Newly retired mare acting out of sorts

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springtime1331

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My 12 year old mare was retired in the summer because she was diagnosed with severe kissing spines, a stifle issue and spondoloyis. Apparently there is nothing that can be done about the spondoloyis, so I had no choice but to retire her. She is a very sharp mare who lived to work and needed riding 6 days a week to keep her sensible.

I had to move her to a nearly field a fortnight a go because the mares in her old field come in over night and I wanted her to stay out 24/7 (she's not good at being stabled and was very hardwork for the grooms if she wasn't working enough). Anyway, things were good initially but now I've heard she's being difficult to handle, nearly kicking someone in the head whilst they were feeding. She was never greedy, but now she's racing around at feeding times and stealing the others' feed despite there being loads of grass. I tied her up to eat today and she was fine but was still very wound up and went off bucking and kicking.

Now, I know that the solution could be to feed her separately but realistically this is difficult as we all take turns to feed the retired mares and it works for all the others to just chuck buckets down (they all have the same). I'm wondering if she is bored, but she absolutely can't work - the vet from Newmarket was adamant that it is far too damaged. I'm worried that if she causes problems to a settled field and routine she will not be welcome to stay there. What to do? Could all the high bucking and stressing be a sign that her back is very painful or is she simply bored? She had the full works at Newmarket, scintography and full x rays and scans so its not like she needs further tests to see what is happening physically.
 
I would imagine that if her back was very painful, bucking would be the last thing she would feel like doing!
As to the feeding, you mention that there's plenty of grass, but it can be much lower in calories at this time of year and it could just be that she is getting hungrey as suggested by hollyandivy, and so is more possessive of any feed being bought in.
You could try feeding hay or if thats not possible because of the others, increase her bucket feed a bit and see if that helps.
 
Yes, I could ask about the possibility of a feeding pen. It's difficult because I felt that the other people were really kind to let her join their field and I don't want to cause them any bother. It is a real change for my mare, she has been used to being in at night over the winter ad lib hay, maybe it's too much and a change for her.
 
If the grass is plentiful and she's pinching feed off the others she could be getting a great deal more energy than she used to previously, minus the work, and it's giving her overly high spirits :)

We have a retired mare with rotated pedal bones and she can be a bit demonic if left to her own devices too long. Trying to take any other horse out of the field when she's in one of her 'moods' can be impossible, plus her gestures and overall body language are extremely daunting if you don't know it's all an empty bluff. Her owner keeps her in line by handling and grooming her and doing some loose thinking/foraging activities in the school, or sometimes just taking her out for a bit of a stroll along the verge. It helps keep her easy to handle and the mare seems to get a lot out of human interraction compared to her fellow horses, or maybe she just finds them dreadfully boring, lol. But we've all noticed that if she's just left to play and eat in her field for days on end she turns into a nightmare. I hope your girl settles down to her new life soon :)
 
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Yes, I agree, spring does get bored very easily and I was worried she would make her own entertainment! In some ways, I always felt she would not retire too gracefully! She would perhaps be better in a field closer to the yard where she could be brought in daily and played with. Sadly the field she is in is simply a field, no where to even tie up and a mile down a fast road to the yard. My very horsey relative who runs a pro yard said I should PTS as in her opinion highly strung warmbloods used to a high degree of work and engagement simply don't appreciate being left to retire in a field. I really don't want to do this though as she is so bright and looks in amazing condition it would seem like I was doing it to make my life easier not hers :(
 
Awww :( chances are she'll probably calm down when the weather really turns for the worse and she's got to think about staying warm and comfortable rather than just fed. We're lucky in that our yard has 15 shetlands because YO breeds them - most of them drive but for the ones that don't we have all sorts of toys and mini swing bridges and things to play with in the school. The mare I mentioned has learned all sorts of tricks and she's really quite nice, but she seems very dependent on human company :)
 
I had to retire my TB as she was tripping a lot and it no longer felt safe as she wasnt recovering as quickly when she tripped. She's 22 but still sound and full of energy. She hasn't settled into retirement as well as I hoped as she has started picking on the pony and biting which is so unlike her. She gets worse when I ride my other horse and shouts and careers about when she sees us in the school.

I found that bringing her in for a good groom and a 'play' in the school cheers her up and then she stops biting and hassling the pony so much. She will be the first to tell me when there's not enough nutrition in the grass as she needs more than the others so she gets a more nutritional feed than the others and comes in for haylege whilst they have hay in the field. Mostly she just seems cross about not being ridden so grooming, booting her up and doing some groundwork in the school makes her feel like she's doing something. I love her happy face she gets after she's done something and she's so much more relaxed in the field for a few days afterwards.
 
That is why I will never feed horses in the field! Why do they need feed? Why not hay or haylage spread well apart and into more piles than there are horses so that they can push each other from one heap to the next but there is always a pile left for the one at the bottom of the herd pecking order? Work on the basis that if all the hay is eaten they needed it and try a bit more next day. Once you have a bit left next day you know how much they need. Rarely will horses eat hay in preference to grass (other than a few mouthfuls for the novelty!) so it is a very easy way to decide what they need.
 
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