[sublimequine]

So, I'm confronting a very strange problem with my mare right now that I have never experienced before. She's always had fairly tame heats.. a little distracted, a bit dramatic, but it really didn't effect how we did things or anything.

Now.. I kid you not, when she comes into heat, she is suddenly borderline dangerous to handle. She becomes EXTREMELY herdbound, and the second you bring her into the indoor (ie, out of sight of her pasture and herd), she absolutely loses her mind. Today I attempted to tie her and just let her throw her tantrum and be done with it, but she proceeded to rear and attempt to THROW HERSELF ONTO THE GROUND, all while screaming and pooping every 5 seconds. When untied and handwalked, she was still jumping all over the place and screaming. There was no getting through to her, I had to remind her I was even there a few times.

Contrast this to 2 days ago, when it was a bit colder out. I had her in the indoor, with a NECK ROPE ON (ie, no halter), ground tied in the middle of the arena as I curried and picked her feet. She stood relaxed the whole time.

I have never seen such extreme swings in behavior like this! It seems directly correlated to her heat cycle, as today the temps warmed drastically and all the mares on the property have come into heat. I honestly just wanted to cry, I was so frustrated.

Yes, I'm calling my vet, but I'd like to hear some suggestions or ideas while I wait to call and set up an appointment on Monday when his office is open. If it is a hormonal issue, what treatments are available?

UPDATE POST 59.

RESULTS POST 69.

[Tegan]

Definitely Regumate. It has made a huge difference in my mare.

This time of the year, horses go into a transition period after not cycling all winter. It's fairly common to get erratic heats and bad behavior.

Personally, I would do Regumate for 2 weeks and see what happens. If it helps and the mare does worse off it, it may be something that you need to do daily until winter.

[sublimequine]

Definitely Regumate. It has made a huge difference in my mare.

This time of the year, horses go into a transition period after not cycling all winter. It's fairly common to get erratic heats and bad behavior.

Personally, I would do Regumate for 2 weeks and see what happens. If it helps and the mare does worse off it, it may be something that you need to do daily until winter.

I worry a bit about dosing Regumate, and getting it on my hands or something. Is it fairly easy to handle?

[Auventera Two]

You can give bute of equioxx for pain for a few days. My mother has a mare that was just like this and she required 2 grams of bute a day throughout her heat cycles or she was a maniacal devil woman. I guess it depends if your mare's problem is pain related or not. Mom's mare was definitely pain and the pain drove her wild. The bute was a great solution for her.

[sublimequine]

You should only be worried about it if you're thinking of trying to get pregnant as it might affect your own cycles. Otherwise, you could wear gloves when handling it.

Definitely not trying to do THAT anytime soon! Thanks for the tip.

A2; Probably stupid question, but how did you know it was pain? My mare doesn't act sore or sensitive to touch or anything.. just.. crazy and herdbound.

[Equino]

There is an injectable form of Regumate, but it is pricey if you have to get it from your vet-my vet charged something like $150, but you can get it at cost for like $80/shot. Ask your vet about it. My friend had a mare who is pretty marish and did better on Depo, but even better on IM Regumate/altrenogest. From what I've gathered, people feel Regumate, oral or IM, is more effective on heat related behavioral issues.

[sublimequine]

There is an injectable form of Regumate, but it is pricey if you have to get it from your vet-my vet charged something like $150, but you can get it at cost for like $80/shot. Ask your vet about it. My friend had a mare who is pretty marish and did better on Depo, but even better on IM Regumate/altrenogest. From what I've gathered, people feel Regumate, oral or IM, is more effective on heat related behavioral issues.

So the injectible form is IM? That's one issue about oral Regumate, I can only dose it 6 days a week most weeks. My barn is pasture board only with no grain fed, so I'm the only one to feed my mare anything, thus the only one to medicate as well.

[Rodeio]

I had my mare on Regumate last fall when she was stuck in an autumn heat cycle. My bottle had a top that when screwed off you could screw on a screw tip syringe. I would do that, tip the bottle over and draw out what I needed and replace. I also wore rubber gloves like you wear for handling pesticides but I didn't spill any on them or anywhere else. I added it to her feed with no issues. I was also careful about handling her feed bucket too.

[sublimequine]

I had my mare on Regumate last fall when she was stuck in an autumn heat cycle. My bottle had a top that when screwed off you could screw on a screw tip syringe. I would do that, tip the bottle over and draw out what I needed and replace. I also wore rubber gloves like you wear for handling pesticides but I didn't spill any on them or anywhere else. I added it to her feed with no issues. I was also careful about handling her feed bucket too.

Thanks for the input, I really appreciate it!

[Equino]

So the injectible form is IM? That's one issue about oral Regumate, I can only dose it 6 days a week most weeks. My barn is pasture board only with no grain fed, so I'm the only one to feed my mare anything, thus the only one to medicate as well.

If money is not an issue, I would definitely go the injectable route, especially considering you may not be able to medicate her 7 days a week. Like I said, most heat related behavioral problems seem more improved with IM Regumate (yes, it is given IM) than with depo, but depo seems cheaper-$150/bottle and you can get 2.5 dose out of it, so that may be worth a try as well. My personal mare can get unhappy about being separated from her herd when she was at a small barn, but was never unmanageable-more so she'd look and whinny a bit, but I could do whatever I wanted with her. On depo, she was less concerned. If she had been REALLY bad, I would've gone the Regumate route.

See what your vet recommends, but worth a try. Here's a link to the IM Regumate:

http://www.betpharm.com/micro.htm

[Donkey]

Like a previous poster said, first cycles of the year can results in extreme behavior - especially younger mares. Before jumping ahead with Regumate it might be worth waiting to see if during her next cycle she is as bad.

[sublimequine]

Like a previous poster said, first cycles of the year can results in extreme behavior - especially younger mares. Before jumping ahead with Regumate it might be worth waiting to see if during her next cycle she is as bad.

This isn't her first cycle of the year, this is her 2nd. And she's not quite "younger", she's 13.

[blackstallion2]

If this is unusual behavior for her, as in 13 years she's been okay, and now this. I would consult a vet. Regumate is an expensive experiment, when there could be an ovarian cyst or tumor, etc.

[sdlbredfan]

If this is unusual behavior for her, as in 13 years she's been okay, and now this. I would consult a vet. Regumate is an expensive experiment, when there could be an ovarian cyst or tumor, etc.

If the mare does need some hormonal mediating medication, this is a good article on the subject:
http://evrp.lsu.edu/07estrus.htm

[Touchstone Farm,Ky]

If you don't want to use regumate you can try mare magic. We use it on all the fillies going to the track and to the sales. Its pretty amazing. Basically its just raspberry leaves and works to hormone balance the same way raspberry tea works for women. You'll know in a week or two if its going to work for you. you can order it online .

[sublimequine]

If you don't want to use regumate you can try mare magic. We use it on all the fillies going to the track and to the sales. Its pretty amazing. Basically its just raspberry leaves and works to hormone balance the same way raspberry tea works for women. You'll know in a week or two if its going to work for you. you can order it online .

She's already on raspberry leaf, has been for 3 years or so now. She used to get really girthy when she was in heat, and the raspberry leaf helps with that. It seems to have no effect on this behavior currently, though.

[sublimequine]

If the mare does need some hormonal mediating medication, this is a good article on the subject:
http://evrp.lsu.edu/07estrus.htm

Reading that right now, thanks!

[sublimequine]

Little mini update, calling the vet tomorrow, but talked to another boarder today (the ONLY other client of my vet at this barn) and they want him out too for spring shots, so we can split the trip charge, yay.

[ThoroughbredFancy]

Little mini update, calling the vet tomorrow, but talked to another boarder today (the ONLY other client of my vet at this barn) and they want him out too for spring shots, so we can split the trip charge, yay.

Hehe. Love when that happens.


Anyway, let us know what your vet says. I am curious.

The mare I sometimes work with just went into a bad heat. It was her first heat of the season though, so I am hoping that it gets better.

In the past she has gotten extremely attached and herd bound, at home and away. Her owner is considering a marble for her but we'll see.

[sublimequine]

Hehe. Love when that happens.


Anyway, let us know what your vet says. I am curious.

The mare I sometimes work with just went into a bad heat. It was her first heat of the season though, so I am hoping that it gets better.

In the past she has gotten extremely attached and herd bound, at home and away. Her owner is considering a marble for her but we'll see.

I've thought about marbling too, but I think that needs to be done at a clinic, and I'd rather have her treated at her barn if I can help it. We'll see what the vet says, and I'll be sure to update.