Tumor on my mare's ovaries? (Also insurance questions)

[ASpoonfullaSplash]

Hi all - I have a 2 part question here.

8yo mare in training for the all-around. Has been very difficult to work with since May-ish. She spent almost every day in heat and was not her quiet, relaxed self. Could barely ride all summer without a buck or fit. Then-barn owner had me convinced she was just a b*tchy mare in heat (why, oh why did I listen to that?! ) Had the vet out for subtle lameness and she saw some possible early changes to the navicular bones in both feet so she wanted shoes and pads on her fronts. Done and lameness went away stat. She did throw out the idea of a tumor on her ovaries based on her summer in heat (had died down at this point) but opted to wait and see with the shoes. Mare was also girthy, crow-hopping at the canter and hated leg pressure with a passion. Her poop, coat and eating habits have always been normal. Treated for ulcers with Nexium; no scope performed bc vet agreed to just go for it since it made sense as she’s an anxious horse and was in pain for some time. We talked about Kissing Spine and she did not think she was exhibiting signs of this at the time. The shoes and Nexium seemed to really help and she started to go along wonderfully and making huge progress (so proud! ) until recently.

Her only symptom currently is she HATES. MY. LEGS. Any leg pressure and she whips her head around to threaten to bite my leg/feet. She’s been back on the Nexium for about a month now and her girthiness disappeared as well as reactivity to those palpation points by Dr. DePaolo, so I know it’s helping at least some. I’ve backtracked in training to bare minimum concepts of walking rides with the only goal of accepting my leg, relaxed and without reactivity. This mare refuses to accept my leg after weeks of time off and then slowly coming back. I’m at a loss now. Something is still wrong with my girl and I’m wondering if the tumor on the ovaries is really something to think about?

So this brings up my next question that I feel like I need guidance on before talking to a vet. EQUINE INSURANCE! I have never had it for my horse and no one around me has either. Would this be something to consider for a $1500 horse in this situation? I have financial means for many horse related emergencies, but a surgery like this is not something I can take on right now. I only ask now before I call the vet to avoid any pre-existing condition exclusions if I can. Would this even be considered pre-existing? I figured it wasn’t going to cover anything ulcer related at all. I know much about human insurance, but nothing about equine insurance. I already drowned myself in vet bills with my last mare that I tried to save and ultimately had to put down at 7yo. I can’t allow myself to do that again.

My goal is to figure what this pain response is, work on it, and then take her to lessons as soon as she’s healthy and cleared for work. I just bought a trailer recently for this reason. I just want to do right by her.

Sorry this is so long! I always feel like an idiot when posting here because I feel like I should know these things! Wish I had better guidance from folks around me but this forum is the next best thing.

[Dutchmare433]

Most horse insurance companies have a minimum value they will insure. I think most in the 5-10k range. None of the companies will give you more major medical coverage than mortality. So even if you were able to insure her for 2k, say, that would only be 2k in major medical coverage. Probably not worth it at all especially with premiums and deductibles.

[S1969]

A tumor on the ovaries is a possibility, but it’s not the only possibility. It would be just as likely (or more likely) that she has ovarian cysts and that they could be controlled with something like Regumate. So before you get too concerned about a surgical solution, there might be a simpler treatment.

[ASpoonfullaSplash]

Thank you, this is exactly what I need to know! Makes perfect sense

[ASpoonfullaSplash]

Very true. I think the financial aspect of a surgery is what scares me and I want to be as prepared as I can in these hard times (thanks, COVID). I’ll talk to my vet about the Regumate! Thank you

[RedHorses]

Echoing S1969 with the cystic ovaries idea. That can be diagnosed via rectal exam and a shot or two can get the cyst dropped.

I’ve seen a couple of mares with the issue and it was the first thing that came to mind when reading your post.

[4horses]

I’m not sure this is hormones or just a very sensitive horse. Some horses never accept leg pressure. I had one like that. He hated any leg pressure and he hated bugs. Just ultra sensitive to everything. If you touched him he was all goosey. I think my hands felt ticklish.

It could be cyst related but cysts shouldn’t last forever.

[sing]

@4horses

It could be cyst related but cysts shouldn’t last forever.

That may be true with cysts, but you wouldn’t expect an ovarian tumor to spontaneously resolve.

[sing]

I know times are tough right now and it can be hard to scrape together enough money to deal with the situations horses sometimes throw our way.

But keep in mind that it is usually easier to deal with things early than late. I am having trouble remembering, but it seems to me that the spay done to remove my bay mare’s tumor was not say, a colic surgery level of expense. But I did have to pay for an emergency vet call to sew up black mare’s neck after bay mare took a golf ball sized chunk out of black mare’s neck.

Because bay mare was exhibiting the aggressive behavior you often see with a tumor. And she could have inflicted much more serious injury on the other mare, or have targeted a human. God Forbid.

Anyway, hoping you find the trouble with your mare and it is manageable.

[va2txrider]

I had a mare that had a tumor on her ovary. She had started acting like a stallion mounting and herding other mares. It was quite obvious there was something wrong! I had the ovary removed. Surgery was about $3000 at a vet school, and this was about 5 years ago.