maginn
Well-Known Member
Asking this on behalf of my friend. She has a mare (10 or thereabouts) who has always been sharp & highly strung. Last year she developed a problem which she worked out must have been grass related. From memory this would have been mid summer. She was not fat although well covered but was not on any hard feed & at grass 24/7, it was not lush grazing. She just lost the plot totally when being ridden to the point of being really dangerous (rearing, spinning, plunging, etc )and there was just no way you could reason with her. My friend is a v. good rider and it was not a case of letting her get away with being naughty. She is natually v. spooky and more so since she lost an eye 2 years ago following a long battle with an infection.
As an experiment she moved her onto a paddock which had been grazed right down and there was little left on it, 2 days later she was back to normal.
This year my friend being aware that the problem was likely to re-occur made sure that she was on little grazing at the outset this spring, but we can only think after the rain we had at the weekend has made the grass come through a bit more and she has lost the plot again. She is not overweight, she is very fit and worked regularly and looks like she could go eventing. It would not be ideal to stable her as she hates it (if it was up to her she would live out all year round) as she weaves and stresses and frankly as my friend has a young family and a job she would rather not spend the time or extra money to stable her.
We have thought it could be because of the low fibre content of grass at this time of the year so possibly she could be on an even smaller barer paddock & fed hay and/or additional feed if necessary. Or perhaps muzzled ?
Has anyone else has this problem & overcome it ?
Suggestions welcome....
As an experiment she moved her onto a paddock which had been grazed right down and there was little left on it, 2 days later she was back to normal.
This year my friend being aware that the problem was likely to re-occur made sure that she was on little grazing at the outset this spring, but we can only think after the rain we had at the weekend has made the grass come through a bit more and she has lost the plot again. She is not overweight, she is very fit and worked regularly and looks like she could go eventing. It would not be ideal to stable her as she hates it (if it was up to her she would live out all year round) as she weaves and stresses and frankly as my friend has a young family and a job she would rather not spend the time or extra money to stable her.
We have thought it could be because of the low fibre content of grass at this time of the year so possibly she could be on an even smaller barer paddock & fed hay and/or additional feed if necessary. Or perhaps muzzled ?
Has anyone else has this problem & overcome it ?
Suggestions welcome....