Another name for Lordosis?

I have only ever heard it referred to as taking a "breeding stance". As far as I know, we don't have a particular term beyond that for the posture you're referring to in the USA.

Add: Standing heat is the period of time during which a mare is willing to stand and allow herself to be mounted. Not the posture she assumes prior to mounting.

Lordosis In Horses

Snezzy is right. From an anatomy perspective, lordosis always refers to the anterior curvature of the spine. In humans, we have a normal anterior curvature of the lumbar spine referred to as physiologic lordosis. When the anterior curvature of the human spine is abnormally exaggerated (called "swayback" deformity), it is referred to as pathologic lordosis. Anything pathologic is related to structural and/or functional changes or abnormalities associated with disease states.

In horses, there is no anatomically normal lumbar lordosis as in humans, and equine swayback conformation is a pathologic lordosis. The anterior spinal curvature is observed as a concavity in the topline between the withers and croup.

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The posturing mammals exhibit when ready to mate is called behavioral lordosis, meaning that the spine is voluntarily positioned in lordosis (anterior curvature) as part of the posturing for breeding, and the term is applied universally, although preferred language differs from one location to another. Interestingly, the rounded back actually exhibited by estrous mares would more appropriately be called kyphosis (posterior curvature of the spine) instead of lordosis, since it is not the arched, lordotic estrous posture assumed by other mammals.

It's not Australia vs America. Instead it's confusion over technical terminology.

Lordosis is the medical term for a particular spinal condition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordosis

In horses that sort of condition is called swayback.

Regardless of country, in the English-speaking world the term is also used as a shortened version of the term for acceptive posture for breeding, which is correctly called "lordosis behaviour":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lordosis_behavior

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Yes, I may be right, but gallop is (as usual) even more right.

Now how do I win the (totally separate) argument with those who want to use the technical term (from classical logic) "beg the question" to mean "ask the question"? When a technical term becomes popular in colloquial speech the technical area often becomes bereft of the needed word.

Of course there is the opposite effect, where a person's casual use of a term, "What breed is that black horse? He must be a stallion, right?" reveals a nearly hopeless ignorance. I'll know I don't want him near my black mare.

Lordosis is the medical term for the inward curvature of the lumbar (region between the ribs and the saccrum of the pelvis...in other words lower back) regardless of what it is in. it can be in anything from fish to people, to horses.

In the US we refer to when a mare is ready for a stallion as being in heat or sometimes we say in season. If you want a more medical term, it is in estrus.

Edit Snezzy is correct in that the behavior of bending the back in that way is called lordosis behavior....a term I had forgotten about since I haven't heard it used in that manner for 25 years or so.

Jamonica

Standing heat, receptive or ready.