Very moody mare - supplement/medication suggestions please

squidsin

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Feb 16, 2013
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Morning all. I took Angel XC at the weekend and she was a horror - got stupidly attached to the gelding she travelled with then wouldn't detach herself from his side, resulting in some quite spectacular napping. I was lucky to stay on, and after an hour and a half of being bucked, bronced and dancing sideways at every jump and even cantering backwards away from them at times, I am keen to sort this. This has happened a few times now, always when I take her off the yard, and resulted in me breaking a finger coming off her a few weeks ago. She was fine in the winter so I think her behaviour is hormonal. She's also moody about me tightening the girth or tapping her in the ovaries region (she has had a saddle and back check recently.) Any suggestions? I'm going to speak to the vet about Regumate and possibly injections, but I believe these can have an impact on her breeding potential. I'm not planning to breed off her but I don't know what the future might hold for us, and I may decide to sell at some point, so I don't want to rule it out completely if possible.
 
I wouldn't rush into regumate or injections, I've done both but only after trying everything else and neither were 'easy' options, regumate can effect humans if not handled properly and the injections left jess with lumps in her neck (a common side effect) for over a year, if either had worked I might have accepted the risks but they didn't for her.

I found NAF Oestress very good for Jess for some years, but the effects it had seemed to gradually reduce over time but that was possibly the start of her cushings symptoms rearing their head (she has very unusual symptoms but that's another story). Once that started to be less effective I did lots of research and found that Raspberry leaf is the main ingredient in some highly recommended hormone supplements and I switched her to that and it works brilliantly for her, it is often used in the last trimester of pregnancy in horses and humans to help the muscles relax to prepare for birth, making things easier, and I think its that muscle relaxant effect that helps Jess not get so sore and therefore grumpy :)

There is the marble option too if you want something longer term than supplements, you'd need to discuss her potential suitability with your vet :)
 
The other thing I would check is ulcers. A friend's mare, famous for her moodiness and filthy temper, was recently scoped for ulcers and had a shocking case of them even though she has always lived out with ad lib grazing. If it's just PMT though you could try chasteberry/ agnus castus as well as @Jessey's suggestions.
 
I wouldn't rush into regumate or injections, I've done both but only after trying everything else and neither were 'easy' options, regumate can effect humans if not handled properly and the injections left jess with lumps in her neck (a common side effect) for over a year, if either had worked I might have accepted the risks but they didn't for her.

I found NAF Oestress very good for Jess for some years, but the effects it had seemed to gradually reduce over time but that was possibly the start of her cushings symptoms rearing their head (she has very unusual symptoms but that's another story). Once that started to be less effective I did lots of research and found that Raspberry leaf is the main ingredient in some highly recommended hormone supplements and I switched her to that and it works brilliantly for her, it is often used in the last trimester of pregnancy in horses and humans to help the muscles relax to prepare for birth, making things easier, and I think its that muscle relaxant effect that helps Jess not get so sore and therefore grumpy :)

There is the marble option too if you want something longer term than supplements, you'd need to discuss her potential suitability with your vet :)
Is Oestress worth a go? I am a bit sceptical about most non-prescription supplements as I've found them to be a total waste of money! But that does worry me about Regumate as I won't be handling it, it'll be the girls who work on my yard and they're at an age where I'd be worried about letting them handle stuff that shouldn't be handled by pregnant women.
 
The other thing I would check is ulcers. A friend's mare, famous for her moodiness and filthy temper, was recently scoped for ulcers and had a shocking case of them even though she has always lived out with ad lib grazing. If it's just PMT though you could try chasteberry/ agnus cactus as well as @Jessey's suggestions.
I don't think it's ulcers as her the behaviour that's hardest to handle is the clinginess to other horses. I literally couldn't even have got off her if I'd wanted to on Sat as she'd have been far worse with napping towards the gelding she was in love with if I was on the ground. I am fairly confident it's not a pain issue. She's not grumpy so much as highly strung.
 
I currently have Storm on Oestress due to her ridiculously mareish behaviour which has been worse because of Zi landing! It's very hard for me to tell if it is having any effect, OH and I keep saying she could be a lot worse......I am thinking of using Hackup again and ask them to make her a supplement specifially for her behaviour with a calmer. Zi has come with one of their bespoke supplements and his old owner says it has been marvellous for him and one of her other horses also has one of their supplements (he's not a moody mare lol it's for his stiffness!).
 
I don't think it's ulcers as her the behaviour that's hardest to handle is the clinginess to other horses. I literally couldn't even have got off her if I'd wanted to on Sat as she'd have been far worse with napping towards the gelding she was in love with if I was on the ground. I am fairly confident it's not a pain issue. She's not grumpy so much as highly strung.
Is the clinginess actually hormone related though? is she worse during her seasons or is it just whenever you take her out? or just when taken out in company? I know you said she wasn't as bad in winter but that could be the grass and general energy levels etc too......
I found Oestress/chaste berry helped her to be less intense during seasons, of course it doesn't stop them.
 
Is the clinginess actually hormone related though? is she worse during her seasons or is it just whenever you take her out? or just when taken out in company? I know you said she wasn't as bad in winter but that could be the grass and general energy levels etc too......
I found Oestress/chaste berry helped her to be less intense during seasons, of course it doesn't stop them.

That's what I need to work out. She's worse in company but basically gets really clingy and stressy if she's somewhere unfamiliar and there are other horses about. Even on hacks, walking her past a field of horses is a pain. It does seem to correlate with her seasons but could just be her personality. The problem is, she doesn't show other obvious signs of being in season so it's hard to decide what's cause and what's effect.
 
I currently have Storm on Oestress due to her ridiculously mareish behaviour which has been worse because of Zi landing! It's very hard for me to tell if it is having any effect, OH and I keep saying she could be a lot worse......I am thinking of using Hackup again and ask them to make her a supplement specifially for her behaviour with a calmer. Zi has come with one of their bespoke supplements and his old owner says it has been marvellous for him and one of her other horses also has one of their supplements (he's not a moody mare lol it's for his stiffness!).
Hackup is a good idea.
 
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That's what I need to work out. She's worse in company but basically gets really clingy and stressy if she's somewhere unfamiliar and there are other horses about. Even on hacks, walking her past a field of horses is a pain. It does seem to correlate with her seasons but could just be her personality. The problem is, she doesn't show other obvious signs of being in season so it's hard to decide what's cause and what's effect.
Perhaps her seasons are just exacerbating nerves? maybe working on her confidence alone and in new places will be a better long term solution
 
Perhaps her seasons are just exacerbating nerves? maybe working on her confidence alone and in new places will be a better long term solution
I'm going to do that as well, but after an hour and a half of sitting on a bucking bronco, I'm going for a two-pronged attack with supplements as well to make it more enjoyable for myself. I highly recommend the Dublin riding tights - their incredibly sticky bum ensured I didn't fly out the side door on several occasions.
 
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A marble is essentially that, a marble that is put in the uterus to simulate a pregnancy. It stops the cycles and lasts a year.

Before marbles or regulate, I would hope your vet would want an ovary scan. They certainly did for madam to rule out cysts etc
 
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Useless information, but the marble option was first recorded used by the Bedouin in the Arabian deserts to prevent their valuable mares and female camels from getting pregnant at unsuitable times. They used pebbles of a particular shape and size. It works like an IUD for horses.
 
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I wouldn't rush into regumate or injections, I've done both but only after trying everything else and neither were 'easy' options, regumate can effect humans if not handled properly and the injections left jess with lumps in her neck (a common side effect) for over a year, if either had worked I might have accepted the risks but they didn't for her.

I found NAF Oestress very good for Jess for some years, but the effects it had seemed to gradually reduce over time but that was possibly the start of her cushings symptoms rearing their head (she has very unusual symptoms but that's another story). Once that started to be less effective I did lots of research and found that Raspberry leaf is the main ingredient in some highly recommended hormone supplements and I switched her to that and it works brilliantly for her, it is often used in the last trimester of pregnancy in horses and humans to help the muscles relax to prepare for birth, making things easier, and I think its that muscle relaxant effect that helps Jess not get so sore and therefore grumpy :)

There is the marble option too if you want something longer term than supplements, you'd need to discuss her potential suitability with your vet :)
Another vote for a marble, have had a vet pop one in with great effect in the past. x
 
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Chasteberry is good
St. John's wort is another
Oestress I've seen have good results
Black/blue cohosh and raspberry leaf are also good
 
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I wouldn't be too quick to assume that her behaviour is hormone related. If it was, I would expect her to behave in a similar way at home. As she is much worse when out, I would say that it was due to excitement/nerves about being somewhere new. The grass is very lush at the moment which may be having an impact. I would be looking at what you feed her, and about how much exercise she is getting during the week. She could just be very fresh?
 
I wouldn't be too quick to assume that her behaviour is hormone related. If it was, I would expect her to behave in a similar way at home. As she is much worse when out, I would say that it was due to excitement/nerves about being somewhere new. The grass is very lush at the moment which may be having an impact. I would be looking at what you feed her, and about how much exercise she is getting during the week. She could just be very fresh?
Can I just clarify here that her behaviour definitely is hormonal, hence me asking for advice about hormonal mares. I do know what I am talking about at least occasionally!

She does behave in a similar way at home. She's a massive tart and has had to be moved to a different stable as she drove all the geldings on her old block into a sex-fuelled frenzy. One old boy who's enjoying his last summer before he is PTS has been kicking the wall of his stable to try to get to her. She's really jumpy and on edge when she's in season and even tries to kick me when I groom her, it's just much easier to handle her on the yard as she's slightly more chilled than she is on the cross country field, and the way the yard is set up is it's quiet and enclosed and chilled. She was a nightmare on my last yard and why I had to move her from there.

Yes she IS more excited when we're out, and that's to be expected, but I've taken her to the exact same place before and she was absolutely fine, because she wasn't in season. Every two weeks she's OK and every two weeks she's a nutter but I don't want to have to plan my riding schedule round that!
 
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