Advice desperately needed please.

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magicandmels

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Hi, I am new on here so I'm not sure if this is the right place to post or not.

I am really at my wits end with my TB mare Mel. In the stable she is lovely to handle and most of the time she is fine in the field. I honestly don't even quite know how to explain her behaviour as I have never ever come across this before and neither have my friends.
She will be fine for weeks getting in from the field and turning out and then its suddenly like a switch has gone off in her head and she is a complete nightmare. I make her wait at the gate while I take off her headcollar otherwise when she is like this she will drag me. As soon as she is free she will bolt into a corner of the field and I mean she will go hell for leather into any corner and she will not come out. She will still be in that same corner when I go up the next day and won't come out until I fetch her. When I do get her she is just awful and will spin and charge trying to get back into that corner or the next. Having a 16.1 TB bouncing around is not fun at all.
Tonight she knocked me over when she bolted away and it has really upset me because I never once thought that she would actually do that. I have had Mel for 18 months now and I honestly do not know what to do.
I really don't know much about her history. We were hacking out together until she hurt her knee which put us right back at square one and we have been starting slow again. I don't think she would ever bolt with me on her but tonight has made me question the trust I do have in her. She does suffer with sarcoids but they don't affect her. She isn't being bullied in the field or anything.
I don't know anything really about Mel's history as she was a bit of a rescue case.
I honestly don't know what to do anymore with her and after tonight I do feel worried about getting her in tomorrow. I have had to warn other mare owners to keep an eye on her when they get their own horses in 'just in case'.
Please any help and advice is really appreciated.Thanks.
 
I have no idea what to say that would help you but just wanted you to know you have my sympathy, must have been a very scary experience. Is there any way of finding out who her previous owners were or anyone who knew her who could give you more details of her history?
 
Could it be hormonal?
I know as a general rule mares come into season during spring and summer every 3rd week or thereabouts, but I know of mares who dont fit this and season in the winter.

My Welsh D filly is the sweetest girl you could imagine, she's only 16 months old.
For past couple of months she turned into a total horror, she would turn her rear on me in the field and kick at me, she even charged me down in the field and had I not ducked behind a bloody big wheelbarrow I was using for poo picking, I'm sure she'd have steam rolled right over me.

I didn't consider her being in season as she was only 14 months old when it first happened, but then when my gypsey cob took a good sniff and tried mounting her, and she had her rear stuck in his face, it became obvious.

I can't tell with my othr filly other than marks down the back of her legs, she's always the same.

I'm sure you've already considered this as an option, but she sounds so like Lily x
 
I find it odd that she goes into a corner and stays there which would suggest some deep rooted insecurity/behavioural issue? alternatively have you rulled out any physical issues which would make her plant herself in a corner and not want to come out - hearing or sight issues? sorry just tryng to come up with some other ideas..
 
Well things have again changed with Melody,she is out of her corner and coming to the gate when called for her tea now.
Me and the others at the farm have talked about nothing else but Mel and we were even considering whether the best thing for her would be to be put down.That sounds harsh but when she charges up and down the fences she is dangerous.
The vet is coming out next week to band some of her sarcoids so I will have a good talk with her.
My friend seems to think that Mel is in pain and thats why she behaves as she does but now after reading some of the replies on here I really do disagree. The thing with the seasons and hormones has really struck a chord with me and timing does make sense as she only behaves like this on and off, its not a permanent thing. She is also like this throughout winter and I didn't actually think that mares could season through the winter and now I find out they do it makes more sense. I will see what the vet says.
Now I am just trying to get a little confidence back when I fetch her and turnout.
Thank you for your replies, they were sooooo welcome.:)
 
Hello,

I'm not sure this is going to be helpful but I thought you might feel better to know you are not alone! There used to be a horse at our yard who behaved like this. No one has ever got to the bottom of what triggers his behaviour but he has always done it, though it happened less as he got older.

He would get 'stuck' - sometimes in his stable, or just at a certain point in the field. It was like there were walls that only he could see. He would get more and more wound up, bouncing on the spot, and basically everyone had to stand well clear because once he was 'stuck' the only way he would leave that spot was at flat out gallop.

He was a difficult ride but to my knowledge never did this under saddle. He left the yard a couple of years ago but is still around, and would be about 20 now. Quite simply, there doesn't seem to be any obvious physical cause. The closest thing to an explanation that anyone came up with (and this was only a hypothesis) was that he had some kind of adrenal problem.

Good luck with your mare.
 
Probably not helpful, but why not speak to an animal behaviourist or someone like Kelly Marks and see if they can throw some light on this. It may be she is in season, but it does not sound like she is pain more a behavioural issue. Good luck
 
Hiya
Sorry to hear of your trouble with your mare.
Having a good chat with the vet is a great idea.
I have also heard of behaviourists being able to help with such oddities, so perhaps this could be worth a try.
If it is hormonal I think there are things that can be done to help this.
I hope you can get to the bottom of it with your mare mel
 
Steorra said:
Hello,

I'm not sure this is going to be helpful but I thought you might feel better to know you are not alone! There used to be a horse at our yard who behaved like this. No one has ever got to the bottom of what triggers his behaviour but he has always done it, though it happened less as he got older.

He would get 'stuck' - sometimes in his stable, or just at a certain point in the field. It was like there were walls that only he could see. He would get more and more wound up, bouncing on the spot, and basically everyone had to stand well clear because once he was 'stuck' the only way he would leave that spot was at flat out gallop.

Good luck with your mare.
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OMG! I am shocked and sooooo happy to see this!!lol. That is exactly to the letter what my mare does! She has never got stuck in her stable only in the field. I did think it were a behaviour problem. A couple of my friends saw something like it on Horse and Country and they said it was a sign of being neglected and being abused. Other than Mels is a reg Whetherbys TB I know nothing of her history.

I do think I would like to chat to some behaviourists too. I might ask at the farm if she could be kept next to the mares field rather than in it because I don't want her to hurt anyone else. How would I get in touch with Kelly Marks?

Thanks guys!!
 
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