Quick Thoughts on Real Equine Sexuality vs. Equestrian Pony Sexuality · 12:57pm Apr 13th, 2016
I read a thread someone had posted about real equine sexuality and its relevance to Pony sexuality. The thread was locked, so here's my response.
In any aspect in which real horses are similar to Humans, it's likely that the Equestrian Ponies are more similar to Humans. I did a lot of this research long ago, and I was surprised by some things -- for instance, I had not realized that real mares form emotional bonds with stallions and reject stallions they don't like (I had thought it was just mate catch-as-catch-can when in season), nor that never-mated mares actually have hymen-like membranes (they're even called "maidens" at that point), nor that actual horse gestation is 10-11 months (longer than the 8-9 months common for Humans). Horses are actually a lot more similar to Humans than are most mammals in their sexual aspects.
There are some important differences, though. There are cycles of fertility, both a three-week cycle and a seasonal cycle, and mares aren't even receptive when they're off-cycle. When fertile, a mare emits an estrus scent, which I called "marescent" in my stories, and this is what arouses stallions. A mare in estrus is somewhat irritable, and the same is true of any stallion scenting her. That particular fact was highly relevant in constructing my Equestrian culture -- it's one of the big reasons for female dominance, as any mare knows when she's going to cycle and can emotionally-compensate for it, but a stallion never knows when he's going to encounter marescent.
One must also remember that horses have different sensory peaks than do Humans. They have much better hearing and considerably better senses of smell, but not as fine color discrimination. This affects love as it does many other aspects of life. For instance, it's difficult to be discreet without bathing. The Ponies are (for obvious reasons) less prudish about smells than are Humans, but given that they are for the most part serially-monogamous, and are concerned with their reputations, they sometimes do want to conceal their sexual activity from others.
I've gotten a lot of plot elements off real equine biology -- though I always remember that the Ponies are not really horses. When in doubt, I assume that the Ponies are less limited (which is why I don't render their sexual cycles as irresisitible, given that real horses can resist them if they don't like one another). The Ponies are, after all, sapient, and hence capable of considering the long-term implications of their actions and behaving accordingly -- real horses are not that bad at this, because they are smart mammals.
Real horses also live in the present moment for the most part. As prey animals, they are constantly aware of their surroundings and scanning for threats. Very little thought is given to the future, and some is given to the past although only when comparing experience to the present situation. Their sense of touch is also incredibly attuned. They can feel a mosquito land on their back, and can almost telepathically sense the desires of a rider they are properly bonded with. Bits are unnecessary pain devices, and a rider can fully control the horse with minimal cues. The ears swivel independently, giving a type of 3D audio perception that we could only dream of. Their eyes are also bifocal, being nearsighted on the lower half and farsighted on the upper half. This is why they lift their heads up when they want to get a good look at you up close.
Motivation is controlled by something called pressure/response/release. External factors provide "pressure" which causes the horse to respond to alleviate that pressure in the form of release, then the response comes to an end. They are inherently lazy and would prefer to just stand around and graze, but all the pressure elements in life determine individual behaviors.
Socially, a herd is dominated by a stallion, and the mares are loyal to him. Though, they will switch to a new stallion if he demonstrates that he is superior. This type of change in authority is not like with predators where they fight perhaps to the death. Horses never fight to the death. They challenge one another for dominance and happily accept whatever the outcome is and either lead or submit accordingly.
Here's a good video on that whole 'challenge' thing and how their behavior plays out.
Regarding sexual response, mares definitely do have a strong pleasure drive, unlike lots of other animals. They have a clitoris like humans, and they are also insatiably horny when in heat. That accounts for a lot of the irritability, specifically because when someone owns a mare, they are kept intact (unlike dogs for example). So while the males are neutered, the females still go into heat regularly. And a domesticated mare is gonna be grumpy because she can't get any. That's just how it is. She'll still listen, but if the owner asks her to perform, they just have to remember that she only has one thing on her mind for a couple days: Getting laid.
3867373 thank you, both of you! Great blog!
Huh.. the more you know media2.giphy.com/media/Y2nbrJyAR6RiM/200_s.gif
Seriously though this was quite interesting. it's always fun reading an author and seeing where ponies fall compared to earth counterparts, weather they have heards, etc... in there head cannon.
I've given this some thought myself, though with admittedly more cursory research. Very neat to see someone else's perspective on the matter.
Wow, an actual justification for pastel colors everywhere in Equestria! Lovely!
This is very interesting, I didn't even know that mares had something like a hymen-like membranes or about the bifocal eyes. You know with the lower color vision could explain why ponies are so brightly colored. I bet their color art would look very odd to us. Better hearing would explain a tonal language and the random bursts of heart song. And touch and smell all the cuddling.
It wonder how Zecora or Matilda's marescent would compare to a pony mare. I also wonder how much trouble a mare could get into with a abnormal cycle. It does happen in humans after all.
While this may be partly true in a sexual sense, in that an unbred filly or mare is called a maiden, the term 'Maiden' with regard to horses, more often refers to a racehorse that hasn't won a race. A colt retired to stud with a record of 0-9-3 over twelve starts would still be considered a 'Maiden', even after he covers his first crop of mares. (Though, I wouldn't count on a very high stud fee.)
3867373 Nice video. Had a co-worker who rode Hunter, her mare was quite a handful at times when in season. She iced down the outside wall of her stall one year to try to get attention from a stallion nearby.
Because of the way placental mammals develop, all eutherian mammals have hymens. The have vulvas with labia major and minora and clitorises, like other placental mammals.
Oh, yeah. I've spent a fair amount of time around horses, so I tend to take this sort of thing for granted, but it's good to be reminded sometimes that not everyone knows these things. Horses are individuals, just like dogs or cats or humans are. They have their friends that they feel safe and relaxed around, and they have others that they don't like too well. Some stallions are more easily aroused by a mare of a particular colour or pattern. Some just have peculiarities. I knew a gelding once who hated to pee outside of his stall - after you rode him, you had to put him in the stall to let him relieve himself (and he was doing the potty dance the whole time until you put him in there), and then afterwards he'd relax, and you could take him back out and untack and groom him. The same gelding liked to have his tongue played with, so that when you went to bridle him, if you spent a minute or two gently squeezing his tongue, you were his buddy. You have to remember too that most, if not all, of them have been punished at some point for reasons they didn't understand, so they tend to be kind of nervous around new humans until they get to know you.