Advice on Evil Mare

[Darkhorse]

My friend owns a mare and to be quite frank it is a complete bag.

We are having real issues with the handling of this mare - This is my friends first horse but she has had a large support network so the mare has been well handled, she has had lessons etc..

We are in a situation now where we cannot turn there mare out with other horses. It has never been good to catch but lately she has become dangerous. She will lunge at who ever is trying to catch her and spin to kick and she means it. Im very confident handling her but IMHO she is dangerous. She has hay out in her field so she is not hungry.

We have tried her on some calming/moody mare supplememnts to see if they help but they haven't. Vet has checked her and he has just said that she has a bad temperament.

My friend loves this horse but it is totally unsuitable for her and I dont think it suits the routine on our yard.

Has anyone got any idea's or suggestions. Im not one for giving up on a horse but Im serioulsy thinking that this mare should be sold or moved

 

[martlin]

hmm, a difficult one as you give very little information, really...
Can you try leaving her in the field until she decides she had enough and then leaving her for a bit longer? Also, try to keep the headcollar on with a very short piece of rope attached to it so you can just grab quickly instead of messing about with putting one on.
It sounds to me she needs to learn a bit about respecting your personal space as well...

 

[JMSims2008]

Sounds like your friend has got her work cut out with the mare! Is she actually on a hard feed at the moment? Does she get ridden much? She might be in pain somewhere so I would have her teeth and back checked initially. If she is still a monster, and dangerous, then I would suggest to your friend that she really needs to get rid of her. It's not worth taking your life in your hands whenever you handle her, because at the end of the day, the mare has obviously got no respect for your friend.
Horse ownership is never really plain sailing, but this is too extreme, you shouldn't have to put up with such antics.

I must admit that I am concerned that your vet has checked her and said she 'has a bad temprement' - did he not suggest anything? also, what exactly did he check?

Maybe the mare just needs to be a companion. How old is she?

 

[Birker2020]

I really feel the mare has a physical problem which needs addressing despite what the vet says. My friend knows of a horse who has broken a liveries leg kicking out at her when it got loose, and he lunges at you over the stable door. It was only when my friends friend was going to sue the owner of the horse that the was called out and the horse diagnosed with kissing spine.

 

[AmyMay]

How many different people are handling this horse?
How old is it?
What's it's background?
What is it like to ride?

 

[Darkhorse]

Sorry I will you give you some more info .

She is not in any pain, teeth and back have both been done and she had no issues.

She is turned out in a paddock next to other horses, we leave her head collar on all the time. If she is out with another horse she will just run it round the paddock.

If she is left out til last then her behaviour is even worse so its really not an option to leave her.

Please dont think that this mare has not been fully checked as she has, she is 10 years old and actually is very good to ride, the issues are on the ground.

In terms of feed she is on Alfa A and Mix twice a day and about a bale of hay.

 

[martlin]

I think you (or your friend) need some serious help to establish ground rules with the mare... I don't think she is Evil, I've never met an evil horse, she has some issues that need sorting

 

[twinkle]

i dont think anyone is suggesting that she isnt fully checked at all!

but vets can and are wrong sometimes!

my mare had 4 vets look at her this year when she was hardly lame and had a massive attitude change and 3 of them told me there was nothing wrong including one at newmarket (rosadales)! until she was finally diagnosed by the last vet had done both hind suspensorys diagnosed via ultrasound,nerveblocks.

''She is not in any pain, teeth and back have both been done and she had no issues.''

and dont mean to sound mean but no on no's this about there horse unless every test under the sun has been done or they tell you lol.there is so much mre to back and teeth being checked that could be causing pain!

i would get some kind of ''good'' behaviorlist out to mare whilst all who are involved have got to deal with her!

sorry really hope things get sorted and please be carful!

 

[the watcher]

Does she actually need the Alfa and mix to maintain condition? I would be inclined to try moderating the feed first, even changing to soaked cubes and chaff with a pre/pro biotic and see if that makes any difference

 

[Sags_Deer]

Its sounds to me you need to get her ovaries checked out, as ones that I have come across like this may have an enlarged ovary. I would speak to the vet, you could have a different horse at the end of it. Good luck

 

[AmyMay]

Agree with the food. Pony nuts and Hi Fi? Unless as above, she needs condition.

I agree with you about not leaving her - if she becomes anxious it will only serve to make her bahaviour worse.

Has she been tried on Regumate?

 

[martlin]

[ QUOTE ]
Its sounds to me you need to get her ovaries checked out, as ones that I have come across like this may have an enlarged ovary. I would speak to the vet, you could have a different horse at the end of it. Good luck

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, haven't thought about it before, but that might be the case as granulosis tumors (sp) can cause, erratic, aggresive and stallionlike behaviour - relatively easy to get rid of with big success rate (big thanks here to dr Derek Knottenbelt

)

 

[Darkhorse]

Don't get me wrong I always say that no horse is born bad. This mare has been here since May.

I dont think her feed regime helps her and I have advised that her feed be dropped right off as she doesn't need it.

 

[Tia]

Some horses are just plain nasty. I have one on my yard - no-one else would take the horse. There is nothing physically wrong with this horse, she is just a very very nasty horse. Establishing ground rules - yeah, until you meet a horse like this, you won't know that sometimes these things just cannot be done. You can get so far, and then the rest is down to the horse. If the horse is the way it is, you CANNOT change that! You just have to make the best of a bad situation.

My advice to this person is get rid of it! If it really is as bad as you say, then a dreadful accident could be just around the corner. The horse on my yard has been here for over a year. Nothing will change the way she is, but I can deal with her on a daily basis. She goes in with my horses because she is definitely not safe for the majority of my liveries to be in the same field as. I have a rapport with her; she understands me and I "get" her. I know her moods now but I would never let anyone else handle her or go in the field with her.

We all want answers, we all think there are resolutions, we all think nothing is insurmountable ... until we meet a horse like this. Thankfully these horses are VERY rare; I've only met one like this in all my 40-odd years with horses, and she is sitting out in my back field

.

This may not be the case with this horse - it may be like the vast majority of other horses in that it just needs a guiding light and an experienced hand - but then it may not.

 

[jhoward]

i have an mare.. she was a year ago dangerous and still can be.. not just kicking and biting, she will strike, body slam you against walls and if your really lucky try and tap dance on your head, a year later shes a different horse, the main thing with her, is you have to dominate her, i dont meen beat her, but she will warn before she does anything, in that split second if you back off youve had it.,

oddley enough she was bought off a thread on this forum!

ive kept a diary of her and mines work i will pm the link to it for you, some of it makes intresting reading (it is a bit long.)

 

[spike123]

[ QUOTE ]
Its sounds to me you need to get her ovaries checked out, as ones that I have come across like this may have an enlarged ovary. I would speak to the vet, you could have a different horse at the end of it. Good luck

[/ QUOTE ]

I would second this advice as we had a dominant mare showing exactly the same behaviour at our yard. It turned out she had an ovarian tumour which eventually led to her being pts as it was too big to operate on and interfered with the nerves to her spinal cord within a year. I would also suggest (at risk of being shot down on here lol)an RA coming out to see her and see if they can work on her behaviour issues.

 

[Darkhorse]

I will suggest this - I have already suggested trying her on regumate - thinking about it I have not seen this mare in season since she arrived in May.

The problem I have is if this mare was mine I would just get on and sort her out - I have always been able to deal with difficult horses and help them overcome their fears.

This mare belongs to a friend, she is a novice owner and when me and YO try to talk to her about it she is quite defensive and sees it as a critism of her horse... Which is silly really.

Just need to work out a way of getting through to her so we can sort the horse out.

YO is a friend too and she turns out and brings in but she is seriously concerned about this mare and how dangerous it is to handle.

When you refer to RA are you talking about the Kelly Marks practitioners ? I have worked with Mark Hudson in the past with a difficult horse....