How is everybody?

[tinkeralison]

How is Eve coming along Pam, I keep getting things on fb about your trainers clinics, they look good but just a little too far for us to come to.

Fashion is now fully healed up 😁

[harveydales]

Good to hear Fashion is fully healed. That was quite a scare she gave you!

I have had to put Eve on the back seat for a while because my Dad, who lives in Switzerland had a fall and broke his hip in April. He appeared to be making a good recovery but then internal bleeding started and he passed away 10 days ago so things are hectic here. Me and Andy managed to go over and spend some quality time with him before he died which was lovely. The hospital over there was just a small one in a small town but the care he received was fantastic, far better than anything over here. The nurses all had plenty of time for him and nothing was too much trouble. I am not sad as such, he had a long and full life and was physically fit almost to the end but his dementia was getting worse. The time was right. We are holding a celebration of his life later this month in Munich, where he was born. It will be in his favourite beer keller.

Yes, Lou is really good and I have learned a tremendous amount from her over the last year. At the moment we are focusing on travelling Eve as we both lost confidence after the "lorry incident" last year when Eve came down in the trailer. So far it is going very well so fingers crossed.

How about everyone else?

[tinkeralison]

Oh, so sorry to hear about your dad 😓 but I fully understand how you feel, much better than the long slow dementia decline. Pleased that he had good care too. Same happened with my mum, once she'd had the operation she never got out of bed again 😐

I don't think eve will mind the break, give her time to process everything she's learnt ☺

Everyone else is ok, sherry was due to foal last weekend, but nothing yet. My neighbour says he used to have a mare that went a full year. I really hope she's not just fat 🤔
Have started riding Alice to try and get her weight down slightly 😀 not many miles so far but it's a start x

[harveydales]

Fingers crossed Sherry foals soon then! And well done doing a bit with Alice. I am really worried about the grass suddenly coming through and how fat my 3 are. Even old Frankie, who is 27 now and usually looks painfully thin after the winter, is looking well covered.

I had the horse dentist yesterday and Eve was an absolute angel. The dentist was very impressed with her lovely nature and wouldn't beleive there is another side to her. This morning I got her in and Lou came over to give me some more loading and travelling help but Eve would have none of it. She is in season and was not going to leave Frankie under any circumstances. I think he has been mounting her from the marks on her rear! She can get to the point of being dangerous when she is in that frame of mind and you don't listen to her. On those days, I don't even attempt to do anything with her. I have never seen her as bad as she was today though! She is now back out in the field glued to Frankie's side. Life is so much simpler with geldings....... Are your mares ever like this?

[tinkeralison]

I don't think we've had any that are so extreme when in season, yes they can be grumpy and unwilling but not explosive. Seem to remember buying supplements for it but can't remember who for 🤔

We have lots of grass cos they are not on it! All still in the yard, or the winter turnout (the part with the mud mats) which goes out onto about 1.5 acres which is bald, but they still nibble all day.

Waiting for the foal before we swap them all round............😂🤣🤣🤣😂🤣

[tinkeralison]

I don't think we've had any that are so extreme when in season, yes they can be grumpy and unwilling but not explosive. Seem to remember buying supplements for it but can't remember who for 🤔

We have lots of grass cos they are not on it! All still in the yard, or the winter turnout (the part with the mud mats) which goes out onto about 1.5 acres which is bald, but they still nibble all day.

Waiting for the foal before we swap them all round............😂🤣🤣🤣😂🤣

[Debbie]

Pleased to hear Fashion is completely mended, and *fingers crossed for Sherry's safe foaling out!

So sorry to hear about your Dad Pam Although it sounds as though he had excellent care. I agree about not losing him to the slow decline of dementia. I'm glad you'll be able to celebrate his life in a place that brought him so much joy. I was always thrilled to hear about his many adventures and full life

We're going through a tough patch at the moment. Last year Dundee and Reigny decided they wanted to get back to full on riding careers, so I ended up trading them for a Dales filly. She was weaned and came in November, but that was a disaster! Blossom was convinced she was the biggest dog she'd ever seen

We ended up putting the filly for sale and in the course of her being purchased, another Dales mare I'd admired and thought would be a good match for Blossom came up for sale earlier this year. We traded yet again and Anna Bea came home mid April. For the first few days it seemed a good match, but then the new wore off, and Anna Bea missed the pony she'd been around all last year. It's gone from bad to worse between the two.

I thought I'd a really good home for Anna Bea, but when the woman came to visit her on Monday, Anna Bea was in full on raging season I thought it was just separation anxiety as we were in the paddock with just her, and she's always been around other ponies. I didn't think it was a good idea, but she wasn't calming down, so I brought out Blossom to put in the adjoining paddock. Cue the squatting, squealing, full blown in season. She hadn't acted this way previously, but she's almost 6 years now and we have insane amounts of grass. She mistook Blossom for a stallion and things went really pearshaped. Blossom flew into a rage at the mistake and honestly, I'm surprised my fencing held. I hurried and got Blossom back inside. Sadly it killed the sale, as the gal decided she didn't want to deal with hormones. So she's now looking for a gelding instead.

I'm still trying to rehome Anna Bea. Blossom is miserable and to make matters worse, in the very short time Anna Bea has been here, Blossom began competitive eating. She was eating very little previously and had come through winter well, but having to be outside in the paddock to babysit AB meant Blossom blew up weight wise and I panicked she was borderline founder. Even off the grass, she's easily overconsuming her hay and must've gained a solid 75lbs in 2 weeks' time.

On top of it all, Mister celebrated his 14th birthday on April 15. Ever since his 13th birthday, he's slowly gone downhill, losing weight. Still we've kept him happy and healthy and quality of life has always been my priority. I reckoned he'd let me know when. Yesterday was a hard day. We've found a very nice wet food for him that delights him, but he's so frail now it's gutting to see. I keep hoping for a rally, but I know our days together are short.

[harveydales]

Alison - I was hopinbg you would say you have expeperienced this sort of extreme mare behaviour and then that would give me hope! Today she is a bit better and I've just seen she has left Frankie's side and is back paired with Lily.

Debbie, I'm sorry to read what a rough time you've been having. Sad about old Mister. He has had a lovely life with you and I've enjoyed hearing all about his antics and adventures over the years. It is hard to see them old and frail but all you can do is keep him happy while you can. At leasdt he is still enjoying his wet food.

I am very interested to read about Blossom and AB's situation with hormones raging! I know exactly how distressing it is, having gone through similar over the last few days. Last week Lily came into season and she was begging for Eve to mount her rather than Frankie! Lily isn't a demonstrative pony and it wasn't a problem. But yesterday with Eve was a different story. Eve was really aggressive towards Lily. I've noticed for the last few days when she comes into her stable, she goes over to the mirror and squeals and bucks at her reflection. It took me a while to realise it was because she was coming into season. Yesterday when she was so anxious and in such a state with herself that she could have hurt one of us if we hadn't been careful, she went over to the mirror and started licking her reflection. No idea what that was about.

Eve will be 6 now so, as you say, at the prime age for breeding etc. I've been reading up on this as it is new to me and it seems some mares can get aggressive like this when they first come into oestrous around May and it can last until early summer when they usually settle into normal 3 weekly seasons. Then they can have another bad time in the autumn as the hormones change again. Last October Eve had a period like this when Ali was talking care of her. Also last May Eve had a period when she was a real handful but we put i9t down to the fact that we had just lost Dolly and Harvey so there were big changes in the herd. After that I never noticed when she was in season at all. Then the very first year I had her, she was horrendously hormonal all May and June which we put down to her change of environment. But it is now looking like this is her normal pattern

[Debbie]

I've no experience breeding, but for us our worst seasons are typically in March. Lush grass, possibly the most grass AB has ever been on, was what brought on the season so badly for her, and I'm convinced it has to do with her being 6 this year. Last year she was only 5, so the hormones were probably not as present, the lush grass certainly was. We've had a very cold, very slow to arrive Spring on the coast, so that will probably be the worst display AB will do.

Blossom will be 14 at the end of this month, and she's never displayed this much. Not even with Galahad and Dundee in adjoining or when Dundee was in her paddock, Blossom has never ever done the squat, squeal thing to the boys. The most she's displayed is swollen teats and a tenderness if I need to clean in between, other times it's no big deal and we do whatever, whenever. She was not a fan of AB to begin with. Once mistaken as a stallion, Blossom was going to do some damage for the insult!

I looked into something to put AB on an even keel, but Regumate is pretty much the only thing and it takes a prescription. I think Helen has used chasteberry when she was trying to get a mare onto more even cycles. I've read articles where it is supposed to help keep the mares more cheerful. If I were in your shoes, the behaviors you are describing are a bit more extreme than I'd seen and I probably would start with a vet check, and some sort of plan to put in place especially for the Spring and Fall seasons.

[mickey]

All good here with us. Becky has come through winter far better than last year which is a huge relief. At 26 she is a worry. I need to do some serious field sorting though as she is being picked on a bit. Too many ponies. Rory will move to our rented field and join Jerry as Jerry could do with a few manners as he's pushing Elsie around. Rory is retired now so doesn't need to be at the yard, hopefully he'll be happier too being top dog again. Yeti can join Duke. Bex can have Elsie as Els could possibly do with an older mare for company. Pait would flatten her.
Sorry to hear about your dad Pam, though it does sound a blessing in disguise to go before the dementia overruled

[Fi]

And there was me thinking I’d like a Dales mare! Think I’d be tempted to ask the vet about it too, with such a strong reaction.

What a shame the sale fell through Debbie, but I suppose better that than her taking AB and then struggling. And so sad to read about Mister, what a character he is. I remember the epic of his wound and what a survivor he was. Sending him love.

I’m sorry to read about your Dad, Pam, but can completely understand. My own Dad had dementia and he passed away at the end of January quite suddenly after a short illness. He was still at home and just slipped away so pretty peaceful. While a shock, I was very relieved that he didn’t have to go through the confusion of going into a care home. Take things steady.

In other news, I’ve finally managed to move. From a house with a tiny garden in suburbia to a rural bungalow with 3.5 acres, which means I can finally have ponies at home. When the grass grows, that is! Although having lost Old Sam, Little Sam needs a companion (or two).

[tinkeralison]

Debbie, I hope you can get AB settled, can you try to split your field so they are alongside each other, and just leave them to it? They may always have a love / hate relationship but at least it's company for Blossom 
Hope Mister has a quiet time and stays comfortable in his old age

Pam only other thing would be to split the girls from the boys, but if that makes your daily life harder then dont. 

Emily, I known the feeling, we need to have a shift round too

Sorry to hear about your dad Fi , my dad had been poorly a while, but it's still a shock.

   Winner of the most exciting news goes to Fi, congrats on the new house, and good luck pony hunting 😁 gotta fill those paddocks

[harveydales]

Well, after a couple of days being tetchy and Friday being plain phsyco, we had the lovely, sweet affectionate and playful Eve back on Sunday! I am keeping a diary of her behaviour and will seek veterinary advice if it happens again. I don't fancy Regumate but it may be the best solution.

Fi - how wonderful to have your own land now adn be able to keep you ponies at home.You must be over the moon! My advice is stick with gledings - although perhaps that is unfair. Lily (Dartmoor) has never been a problem and I've owned 5 non-Dales mares over the years and never had problems. However, Dolly could be very mareish (thought not as bad as Eve but then she was a lot older when we got her) so perhaps a Dales thing!

Alison - when I first got Eve I kept them all separate but Harvey broke into Eve's paddock the first night and mounted her. Then I separated them again and Eve spent the next few months squealing and breaking fences when she was in season (which was nearly all the time that first year) to get to Frankie. Once I let her live with Frankie and Lily, things calmed down. Last year I do remember she was very anxious and unpredictable in the early spring but we put that down to losing Harvey and Dolly ie all the herd dynamic changes. The rest of the year she was fine and I never knew when she was in season or not. When Frankie dies I will stick with mares only though. Frankie is 27, still herd leader and doing very well for his age so hopefully he will be with me for some time yet.

[Debbie]

I remember Lady Bear, the fox trotter having some strong behaviors with her first seasons of the year. She was quite the handful, so I don't think it's just a Dales mare thing. It seems to differ between the mares, and is most likely down to how raging their hormones are.

AB calmed down the very next day, it was just the rotten luck of timing, and I did keep telling the buyer, what she was displaying was her worst behavior, and I'd never seen her act that drastic. I still think it was due to the insane amounts of grass.

As for keeping her side by side with Bloss, I've tried similar with the riding ponies for years prior and it does Blossom no good. She remains stressy and angry around AB, particularly when I have to handle AB. That won't go away with time, either. Basically Bloss is my priority, and I'm sure we'll find a good home for AB. For now she's relaxing a bit and filling out. She'd gotten rather lean while being in training for ridden work. So Bloss needs dry lot/hay and AB could use some grass to fatten her up... yet another reason for Blossom to despise AB

On Monday we had to say goodbye to Mister it was gutting but both kidneys and liver were shutting down.

[harveydales]

Debbie - yes, I think Eve is just one of those mares who has raging first seasons plus we have also just had a massive spurt of grass. I think it was a combination of a number of things.

So sorry to hear about poor Mister. He was such a big character and I have many memories of his antics over the years. You will miss him but he had a wonderful life with you and Eldon.

Re AB, I guess it was meant to be. There will be the perfect home for her out there somewhere. I do understand about Blossom. It would be wrong to try and change things for her now.