Stressy mare

[marali]

This is not the norm well I don't think.

my mare paces badly, she only used to do it when she couldn't see any other horse but lately it's if a horse that should be there isn't so horses all around if one leaves she does extreme pacing even at canter

the same if her routine changes I am normally first on our yard but if anyone comes early and just does things she sweats all up and box paces

being ridden apart from the odd spook she is perfect, seems to know her job and does it without any fuss...had physio out to routine check and she is so tight due to this, which is such a huge shame because she is otherwise fantastic

a bit about her history that may help brought over from Germany at 4 competed dressage on prof yard to 7 went lame put in foal bred 3-4 foals I bought her in foal 2 years ago she was pacing then too she had the foal with me but due to a horrid accident foal pts at 10 weeks then I thought she needs to work her brain again so brought her back into work but even though I think she is happy she goes in this zone and there is no getting her out of it...she was even like it with the foal at foot if she couldn't see the others, so I don't think the trauma of loosing the foal has caused it

anyone have/had similar? Any tips

i can't put another horse with her she is alpha and can be nasty

 

[YasandCrystal]

She sounds like my young ISH. She hates being stabled and door bangs and gets really stressed - she walks the box every night taking her haylage to the door and trampling it in. Mine can be a nightmare to handle too and very flighty. I have started her on magnesium oxide and I have just ordered some sea salt to add to her daily feed. She has really licked her himalayan salt lick loads in her stable and the below website suggests that high pottassium levels can lead to stress and that by feeding a tablespoon of salt daily in the feed this will combat that. That is what I am hoping.

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/

 

[marali]

Hi..thanks that is a good tip actually as I did have a Salt lick lying around and put in her stable recently and it's all gone, so I will give it a try, I have just ordered some brewers yeast with angus castus as have been recommended to try that so will let you know how that goes, but angus castus is hormonal and I am not sure it's hormonal ...

 

[YasandCrystal]

I have ordered a 25kg sack of sea salt online for £18.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251468365434?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

The website states that you must feed 2 tablespoons and a salt lick is not suffice. I recommended this to someone whose horse was so itchy it was about to be pts. After 2 weeks the horse was back to normal (this horse had thousands spent on tests over 18 months). Worth a try.

 

[Elsbells]

I have ordered a 25kg sack of sea salt online for £18.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251468365434?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

The website states that you must feed 2 tablespoons and a salt lick is not suffice. I recommended this to someone whose horse was so itchy it was about to be pts. After 2 weeks the horse was back to normal (this horse had thousands spent on tests over 18 months). Worth a try.

WOW! Well done you! I bet they're one thankful owner.

 

[YasandCrystal]

WOW! Well done you! I bet they're one thankful owner.

Yes they were - the horse was so nearly pts - he was so bad he had to be kept in an electrified paddock else he scrathed himself raw. He also couldn't be brushed or anything he was so sensitive amnd life was miserable for him and his owner. It was a long shot but a cheap remedy to try. The thing is every horses metabolism is different so just because one that grazes the same land and has the same feed may be fine another may react differently.
I was so chuffed for her.

 

[marali]

Salt ordered, I took a video of her this morning, she had been out half an hour an it was foggy so she couldnt see the horse in her next paddock, as you will see her feed is in there and also a pile of carrots which makes no difference, I went in to try and calm her but she just tried to bowl me out of the way...she has been known to do this in canter also ....(she is lathered in sweat at this point)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPEidrHza-0

 

[marioforever]

My mare is exactly the same. She has worn a trench in the field where she paces up and down. She has horses in next field but is too bossy to put out with anyone as we don't want any injuries. Luckily my mare only seems to do it in the winter, so I only turn her out for about an hour a day while I muck out etc and then later in the day I either ride, lunge or put on walker. She always has hay but after an hour just wants to be in. She is also better if I keep her in some days then she is keen to get out the next. I find her very high maintenance in the winter but she dosent seem to get as stressed as your mare. She comes in and stays in all day with no other horses around. I think she just prefers the comfort of her stable. What is yours like when she is in?

 

[marali]

Hi...she also has dug a huge tench which is a pain as she is in a private livery yard and I feel so bad but had a chat with the owner tonight and he luckily has been great about it and said not to worry....

When in the stable she is fine until the other horses go out even if one goes out then she will stress and sweat up and box pace...it seems routine change is the key, if everything each day is done exactly the same way round she can cope but anything diff it sets her off, which on DIY livery routine is not easy to keep with everyone else...

 

[Ladyinred]

Somewhere I have a video of a big WB doing this.. he would start at walk and progress to cantering and bucking or rearing on the turns. He wore a massive trench in the field. Once in that 'mode' it was extremely hard to get through to him, he wasn't a nasty horse at all, but once that worked up it seemed that nothing made any sense to him. My OH tried to help him one night and got kicked at fairly severely... luckily missing.

In his case there was a reason, his owner (a fellow livery) would turn up, call to him, and then disappear for an hour or more gossipping.. he was often cold and hyngry and couldn't understand why she didn't fetch him in. She thought it was quite funny... That was how it started but it developed from there to him doing it when the other horses came in or if other people were on the yard. It was very sad to watch, and in his case could have been so easily avoided.

Would your mare be any better if you had a friend bring her in if you can't be there at the same time as the others? I know you say she also box walks but if she is with other horses and has plenty of hay, does she improve?

 

[marali]

Hi...I have over the last 2 weeks really made an effort and she has not been out at all on her own, but with it being so foggy over the last 2 mornings it made in difference as even with the others out she couldn't see them..

She is my main focus when I am there, maybe my problem is that I work so I basically go in the morning ride groom feed and turn out and in the evening bring her in groom feed and out her up, there are a couple of liveries which don't work so they may be there during the day longer than me, maybe she is upset that I am not spending as much time with her as the others get...but when with her I give her my full attention..

She has carrots and her feed in her field as she is a slow eater and I feel that gives her something to think about whilst out, I want to keep her out once clocks change but I feel I will need a step ladder to get out of the field if she carries on this

She doesn't have a nasty bone, super calm to handle (unless she is in this mode) best horse I have ever ridden...love her to bits it's not just the worry of the land and her legs etc but this must be awful for her to be like this and it's so sad