Desperate Advice needed for my Mare

ponieslovered

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2010
Messages
61
Location
Berkshire
Visit site
I have a beautiful "chestnut" mare, she's been an angel from september until 2 weeks ago. 2 weeks ago she had her back done and pelvis done, i then rode her a couple of days after and she was fine, 3 days later i rode her and she was abit hot (she's never been hot before), the day after i rode her and she just did not want to ride, it was kick kick all the way. The following day she didnt eat her feed, so i think she had a belly ache, 2 days after that she was just plain grumpy, tacked her up to ride and she kept trying to bite me when putting on the saddle, walked out of the yard ok with my instructor, then out of the blue, reared up and started bucking !!! never done this before.
I have been cutting down her hard feed gradually over the last 3 weeks as she has reached her required weight, so im sure its not the food. I was worried with the belly ache so called the vet. Did Pregnancy test which was negative, but her hormones were way up, so she is starting her first season, the vet has sugested Regumate, but half of me wants to give her that and the other half of me is saying no, try something else first. Do any of you have any suggestions of things you may use thats works, my friend has suggested NAF Oestrus, also i was going to put her on a calmer maybe equine america which was good on my ottb tb gelding. She has no grass in the field its mud at the moment as i am saving another field which is growing grass that she will move into in a couple of weeks. She is on hay as well.
 
The first thing I thought of as I started to read your post was that it sounds as though she was coming into season for the first time this year. You also have the double whammy of the grass starting to come through which can also affect their behaviour.

If you don't want to go down the Regumate route it would be worth speaking to your vet about making inserting a marble to see if this helps her behaviour.

To be honest I've not noticed any real difference with herbal remedies for my mare. Putting her in foal did the trick though!
 
You know your pony. Has she ever been like this in season before? I'd be inclined to leave her while she's in season, then try her afterwards - if the behaviour has stopped then it is her hormones.

I had a DIY who had a horse that was like that during her seasons. She gave her a supplement (sorry - can't remember which one) for hormonal mares, and it totally changed her. I'd try something like that first, but perhaps run it by your vet first?
 
Don't waste your money with anything like oestress, the only thing IMO that works on that score is regumate to take her out of season, as said above you've got a double whammy of the first flourish of grass AND season to deal with at once, so taking her out of season may not be a bad idea to get her used to the grass first then give it a few weeks on the regumate then let her cycle normally? If the behaviour continues once off the regumate and had a full cycle, I'd have her ovaries scanned. long term if all is well but her hormones make her like this 'normally' then you could (as said above) look at having a vet insert a marble which mimmicks a pregnancy to the body therefore keeps hormones under control!
 
hehe I know what you're going through! I had a chestnut TB mare who turned in to the spawn of satan when she was coming in to season. She would throw herself around and do anything to have you off - even her eyes went evil but was an absolute angel all the rest of the time.

Spice was so bad that we just opted to not ride her for these few days which I suppose is probably not what you wanted to hear but we did also have her on a herbal suppliment - moody mare - I think is by D&H but not too sure - but that seemed to take the edge off!
 
I thought about the marble, but apparantly it works well on approx 50% of mares and some mares have been known to push it out. My Mare has had foals with the previous owner, the vet said having had foals previously could make her hormones rage more. Its a lovelly time of year (spring coming) but gosh those poor mares, - ive mainly had geldings and mares that dont suffer with their cycles, so this is new teritory for me having a mare that is suffering, i will keep hunting the internet to see what i can find
 
i have a mare who was like this -- had her ovaries scanned and she was holding on to her eggs we had to have an injection to help her out
vet did say she might need another just to settle her cycle down the next time but she as been ok thankfully
we now give her chasteberries from local healthfood shop as in past tried the marble she got rid of that --the regumate made no difference to her behaviour and the naff oestress was a complete waste of time for her
she gets 2 scoops (crushed in coffee grinder) of the berries a day 3 weeks on 1 week off throughout the year
 
I used homeopathic pills for my mare and it really helped, if you know a vet who also does homeopathy then it may be a good idea to try that :)

Gotta love mares though hey!!! :D
 
The vet came again today, and due to her aggressive behaviour last week, the vet has Said Regumate. So i have started her today, and we can just wait and see what happens. So got so bad that she didnt even want me in the stable with her !!! its so sad because upto now she has been a loving mare and really good, so fingers crossed this works :-0
 
Just curious to see how you are getting onw ith the Regumate? I have a mare on trial, as soon as I bought her home she has come into season and is behaving exactly like you have described your mare.
 
My mares first season of the year is like a nightmare for two weeks. She was a bi***!
She has come into season again now and is as sweet as anything and will be all season, it's the first one that is a pain.
I couldn't even lead her in with out turning round and doing one back to the field. Had to bring her in, in a bridle for two weeks.
 
You will need to play around with trying to manage this as what works with one will not necessarily work for another. Regumate is expensive so worth asking your vet about the porcine version (pig!) as its the same thing but cheaper. At leasts thats what we were told (its the same) when we went down this route last time!
 
Top