Mare in season in the snow, in January?

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Meeko

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My rising 7 year old is showing signs of being in season, even though we are covered in snow (have been for the last 4 days).
I have had her since she was 2.5 years old and every time it snows she always gets very stressy/anxious/reactive. She is a stressy type, she's a Thoroughbred.

She is out during the day and in on a night in winter, I do think 24/7 turnout would suit her, sadly that isn't available at my current yard but is something I may look into. 80% of the time she's happy stabled, other times she stresses.

I have thought about ulcers (a lot), but now I'm thinking could this be hormonal behaviour? Ovarian cysts?

When she gets likes this in her stable - box walking, weaving, sometimes nearly trotting around - she tends to turn her bum on me asking me to scratch near her tail, and inside her back legs... this does kind of calm her down. Last night she was pushing her bum against the back wall of her stable, then came to me for a bum scratch.

Ridden she is brilliant, I cant fault her at all. She is fine to tack up and girth up, fine to groom. She can be grumpy in her stable and pull faces when I ask her to move, but she has always been like that.

I noticed the other mares in her herd were in season a few weeks ago, there's around 10 mares.
She has also spent a lot of time over the last week or so standing at the fence line with the geldings in the field next door, she also seems to be attached to a mare she is in a field with (around 12 mares in total), she watched her walk past last night, she put her tail up and then started pacing in her stable and shouting - not her normal behaviour!

Ovary scan? Is there a hormone blood test? Regumate trial?

I have never thought about a hormone issue until last night, especially with it being winter and covered in snow, so of course I am going to discuss this with my vet, but its always nice to hear other peoples experiences

Its heart breaking seeing her so stressed and being unable to help, it brings out my stessy/anxious and reactive side too! o_Oo_O
 
An acquaintance has a mare that needed her ovaries removing after ovarian cysts were diagnosed. Diagnosis proved correct at surgery. When her newly purchased second mare started to show similar symptoms, she booked her in for ovary removal as a precaution. However, if you are seeing an entire herd of mares come into season, you may well have a stallion within scenting distance, or a dominant gelding wimding them all up.
 
Highmileagecob said:
An acquaintance has a mare that needed her ovaries removing after ovarian cysts were diagnosed. Diagnosis proved correct at surgery. When her newly purchased second mare started to show similar symptoms, she booked her in for ovary removal as a precaution. However, if you are seeing an entire herd of mares come into season, you may well have a stallion within scenting distance, or a dominant gelding wimding them all up.
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We had mild weather not long ago, reading a few facebook posts a lot of mares were coming into season around the same time :)
 
I thought seasons were dictated by hours of daylight rather than temperature? Not that I know much about it, only ever having had geldings, but I remember my vet telling me about these headpieces that shine a light into a mare's eye to bring on ovulation - used in the racing industry I believe to get early foals.

(Vet was telling me about this in relation to PPID horses, he said there was some research that suggested they did better in winter if they got enough daylight hours.)
 
Mine is in season this week, she cycles all year round! Her seasons are far worse in winter than summer..go figure!

Had the vet out recently to check as she was being tricky (see my other post) bloods are all normal and her scan previously was normal. If she becomes a handful under saddle again we will try the regumate again for longer this time..but basically the kicky squealy and bum rubbing behaviour is normal for her winter seasons. She’s had other checks too, lameness etc..she’s absolutely fine. So we just manage her more carefully when she’s in season but basically let her get on with it!
 
Canadian here. Lots of our mares cycle year round in the land of ice and snow. It was -18 with the wind chill at one point last week, and one of our mares came into season.

Our horses go out at night in summer and during the day in winter. Barn lights are on a lot more in winter--from 7am to 9pm--so perhaps that evening artificial light keeps them cycling? We're not purposefully keeping mares under cycle-inducing lights like the QH and TB breeders. Just our regular barn lights (that are bright LEDs).
 
Traks said:
Mine is in season this week, she cycles all year round! Her seasons are far worse in winter than summer..go figure!

Had the vet out recently to check as she was being tricky (see my other post) bloods are all normal and her scan previously was normal. If she becomes a handful under saddle again we will try the regumate again for longer this time..but basically the kicky squealy and bum rubbing behaviour is normal for her winter seasons. She’s had other checks too, lameness etc..she’s absolutely fine. So we just manage her more carefully when she’s in season but basically let her get on with it!
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I read your post yesterday, very interesting!

She was a lot more settled last night!

My vet is calling me back today so hopefully have a plan in place soon
 
Adorable said:
Canadian here. Lots of our mares cycle year round in the land of ice and snow. It was -18 with the wind chill at one point last week, and one of our mares came into season.

Our horses go out at night in summer and during the day in winter. Barn lights are on a lot more in winter--from 7am to 9pm--so perhaps that evening artificial light keeps them cycling? We're not purposefully keeping mares under cycle-inducing lights like the QH and TB breeders. Just our regular barn lights (that are bright LEDs).
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the lights go on around 5:30am when I arrive, then shes out from around 7am until 3pm. Lights probably wont get turned out for the evening until around 7-7:30pm as its a busy livery yard - so yeah, a lot of 'light'
 
This is super interesting to read, having just come back from a very difficult ride on my mare. She’s super nappy, super tense, calling to her herd. Very much her usual season behaviour. We are 3-4 weeks since she last behaved like this. I have reintroduced oestress and upped the dose today. Her behaviour has been much worse with winter seasons than her summer ones were. I wonder if it’s the combination of season plus winter freshness! It’s good to read others are in the same boat!
 
Ittookawhile said:
This is super interesting to read, having just come back from a very difficult ride on my mare. She’s super nappy, super tense, calling to her herd. Very much her usual season behaviour. We are 3-4 weeks since she last behaved like this. I have reintroduced oestress and upped the dose today. Her behaviour has been much worse with winter seasons than her summer ones were. I wonder if it’s the combination of season plus winter freshness! It’s good to read others are in the same boat!
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Its so good to hear its not just me then 😂
I also put her on full dose of Oestress and she has been considerably calmer the last 2 days.
Vet is out next week so we will go from there x
 
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