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Spooky Mare can it be her hormones?

What is a power pack of ulcergard? You need to treat for a minimum of 28 days

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Thanks for the tips haven’t thought about muscular but will definitely look further into this!

Thanks much appreciated. She is stalled out in day turnout late fall, winter, spring. About May we start on nights through October. That is interesting because where she was she wasn’t stalled for as long as she is stalled here. So that definitely could be a factor!

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I haven’t read through all the responses…but I’ve been in the same boat with a few horses and here are some things that we’ve diagnosed:

EDM - in that case horse was fine then got more spooky and behavioral issues/explosions…didn’t present neurologic until the end

Lyme and EPM - gelding was super spooky and acting like he wanted to pitch himself on the ground for a nice quiet walk hack with other horses (something he’s done a million times). He never seemed very neuro…mostly behavioral. 10 days on meds for both and he was a different horse.

Ulcers - I know you treated…but I was treating one and 4 weeks later scoped him and he still had grade 3 ulcers. He needed a different combo and timing of meds.

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I have posted on here about my mare’s ovariectomy. I could write a long story too. The short story: we finally did a progesterone trial with my mare, and it made it pretty clear that she had hormonal issues. It’s 10 days of daily IM shots. It is inexpensive, and shrinks the ovaries/follicles. It was like a switch flipped for my mare. If you have ruled everything else out, it may be worth a try.

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I also have a spooky mare, what did you find to be your mares issues?

I was going to suggest the possibility of PSSM and EDM as others have, but I think if it was my horse I would get its eyes checked by an ophthalmologist as well. Things like cysts in the eye can cause that behavior, and the reaction a horse displays can change with varying amounts of sunlight/shadows.

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Life. :rofl:

My mare is very, very sensitive to her own comfort. It sounds ridiculous typing it out. Things like fleece, girths that touch her elbows, bits without tongue relief. Also, if she doesn’t like how I’m riding.

Most horses have a bit more mental fortitude; she does not. And her first sign she is not feeling herself is little looky spooks, scary corner of the ring, etc.

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My mare tests all came back negative as well (she too had huge follicles that had a hard time “popping”, she too cycled thru regumate, she was extremely volatile under saddle and spooky) but when I finally sent her for ovariectomy they found SO much wrong inside.

I’m a pro as well and this mare tested everything I’ve got and confounded a lot of vets… years of work and hitting a wall while client horses progress, only thing I couldn’t train was my own… nor could I sell her as she would end up in a bad situation. DO NOT BREED YOUR MARE… who are these people who keep suggesting this (a SURGEON offered this to me… hope he could hear my eyes roll over the phone!!)

It’s been exactly two years. Two years of tough but steady improvement to finally get the horse I bought back.

I believe I have a fairly comprehensive list of what my mare has gone thru on a thread here … sorry my ability to search and link is limited and it’s not my thread just something I’ve contributed to and kept updated.

If I have the energy later (just had a hysterectomy myself) I will go update that thread and try to post the link here.
Best of luck.

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Added last update about my mare and I’m going to try to link the other thread

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I know you’re an experienced trainer, but… Is is possible she’s just not respecting you/your daughter? It seems you’ve tried lots of things, and it’s clear that she does react to her cycles, but at the end of the day, there’s a world in which she has to get out of her head and work with her rider.

Which is not to say it’s “my way or the highway” - the rider needs to establish the trust (and discipline) with the horse so that there’s a two-way conversation - the horse can express an opinion - but the rider prevails. Building this relationship can start with unmounted work. Certainly not a quick fix. And you do need to be aware of what she’s feeling in her body.

But it seems like you’ve done all the vetting. So maybe you all need to work with the horse as she is, and convince her to work with you even when she’s not feeling like it.

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