mare that was hurting herself when she was in heat. However this second spaying did not help the problem. “By the time we had her spayed, she was kicking the stall all the time, not just when she was in heat. Even when we gave her more space, she kicked,” she describes. “It started out that the kicking helped her discomfort or took attention off what was bothering her. But then it became a habit and something she got satisfaction from. We had her ultrasounded for tumors or cysts. We tried muscle relaxants, but the behavior pattern had started. Perhaps if we could have tried earlier, we might have had a different result, but I don’t know.” As in Karen’s case, Dr. Sertich warns that you may end up with a mare that has undesirable behavior every day, not just when she cycles. “Spaying prevents them from cycling in and out of heat, but the social environment will still be important. Some mares show sexual behavior more than others. They won’t have the ups and down, the mood swings cause by hormone changes, but if some spayed mares are around stallions, they may show sexually receptive behavior.” If you spay, the uterus will still secret hormones.
“A horse may still be somewhat troublesome because, unlike the mare next to her, she is more sensitive to those hormones,” says Yarbrough. “With spaying you probably make 70 to 80 percent of those mares almost like a gelding.” Spaying will eliminate ovarian pain in all cases
because the source of the pain, the ovary, has been removed. But one must thoroughly examine the genital tract at different stages of the cycle and try to correlate the undesirable behavior with the stage of the cycle, says Dr. Sertich. A rare situation is the horse that develops an
infatuation with a person or a horse. “We’ve had mares that are essentially in love with her owner and when she’s in heat she is winking and urinating and tries to kick the owner,” explains Dr. Yarbrough. “After we spay, everyone in the family will say, the horse is so much better. The poor person who is the center of attention will say the horse is no better or that the trail rides are only better if a certain horse is not with them. Maybe hormones have caused it to imprint that person or horse, but even after surgery you have the same problem.” Breeders may spay a quiet mare to prepare her
to be a stimulus mount mare. These mares cannot cycle, but she will be sexually tolerant of a stallion every day for the rest of her life.
Will it Work for Your Mare? The owner has many important considerations before proceeding.
Though it seems a bit obvious, remember that there is no turning back. The mare will never be pregnant.
No surgery is foolproof. The mare can get an infection, peritonitis or bleed to death if the vessels are not properly sealed off. Be certain that your surgeon has considerable experience.
It certainly will not be a solution to poor training.
Dr. Sertich points out the importance of proving
that estrus is the real problem. “Get a calendar to record behavior. The rider should evaluate the mare’s behavior every day and record if it was a good day or a bad day and what made it good or bad. I’ve had people say she’s bad in heat. I ask how you know she is in heat. They say because she’s bad. They’ll name things she does that have nothing to do with being in heat or sexually receptive.” Ideally a vet should ultrasound once or twice
Karen Pavicic, rider and trainer from Canada, riding Don Daiquiri, co-owned with Jayne Essig. Karen has experience spaying two mares. Photo by Totem Photographics
or week for four to six weeks to determine when the mare is ovulating. If that is not an option, the vet can draw blood samples weekly to determine progesterone concentrations. Then the rider can coordinate the behavior finding with the ovarian status and determine at what stage of the mare’s estrus cycle she is having behavior problems. “One should note how the mare behaves in
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