The Lion in Mares Clothing

Question
Let me start out by saying that I am by no means an expert.  I have been around horses since I was 3 - we raised Shetland Ponies and my brothers and I grew up owning all sorts of horses for the love of it.  So, here goes my "novel".

We have a 12 yr. old, 14.2h QH mare.  We bought her when she was 8.  Unfortunately, we don't have her past history (but, I feel strongly that she has received NO abuse - she doesn't have any shy areas and is very stall concious!)- we bought her from a private individual that used her in 4H a few times.  Apparently, she was originally acquired from a farm in Florida that used her strictly for jumping.  The story is that she injured her hind leg and was sold without papers - it's said that the farm didn't want anyone making any money on her.  Who knows.  It was obvious that any longer than an hours work and she would begin to limp - anyone over 100 pounds was out of the question.  She also was not able to lift that leg for our prior farrier so that he could put it on a stand.  Otherwise, she is a very intelligent horse and thinks clearly - - most of the time.  I bred her to a very calm QH stud and we are now the proud owners of a YEARLING!  I have worked with him since day one and he is turning out beautifully!  And, the time off seems to have healed her leg just fine!

Gyp notices EVERYTHING!  If a vehicle is in a different spot she blows at it - if a cloud moves wrong she looks up at it - - she is VERY observant and almost too smart it seems.  Today I hung a broom up and she looked up at it, looked back at me and I'm telling you - her eyes were saying, "Do you REALLY think that'll stay there?!"  She's a riot!  She hates a messy stall, does not like to be dirty, can't stand the wind, hates the rain, and LOVES attention!  But, like a lot of mares, can be extremely moody just before her heat which seems to be all year and all the time!

Here's the problem:  I seperated her from her foal at 4 mos. of age - and did it slowly and gently.  I was there for the birth and she accepted me as an "aunt" almost.  I could be with him and walk him around and she really didn't care - as long as she could see him and I didn't go too far - she never called or ran after him.  UNTIL, the day I had to completely seperate them.  She was heartbroken - so was I, but what has to be has to be.  Through the winter she was pretty calm, because we get so much ice and freezing rain that we don't put them out too often and they are content to wait out the weather with us.  Unfortunately, she was not happy with the seperate stall situation and she made it difficult to work with the foal - but, I "cowgirled-up" and did it anyway.  We decided that since she just couldn't break the bond with her baby that we would send her out for a refresher course and stable her.  What a gorgeous horse to watch in training!  She worked her little heart out - our trainer asked me to please try to find out what was in her blood lines because he said he had to make her stop one night because he was afraid she was going to drop - she had a tendancy to want to do everything at a very fast pace and he thought somewhere there might be some racing blood and Hackney - for her it was all business in the arena and she was almost "high strung" - on trails, she was the opposite -"out for a ride".  In the stall and saddling she was quiet and I almost wondered if she was getting some calming drugs in her feed, but then she would see the saddle and "get ready".  It was almost as though she was nervous about loosing or something (probably like stage nervousness).  With the saddle off, she could've cared less about the other horses and didn't mind leaving them (I must say the stable was "to die for" and it was right up her alley! - We have a small barn which is very nice for what we have, but this place was awesome and she fit right in!).  We just brought her home this friday.  She nickered a "good-bye" to her new friends and came home.  As soon as she heard her yearling's voice - that was the end of her calmness!  We cannot even go in his stall without her giving a deep, warning nicker and she paces and bumps her gate.  Taking them out to pasture is nothing short of a 3 alarm fire!  We take her first because she gets the bigger pasture with the 7' fence and she has tested its height to see if she could jump it!!!  I watched her trot up to it, measure it with her body, spin around, run to the opposite end and race for the fence and she actually was going to try to begin to gather herself for a vault until I yelled - - she wouldn't have made it!!!!  Anyway, we take the yearling (Rough Shod) to the connecting pasture and he begins to act up!  They reach through the gate for each other and he makes the mouth motions and she is just about furious!  When she realized that she was back with her baby again she has turned absolutely ferocious!  I can't even take her out and work with her because she is afraid someone is going to take her baby - she is not the same horse!  Now Rough Shod is starting to get very difficult to deal with also because if you try to work him - no matter where she is she is pitching a fit and he isn't sure why!!(Maybe she's telling him "don't let them put a saddle on you, boy!"-just kidding)  HE IS A YEAR OLD IN TWO WEEKS(just gelded) AND SHE WAS AT THE STABLE FOR ALMOST 5 WEEKS!  We are wondering if something drastic happened in her past with a foal or if her hormones are wild or if she will always be this way and if we should just start doing everything together (which, as you know is not easy for one person - two maybe).  We all love her and Roughie and have no designs in selling either - the combination to this lock is what?  I've been told that I'm reading into her thoughts too much, but she is such a "thought provoking" horse that I can't help but almost feel what she is thinking (besides, I've been with horses so long and spent so much time in barns as a child just hanging around- I almost wonder who raised who!).  As another side note -Something happened tonight - I took her out to work her and she was crazy until I walked up to her, looked her in the eye and said, "let's walk".  She calmed down, the yearling quieted down, the neighboring horse quieted down, and we were able to do some old fashioned ground work - - until she saw my son come down from the house and she got all nutsy again almost like, "Oh, yeah - - stay away from my baby!  Who's in there with him?!"  I had to put her away - it was getting very taxing on my muscles and brain!  We walked in she checked the foal and nickered to him - he nickered back, she sighed and walked calmly into her stall for the night!  

My first idea is to put them in the same pasture as a beginning, now that it's been six weeks since Rough Shod's been gelded.  I think I'm more interested in what's up with her at this point so that I can work from there.  Unfortunately, when she was gone, Roughie was a model yearling - not so now that Lioness Mom is back!

Thoughts?  Ideas?  

Cindy  

Answer
Hi Cindy;

Usually, it's best to let the mare wean the foal...generally they'll do it by about 8 months of age.  I've weaned as early as five months due to the mare being ill, the foal being too hard on the mare and in one case because the owner wanted their mare back.

Four months is a bit on the early side, and I'm not sure that that might have fed the situation considering your mare's obvious intelligence and sensitivity.

Some mares are better mothers than others.  Some are happy for the baby to leave and some are clingers like your mare.  I can't say I've ever known a mare quite as clingy as yours though.

When it comes right down to it, you've got a 'herdbound' situation with these two.  Generally, weaning is the answer.  In your case you might try the following, which I've had good success with in the past with two horses:

I put two horses together in a paddock after breakfast and they'd spend the day together.  At supper, one came into a stall and the other was taken to another paddock and they spent the evenings alone, unable to see each other.  The next day I repeated the process.  In the morning, the gelding went out first, then the mare joined him.  At night, the mare left first and the gelding last...don't ask me why, this was just the way they decided it needed to be.

By making this arrangement, they soon learnt that neither would die apart and that in the morning they'd be together again.  Once that was established I could work each one by themselves without the calling to each other and I had their full attention because they KNEW they'd be together again soon.

You might also have your mare's hormones checked, maybe even have a repro exam done and make sure that everything is okay.  It's really not 'normal' for her to be overly 'marish' just before a cycle.  This usually indicates hormones out of whack, ovarian cysts, pain and things of that nature, all of which can be treated to make her more comfortable.

Best wishes for you!  You're obviously a very good and caring 'Mom' and I can imagine your frustration.

Sincerely,

Lana Reinhardt
www.eq-paradise.com