Its a dominance thing.

We had a mare at our old barn who would mount another mare. Its just a dominance thing.

Cows do it too.

 

My horse is a metrosexual, I swear. At first I thought he was gay, because he HATES mare and prefers geldings. Well, I should say...he hates ALL horses, gets turned out alone...but he seems to be more interested in the guys than the gals. He LOVES to be brushed and clipped, including his ears. Pees and poops in one spot both in his stall and his paddock, does not like to get dirty...we get my drift.

 

^^^^Metrosexual:rofl:! My one gelding who was a breeding stallion until he was 10 yrs old, now hates mares! When he was a stallion, he hated geldings, now that's all he regards as friends, he isn't into anything sexual anymore, been there, done that, knows the difference. Well technically, he really doesn't like any other horses at all other than his son he is pastured with, he ignores other geldings as if they don't exist and pins his ears at mares, even his own daughter, and she hated his guts. She would have loved to give him a good kick if she ever got a chance, but was in love with her brother & vice versa.

 

I used to have a gorgeous 16hh real studly looking gelding that romanced other geldings but not mares. The worst was his neigh. He had a really 'queer' neigh. Bad enough the entire arena burst out laughing and I almost left in shame.
Super fun horse though!

 

It's not the same thing as being homosexual, bi or strait with humans. Animals are alot simpler when it comes to attractions and emotions. They have a breeding instinct and sometimes it is just stronger in others. There are stallions out there who wont breed or cannot figure it out and there are stallions out there that will try and mount anything.
When it comes to mares, some will flirt with any horse when they are in heat but hormones can mess them up and often times when you see a horse mounting another it is purely a dominance thing.
Also, some horses just really like other horses and will nicker and sniff them like crazy, no matter the gender. They don't find one gender more "attractive" than another. A horse is a horse and their scent and hormones tell them apart.

 

I find this interesting...I've seen my dogs do this..but never a horse
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I don't know if penguins can be gay than so can horses. I swear my mare putts from the rough, if you know what I mean. She loves this other mare, does not care for geldings but will move heaven and earth to be with her "girlfriend".

 

This thread make me laugh.
I'm learning more and more about horses by the minute.

 

Horses are just plain funny sometimes. My friend Sue has a mare that is totally in love with my cousin's gelding Elan. She doesn't give Biscuit the time of day but will squirt/squeal, fling her tail up like a wild woman around Elan. Earlier this year she was peeing/squirting/squealing while swinging her tail like a fan - oh yeah, I got a good dose of Premarine that day. Dang...just what I wanted - to be pee'd on by a crazy mare!

 

I'm sure they can be, but I don't think it's necessarily the same thing as it is with humans.

I worked at a barn with a little Hackney mare, Fancy. She absolutely HATED all the horses except one Appaloosa mare, Lea. Fancy loved Lea. When Lea walked by, you couldn't get Fancy to pay attention to you at all. She'd stop and stare and make lovey eyes and call to her and she so desperately wanted to be with her. When she was in heat, she'd wink at her constantly. You couldn't bring her into the crossties because she could see Lea from them, you had to get her ready in her stall. I firmly believe little Fancy was a ***** pony with a thing for voluptuous Appy's. =]

 

Animals just do not think like humans, so we cannot consider them gay, straight or bi.

Certainly they seem to have favourite sexes, horses and even colours, with which they like to be with. Mounting in animals, is not necessarily a sexual thing. More often than not, it is just a dominance issue. This especially true in dogs who 'hump'.

Some males who have been severely scolded by mares in the past, will buddy up to geldings for life.

Some seem to like certain colouring. One Gypsy Horse who came from England to quarantine, refused to breed mares there. Stallions in quarantine from overseas, must prove they can breed and settle a mare. This stallion's bill was mounting for the new owner, because he refused to breed the mares there. Jeff Bartko, had the thought to bring a Gypsy mare to the quarantine station and the stallion was immediately willing to breed her. Who knows if it was just the colour, or if he recognised his own kind. Those whom he had been brought up with.

My daughter had a Gypsy stallion, who was crazy about one particular mare. She hated him. Poor boy, even resorted to offering her his best toy ball. At one point, the silly, love-sick boy, offered her a folding chair! He would take these gifts to her stall door and stand there, hoping I suppose, for even a little encouragement. He was never asked to breed her and was very quiet and patient about the whole thing. Strangely enough, a colt we had, also for some reason fell in love with this particular mare from the time he was born. She never 'shows' to any horses and really isn't the least bit interested in making friends with any. However, it does seem that the boys of all ages, pick her out as being special. Who knows what is so attractive about her.

 

my sisters mare is my mare's mother. they've never really been separated except when the mine got sent to a trainer for starting. they are really close and are now best friends/partners in crime.

my sister always jokes that they have some sort of incestuous lesbian relationship because they make these flirty noises to each other at times. they are not buddy sour but they will get happy when they see each other its really cute.

i definitely dont think of it as a sexual thing, theyre just really close. i always laugh when my sister says that though because sometimes it seems that way.

 

I am going to contribute nothing to this thread other than this. FeatheredFeet, that story about your daughter's stallion was extremely funny and charming. The stallion sounds so sweet all he wanted was a little attention. Okay, back on topic now.

 

Here's some strange experiences I've had with my gelding:


1. I bought my horse from a breeding/lesson barn. The resident stallion was IN LOVE with my horse. He would IGNORE the broodmares, even when they were in heat, if my horse was around. Walking by his paddock, he would puff up and prance and do his whole "I"m sexy and I know it" mating dance. He would not act this way towards other geldings - only mine.

2. I took my horse to a horse show with some friends. He was just there to get some show environment experience. There were several stallions at the show, and every single one of them was fascinated by my horse. It was weird.

3. There is one mare where I board who is IN LOVE with my horse. She is so in love with him that when she's in heat, she cannot be near him. She just loses her mind and becomes obsessed with getting his attention. My horse, however, doesn't care.

 

I have never once heard a credible horse expert say that horses mounted each other for dominance. It's a well known behavior in dogs, not horses.

What it boils down to is that animals aren't as picky because they don't have any sense of identity wrapped up in their sexuality like we do.

I do know that horses can be intersexed though... I forget what it's called, but there's a condition where mares have male characteristics. I once met a mare who had crest like a stallion and she definitely behaved like one. Ruffian looked like that way to me too.

 

I agree with this completely.
Riding each other is not a sign of dominance in cattle or horses. Heifers or cows that ride each other is a sign of estrus, not dominance. Dominance becomes obvious during feeding and at the water hole, not from riding each other.
On a purebred red angus place I worked we actually used beacons glued onto the heifers backs. When the beacons turned color from being rode by other heifers we knew she was heat. (This was used for natural heat detection, rather than bringing them into heat from a shot or a uterine insert). Also seeing the hair ruffed up on a heifers back is an indication obviously if the beacons aren't used.
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Female rabbits will mount other females, and males too if not in season. Males ofcourse just don't care.. lol!
Like said before its dominance.

 

There is a breeding stallion at my barn who neighs and gets excited at anything resembling a horse- gelding OR mare. We joke that my gelding is gay. He looks awesome in pink (poor horse), and his previous owner was gay. He usually just stands around all day with a ****** off expression, but when a boy walks by he will ***** up his ears- he doesn't do that with mares. I know it's a dominance thing with dogs, but it's just so much fun to put human feelings on horses

 

Funny stories!!! The old stallion at our barn was crazy about a little palomino mare. All of the Arabians were grey as he was. He obviously thought that was pretty dang plain vanilla and would not breed them UNLESS they teased him first with Fancy. Last year before he passed away, I walked Biscuit by his pen and he came up snorting and prancing. The year before he chased my former horse Red and I thought he was being aggressive. Fancy's owner said "no, he is attracted to his color - Red isn't gray!!"

I guess horses have their preference as to what is hot and what is not!!

 

At my barn we have a few horses that are attracted to the same sex.
I feel its normal.

 

I joke that my gelding is 'omnisexual.' There's one mare who is in love with him and he'll prance and nicker and nuzzle her back, though I've never seen him mount her. He has been seen mounting two different geldings however, and he does the arched neck sexy dance for them as well. Come to think of it, the mare is a dark bay/brown and the geldings are too- maybe he just likes dark colored horses! Yes, he IS gelded, and was done before his previous owner got him at 6 years old.

 

Hahahahahha I just remembered I once got a fly mask for my former horse, Red. I put it on him and he turned around and looked at our other horse Sarge and Sarge was so startled by the alien looking at him he nearly fell over himself getting away. I ran back up to the barn for something and hubby said Sarge tried to mount Red which really ****** Red off. Not sure what was going on in Sarge's mind but he was alternately scared of it and then going to dominate it!!

 

Actually, mounting and/or putting the neck and head over the shoulders and side of another animal, IS a sign of dominance and not just with dogs. Wild animals are seen to do it too. It is often the start or sign of a fight about to begin.

Lizzie

 

This!

My gelding was busy mounting a pony gelding at the barn so we separated them. Didn't think about it again until they ended up stalled next to each other and promptly started fighting over the stall wall! Moved everyone around so there is a mare on each side of the geldings and we have peace in the barn.

 

This isn't horses, but my budgerigars are very omnisexual. I have boys in love with boys, brothers in love with sisters, sons in love with mothers, females in love with my father's hair... You name it.

Back to horses though, when I went on a thoroughbred stud tour a few years ago, I learned something fascinating - one of the studs had a thing for greys. He would only serve greys and, to get around it, they purchased a grey pony gelding. All they had to do was walk the gelding past him and the stallion was ready and rearing to go.

It's my belief that the majority of animals don't discriminate by sex (although they do apparently discriminate by colour...). They love what they love, even if it does seem strange to us.

 

I used to take care of a 17yr old QH/Warmblood mare (she was a BIG girl). I never had any trouble out of her until one evening when I was walking her to the arena.. another boarder walked his mare who was in heat past us and Valentine lost her mind. She ripped the reins out of my hand and chased the mare, who in turn ripped the lead rope out of the guys hand and ran. Valentine chased her into the barn and got her hackamore hung up on something (can't remember what) so she broke her bridle. She then cornered the other mare and mounted her. :shock:

After that, it was like handling a stallion. I had to ride her alone or with geldings only and make sure no other mare was around us at all times. She would puff up, prance, and then get out of control until she mounted the mare.

It was so extreme that I called the vet out who told me that Valentine had a hormone issue that was behind her behavior. He said it could be a cyst on her ovary. Unfortunately, her owner didn't have any interest in pursuing it any further. He sold her shortly after.

 

I have seen steers mount each other many times. I am never around them long enough to see if the mounter is a single culprit or multiple ones. It seems like they do it in a dominance and "Get outa my way!" type of thing.
My heifer before she was bred, would come in season and try to mount the horses while we were riding. Her poor hormones were all out of wack and we haven't been able to tell when shes in season after she had her calf a few years ago.

My mare is in total submissive love with the resident witch. Very pretty mare, but she is boss and demands attention and respect from my horse when she is around. I had to change fields because I couldn't get anything done with them calling after one another.