. Life isn't likely to slow down anytime soon... there are more mares to foal, breedings and re-breedings to manage, hay to cut, pastures to mow, and the list goes on. But if you see us running around like crazy people you can remind us to stop and smell the horsey smells :)
