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Location: midwest mama | I have a 30 year old mare who is actually pretty healthy overall. I have owned her for 22 years and she has had several babies in the past.
For the past several years, she has gotten so attached to any gelding that sets foot on my place it is insane. Goes into a full blown heat in an instant. Right now, I don't have any geldings here, and so she has attached herself to the next-door neighbors gelding (we share a fence.) Problem is, he goes over to his barn to eat and spends part of the day there and when he is out of my mare's sight she goes insane. Runs up and down the fence shrieking, whinnying, will not eat or drink - she is a total mess. Even in 110 temperatures she will not come into the shade or drink water. She has lost at least 250 lbs. in the last month. I have tried to move her to another part of my property and she is even worse. There is no place on my property that I can put her where she cannot see him at least part of the time. I even got her a little donkey as a friend and she likes to be with her, but will run her over when she is in a frenzy about the gelding. I thought about adopting another gelding but I really don't want another horse to take care of. I also talked to my neighbor and he is not open to letting his gelding and my mare live together.
The vet's suggestion is to get her spayed, but I really don't want to spend the money or put her through a surgery at this age. He also mentioned putting her on Regu-Mate but I also hate to do that to her at this age. The boarding places around here charge at least $250-$400 per month because I thought about taking her somewhere else. And I really can't afford that.
HELP!!!!!!!!!! What do I do? She is killing herself right before my eyes. It is breaking my heart.
Edited by OldSchoolCowgirl 2014-08-04 1:09 PM
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| Wow, tough one! What do you feed her? I have a mare that after 10 years of me owning her she starting acting like this over geldings and after trying tons of different things that didn't help I figured out the problem...I was feeding her about 2 cups per day of ground flax and it was making her hormonal and act crazy over the geldings. Flax has/can have an estrogen effect on the body and it was making her NUTS!! In a couple years time from feeding it she went from acting like a gelding herself to being in a full blown panic when "her" gelding would get out of sight. She wouldn't eat or drink and she'd run through the field like she was fixing to get eaten by a cougar....she became very dangerous. It was about the only thing I hadn't already tried so I took her off flax completely and within a couple months she was back to acting like an old tired gelding again standing in the shade with her lip hung down sleeping, lol. Just a thought...hope you can figure out something to help the old girl. |
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Veteran
Posts: 238
| Talk to the neighbor and see if they are willing to let the gelding live with her or visa versa? |
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Location: midwest mama | As far as feed goes she gets regular hay and just a corn/oats/barley mix with a little alfalfa meal. Nothing that I think would contribute to her estrogen production. |
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 Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
 
Location: Oklahoma | have you tried anything like raspberry leaves for the cycles? There is a supplement I feed mine that is all natural... called Mushroom Matrix ECP. |
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 Tough Patooty
Posts: 2615
Location: Sperry, OK | maybe adopt a male donkey instead of a female.. might work better for her to buddy up to. |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 540
Location: My own little world :) | I would try Mare Magic or Silver Lining Herbs Mare Moods. You just put it in their grain and should see results fairly quickly. My mare was nasty and this winter she was making messes the whole winter and whenever she came close to a gelding in the spring it was just embarrassing. I put her on mare magic and am amazed by the results. She seemed happier and no longer made the big messes....there for a while I gave her a bath daily :( |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 477
Location: Lost in the swamps | Reserpine really helped a gelding that I had who was a fence pacer and has separation anxiety. He literally cleared a path along the fence and turned it into dirt in less than a DAY! Reserpine is a 30 day very mild tranquilizer(sounds horrible) but it really helped him and he eventually stopped and forgot about his pasture buddies on the other side but he was a gelding. Talk with your vet and see if this would benefit her. Also Are the gelding and your mare able to touch over the fences? Also hot wire might help to deter them. |
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Bulls Eye
Posts: 6443
Location: Oklahoma | There is also a product that is 100% organic called Mushroom Matrix ECP. My stallion just moved from a boarding facility to my house and it threw him for a loop. I've never had him lose his marbles like he did while settling in. I started him on this product and now he is back to himself. He was running the fence, hollering, etc too. I believe in the natural products whole heartedly! |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 684
Location: Oklahoma | I agree I would try and male donkey. I have a mare back home that will act almost exactly like yours. She will not buddy up with mares at all. We got her a mini jack to be friends with. He is intact, and treats her like a mare. lol. But he isn't even close to being big enough to breed her. Shes been with him for six years and hasn't had any problems.
Do you have any friends with a gelding that might take her in? Would the neighbor maybe consider letting you keep her with his if you paid him a little? It'd be cheaper than going to a boarding stable. |
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