Yes, horses produce milk. Female horses (called mares) are mammals, so they lactate after giving birth to feed their foals. A lactating mare produces 12 to 15 liters of milk per day at peak output, which occurs roughly one to two months after foaling. Horse milk has been consumed by humans for thousands of years and is still used today in parts of Central Asia and Europe, both as a drink and in skincare products.
How Mares Produce Milk
The process works much like it does in other mammals. During pregnancy, rising hormone levels stimulate the mammary gland to develop the tissue it needs for milk production. Progesterone, which stays high throughout gestation, actually blocks milk from being produced prematurely. When progesterone drops just before birth, that block lifts and milk production begins.
The hormone prolactin triggers the initial onset of lactation. Once milk production is established, though, the mare’s body maintains it without needing prolactin to stay elevated. Nursing itself stimulates continued production. In most mammals, the hormone oxytocin is responsible for the “let-down” reflex that pushes milk out when the udder is stimulated. Interestingly, mares can sometimes release milk without this reflex firing at all, a quirk not seen in most other species.
Milk production peaks between 30 and 60 days after birth. At that point, a foal drinks an amount equal to roughly 21 to 25% of its own body weight each day. Production gradually declines as the foal begins eating solid food, with most foals fully weaned by around six months.
Why the First Milk Is Critical for Foals
The very first milk a mare produces, called colostrum, is different from regular milk and plays a life-or-death role. Unlike humans and some other mammals, horses have a type of placenta that doesn’t allow antibodies to pass from mother to foal during pregnancy. This means foals are born with virtually no immune protection of their own.
Colostrum solves this problem. It contains extremely high concentrations of antibodies, averaging around 10,500 mg/dl of immunoglobulin G (IgG), the primary infection-fighting antibody. Newborn foals have specialized cells lining their small intestine that can absorb these large antibody molecules directly into the bloodstream. This absorption window is narrow: it closes roughly 24 hours after birth. If a foal doesn’t get enough colostrum in that first day, it’s left dangerously vulnerable to infection.
How Horse Milk Compares to Cow and Human Milk
Horse milk is notably thinner and lighter than cow’s milk. It contains just 1.2% fat, compared to 3.6% in cow’s milk and 3.6% in human milk. It also has less protein (2.1%) than cow’s milk (3.3%), though more than human milk (1.4%).
Where horse milk stands out is its sugar content. It contains 6.4% lactose, nearly double the 3.3% found in cow’s milk and very close to the 6.7% in human milk. This high lactose content, along with a carbohydrate structure that resembles human milk (including branched oligosaccharides not found in cow’s milk), is one reason horse milk has drawn interest as a closer alternative to human breast milk than cow’s milk is. Overall, horse milk is lower in calories: about 480 kcal per kilogram versus 674 for cow’s milk.
Human Uses: Kumis and Beyond
The most well-known human use of horse milk is kumis (also spelled koumiss), a fermented drink with roots in Central Asian nomadic cultures, particularly among Turkic and Mongolian peoples. Traditionally, mare’s milk was poured into bags made from horse skin and left to ferment while being periodically stirred or churned.
The fermentation involves two simultaneous processes. Lactic acid bacteria acidify the milk, giving it a sour, tangy flavor. At the same time, yeasts convert some of the lactose into alcohol and carbon dioxide, making the final product lightly carbonated and mildly alcoholic. The result is a thin, fizzy, slightly sour beverage that tastes nothing like cow’s milk. Kumis is still produced commercially in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and parts of Russia.
Skincare and Therapeutic Uses
Horse milk and horse colostrum have also been tested in dermatology, with some promising early results. In a small study of seven patients with moderate atopic dermatitis (eczema), applying a cream containing 20% horse colostrum twice daily for 30 days reduced redness and itching while improving skin moisture and softness, with no side effects observed.
Other small clinical trials have tested horse colostrum and milk formulations on a range of skin conditions. A cream with 30% horse colostrum led to complete skin regeneration in 12 patients with a form of acne. A liposomal gel containing 20% horse colostrum improved healing in 10 patients with ulcerative skin lesions over 20 days of treatment. Formulations combining horse colostrum and horse milk have also shown benefits for sunburn relief, contact skin lesions, and even second- and third-degree burns, where patients experienced rapid pain relief and visible rebuilding of skin tissue within a week.
These studies are small, so they represent early evidence rather than settled science. But the consistent pattern of skin-soothing and healing effects has made horse milk an increasingly popular ingredient in European cosmetics, particularly in France, Belgium, and Italy, where horse milk soaps, creams, and lotions are marketed for sensitive skin.