Nervous Mare - Advice

S

spot22

Member
Joined
19 January 2014
Messages
16
Location
warwickshire
Visit site
Hi , I am new to this forum and come to think of it new to horses. My daughter's horse is a 10 year old ISH and has always had nervous streak in her. Recently when tied up she just spooked for no apparent reason. Some times she can be calm , other days the opposite. Any advice or tips out there ?
 
I think her eyesight is OK. No grey areas in the eye area. Its just wired sometimes she can be relaxed and next she spooks. She clips , washes , shoes fine. She even spooks at cows in another field. My daughter has had her back / hips manipulated twice in the last 12 months , as the physiotherapist thought she had tight muscles.
 
Mine is like that at times - she is very susceptible to spooking at sound, appears much more so than other horses on yard, especially if she can't see where the noise comes from. May be a defensive move! She is on a calmer, and seems a lot better. She does not like cows and sheep, full stop, but has got a lot better since we first got her - just don't think she had seen them before?
 
Do you have a regular experienced trainer/advisor?

From that description it could literally be anything - health, management, time of year, even her basic temperament. Someone objective to help you examine the variables would probably be useful.
 
She has been on calmer which was mixed wit her feed ,but never really noticed any change in her behaviour. She has not been on any for a few months now. She reared up the other day after I tried to tie her up and pulled so hard that she fell on her back legs and managed to loosen her front shoe. She does seem to have so much energy and never seems to be fully relaxed. I think her basic temperament is HIGHLY STRUNG. When my daughter rides her she is in her words very strong ( not being a horsy person not sure what that means ) , tried different bits , even a new fitted saddle.
 
As Tarrsteps said it could be anything, or nothing just a spirited horse that is not doing enough work, your daughter really needs a professional to help as it is hard to make any real suggestions without seeing the horse, get a good instructor involved that can advise on all aspects of her care, it may be something simple such as not enough turnout, too much food which can be addressed easily enough.
 
Mares like this are incredibly sensitive to their surrounding environment. They can hear/ sense things that we can't. On their nervous days it could be something simple like a digger working away in the next door neighbours back garden. Or it could be a more simple reason in that you've got her in the yard on her own while all the other horses are out. Or she was fed/ turned out late that day etc etc. or the yard may be designed in such a way that horses can't see what's going on outside/ nearby which makes them nervy.

The best recipe for basic calmness in a horse,is to have the whole yard on a strict routine with every horse being fed/ turned out/ exercised at the same times. Which is often impossible to do but the more you can keep to a routine with other horses doing the same thing, the better.

That's the basis of it- then you go on to thinking about feed, hay ( is she fed adlib) exercise/ type / amount of exercise etc etc
 
I think routine could be the key as all animals including us humans thrive on routine. She does not like being first into the field as she looks for the other mares. And paces up and down waiting to be bought back in . Sometimes she may be the last one in due to mine & my daughters work, and then she starts to fret pacing up and down the field. She does seem to have calm days and very stress days .
 
She sounds like my mare mixed with my gelding. She is the spooky one and he is the stresser pacing in the field.

Naff magic is helping them both and cutting down to lowest starch and sugar feed possible. They get allen&paige calm and collected with molasses free chaff cut away down as less turn out in winter.

We find it is more when not out at grass all day in the sunshine with a grass belly lol and not ridden as much cos of the dark nights and weather.

They are also like this when sore or tense muscles and its a vicious circle.

I definately agree getting a good trainer will help.
 
Sounds like a combination of lots of things , feed , excersize , routine. We did try magic for a time last year but not since August. I will seek advice from a good trainer and see how she gets on
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top