A little bit of background: My mare has always been grumpy on the ground, ear pinning and the like. Her attitude is great in the saddle, though, and she's a very calm horse wether we're out on the roads or riding in the ring. Last March I realized that I had never, ever noticed her go into heat in the 4 years I had had her. I know some mare owners out there are banging their heads against the wall asking why anyone would want their mare to go into heat, but if a mare isn't going into heat year after year, it means something is wrong. After some information gathering, I started her on Chaste Tree berry powder and had good results. She went into heat about 2 months later and continued to cycle regularly, and her attitude improved- mainly less ear pinning and nasty faces when you groom her or take her out of her paddock.
Around the beginning of October, I noticed there was more ear pinning and general grumpiness on the ground than before, and this was the first time she hadn't gone into heat when she was off of chaste berry for 5 days (I have her on 17 days on/5 days off schedule). She's still better than before starting on chaste berry, and her attitude under saddle hasn't changed.
I'm thinking the behavior change is due to the hormonal change that comes with fall, especially since that was around the same time her coat started to change. Before starting the chaste berry, I never really noticed a change in attitude during the seasons. I upped her dose of chaste berry powder 2 weeks ago, but there hasn't been a noticeable change so far so I'm trying to find concrete info about hormonal changes in mares according to the season to see if I can adjust the dose in a more educated way.
My question is: has anyone had any experience with mares getting grumpy during the fall transition? And if so, was it short term (4-6 weeks) or did it last all throughout the time they weren't cycling? Did you do anything about it, and did it work?
*some other general info: She's a 15 h cutting bred 12 y.o. QH on pasture board (so she's not being kept under lights) in an individual paddock in the Orlando area. She's currently on 1 tsp of chaste tree berry powder (during the spring/summer, it was a rounded 1/2 tsp), 1.5 tablespoon of dried raspberry leaves, and 2 oz of flax seed per day. She gets 1/2 scoop of Purina Strategy Professional Formula and 4-6 flakes of costal hay per day, as well as the plants in her paddock. Two vets have said they don't think she has anything physically wrong (such as an ovarian cyst). She's not flighty, tightly wound, or stressed out. She has a dominate personality, usually becoming lead mare in a herd, but she isn't a bully.
Around the beginning of October, I noticed there was more ear pinning and general grumpiness on the ground than before, and this was the first time she hadn't gone into heat when she was off of chaste berry for 5 days (I have her on 17 days on/5 days off schedule). She's still better than before starting on chaste berry, and her attitude under saddle hasn't changed.
I'm thinking the behavior change is due to the hormonal change that comes with fall, especially since that was around the same time her coat started to change. Before starting the chaste berry, I never really noticed a change in attitude during the seasons. I upped her dose of chaste berry powder 2 weeks ago, but there hasn't been a noticeable change so far so I'm trying to find concrete info about hormonal changes in mares according to the season to see if I can adjust the dose in a more educated way.
My question is: has anyone had any experience with mares getting grumpy during the fall transition? And if so, was it short term (4-6 weeks) or did it last all throughout the time they weren't cycling? Did you do anything about it, and did it work?
*some other general info: She's a 15 h cutting bred 12 y.o. QH on pasture board (so she's not being kept under lights) in an individual paddock in the Orlando area. She's currently on 1 tsp of chaste tree berry powder (during the spring/summer, it was a rounded 1/2 tsp), 1.5 tablespoon of dried raspberry leaves, and 2 oz of flax seed per day. She gets 1/2 scoop of Purina Strategy Professional Formula and 4-6 flakes of costal hay per day, as well as the plants in her paddock. Two vets have said they don't think she has anything physically wrong (such as an ovarian cyst). She's not flighty, tightly wound, or stressed out. She has a dominate personality, usually becoming lead mare in a herd, but she isn't a bully.