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Hippomanes (Greek language ἱππομανές) are brownish or olive-greenish, elastic formations that arise physiologically in female bovines and equines during pregnancy.
Hippomanes arise from unconsumed and thickened nutrient fluid (histiotrophe) of the placenta, in concentric layers around the centre of allantoic calculi of tissue debris. The chemical composition is different to amniotic fluid, which along with the insolubility suggests that it's not a result of a simple precipitation process, but a denatured mucoprotein complex.
Hippomanes first appear in pregnant horses and ca. 85 days from conception, earlier there are small white flecks of tissue debris instead. The changes in hippomanes' color correspond to changes in color of allantoic fluid. They are often surrounded by shed cells.
The vulval discharge from the mare in oestrus was also referred to as Hippomanes in antiquity and was used equally for love potions and love spells.Tibullus Book II.4:58Propertius, Elegies Book IV.5:18
In a Greek mythology tale, Glaucus, the son of Sisyphus, is devoured by his horses at the funeral games for Pelias, the father of Acastus, during the chariot race, because Aphrodite had driven them wild with Hippomanes.Vergil Georgica 3,267Hyginus Fab. 250
Later hippomanes has been described and used by Homeopathy.
A hippomane is commonly referred to among horsemen as 'foal's bread'. Its appearance at the birth of a foal (sometimes in its mouth) is regarded as a symbol of good luck. When dried, a 'foal's bread' takes the shape of a tough, leathery heart.
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