Do mare seasons stop with age?

[oldhat]

Hi there! I was wondering if mare's seasons stop as they get older as in humans or if they just carry on? I am just about to start mine on Oestress to see if it relieves her daft behaviour, she's 17 now and after years spent with our old mare who we sadly lost two years ago she's now in with a sweet haffy who is not interested but it does seem to have increased her dreadful behaviour! Will her seasons lessen as she ages??

 

[Charem]

Afraid not, horses don't go through a menopause as such. There are plenty of broodmares out there still popping foals out at 25, and I have heard of one at 30! :O

 

[oldhat]

Thanks for that! I thought as much! Perhaps I should try keeping a fence berween haffie gelding when she's being a bag! She was getting dangerous to ride on the roads- backing up apparently not worried about what into! Let's hope the oestress helps as she at other times is a real sweety! I've heard that agnus castus on its own is a good reliever but will try oestress first now I've bought it! Mares!! Don't you love 'em!!

 

[paulineh]

Mares can become barren. My friend has a mare living with a stallion and this mare is barren.

 

[catembi]

Mine is still a squealy old tart & she's 39...

T x

 

[horsesatemymoney]

Mine is still a squealy old tart & she's 39...

T x

39 wow! Have you got any pics, that's really impressive x

 

[SpruceRI]

Thanks for that! I thought as much! Perhaps I should try keeping a fence berween haffie gelding when she's being a bag! She was getting dangerous to ride on the roads- backing up apparently not worried about what into! Let's hope the oestress helps as she at other times is a real sweety! I've heard that agnus castus on its own is a good reliever but will try oestress first now I've bought it! Mares!! Don't you love 'em!!

My mares' 19yrs old and never really been seasonal til now. I've stopped hacking her on the roads for the time being as she's so super sharp, we've had some horrible instances.

I also started her on Agnus Castus and MagOx and it didn't make a jot of difference (

Now we're into the summer, she's improved a lot, though she still squeals, wees and/or kicks out when I ride with my friends' 2 geldings, and even with other mares.... which she never used to do

It's really embarrassing and I can understand why no one wants to ride with us!

 

[Waffles]

I was asking my vet about whether horses go through the menopause and he said yes, they definitely can and do. He said they found out through scanning ovaries of mares - he does a lot of stud work, this particular vet. He said the mares' moods can change (just as menopausal women's can) and they may become nastier/bolshier, or they may become more cuddly and affectionate, depending on which way the hormones go. We have a mare on our yard who is 33 - last summer she was in season once or twice for the first time in a couple of years - she was flirting terribly with my gelding (who hadn't been gelded that long ago) and made him very excited. I was *like* "She's old enough to be your great great grandma!!"

This vet reckons that a mare who flirts with (i.e. squirting, winking etc) a gelding will raise the gelding's testosterone level. Amazing. I guess that must happen with humans too!

 

[MissMistletoe]

Mine is still a squealy old tart & she's 39...

T x

Mines in her mid twenties and she makes it very obvious when she's in season!!

 

[Queenbee]

Research shows that horses do not go through the menopause.

 

[Waffles]

Research shows that horses do not go through the menopause.

My vet reckons otherwise - I had quite a long chat with him about it a couple of months ago - no idea why - I've never had a mare!

 

[kerrieberry2]

I asked my vet about the horse menopause but he didnt think that they did! I was convinced that my mare had not been in season for a few years. She's 27 until a few months ago, she defo went into season then!

I think it might have been because she was only with mares for a few years she never showed any signs of it but as soon as my youngster came along she start winking at him!

 

[Waffles]

I *think* the vet may have said it was something they had discovered recently. I will ask him next time I see him (but hopefully that won't be till jab time in January....). I've googled it just now and the only things that come up say equine menopause is a myth! If I see that particular vet on our yard I will interrupt their consultation and ask!!

 

[Queenbee]

All I can say Is that based on the piles of papers I read last yr, it was a 'no' but as you say it may have changed, new discoveries are always being made, I'm no vet, but I've certainly heard contradicting opinions from different vets on different topics over the years

 

[Cocorules]

My mare has never particularly shown she is in season but always flirted with geldings. She is 22 and now shares a field with two 4 year olds mares. Compared to them she has far less interest.

 

[littlemisslauren]

I would say no. Our most tarty mares are between 22 and 28

 

[catembi]

Here she is, peering out of the field shelter! She's been in the family since the age of 3... my grandfather bought her for £200 in 1976 from the farm next door to his! She was still showjumping & winning at the age of 29, until she slipped and did a tendon out hacking.

T x

 

[Queenbee]

Here she is, peering out of the field shelter! She's been in the family since the age of 3... my grandfather bought her for £200 in 1976 from the farm next door to his! She was still showjumping & winning at the age of 29, until she slipped and did a tendon out hacking.

T x

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