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Mare... either ovarian tumor or she's a pseudohermaphrodite

9K views 26 replies 12 participants last post by  MarleysGirl 
#1 ·
I purchased a 4 year old mare a few months back and was told she has a granulosis tumor on her ovary. She had always acted a bit stallion-like, cycled very hard, acted "bi-polar", and mounted other horses both male and female (but that could have been just her playing). She had been diagnosed a year ago with the tumor due to her inhibin level. I spoke to 2 clinics in NJ, Dr Karlin at Mid Atlantic and Dr Smith at NJ Equine. We finally reached out and spoke to the vets at New Bolton in PA. They mentioned how they don't feel it is definitely a tumor on the ovary. She has had attitude issues since about 8 months of age. They feel there is a good chance she may be a pseudohermaphrodite. I was also told that her inhibin level could be indicative of either or. We won't know for sure what condition she has until I have an ultrasound done on her which will be done the day of surgery. Regardless, she is going in next week to have whatever issue she has resolved via lapro surgery. I'm not very familiar with the pseudohermaphrodite condition. I examined her genitalia and everything is normal. The vet tells me she could still possibly have a testicle in her abdomen. I am trying to grasp the idea of having to geld my mare?

The point of this thread is, I am wondering if there is anyone on here who has experienced either condition with their horses. If so could you explain any changes your horses had temperment-wise post surgery?
 
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#3 ·
There's nothing heavy on her. Her face, nose, jowls are all very dainty and petite. If you were to look at her without looking under her you'd know she was a mare. I studied her vulva and there's NO sign of any abnormality. I checked many pictures online and they actually creeped me out. I don't think she's a pseudohermaphrodite. In fact I hope not since that's the more expensive surgery. I'm just hoping the severity of her mood quiets down a bit.
 
#6 ·
A pseudohermaphrodite is an animal that has the gonads of one sex and the external genitalia of the of the other sex. If your mare is a pseudohermaphrodite, she looks like a mare on the outside, but she is actually a stallion. Whatever her problem is (pseudohermaphrodite, ovarian tumor, or ovarian cyst) I bet that she will be a different and much better horse after having surgery to remove her gonads (ovaries or testicles). I would be very interested in updates.
 
#8 ·
All horses have teats. If the gonads were female, it would probably have some mammary development. This horse may have male gonads, so she most likely would not develop an udder. It would depend on the individual, because a pseudohermaphrodite has crazy hormones anyway. A true hermaphrodite has complete male and female reproductive tracts. These are extremely rare in mammals. I have never read about one or seen one. I did see a pseudohermaphite dog. He/she had the external appearance of a male (but with an empty scrotum). When I opened him up for surgery, there was a complete uterus and two ovaries. I spayed him. :)

Earth worms are all true hermaphodites and quite fertile. (Not that anyone cares about that except extreme geeks........ )
 
#10 ·
Had a pug like that at my clinic. Was named Sam, had testicles and a penis and sheath, however the sheath/penis was located back from a normal males sheath location closer to the scrotum. Neutered him, then opened him up and sure enough, he/she had overies and uterous.... Was really interesting to assist in the surgery.
 
#15 ·
Had a pug like that at my clinic. Was named Sam, had testicles and a penis and sheath, however the sheath/penis was located back from a normal males sheath location closer to the scrotum. Neutered him, then opened him up and sure enough, he/she had overies and uterous.... Was really interesting to assist in the surgery.

Cool. So a true hermaphodite.:D
 
#14 ·
Where the heck are the teats on a stallion?
Why right here, of course!

http://www.drostproject.org/en_equrep/images/eq00023.jpg

I had never heard of pseudohermaphrodite equines, so I went and did an image search on Google. I guess this is the enlongated vulva others mentioned.

Hermie, the hermaphrodite horse | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Very interesting stuff! Now I know if I ever see something like that in a horse I will have a better idea of what might be going on.
 
#13 ·
As I understand it, nowadays most horses that present mixed up genitalia and hormones are tested genetically. There are several variations of XY and XX chromosomes and thay produce the mixed up horses that are called hermaphrodites and pseudohermaphrodites. I have also been told that true hermaphrodites are very rare and most mixed up horses have one of several combinations of hormones, external and internal presence and appearance of reproductive organs and of their behavior. I think these are now being classified according to their expression of the XY and XX chromosomes.
 
#21 ·
I am sorry to say I have no interesting exciting updates... Marley had her ultrasound and breeding exam this past Monday. All came back normal, but they saw what looked like a corpus luteum on her ovary. Due to her previous elevated inhibin level, we re-tested her progesterone, inhibin, and ran a HCG panel. So far we only have results from the progesterone. Her progesterone is high indicating that what they saw on ultrasound was confirmed as a corpus luteum. With such an elevated level, the chance of her being a pseudohermaphrodite is pretty much slim to none unless there is seriously something crazy going on in her body. We are still waiting on the results from the other tests but with the high progesterone, I've arranged for her to come home tomorrow. It took almost a week, and she definitely dealt with the best of the best doctors, but she has pretty much been diagnosed a "*****".

I did go visit her today which was nice. She wasn't having a bad day and it was nice to hear that she's been very behaved for everyone. I have one hot mare and now I know I can crack down on her training knowing she doesn't have a medical excuse to be nasty. The tests had to be run, I needed definite answers and wanted to handle it if she had a condition. I'll be starting her on Regumate and we'll see where it goes!
 
#24 ·
Bubba, I spoke to the doctor about that today. Pretty much if she were to have the granulosis cell tumor it would be pushing out a lot of testosterone and would be painful giving her a reason to be fresh. He told me that if they just remove her ovaries it will cause her to pruduce to much estrogen and I will encounter the same problem. I need to work with her progesterone which the regumate would do.

I'm not pursuing a surgical route if it's not necessary. I'm keeping in mind I purchased her at 4 years old, green and with attitude problems as is. I was going to get tough with her training but if she had a medical condition I would have felt bad. Now I know I can crack down. I think it's just a behavioral issue with her. I'll see what I can do, but if I'm not successful I will look into clinics and trainers. I love the brat she's stuck with me, so we'll see what works best for her, and keeps me safe!
 
#25 ·
Wow! How interesting!

My mare has a similar issue although I don't now if you'd be able to classify her as a psuedohermaphodite. I was interested in breeding her a few years ago when we found out that she had a "lump" in her vulva, below her vagina. As a grey, we were concerned it was a tumor (Many grey's end up with melanoma) so we had the vet out. The vet dug a little deeper and found that it was an underdeveloped penis. There is a "seam" that would have been a urethra, and a blind pocket that would have been a shaft had it continued to develop. Her vaginal opening is also incredibly small and her birth canal is not straight, it has an angled dip in the middle of it. As a student majoring in genetics and molecular biology, I hope to be able to karyotype her (determine her genetic makeup be it male or female). You see, this mare comes into regular heats and is otherwise a fully functioning mare. So, the theory is that she was either A) fetally began as a male (and is therefore genetically XY), but an over production of estrogen altered the development of her reproductive system after it had already begun or B)fetally began as a female (genetically XX) and had, far later into the reproductive development, overproduced androgens (including testosterone) that spurred the additional development of a partial penis. Both scenarios are seen in humans, and in a class in college I was given the stat that one in 10,000 people are a genetically different sex than they believe. You may not have any reproductive organs interior or exterior of the opposite sex, but your genetically one sex and then an overproduction of androgens or estrogen altered your physical development. (IE: If you are a woman, with a seemingly normal reproductive system, there is the slightest chance that you could be genetically male. And vice versa.) If I can figure out how, I'll take some pictures next time I'm at the barn and upload them for anyones interest.
 
#27 ·
Just a follow-up on my Marley girl =)

I am kind of disappointed that she didn't have something interesting going on with her, but I am super happy that medically she is healthy! I've decided to not try the regumate on her, nor am I playing with any other crazy supplements.....

Marley now has a trainer coming to work with her 3 days a week and it turns out she's just a girl who is to smart for her own good and knows it! I didn't want to mess up and risk the relationship we have built so I did hire someone... She's just a very smart mare who didn't know how to react when her new owner (me) wanted to break her... She's making remarkable progress!!!

But I do have to say when it comes to her behavior, when I spoke to any of the trainers I considered they were very happy I had her tested like I had... I guess I did something right!
 
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