Went to the barn this morning, and there was an incident that left me angry, a little scared and unsettled.
Lately Pippi has been, there is no other word more appropriate sorry, BITCHY!! She has been difficult to work with, pinning her ears and just being a giant grump. She has been on a SmartPak Energy supplement, and I can't help but think that this along with the move is the reason. Her field is small, and so giving her more energy, a small field, and basically no company (since the mini's are in most of the time) I think is making her nutty.
This morning after I gave her the grain, and came back in to water, she actually squeeled and then lifted her hind leg as though to kick at me. I went and got a crop, and came back in. This time I moved her to the side with the pressure of the crop, and she moved with no incident. Kind of wish she would have lifted that leg again, so I could have swatted her butt!
But I was still angry, a little bit scared (they are big animals after all) and quite irritated.
I called Daughter after I got to work, and we have decided to take Pippi off the energy supplement, and see if that helps her overall mood. If it does not, we will add MareMagic or some other supplement to stabilize her bitchy side.
I miss my sweet, gentle, kind Pippi........
Sounds like it could very well be a feed issue, or perhaps lack of exercise. Also, if she's in heat, some mares get extra nasty, and I've found that pure raspberry leaves - I use Mare Berry from Horse Tech - can be very helpful - they made a difference to Dawn and the other mare in our barn who gets them.
ReplyDeleteShe is off the Energy Supplement effective NOW!!! and so we should see pretty quickly if that was the culprit. She does spend 10-12 hours per day with access outside, and can run around if she likes. I think she has cabin fever, and too much energy.
ReplyDeleteOh, Pippi! Mares can be so moody sometimes I am really glad I have a gelding who is emotionally pretty steady. I did have one mare, she was never moody, I was lucky! I know other who have mares who have issues too. Kim's two mares can be real stinkers at time, mostly when in season. Gilly wants to be friendly and the squeal at him.
ReplyDeleteTry the raspberry leaves that Kate recommended, bet it will help! :-)
After we see if coming off the energy supplement does anything to improve her mood, we will try something a maremagic. I love SmartPak, and since we already get a joint supplement from them we will just switch the energy to MareMagic. But I still have hope that Pippi will calm down now. Tvi Tvi (it's what Norwegians say to bring luck)
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry she's been bitchy. That's the reason I try to avoid mares. I have enough mood swings of my own that dealing with it in my equine companion is just more than I can handle on most days lol. I hope taking her off of the energy supplement helps. Please keep us updated and beware the evil hooves lol.
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