Wild mares can conceive before they are a year old, although they are often approaching their second year before they first conceive. Even at this age they are far from mature and are still growing themselves. Mares come back in heat and often conceive eight days after giving birth.
A wild mare spends nearly every day of her adult life pregnant and/or nursing. A nursing mare at some stages of the foals development need nearly twice the calories of a non nursing mare. Important trace minerals and even protein are routed to milk instead of the mother's body if anything is deficient in their diet. Thin horses sometimes over compensate with winter hair growth which serves to help keep them as warm as their plumper counterparts. The sodium content is high in the diet and water supplies of all of the island horses, contributing to a pot bellied look.
Now throw in the fact that many Colonial Spanish horses are wide at the pin bones and all of them should have narrow chests and we have a recipe for ragged looking, runty mares.
When raised domestically and not allowed to have a foal every year they look very different. In fact, they are as beautiful as the stallions. Look how sleek and well conditioned the two fighting stallions in the picture above appear. Look at the relative smallness of the adolescent mare with her foal beside her.
Those who see only pictures of the wild mares miss out on the beauty that exists in these horses.
Motherhood takes a toll.
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