Managing A Moody Mare
Just like humans, horses can go through mood swings from time to time. As the seasons change and we transition into spring, a horse’s behavior can often change. This can be due to a fluctuation in hormone levels, including estrogen and progesterone.
Seasonal Changes and Mood Swings
Horses breed seasonally and are programmed to mate at a certain time of the year. This means that over the winter months most mares are anoestrus, meaning they are not cycling. As temperatures start to rise and daylight hours increase, this activates their reproductive system.
As this change is underway, the early spring allows mares to enter a transitional phase. They may have prolonged or erratic cycles as hormone levels adjust, making their behavior often unpredictable.
Once summer begins, your mare’s behavior will often subside, and they will be back to having their regular three-week cycles. To see whether your mare is in season, look for signs of tail raising, opening and closing of the vulva, and frequent posturing and urination.
However, some mares may also show signs of more problematic behavior. This may be them showing signs of becoming vocal and anxious, displaying signs of aggression, or experiencing pain and sensitivity around their flanks and reluctant to work.
How to Manage Her Moods
Each individual horse will need to be managed on an individual basis. This is because each mare’s behavior will vary. In the majority of cases, this will be solely linked to your horse’s seasons and there isn’t much you can do to work around her mood swings.
However, one product that we recommend to help is HAPP-E-MARE. If your mare is anxious, stressed, loss of focus, can’t settle down, difficult to ride, irritable, or experiencing soreness in her muscles, then this product will be useful to ease your horse’s behavior. HAPP-E-MARE is a veterinary formula nutritional supplement that improves mood and promotes calmness, decreases anxiety, and reduces muscle soreness.
With nine balancing herbs, plus multiple vitamins including high dose Vitamin E, natural minerals, and certified low sugar, starch, and fructose, HAPP-E-MARE will get your mare back to calm and relaxed quickly.
This product will be a game-changer for your mare. Our customers have had beneficial experiences with this product that helped their horses stay calm, ultimately giving them some peace of mind as well. One of our customers, Kathleen Sargent-Werner, let us know about her positive experience with the product:
“I took in an unwanted Senior Quarter Horse Mare this past mid-summer. She was kept free range for years. I knew I would have a lot of work ahead of me working with the mare. I noticed her behavior was really off the charts and more so when she came into season. I started the HAPP-E-MARE supplement and changes began around the 13th day. So happy to see the mare change with a more positive attitude. She is paying better attention to me these days, appears more relaxed, accepts her wet feed readily! I will continue to use the supplement for the rest of her life! Thank you Dr. Reilly and Staff for providing excellent supplements to help our Equines stay healthy!”
Be Wary of More Serious Mood Swings
If your mare still needs help regulating her mood swings, your vet might suggest the following:
- Testing hormone levels if mare is very aggressive to rule out a Granulosa cell tumor.
- Rule out urinary tract infections
- We also encourage owners to:
- Deworm due to bots in the stomach that can cause ulcers
- Test thyroid hormone
- Look over your horse's diet
Healthy Happy Horse
Spring can be a challenging time for mares as their hormones are racing. There is nothing to stress over as this is very common and easily manageable.
Our product HAPP-E-MARE is just what you and your horse need to get them back to being their calm, happy and healthy selves.
To learn more about this product visit our website, where you can read further testimonials, learn about the ingredients in the supplement, and figure out the best way to manage your mare’s mood.
