Help! have question for vets out there. I have a mare I've had
for 10 years now and is displaying a behavior/s I've never seen her do
before. I think she may have a mineral and or hormonal balance and
need some advice.
This mare is in pasture (dry lot though) and I free feed all my
horses. She is the alpha so always has her choice of everything and well
fed.
I've notice in the last week especially that she has been picking thru
manure and she's never ever done that. To compound this behavior she has
also been in season. I watched her the other day smelling a manure pile
and then "squirthing) as a mare does in heat around a stallion or gelding. I
watched her do this several times just confounded by what I saw her do.
But last night was the clencher. I took her for a walk down the
street and let her nibble on some grass at a neighbors (we live in a horsey
neighborhood). She willingly ate the grass but then decided to eat the
dryer grass and actually tried to pull out the plant and eat the root!
Then she was nosing around the ground looking for I don't know what and this was
her preference over the nicer green grass.
So, something is not right here. She has never done this before and loves
green grass. The only thing different in the last month as far as I can
think is we had some hay that was a timothy, fescue, grass mix, and another
grassy hay with some Dallas grass in it that I don't know much about.
Also she I give her LMF ( a little bit with some source HF). Her
behavior otherwise is normal. Eats, drinks, peeing. pooping etc. all looks
okay. I am perplexed totally. Her energy level is also just
fine. Her coat is shiny and she looks healthy. I just wormed her 2
weeks ago with Ivermectin and she just had a rabies shot. She is however a
little more aggressive as the alpha mare, but there are some changes going on
with the mares below her so I figured she's just trying to keep the peace in the
herd.
So, I need some advice on what to do. Would a blood panel show any
mineral/vitamin deficiencies? Hormonal imbalance?
This is really concerning to me. Any advice on what to do for her is
extremely appreciated. She is my first horse, my baby! (even at
16'1).
