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Discussion on Hot Mare needs date??
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New Member:
poovey
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Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 2:05 pm:
My 5 yr old mare was recently moved to a new stable where a very active, interested stallion resides. She has never been around a stallion to my knowledge and is now in season about every 2 weeks or so. The stallion is located about 3 stalls away from her and she is only near him when she is put up at night. She spends her days on pasture with a calm group of geldings and a couple of other mares. She has never been aggressive and is still not dangerous although she is not a pushover. She is cooperative with me however when I put her in the ring the other day she went crazy. Her "boyfriend" was calling to her from the barn so she ran herself silly, jumping jumps, bucking, and pushing the gate. I was not aboard she was just in a halter. After working up a sweat I took her to the indoor round pen where she performed like a champ. Would a med benefit her PMS struggles? I am unsure about using anything as a new horse owner myself. I have seen "Mare Magic", etc in Valley Vet Supply and wondered about the effectiveness of these supplements. Would they take the edge off? Moving her or the stallion is totally out of the question. HELP
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Saturday, Jan 3, 2009 - 2:28 pm:
 Your mare's behaviour isn't unusual for a young mare. It makes me laugh, because boy! have I seen it before! Unless she becomes dangerous, I've found it to be a matter of training and getting used to the situation. The calling stallion isn't helping much; but, that's what stallion's do. However, there could be improvement with training on his part also, but that is out of your controll probably. As your mare finds that life goes on as usual and she gets used to the situation, she will most probably settle down. Keep her busy physically and mentally when you have her out. If she acts up and calls when you are grooming her, tacking up, etc.; then correct her. There are trainers on HA that may have some more help for you.
btw, stallions are interested in every new mare that passes by. Eventually, he will get used to your mare's coming and going and become less vocal I think.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 9:00 am:
Welcome Janice,
Since you put forth the condition that nothing can be changed you will have to hope Sara's advice proves true. I agree with her that most of the time this will settle down somewhat but it sounds like it has been going on for some time. Remember that much of good horsemanship is moving the horse to a location, both mentally and physically, where the horse's attributes can shine. To butt your head against this very natural behavior of horses when a simple move could relieve the situation is doing things the hard way.
Some important notes is that this is not likely to be a true cycling (estrus) as most horses in NC at this time of the year will be in anestrus. To learn more about a mare's heat cycle read Equine Reproduction » Horse Breeding & Artificial Insemination » Breeding Patterns in Mares and Stallions. For more on suppressing the heat cycle see Training & Conditioning Horses » Behavioral Problems » Suppressing Heat and Estral Behavior in Mares but remember your mare is displaying fairly normal horse interaction behavior and not likely to have to do with estrus. On the other hand if things don't change you may need more help when your mare starts cycling fairly soon.
DrO
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Member:
ekaufman
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Posted on Sunday, Jan 4, 2009 - 11:06 pm:
Hi Janice,
While I agree that her behavior is natural and normal, there are many natural normal behaviors (rolling, bolting, calling to friends, grazing etc.) that are not acceptable for a horse in work. This is just one more of them.
I guess I would be inclined to treat this similarly to a herdbound horse who calls constantly and tries to get back to her buddies. Both are natural behaviors that can be modified with training.
If you plan to show your mare, she may well need to interact with stallions in a warmup arena etc.. Just as a stallion must learn to exercise impulse control in work, so must a mare (or a gelding, or a person for that matter!). So I would recommend that you treat this as a training problem. When she is with you, she's in work. Instead of turning her out to suit herself, lunge her or do other ground work where you can enforce the notion that flirting with the boys immediately results in more work, while focusing on you brings release of pressure. This can be as simple as increasing her effort as she heads in his direction, and giving her breaks as she walks away. There was an excellent thread on herdbound horses here within the last year, with a lot of detailed advice that I won't repeat.
If you are absolutely consistent, she WILL change her behavior, and be a more reliable horse for it.
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Member:
bucky
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Posted on Wednesday, Jan 7, 2009 - 10:58 am:
Funny Topic Heading 
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