Sensitive ovaries whilst in season? ideas needed!

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CrazyHippo1

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Sorry this might not make a huge amount of sense.

Had a pretty terrible time out jumping today, as we do from time to time. I've never put it down as a hormonal thing, in that I barely know when my mares in season - she doesnt get moody, although she can be a bit flirty with the boys in the field, and is lovely as ever to handle and school. She has regular checks of saddle, teeth back ect. plus last week she was jumping very well over SJs and then out XC schooling.

Was suggested to me today that it could still be a hormonal thing - that she's sensitive in her ovaries and so when Im asking her to jump its painful, but she can still do her flatwork ok as the movement is different?

Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Or would it be unlikely to have the sensitivity but show no other symptoms? If so how have you gone about dealing with it; do mare supplements work on the sensitivity or are they more temperament based?

I think I'll start keeping a much closer eye on her performance in line with her seasons.

Thanks
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My pony wouldn't jump when in season. This was many years ago now though (about 10yrs ago) so we didn't do much. The only option then was Regumate which was very expensive. As she was a PC pony we just chose not to jump during her seasons.
 
Was your horse noticeably unhappy in any other way? Ie. moody, bad to tack up, difficult to school? The only thing my horse seems to do is not want to jump, so I dont know if that is hormonal when she shows no other symptoms of discomfort..
 
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I think I'll start keeping a much closer eye on her performance in line with her seasons.


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For a mare who shows 'symptoms' while in season, there are a LOT of possibilities - ranging from simple hormonal 'irritation' - through haemorrhagic follicles - right up to a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour on the ovary!

People try supplements (which rarely do much), they try Regumate (which ONLY works if coming into season causes the problem as Regumate stops them coming into season.) You can spend a lot of money without first identifying the problem.

My stgarting point would be an U/S scan of her ovaries (by a repro vet, preferably).

That will tell you if there is anything abnormal going on with her ovaries AND tell you where she is in her cycle. If there's nothing abnormal, then track her behaviour against her seasons for a month or two. If the behaviour DOES co-incide with her coming into season, putting her on Regumate from March to November should solve the problem completely (although it's not cheap.)
 
Our pony wouldn't jump when in season, as it was daughters last year in juniors was a problem. I spoke to my vet about regumate on our trainers advice and he recommended marbles. Basically they insert 3 marbles into the uterus and mare thinks it is in foal, this worked for us and we had a really good seasons competition. There is some question marks about using marbles if you want to breed from the mare as this is a relatively new treatment and they do not really know the effect it has on the uterus, but we used them for about 9 months with no problems, they do recommend you remove them in winter. Cost about £70 to have them inserted much cheaper and easier than regumate. I suggest you discuss with your vet, probably best to speak to the stud vet about your options.
 
My mare was really bad for the first 2 weeks of every season last year. When being ridden she would buck, rear, plant her self an not move and in hand, she became quite bulshy and grumpy. My vet scanned her and found that her ovaries were very large when in season, and this was the cause of all her issues. Nothing else could be found to explain them, so we put her on regumate from April, just after we had her scanned until the beginning of November and she was a completely normal horse. Worked beautilfully and in hand was an angel again. This year I haven't had to put her on the regumate again. She hasn't shown any symptons at all of being in pain and the vet said that she probably won't need to go on it again. The cost worked out at £50 a month, which I don't think is expensive at all considering the fact I have a happy pain free horse who I can ride all year round without any issues.
 
This is really interesting because I went jumping yesterday on my 'new' (2 months) mare who jumps beautifully and is very easy to ride normally and she was awful, fences everywhere, very idle and slow off my leg etc. I did wonder if it could be hormonal and reading this post I am beginning to think that may the case. She is very obvious when in season for one day only (personality change from evil woman to lovely cuddly horse) and she was only in season a couple of weeks ago. Can they be affected by hormonal problems when not actually in season?
 
No worries at all GW, am very interested to hear other peoples experiences and so on.

I've had a lot of off days with my mare, she'll jump DC week on week then go out and be eliminated. Ive often put it down to a bad day/maybe a 'new fence' at a venue/her just being stubborn/my riding as she doesnt show any other marey signs, but Ive been reading up and it may well be an ovary sensitivity.

Going to have my physio out for a general check up soon so will speak to her, see if she's come across it before. Then might give some of these herbal treatments a go, Im a bit sceptical but it seems raspberry leaves should be good for 'period pains!'
 
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For a mare who shows 'symptoms' while in season, there are a LOT of possibilities - ranging from simple hormonal 'irritation' - through haemorrhagic follicles - right up to a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour on the ovary!



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I am having this with my mare at the moment. All last year, she was sometimes a darling, affectionate and great flatwork, then she was a demon, threatening to kick if I went near her ovary area, refusing etc. She would stand at the field gate in a puddle of her own juices squirting at anything that passed her. She even had a mild bout of colic which the vet says was brought on by discomfort from her ovaries.
I tried her on all the good supplements but none worked so this year, after having the odd season through the winter, even on Christmas day she was iffy, we decided to put her on the Regumate. She has been on it for about 6-7 weeks but about 2 weeks ago she started having diarreah (sp). I bought her some Diareze from global herbs and it has helped a little but obviously there must be something amiss somewhere. I spoke to my vet today and she is coming to do an US on her ovaries to check for the above.
She is the most loving mare when she is `normal` and I hate to see her in discomfort and not happy, so hopefully we will find out what is wrong in there and put it right.
She would refuse 3ft jumps sometimes and other times jump 1m20 without hesitation. She would also kick out at my leg when I used to to turn or for lateral etc. She has started to do this again.
 
my friend has similar problems with her mare as you do with yours but hers are just in general riding when in season. she is horrendous, cant bend, cant put any pressure of leg aids on her sides. she started noting dates/times etc and now i think doesnt ride her when shes in season
 
Good post Crazy Hippo, my mare was very reluctant t trot on sundays and was lame on her rear offside leg. YO recons that its because she has come into season , well done her at 19! although stupid question here, how old are mares before they stop going into season? or dont they? im giving mine no bute, as recommended by the YO, so fingers crossed!! she such a happy wee mare most of the time! Hope ur mare ok soon crazy hippo!
 
it is interested to read that others have simiar problems as myself.... I posted this on another thread

My mare is in hell for 10 days every month, she finds it very painful to even walk, any form of movement precipitates the need to plant herself and squirt. Ridden she is totally dead to the leg and takes a lot to get moveing. Once she is moving she refuses to engage her back and hind quarters and trot and canter are really out of the question. On the ground she is fidgity and given half the chance will crush you against the wall. She also goes off her forage and thus looses weight. Her last season she weightaped at 490 kg and finished off 10 days later at 478kg. Not a good senario for a 16hh TB.
 
Interesting thread. I have an eleven month old gelding that I introduced to my 10 year old mare last November. This spring, her seasons are far more obvious (to me anyway) not least because she always decides not to let me catch her... I think she's been mothering the baby.
Could someone explain the cycle to me? Mine doesn't squirt, thank the lord, but does get sensitive. She's also quite swollen either side of her nipples. Is this the norm?
 
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Could someone explain the cycle to me? Mine doesn't squirt, thank the lord, but does get sensitive. She's also quite swollen either side of her nipples. Is this the norm?

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Mares normally ovulate every 21 days - they will come into season 5 - 7 days before ovulation and go out almost immediately afterwards. You note I say 'normally'! Some mares will only be 'in' for a few days - some for longer.

Sometimes a mare won't ovulate and the 'ripe' follicle becomes larger than it should - and can become painful as it becomes haemorrhagic. Mares usually don't show in season at this point - and usually won't stand for the stallion. Haemorrhagic follicles are more common in early spring and late autumn - when the mare is in her transitional stage - but they can occur at any time and some mares can have them persistently (damn nuisance if you're trying to get them in foal!)

They can be just as big a nuisance in a riding horse - and mares that do suffer these persistent follicles regularly will need either Regumate or a marble (inserted into the uterus when the mare is in season, it fools them into thinking they're pregnant so they don't come into season.)

Mare owners SHOULD track their mare's cycle and note any behaviour changes. An absence of seasons - particularly when accompanied by changes in behaviour (usually agression!) may have a GTC tumour and these WON'T go away!
 
This is a really good thread.
hi to all!!!!!!!!
I also bought a mare in foal, and she was great,brought her
back to work, no problems, she really enjoyed her work...
then she came into her first season, and I had a completely different horse, moody, no cooperation, wouldnt go forward when ridden, would rear.. would buck and prance on the lunge...if tacked up, but would lunge without tack perfectly.
I researched mares coming into season and found out that the ovaries are located just behind where the saddle sits..
which would explain the situation..
Crazy Hippo, when your jumping and landing in the saddle, this could easily be putting pressure on her back, ie, where her ovaries are........
I would try supplememenst first, as shes obviously not too badly effected, if this is the only problem she has...
I have put my mare on naff hormonal supplement, and she has got a lot better.
hope this helps..........
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it is interested to read that others have simiar problems as myself.... I posted this on another thread

My mare is in hell for 10 days every month, she finds it very painful to even walk, any form of movement precipitates the need to plant herself and squirt. Ridden she is totally dead to the leg and takes a lot to get moveing. Once she is moving she refuses to engage her back and hind quarters and trot and canter are really out of the question. On the ground she is fidgity and given half the chance will crush you against the wall. She also goes off her forage and thus looses weight. Her last season she weightaped at 490 kg and finished off 10 days later at 478kg. Not a good senario for a 16hh TB.

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understand this completely, mine is also 3/4 thoroughbred, 1/4 i.d
glad to see Im not the only one thinking I had totally upset my horse bigtime!!!
 
That was really interesting thanks Tamba. Typically our next 'big' show will be right when she's due to be in season again so will put her on something now and see what happens. If she's still not happy with a supplement I'll just have to plan shows around her season!
 
yep, exactly,..try different supplements.. as one might work, another might not
then if things dont improve, try spaeking to the vet about alternatives... but sounds like this is due to hormones..
good luck, she looks like a great horse!
 
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