REALLY strong heat going on now - I've got 2 hoochie mares

[JenRose]

My 2 girls are out of control. :eek:

I am a semi new mare owner...had geldings for 20ish years. I bought a weanling filly 2 years ago and was lucky enough to bring home a COTH giveaway TB mare early this summer.

My baby girl is 2 1/2 and the old girl is 17. They are both having their strongest heat cycle (that I have seen) right now. Would this be the last time they cycle til spring? Are fall/winter heats the worst? Both of them are winking, squirting, calling, rubbing on the round bale and basically acting like lovesick teenage girls! The older mare has decided that my 25 year old gelding is the man for her and he is going nuts. My entire farm is in chaos.

For the first time since having both girls here, I understand why people use Regumate.

I am hoping they are trying to go out with a bang and things will be back to normal til spring.

[twhs]

I'll be interested in any replies because my 7 year old mare was acting the same way 2 weeks ago. Like you, I've always had geldings but have had this mare for 4 years and this is the first time she's behaved like this. I've taken her out of the pasture she shared with 2 geldings and her 4 year old daughter and have her alone in the pasture across the road from the others and she's content. She wasn't in heat then and isn't now.

The trail ride I had with my girlfriend's gelding (who have ridden with many time with no incidents) was the worst with at least a dozen squirtings during an hour's ride. I've ridden her since with my filly and with another gelding and she was fine.

The only difference I can think of is that I had just finished taking her off all soy products and now have her on alfalfa pellets and a multi-vitamin plus her grass hay & pasture.

[Merle]

I can never tell when my girl is in heat but she has been peeing and winking for three weeks now. No joke, three straight weeks. This isn't normal, is it? I'm a semi-new mare owner, too.

[Arab/WBGirl]

Oh my little Arab mare is a little floozy when she is in heat. Good LORD!! She actually went through a fence just to get close to the little 2 yr old stallion in the barn. Silly mare!!. And all her heat cycles are just unbelievably strong. She can be tied, and if she senses you walking up behind her she spreads, squats and pees. UHHHGGG!! But, on the bright side, this is all a good thing since I am breeding her in 2010. But, with my luck being like it is, she will never go into heat again. I very, very much prefer geldings. And if there is a God, and he is merciful, if my little floozy gets pregnant, she will deliver a nice bay colt. Who will become a nice bay gelding as soon as cool weather sets in good after he is born. Best of luck to you with your girls.
Dawn

[Rubyfree]

Add me to the list of waiting for someone to pop up with a cause here- the mare I ride has been PSYCHO for the last two weeks. I've been riding her for two years and I have never seen her like this. Sign of the impending apocalypse, maybe? One of those little signs that Nostradamus put way down the list so it doesn't get as much publicity.

[twhs]

Well, ok, Rubyfree, that reason sounds as good as any.

[Guilherme]

The "cause" is that some mares are brazen hussies and some are very discrete. I've got, and have had, both kinds in both Walkers and Marchadors. I seen both kinds in QHs, TBs, ASBs, Arabians, and grades.

Since there is no discrete, human-attributable cause (except selection of the mare in the first instance) the options for "control" are limited.

You're seeing the reason why some horse cultures (Mongols, European cavalry establishments, Iberians, etc.) preferred geldings or stallions (even though studs carry their own problems). On the other hand the Arabs favored mares. Go figure.

Maybe since they are new to your environment they'll settle down next season, but maybe they won't. If they don't then talk with your vet, trainer, etc. about alternatives.

G.

[twhs]

Except that I've had this mare for 4 years in the same location with the same horses (2 geldings - was 3 geldings) of various ages. She's competed in numerous shows and been on group trail rides and at small clinics with no incident. She's also been ridden with the "new boyfriend" with no incident until now. She's currently in a pasture that's across a gravel road from 2 geldings & filly (her daughter) and adjacent to a pasture with one senior gelding pony. At night she's in the barn across from 2 geldings one of which is directly across the aisle.

After the Thanksgiving holiday, my girlfriend who has the "boyfriend" and I will ride again so we'll see if this hussy behavior continues -- hopefully not. Although, if it's only with this one gelding then I can deal with that.

[LegalEagle]

My 2 girls are out of control. :eek:

Are fall/winter heats the worst?


I have heard that this is true, and also the first spring heat can be bad as well. Just second hand info on my part- have never had a mare so take it with a grain of salt. :)

[hollyhorse2000]

Haven't had a bad fall heat for my 17-year-old mare, but the spring is always a doozie . . . She's just fine undersaddle when in heat, but will squat for the boys when she can... The boys always love her -- whether she's in heat or not. She is a lovely mare to my eyes; must also be in the horsie world.

[dbadaro]

el nino maybe????

[Auburn]

My mare just came out of the worst heat cycle that she has had all year. She has a very thick tail. It, along with her hind legs, was coated with a smelly goo for almost a week. :eek: I had to sponge her down everyday, before I tacked up. She was definitely more sensitive when going to the left, as well. I believe that her left ovary must have been painful. Thank Goodness, she did not have a cycle like that one during the show season. :) I am glad to hear that other mare owners have been having the same experience. Since she is affected by weather changes, I guess that it could be El Nino.

[SmartAlex]

This month my already mental chestnut mare earned the new nickname "Hot Pants". And... I listened to her bang her hip on the wall for a good 20 minutes straight. It's entirely out of control. I'd hate to see what it would be like withoutt he Mare Magic.

[bhebert19]

Would like to confirm also the mare I have owned for the last 6 years that has never had a bad heat cycle, came into a horrible one also 2 weeks ago.... Like lost her mind horrible... This is interesting that a lot of other people are having the same problem... I would not think anything of it if it is common or had happened before... I mean I was thinking ulcers she was so nutty and strange acting.. wouldn't eat her grain, in love with EVERY one, biting her sides, etc. It was really crazy I am happy to report it lasted 3 days and I have my normal sane wonderful horse back!! Good luck and if you figure what is causing it let us know!!

[slp2]

Happened at our barn too. About 2 weeks ago all the mare owners were scratching their heads. Mares that normally have *some* class during their heat cycles were also behaving like hoochie mares. We were all wondering if it was because it was the "final hurrah" heat of the year or what. Anyway, they are all settled down now (well, except my 15 y.o. mare still felt compelled to pee for a gelding while I was grooming her tonight) Maybe something odd *is* going on. I expect to see the Virgin Mary's image in a haybale at our barn any day now . . . ;)

[ponygrl25]

We recently moved and the girls (all FOUR) did nothing while boarded at a farm with 2 studs within smelling distance. When I brought them home, where 2 older broodmares already reside,(landlady's) they ALL come into heat:mad:!! 2 weeks later they finally go out. Just in time for me to buy a 3 year old gelding. They all came in again!! Poor thing, he doesn't understand why all these mares are in love with him:confused:. He is a good boy because he settled right in even with the mare chaos. He just ignores them when he can and walks away when they flirt with him. They all think he is sexy!!

[threedogpack]

count me in on the hoochie mare list.

Good grief....my mare has regular heat cycles and I can only tell maybe one or two days, sometimes but most of the time I can't tell she's in heat at all. This last cycle.....she was a screaming, peeing, squating, lovelorn mess. She didn't care if it was a mare or a gelding, if it showed any interest ..... she was their love slave. In the 3 years that I've owned her she has never once peed in the aisle and she did it 3x in one day with this heat cycle.

it's awful.

and it's been over a week now.

better end soon.

[BBowen]

My 4 y.o. is right there with you on the hoochie momma behavior. Definitely this fall has been the worst since she started going into heat as a youngster. She is not very marish except for being a hussy; temperament is fine.

[Beethoven]

Got a hoochie mare here as well!! I was leading her out yesterday as I do everyday with the mare she goes out with. Well she kept stopping to pee at the geldings as we passed them! Glad I am not the only one. My mare her pasture mate is not being a hussy...well at least not yet! :lol: