Mare's milk is the natural lactation product of female horses and serves as the primary source of nutrition for foals in the early stages of life. It provides essential nutrients, including proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, necessary for the growth and development of young horses. The composition of mare's milk can vary based on factors such as the mare's diet, health, and stage of lactation. Researchers study mare's milk to understand its nutritional profile, its role in foal development, and its potential applications in equine nutrition and management. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the composition, benefits, and variations of mare's milk in equine science.
Tanhuanpää E, Knudsen O.The milk fat from 20 mares on pasture and 9 stable-fed mares was analysed. It is richer in C18:3 than the milk of other domestic species. This was especially marked when the mares were on pasture and were not given any grain. Further, mare’s milk fat is rich in fatty acids containing less than 14 carbon atoms in their chains. Das Milchfett von 20 Stuten auf der Weide und von 9 stallgefütterten Stuten wurde analysiert. Es enthält mehr C18:3 als das Milchfett anderer Haustiere. Dieses war speziell ausgeprägt für Stuten die auf der Weide gingen und kein Getreide bekamen. Das Milchfett der S...
SHORT RV.A comparison has been made between the steroids present in equine follicular fluid and luteal tissue. Follicular fluid was found to contain progesterone, 17α-hydroxyprogesterone, androstenedione, epitestosterone, 19-norandrostenedione, oestrone, oestradiol-17β and 6α-hydroxyoestradiol-17β, in confirmation of previous studies. On the other hand, luteal tissue contained large amounts of progesterone and 20α-hydroxypregn-4-en-3-one, and a small quantity of 17α-hydroxyprogesterone. No C18 or C19 steroids could be detected.
These findings are therefore interpreted as evidence in favour of ...
SAVARD K.The urinary ketonic estrogens were studied at monthly intervals in five pregnant mares. Estrone and equilin appear to be the principal components and equilenin a minor constituent of the mares’ estrogens. The levels of equilin rise from the 4–5th months to equal and in some instances exceed those of estrone in the late months of pregnancy. A partition chromatographic method for the separation of the ketonic phenolic steroids of pregnant mares’ urine is described.
Montavon S.Because of the anatomical position of the Corpus luteum within the ovary, rectal palpation is of little value for identification and evaluation. The aim of this review is to familiarize the practitioner with the echographic examination of the Cl. He should be able to recognize different stages of this important structure and to correlate ovulation and the existence of the Cl. Various specific criteria and details regarding equine echography are reported and illustrated, using the the most recently published scientific data.
Lü Y, Wang H, Yang J.A direct high-performance gel permeation chromatographic (HPGPC) method for the determination of immunoglobulin G in mare colostrum was established. HPGPC separation was performed on a TOSOH TSK-G4000PW(XL) column (300 mm x 7.8 mm, 5 microm) with 0.05 mol/L phosphate buffer solution (pH 6.9) as the mobile phase at a flow rate of 0.8 mL/min, and the column temperature was maintained at 25 degrees C. The injection volume was 20 microL. At the detection wavelength of 280 nm, the linear range was from 0.2 to 3.0 g/L (r2 = 0.999 5) with a detection limit of 0.08 mg/L (S/N = 10). The recovery was 97...
Bertone JJ, Traub-Dargatz JL, Wingfield WE.Atrial fibrillation in a pregnant, lactating, 15-year-old mare nursing a 70-day-old foal was converted to normal sinus rhythm, using quinidine sulfate. The maximum concentration of quinidine was 4.3 mg/L in the mare's milk and was 2.6 mg/L in the mare's serum. Treatment with quinidine did not interrupt the pregnancy. Six months after treatment, the mare developed acute volvulus of the large colon and died. At necropsy, the mare did not have macroscopic or microscopic cardiac lesions. The fetus was macroscopically and histologically normal.
Servetnik-Chalaia GK, Mal'tseva LM.It was shown that the content of vitamins E, C, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin in mare's milk and kumyss varies depending on the season. The highest level of vitamins E, C and niacin was noted in May-June. The technological processing of mare's milk leads to the decreased content of vitamin C and niacin. Mare's milk and kumyss were found to contain dehydroascorbic acid in a considerable amount, especially in summer.
Orlov VK, Servetnik-Chalaia GK.Physicochemical properties of fat and fatty-acid composition of mare's milk and shubath (sour milk product obtained from camel's milk) depend on the season. During summer these products show a higher content of fat and increased level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, particularly in mare's milk lipids. It has been shown that in mare's milk lipids 90% is due to acids with a carbon chain of C14-18, while shubath lipids contain almost 96% of such acids.
Willis P, Caudle AB, Fayrer-Hosken RA.Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to evaluate the fine structure of equine oocytes cultured in vitro. Oocytes obtained by follicular aspiration were cultured for either zero or 15 hr. After treatment oocytes were processed either by light microscopy (nuclear evaluation) or TEM (cytoplasmic evaluation). Those oocytes cultured for 15 hr were incubated in modified TCM 199 with 15% (v/v) mare serum (day of ovulation) at 39 +/- 0.2 degree C. Evaluation using TEM revealed that cortical granules were present in all oocytes. However, zero-time oocytes contained few cortical granules, and...
Lanci A, Ingallinesi M, Morini M, Freccero F, Castagnetti C, Mariella J.Hydramnios is an excessive accumulation of fluid within the amniotic compartment. It is a rare condition in mares, often associated with fetal anomalies. Hydrops of fetal membranes predisposes to the rupture of the prepubic tendon, and many authors suggest the induction of parturition to preserve mare's reproductive career. This report presents the case of a 15-year-old multiparous Quarter Horse mare, referred at 268 days of gestation for suspected hydrops. Repeated ultrasonographic exams confirmed an increase in the depth of the amniotic fluid and reduced fetal viability. During the hospitali...
Girardet JM, Miclo L, Florent S, Mollé D, Gaillard JL.beta-Casein was isolated from Haflinger mare's milk by RP-HPLC, and displayed microheterogeneity by urea-electrophoresis and 2-DE probably due to a variable degree of phosphorylation. To investigate the degree of phosphorylation, the primary structure of equine beta-casein was determined by tryptic hydrolysis and MS of peptides released and by MS of the protein treated by alkaline phosphatase. The molecular mass found for the apo-form of Haflinger mare's beta-casein (25 514 +/- 3 Da) was close to the theoretical mass of the reported sequence (GenBank AAG43954) modified by insertion of a region...
Cohen ND, Carey VJ, Donahue JG, Seahorn JL, Harrison LR.Epidemiological and pathological findings of 433 late-term abortions associated with the mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) in central Kentucky were identified by reviewing the records of the University of Kentucky Livestock Diseases Diagnostic Center. The distribution of dates of abortion was clustered during a brief period of time, presumably from a simultaneous environmental exposure. The most common pathological findings were microscopic pulmonary lesions consisting of squamous epithelial cells present in alveoli with or without concurrent infiltration of inflammatory cells (neutrophil...
Mattioli M, Galeati G, Seren E.Prostaglandin F-2 alpha (PGF-2 alpha) receptors of bovine and equine corpora lutea (C.L.) were studied. From both the equilibrium binding data and the dissociation kinetics behaviour, two affinity classes of receptors are evident in the mare, with apparent dissociation constants (Kd) of 1,5 x 10(-9) M and 3.5 x 10(-8) M. Bovine PGF-2 alpha receptors present a homogeneous population of binding sites with Kd = 1 x 10(-8) M. Both bovine and equine C.L. receptors bind PGF-2 alpha in a specific manner; only 13, 14-dihydro-PGF-2 alpha considerably cross-reacts with these receptors. Since in the mare...
Sigler DH, Ericson DE, Gibbs PG, Kiracofe GH, Stevenson JS.Lactating mares were assigned as controls or fed altrenogest (.044 mg.kg body wt-1.d-1) for 15 d after foaling. Mares (n = 6) fed altrenogest were inseminated during the first estrus after treatment and mares (n = 6) in the control group were inseminated during the second postpartum estrus. Ovulation during the estrus in which mares were inseminated occurred 26 +/- 1 d postpartum for treated mares and 36 +/- 1 d postpartum for control mares. The percentage of mares conceiving was not different for control (67%) and alternogest-treated (100%) mares. No differences were observed in tone and size...
Doreau M, Dussap G.Female milk production was related to offspring water turnover, estimated by a tracer method (fig. 1). After deuterium oxide was injected into the blood of the offspring, we measured the decrease of its concentration in time. Milk intake was calculated by equations taking into account the weight gain of the offspring. The reliability of this method was checked in 28 bottle-fed lambs with known milk intake; the correlation between the actual intakes and our estimates was 0.98 with an error means of 5.6 p. 100. The error on the mean of 28 lambs was 0.5 p. 100 (table 1). The milk production of 6 ...
Jaeser M, Wunderlich C, Henle T.To study the protein-bound glycans of equine κ-casein, equine sodium caseinate was first obtained from raw mare's milk by acid precipitation and then fractionated by cation-exchange chromatography. The oligosaccharides of the obtained equine κ-casein were analyzed by RP-HPLC-UV-HRMS after β-elimination with simultaneous derivatization with 1-phenyl-3-methyl-5-pyrazolone (PMP). In addition to the acidic tetrasaccharide derivative Neu5Ac-Gal-[Neu5Ac]-GalNAc-2PMP known from bovine κ-casein, the acidic pentasaccharide derivative Neu5Ac-Gal-[Gal-GlcNAc]-GalNAc-2PMP was identified as the most ab...
Riley CB, Jenvey CJ, Baker FJ, Corripio A. To determine if an ELISA for measurement of IgA in equine serum could be used to measure concentrations of IgA in foal faeces and to determine correlations with concentrations in the milk of the dam. Faeces from 20 Welsh Cob and Welsh Pony foals and milk from their dams were collected within 12 hours (Day 0) and at 6 days after parturition (Day 6). On Day 6, faeces could not be collected from 2/20 foals, and milk samples could not be collected from 3/20 mares. An equine IgA ELISA validated for serum and plasma was used to measure concentrations of IgA in all samples in triplicate. The preci...
Theiner E, Weber C, Müller E, Venner M, Finkler-Schade C, Vervuert I.This study aimed to examine the effects of an oral supplementation on manganese (Mn) concentrations in the blood of lactating warm-blood broodmares. Furthermore, the potential relationship between Mn supply of the lactating mare and its suckling foal was investigated. Methods: During the 90-day trial, lactating mares were divided into 3 groups and daily received a daily dose of either a placebo (n = 11) or a Mn supplement of 560 mg Mn as Mn sulfate (n = 11) or Mn chelate (n = 11) in addition to the Mn intake from the basal ration (hay ad libitum, total mixed ration: Mn intake ~ 1...
Taveiros AW, Oliveira MA, Lima PF, Tenório Filho F, Bartolomeu CC, Santos MH, Oliveira LR, Iunes-Souza TC, Freitas JC.Ten pluriparous mares were used as donors to supply embryos which were transferred into 103 recipients, 31 of which were nulliparous, 34 were pluriparous and lactating, and 38 were pluriparous and non-lactating. The embryos were recovered eight days after ovulation and pregnancy was confirmed by ultrasound six days after the transfer; the length of the embryos was measured ultrasonographically on days 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 25 and 30 after the embryo transfer. One hundred and fifteen of 200 flushes provided embryos, 12 being degenerate and 103 being viable embryos. From the 103 embryo transfers c...
Lebedev SG, Lebedeva LF.A medium containing egg yolk, mare's milk and/or modified PBS was used to culture Day-8 to 8.5 equine blastocysts. Twenty-one variants of the medium containing different concentrations of the 3 components were prepared. Embryos were recovered nonsurgically and placed into the media at 37 degrees C for 24 h. A total of 45 embryos was cultured; of these 7 died in culture and 13 showed inadequate development at the onset, while 25 continued to grow in the media. It was established that embryos grew best in media containing 20 to 60% yolk, 20 to 60% mare's milk and/or 20 to 60% PBS. It was found e...
Cohen ND, Carey VJ, Donahue JG, Seahorn JL, Brown SE, Riddle TW.To characterize the temporality of dates of breeding and abortion classified as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) among mares with abortions during early gestation. Methods: 2,314 mares confirmed pregnant at approximately 28 days after breeding from 36 farms in central Kentucky, including 515 mares that had early-term abortions. Methods: Farm veterinarians and managers were interviewed to obtain data for each mare that was known to be pregnant to determine pregnancy status, breeding date, last date known to be pregnant, and date of abortion. Results: Mares bred prior to April 1, 2001, app...
Sharma AK, Kathikeyan S, Kaur P, Singh TP, Yadav MP.Lactoferrin is an iron-binding glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 80 kDa. The protein has two iron binding sites. It has two structural lobes, each housing one Fe(3+) and the synergistic CO(3)(2-) ion. The protein was isolated from the colostrum/milk of mares maintained at National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar, India. The purified samples of the protein were crystallized using a microdialysis method. The protein was dialysed against low ionic strength buffer solution. Several crystal forms were obtained, out of which three were characterized which have cell dimensions as follows. For...
Hyde KA, Aguiar FLN, Alvarenga PB, Rezende AL, Alves BG, Alves KA, Gastal GDA, Gastal MO, Gastal EL.Understanding the transition from quiescent primordial follicles to activated primary follicles is vital for characterizing ovarian folliculogenesis and improving assisted reproductive techniques. To date, no study has investigated preantral follicle crowding in the ovaries of livestock or characterized these crowds according to follicular morphology and ovarian location (portions and regions) in any species. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the crowding (clustering and neighborhood) patterns of preantral follicles in the equine ovary according to mare age, follicular morphology an...
Valiev AG, Valieva TA, Valeeva GR, Speranskiĭ VV, Levachev MM.The influence of essential fatty acids of mare's milk fat on the immunocompetent system and nonspecific resistance of male rats weighing 135-145 g was investigated after 6 weeks of feeding. Rats were fed with isocaloric purified diets containing 15% of test fat (in control--combination of lard and sunflower oil) which provide the ratio of omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids equal to 0.76. An increase of immune responsiveness and nonspecific resistance in the group fed with the diet with mare's milk fat on day 6 after a single immunization of the animals with 5% sheep erythrocyte suspension was noted.
Valieva TA, Valiev AG, Kulakova SN, Levachev MM.During six weeks rats were given a ration containing, as the only source of fat, lipids of sublimated mare's milk that had been stored with or without antioxidants (quercitrol, bisalcophen) during 3 months. The influence of specific quality of the ration fat on lipids and fatty acid composition of lipids in blood plasma, erythrocytic stroma and liver tissue, as well as on lipid peroxidation in the tissues was studied in the test animals. No changes induced by the lipids from sublimated mare's milk were detected in the parameters studied.
Liberatori J, Morisio Guidetti L, Conti A.By double diffusion in agarose gel, in well defined experimental conditions, cross reactions were observed between porcine beta-lactoglobulins and anti-bovine beta-lactoglobulin antisera. The immunological reactivity between these beta-lactoglobulins from a monogastric and the ruminant anti beta-lactoglobulin antiserum thus implies a certain degree of similarity between the monomeric beta-lactoglobulins examined and the dimeric of the ruminants. With the same antisera it also proved possible to demonstrate the presence of beta-lactoglobulins in the mammary secretions of another monogastric, na...
Godoy VM, Oliveira NFOE, Paretsis NF, Silva SCD, Souza AF, De Zoppa ALDV, Corrêa RR.This report describes the combination of two surgical fracture repair techniques and the postoperative management of a mandibular diastemal fracture in a two-year-old mare. The mare was referred to a veterinary hospital with a laceration over the body of the right mandible. Radiographic assessment revealed two mesial fracture lines involving the second premolar tooth and a ventrally displaced bone fragment. The mare was treated under general anesthesia and the fracture was corrected using open reduction and plate fixation. A 3.5 mm narrow 15-hole locking compression plate with seven locking ...
