How to calm un-settled/ stressed mare?

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MS123

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Hi all.

Just seeking some advice. I moved my mare (6yo Andalusian x Arab) to a new yard 3 weeks ago (absolutely love the new place) but she doesn't seem completely settled, nor herself. First week in and she went fantastic ridden wise, but now (2 weeks in) she's turned into a complete fruit loop- spooky/ bolting/ exploding. She's been fine to handle, though if anything is quieter than usual. Overall she's just not herself. New yard is lovely and peaceful, but the routine is completely different from out previous yard. I think she's in season too, so the combination of a move and season time has really un-settled her.

Does anyone have any tips/ suggestions for supplements I could try? A friend suggested valerian? I understand that I just need to give her time, but if there's any good supplements I could try to help ease the transition for her then id like to give that a go.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Um... I moved.

When I bought my mare and moved her to the yard I'd been on for 8 years she was acutely unhappy. Spooking at everything, was tense and on high alert *all* the time, and it was generally very unpleasant to be around. After a month, during which time my confidence reduced to zero due to so much spooking, a box came free at the yard where I had my youngster; I moved and we've never looked back. Within 24 hours she was less stressed, and within a month she had lost most of the tension lines around her face and body.

We've been there a year now, and while she isn't 100% all of the time (as she is a bit sensitive and very sharp) she is totaly chilled and happy in her routine.
 
When I moved CM once she took about 3 months to settle in. There wasn't a better yard in the area, so I just had to wait for her to get over it. Luckily my confidence wasn't dented at all, she's always been the stressy type, so it isn't out of character. We did have some super turbo charged hacks during those first few months though. ;)
 
Some yards just don't suit some horses . . . I had my boy at one yard for four months during which he was pretty much unrideable, horrible on the ground, just not himself. I moved - probably three months later than I should have. Wasn't the YO's fault - she was lovely . . . it just didn't suit Kal.

P
 
Sorry I can't help with any advice on calmers etc

I was just going to say that 3 weeks is not that long so I would definitley give it a bit longer.

Does she have any company? Making new friends might help her settle.
 
I've had a bit of fun with Spike recently, who turned into a stressy lunatic after Tia died, and the new boy arrived. He wouldn't be stabled, freaked out in the field if Alf was taken out, wouldn't stay tied up on the yard, and was generally a complete idiot for about 3 weeks. After three weeks, I realised that I was doing him no favours by pandering to him - constantly bringing him in/putting him out/changing what I had planned just to try and suit him. I stopped letting his behaviour dictate what i did with him, and just got on with it. If I wanted him in, he came in. if i wanted him out, he went out. If i wanted to do things with Alf, I did them - and I just ignored his behaviour, and made sure he was handled firmly but fairly (he had a few slaps across the chest for trying to run me over). It took another week for it to sink in that he wasn't going to achieve anything by being a wally, and he shut up and settled down again!
 
what turnout is she having? if not able to be out all of the time , put her out at night and in during the day. for some reason being out at night seems to make them calmer (usually) . is she on hay or haylage , some horses react quite badly to haylage , it seems to make them stress and overexcited all of the time.....I sometimes have had to put my mare on haylage and she gets very agitated and stressed on it . once I have had her back on soaked hay for about a week she calms down....hope this helps a bit
 
I have my mare on NAF Oestress, it contains mag is and other seasonal aids, works well for her. It could be your mare has an attraction to new geldings around her, my mare came steaming into season when I moved her and this was November!
 
We bought an Appaloosa mare and put her on a livery yard, which was also a small RS. She was a nightmare, not at all the mare that I had ridden at the viewing. She was awful to ride, very nappy, difficult on the ground and jumped out of different fields.
After 6 weeks we moved yards - we led her to the new yard which was only about 3 miles away. She was so bad to lead that we seriously considered leaving her in one of the fields that we passed on the way and coming back for her after we'd had a rest. However we persevered, led her along a bridleway, through a farmyard and across a busy main road. After that her behaviour changed and as she walked onto the new yard, it was almost as if she knew she was going home.
We never did work out what the problem had been, there was a well-mannered stallion on each yard but as she didn't come into much contact with either of them, we never knew if that had a bearing on her behaviour. She never did revert to being the well-behaved co-operative horse that I tried but she got easier from then on.
We moved yards again, years later, spending 3 months on a friend's farm before bringing the horses to our own land, she settled well both times. It really does seem that some horses just feel more at home in some locations than others.
 
Hi all.

Thanks very much for your comments. Her turn-out is longer than before, and feed/hay is the same. Her field buddy is a mare who she used to be stabled with at the old yard. They both get on great, and she doesn't seem to bother when seperated from the other mare (I.E when the other mare gets ridden, etc).

Have heard great stuff about the Oestress so may give that a go. Just before we left the old yard she was definitley coming into season (slightly mareish in her box, sluggish to ride) and although her behaviour has changed slightly from that, it does still match those of mares in season. I guess it's just hard to tell as everything has changed at once for her- season, new yard, new routine. I've only ever been at one yard with her (the previous one) so don't know if her behaviour in regards to moving is normal or not. I can't see why she wouldn't settle at the new place- the last yard didn't have a routine at all, nor did they go out for very long ,if at all in the winter.
 
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