Hormonal mare question

[baran]

Can anyone suggest why a five year old who has lived in mixed groups all her life should suddenly become a hormonal nightmare? She has been moved to a mare-only group as a couple of the geldings were mounting her. In season, she is now a bad tempered pain in the neck. Out of season, she is back to normal.
Suggestions have been full sexual maturity, "teenage" phase or vet job. She has been started on a herbal supplement to see if this helps.

 

[Birker2020]

Can anyone suggest why a five year old who has lived in mixed groups all her life should suddenly become a hormonal nightmare? She has been moved to a mare-only group as a couple of the geldings were mounting her. In season, she is now a bad tempered pain in the neck. Out of season, she is back to normal.
Suggestions have been full sexual maturity, "teenage" phase or vet job. She has been started on a herbal supplement to see if this helps.

Was she having problems with behaviour prior to moving to the mare only group? If not I would think that its the fact that she is with the other mares that may be causing the problems you are finding. Its probably because she is trying to find her way in the new herd and is finding that she is no longer the top of the pecking order, or is a lot lower than she was before.

This is why I like my new role working as a site secretary, because I am surrounded by men and not a load of bitching back stabbing women which is the usually the type of scenario I find in the workplace ! lol

 

[MyBoyChe]

I would think it might be the mare only group partly to blame. A group of mares is a bit like an office full of women, as Applecart said above! The last mare I owned was kept in her own paddock but next to 3 mares in another. She quickly became bad tempered, to the point of being dangerous, was almost permanently in season, wouldnt leave the group, napped, reared and was just plain horrid. As I had bought her from a dealer I sent her back, she was most definitely not "as described" and I had no desire to deal with her moods. We now have another mare at the yard, not mine thank goodness, she lives next door to the original 3 and is fast becoming the same, clingy, constantly weeing and squirting at them, refuses to be caught unless it suits her and a right royal pain. Not sure what the answer is though!

 

[ellie_e]

Regumate is your friend!

 

[baran]

I would think it might be the mare only group partly to blame. A group of mares is a bit like an office full of women, as Applecart said above!

Sorry, should have made it clear that the mare-ish behaviour started when she was in the mixed group. She was moved to a mare only group as she was being mounted by a couple of the geldings which didn't seem a good idea. She is fine when not in season and we are waiting to see if she is calms down when she does go into season, now she is not being mounted.