Given the observations in the first year of life, it is not surprising that after discontinuation of GnRHa-treatment in the second year of life, traverse times during assessments of spatial orientation and learning were unaffected in the GnRHa-Rec group. Interestingly, maze progression over three same-day attempts in the GnRHa-Rec group was quicker at 83, but slower at 95 weeks of age, compared to Controls. As breeding and non-breeding seasons are represented at 83 and 95 weeks of age, respectively, it could be indicative that, in the GnRHa-Rec rams, high gonadal steroid levels had a greater impact to improve the ability of rams to learn how to progress beyond a specific point in the spatial maze, compared to the Controls. The manifestation of these differences in maze progression patterns during the second year of life, suggests that the programming of motivational behavior and/or emotional reactivity might be dependent on exposure to gonadal steroids during a critical window of development which coincides with the peripubertal period.