Mare Issues

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SJP

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15 November 2010
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I have the sweetest mare on loan, she is lovely in every way shape and form..... on the ground!

However when I get on her, she is just so tense and feels like she is going to explode. She bucked me off the other day because she doesn't like the indoor school. It just feels like shes going to blow all the time.

She has her head right up in the air (I've got a martingale on), I've had her teeth and back done, saddle has just been refitted, everything I could think of i've had done.

It is really hard to explain, we moved yards recently and she has been really noisy, but some days she is quiet as a mouse, others she is an absolute psychopath.

I have had her on stroppy mare, but it doesn't seem to help her in any way. so I have changed over to oestress.

Is there anything I can do to get her going better when riding without all the nonsense? I just want to be able to enjoy it without all the jumping about and going 'her way'.
 
How long have you had her? And how long has she been in her new home for? Could it just be that shes settling in? When I got my old mare on full loan, she was perfect in everyway at her previous home (owners home) as soon as she came to me she was bargy and horrible, it took her a good 3/4weeks to settle in, after that she was perfect.

With my mare now (5year old ex racer) when I first got her she was spooky all over the place, shes now perfect now but very marish and more of a one to one horse.

How about lunging her before you get on her? Walking her round inhand for a while in the indoor school, or if she doesnt like it (maybe shes not used to an indoor school) Turn her out loose in there for half an hour or so to see how she gets on and see if she starts to relax a little bit more?
 
Thanks everyone.

I have had her 3 months, she came to me at another yard but then I moved to be with a friend. So there probably is an element of 'settling' as she has moved twice in a short period of time..... But I dunno, I just think its more than that. She is soooo hot headed under saddle and now and then when Im walking her in hand, but at other times she is an absolute dobbin! literally just stands there sleeping.

I have had her on the Dodson and Horrell stroppy mare and its just doing nothing for her, if anything she has become more stroppy after being on that. Hence changing to Oestress.

Lunging her before I get on her seems to work, but only if I completely knacker her out so she literally doesn't have enough energy to be so tense. She constantly screams at the top of her lungs though, but not in a "hello i'm here way... in a "im terrified and a lunatic way".

I'll try taking her in hand more in to the indoor, see what she does... its so frustrating as we could have so much fun together, and she really is a sweetie.. just a bit stupid when ridden.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!
 
i would aslo get ovaries checked. every behaviour happens for a reason, you just have to work out what it is ;-) a tip: keep a diary, record down what happened. for example, today she flinched when i got on her and bucked 3 times.
think about what happened before: i tacked her up differently or she had a different breakfast to normal... or she was turned out next to a gelding rather than a mare. A pattern will build.
 
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