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  Discussion on Ovariectomy and Regumate
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New Member:
wendy291

Posted on Monday, Feb 1, 2010 - 9:27 am:

My mare has been on Regumate, 12 ml daily on feed, for one month as directed by my vet to help with extreme behavioral issues that appear to be related to hormones. My vet performed an ultrasound and internal exam and found my mare's reproductive organs to be normal.

Her behavior changed 100% for the better after about a week and a half on the Regumate and she has been wonderful. Since we do not ever plan to breed this mare, we're hoping to find a more permanent and cost-effective solution (long term) to the Regumate.

My vet suggested that we take her off the Regumate for one month (February) and observe any changes. Her explanation was that, since she shouldn't be cycling this time of year, if we see her revert back to her behavior issues off the Regumate, then removing her ovaries is not an option. We then would have to try a marble or oxytocin treatment when she begins normal cycling in April.

3 days off the Regumate, the mare is absolutely back to her extreme behavior. Does this mean that an ovariectomy will be unhelpful for her? That was my preference for a long-term solution. If an ovariectomy is not a good possibility, can you tell me more about marble implantation and oxytocin?

Although her behavior (moodiness, aggression, bucking when ridden, negative reaction to saddling/riding) is worse during estrus, she also displays much of it all the time and is very sensitive, reactive, and spooky. All of this was significantly reduced during the time she was on Regumate.

So, basically, I'm looking for a more permanent long-term alternative that will give me the same results that having her on Regumate has.

Thank you for your advice.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 8:02 am:

Welcome Wendy,
Though she should not be cycling, using Regumate in late winter and then stopping might very well put her into season: it is used to back up the onset of estrus following winter anestrus as described in the article associated with this discussion. So your first step is to document her stage of cycling. Often a good ultrasonographer can do this just by examining the size and tone of the uterus and ovaries.

For more on suppressing estral behavior including the methods you ask about see Training & Conditioning Horses » Behavioral Problems » Suppressing Heat and Estral Behavior in Mares.
DrO
New Member:
wendy291

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 9:20 am:

Thank you, Dr. O for the excellent information. I've had this mare for 3 years and although her behavior is significantly more intense during estrus, she's overly sensitive, spooky, has some aggressive tendencies, and responds very flirtatiously to geldings all the time. The only break in this behavior I've ever seen was during the month on Regumate. She ovulated in late November, according to the vet's ultrasound, right before we started the Regumate but I'm not sure if she's ever cycled in the winter before. She's always displayed just as poor of behavior during the winter as during the summer months. I don't mind a little normal mare-ishness and she's a good enough horse to be worth the effort, but I'm hoping to help her be as comfortable as possible so she may enjoy training as much as is possible for her. Her normal behavior is beyond any typical mare-ishness I've experienced before. I'd love to sustain the nice behavior we had on Regumate but hopefully spend a little less. My question now is, if she has problems even when she's not in estrus, will the other options (marble, oxytocin) still possibly be effective? Is there any possibility that my vet might be wrong and spaying could help her? I'm trying my best to understand how all this works.

Sorry for all the questions...it's pretty confusing stuff to me.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 9:51 am:

Wendy, I know how expensive regumate can be and I have used it in the past with some very good results. I also had a mare where it did not work at all so in this case you are lucky.

Did your vet say that you could try lowering the dose or did you just cut it out cold turkey? I think I would first try getting her to as low a dose as she needed to maintain what you are willing to put up with.

I did have the marble implanted in my mare, but I did not see as much of an improvement as I would have liked and at one point she was getting progesterone and chorionic but I did not like her reactions to that either.

The best results I had with her was using a product called Moody Mare ( Wendall's herbs) double dose morning and night seemed to keep her on a steady keel without having to resort to a lot of drugs that may not be conducive to long term use.
New Member:
wendy291

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 10:32 am:

She wanted me to stop it completely for a month to evaluate any change in behavior. This was done, as she explained it to me, to determine whether or not removing her ovaries will work as a permanent solution. She said that since the behavior returned even during a time of year when her ovaries should be inactive, this means removing them will not help.

However, in reading Dr. O's response, I am wondering if this is the case as it makes complete sense to me that we may have caused her to come into season by abruptly cutting off the Regumate.

I'm not very encouraged by what I'm reading about the effectiveness of the marble implantation.

Confused, but very appreciative of the information I'm getting here!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 2, 2010 - 3:34 pm:

Wendy, another article that helps explain all this, including the difference between anestrus (which is what a mare would be with her ovaries removed) and diestrus (on Regumate and between heats during the warm seasons of the year) is Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artificial Insemination » Breeding Patterns in Mares and Stallions.
DrO
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