How to work/ride a Mare in season?

orbvalley

orbvalley

Well-Known Member
Jan 15, 2008
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My young mare (4) has just come into her first season of the year & is exhausted! I arrived at te stables yesterday afternoon for a pre-booked lesson to find out she was in season and discover the effects its having on her. She wasn't comfortable going into canter so we moved onto trotting small cross poles only to find out that she crashed through every one as she was so sleepy.
She is the first mare Iv'e owned and this is the first time in season she's been like this. Just wondering how others manage their riding programmes around this - is she best left in the field to her own devices? and if so for how long? Or do you just hack gently, school gently??
My RI says that often the 1st one or 2 seasons of the year are the worst.........
 
if they are that bad you might just have to accept the first season or 2 of the year you wont get much of a tune out of her and let her snuggle with netflix on her ipad, some chocolate and a hot water bottle ;) You could also try things like Naf Oestress. (sp?)
 
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I've never really noticed Storm feeling any different when in season, not riding wise. Although she can be a bit more spooky and on the ground she can be a bit different. I can't just describe it really, she's just "different" - not cheeky as such but more vocal and a tad jumpy. But that's on the ground.
I hope things improve with your mare. Can you ask your vet for advice on supplements? Someone mentioned raspberry leaf to me but I've not tried it with her.
 
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Is this the first season she's had since you have had her or the first season that has had this effect on her when others were normal?

If this is unusual behavior from how she normally acts when is season I would consider there may be other causes or that there may be more to it and if it recurs next month possibly get the vets opinion. If this is just the first time you have seen her in season then its really up to you if you want to just work around her seasons or find a way past it. Jess is crazy hormonal, I've been through most things with her at some point or another, both vet prescribed and over the counter stuff. The last few years she has had raspberry leaf with great success, its meant to be a muscle relaxant so just helps them to be more comfortable and not quite so 'out of character'.
 
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Just to add, I still rode and carried on as normal, if I have to go to work at that time of the month so can she! Jess was never naughty bucking or anything, just more squealy and unpredictable/spooky.
 
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Jessey said:
Is this the first season she's had since you have had her or the first season that has had this effect on her when others were normal?
.
Click to expand...

I've only had her since last September and although she has had seasons during that time I've never noticed any difference in her.
This is the first time we've seen her like it but then also the first time she's been "in work" at the beginning of the "seasons".
My RI/YO said she'd been laying down a lot that morning and that at first she'd thought sh was unwell but then noticed that she was in season.
I've got no agenda with her, as in competing etc., so I can work around this by not riding or taking it easy with her, its more a question of what to do for the best as I've no experience of it.......
I'm seeing her again tomorrow and in the meantime my RI/YO is keeping an eye for me, obviously the slightest doubt and the vet will be called out.
 
Jessey said:
Just to add, I still rode and carried on as normal, if I have to go to work at that time of the month so can she! Jess was never naughty bucking or anything, just more squealy and unpredictable/spooky.[/QUOTE

I'm being a bit over protective probably as I used to suffer really badly when I was younger!:oops::rolleyes:
Click to expand...
 
The first season of the year is always the worst for Jess, she can go a bit killer horse in the field (did her damnedest to flatten me last month) but it tends to be uphill from there, I would keep an eye on her though, just in case :)
 
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If its the first season of the year then yes for some it's the worst. If she is anything like mine though it's every season and she is feeling pain and discomfort in the quarters. Mine used to shut down for about five days you would think she was really ill with a virus or something. You couldn't work her at all.
If you lunge her in season and compare with out of season you may notice she can't track up and looks stiff.
She will crash through and trip over trotting poles as she can't physically lift her back legs up enough. If her seasons clash with lessons you won't get a lesson. My RI has stopped more than one. It's not a case of riding through it and kicking them on, you can't if they are really suffering.

Keep a diary as if you do need to go down the vet route, they will want info. Also you will pick up on all the changes.

Workload, if you can ride walking is probably all you will get. Trotting you will feel as if they are lame, stiff and reluctant. Canter forget it, you stand no chance.

Mine is fine now :) Well we can hack in walk.
 
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