broodmare problem

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Gigi Gofaster
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broodmare problem

Post by Gigi Gofaster »

Angel and Harley went through a very gradual weaning process in December and January, and all seemed well. Angel even went to Emerald Downs for her soundness check and everybody behaved just great. Harley is just fine, but in the last month Angel has stopped eating hay.

Here's what we know:

She had her teeth done as soon as we notice her appetite was failing. Yes they needed done, but there hasn't been much improvement since then.
We have put her on a course of omeprazole )about a week now). No improvement yet.
She is close to Harley but not in the same paddock.
Another mare just foaled and Angel lost her mind.
She is eating grain and timothy pellets so we are keeping weight on but if it's a gastric issue that's only going to make it worse.
She has RER although we have not seen any signs of tying up since she stopped training, but we are putting her back on vitamin E just in case

I have different vets I use for different things. We have a diagnostician who is a repro specialist, but he won't come out tot he farm so we'd have to move her for him to see her. We have a gastric specialist who could do a scope. We have a third vet who does repro as well. Not sure who to call.

Has anyone else seen this behavior in broodmares? My thoughts are:

get the scope done (she is insured) and try both gastric and hindgut treatments
Haul her over for bloodwork with the diagnostic specialist
Move her to another farm away from Harley and the new foal to see if she's internalizing stress and it settles down.

But does anyone out there with breeding experience know what else this might be?
"I was afraid of Gigi, it was true." Oh yes. Be afraid. Be very afraid...
"Gigi, you continue to impress the heck out of me." - The Steward. Okay, it was 10 RL years ago, but I'm keeping it.
LA Pepper
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Re: broodmare problem

Post by LA Pepper »

I simp.ly gave probiotics (probios treats) and that got my mare eating well.
You already are giving omeprazole so I dont think the scoping will help other than confirm the need. Hind gut supplements are expensive but cant hurt.
Its transitional time for mares and her hormones could be going crazy especially with her reaction to the new foal so a regumate course may help. It also had calming influences.
Keep giveing the hay pellets since she needs the fiber. Also she may be longing for green grass especially if she's being kept off pasture and the grass is starting to grow.
Just my 3 cents.
Good luck.
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Gigi Gofaster
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Re: broodmare problem

Post by Gigi Gofaster »

Pepper Carol wrote: 4 years ago I simp.ly gave probiotics (probios treats) and that got my mare eating well.
You already are giving omeprazole so I dont think the scoping will help other than confirm the need. Hind gut supplements are expensive but cant hurt.
Its transitional time for mares and her hormones could be going crazy especially with her reaction to the new foal so a regumate course may help. It also had calming influences.
Keep giveing the hay pellets since she needs the fiber. Also she may be longing for green grass especially if she's being kept off pasture and the grass is starting to grow.
Just my 3 cents.
Good luck.
she is out on grass for a few hours every other day - that's about all our pastures can take at the moment, and once she's done frolicking her ass off she does graze.
*eye roll*

probiotics makes sense and is an easy thing to try!
"I was afraid of Gigi, it was true." Oh yes. Be afraid. Be very afraid...
"Gigi, you continue to impress the heck out of me." - The Steward. Okay, it was 10 RL years ago, but I'm keeping it.
Willowcreek Farms
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Re: broodmare problem

Post by Willowcreek Farms »

I had trouble with a stallion once who flew from Australia back to the UK, I took care of him for his 6 weeks of isolation. He was a poor shipper and went off his feed and would loose weight. He would eat his COB, that's like junk food to a horse. (Who doesn't like junk food). But I couldn't for the life of me get him to eat his hay. I tried soaking it (Dusty/mildew?), I tried different types of hay from different suppliers. Etc, etc. The only thing that worked in the end is sprinkling handfuls of alfalfa chaff over his grass hay. He ate better in the end. In his case it was probably the stress of shipping, isolation and even lack of turn-out. (There was no stallion safe paddock in this stabling area, no Dutch mill) I had to hand walk him two times a day for 30-45 minutes. Often with him on his hind legs.

Not sure if this helps any, there might be some useful bit of info in it. Sometimes it's just a simple, obvious thing.

Cheers, Carsten
“ A lot of it is out of your hands and the more you do this the more you realize this."
-Chad Brown
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