Snag #1...aka HELP!!!

[HarmonyMeadows]

Ok all you breeders who know what the heck you are doing, I need some advice here.

I put my two mares, Poe the older and experienced mare and Skye the five year old maiden, in with my stallion yesterday. They had some grass in their plus I had let them into a grassier field about 3 days before that. They have grass in their pasture but we have had a very dry spring so it isn't great and neither is what they went on...perfect mini grass.   It has also been hot as hades here but it did cool down yesterday so it is in the low to mid 20s C (68-77F give or take).

Today I went out to feed them hay because the grass was pretty much gone and Skye was down and rolling. She did that about three or four times while I was feeding (about 2-3 minutes) got up and paced around from hay pile to hay pile but never ate then down and rolling and repeat. I am thinking, oh heck (no I used a different word!) she is colicking. So I caught her and brought her in the barn to evaluate her. Temp is normal, gums are normal, gut sounds normal and she pooped four times in an hour. The first was cow patty the rest soft but formed. Called the vet and they said give her Anti-Gaz ( Bloat-Eze) and walk her for an hour or so. All she wanted to do while walking was try and snag grass. But we walked. Put her back in her stall and she rolled in the clean straw then got up, ate a small bit of hay then had a nap. Been fine ever since. No rolling or anything. I have her on stall cam so I am watching her.
I am leery now about putting her back with Lightning. Has this ever happened to any of you? Could it be the heat? Or the grass? Or the stress? Or??? If the vet gives the all clear should I try her back with him or should I call it and swap her out with an older, more settled mare? Or am I just losing my mind unnecessarily? Thanks!

[Chanda]

Honestly hard to say.  Likely heat induced mild colic or even maybe ulcers if they were stressed recently.
A few years ago, I had a mare act colicy, did all the usual things for colic, they didn't help much; I finally called the vet and talked to him, it had been quite hot, so he suggested that she was probably suffering from mild heat exhaustion and to cool her off with the hose (to my recollection she didn't have an elevated temp), I hosed her down and walked her around in the shade and she came around and was fine after with no further issue.
Hopefully, someone with more experience will have suggestions about whether to continue to try to breed her or not at this time.

[Ryan]

I have a mare that religiously rolls in her hay every night when I feed her. I was worried when i first got her 4 years ago and actually asked my vet what was going on. I ended up getting the vet out at feed time so she could have a look at what I was talking about.

Being the dominant one in the group of three , she will always take first meal when I feed the three of them. By the time I have placed the hay for the other two , mare in question is rolling.

My vet wasnt sure as to why she did it but she did say that she didnt think it was a colic thing due to the way that she was rolling and the fact that she was eating as she was laying down.

If you get the vet out , please let us know what he/she says , Id be really interested to know

[dcwolcott]

You are doing just fine.  Relax!  You did everything right!!

The heat can be hard on them sometimes especially since this first day with the stallion might be a bit stressful.  If you are around and can watch, just put her in with the stallion while you are there, and see if there are any problems going on between the stallion or with the other mare.  Sometimes stallions can be a bit more amorous than a maiden mare can handle -- I'm guessing she is a maiden?  But, if all seems well, it might just be heat related.

I've hosed down many a horse here in Florida for the heat.  Even brought them in and put them under fans.  Has she ever had any reaction with high heat before?

Sounds like you did everything right!!  KUDOS!  Just keep us updated with what you see and she does, and we'll give you all the help we can!

[paintponylvr]

I, too, have had the hay rolling/rubbing like crazy going on...  usually see more of that when it's crazy hot/humid and we get a new load of round bales. 

Even w/o elevated temps, sometimes they can act colic"y" and droopy in the heat.  That's part of the reason we feed wet (though studies say that that doesn't provide enought water to really contribute to hydration, I haven't agreed as I see a difference in horse's actions/reactions - especially since we feed dehydrated/pelleted feeds).  We generally will wet them down w/ a bucket while they are eating/tied up and/or I've taken a hose out and actually gone down my "line" of eating ponies and hosed them all down while eating.  That seems to cool everyone down and they get to the point where they do enjoy it.

I'm no help on what to do next, please let us know what works and how she's doing.

[HarmonyMeadows]

We got peeing, we got winking, we got raging heats on both mares! LOL My boy is in studly heaven! I kept Skye in overnight to be sure but no signs of anything wrong so clearly just a bit of heat and heat! lol
She is back out with the vet's blessing and some chuckles at my expense...I am good with it! Having not bred much before this is pretty new to me. So I am still learning. I will leave them to do their thing. They seem to be doing ok and if I see they are getting hot and bothered in the bad way I will give them a good shower.
Thanks everyone for all the encouragement. It really helps as I make the foray into the breeding world.

PS, Skye is a maiden but with luck, only this year! 

[Rocklone]

Even the most experienced person will go into panic if they think something is wrong with a horse. Don't fret! Happy breeding

[dcwolcott]

Well said!  I don't care how much or little you have bred, each one is a bit stressful because you want everything to be just perfect!

You're doing great!  Have fun....we know they are!

[HarmonyMeadows]

Thanks! They sure are. Well, Lightning is a bit peeved because I ripped out some mane yesterday. lol I am testing him to make sure he is cremello and check his agouti status as well as LWO. More for my curiosity. With the number of his foals on the ground and the fact his breeding will be limited from now on it isn't that big a deal but I want to know so...I make hubby grumble. LOL

Everyone is doing great today. It is a hot one again so I will be keeping an eye on them. I will probably set a sprinkler up later to give them some relief. Stay cool everyone, have a great weekend!!

[Chanda]

Thanks! They sure are. Well, Lightning is a bit peeved because I ripped out some mane yesterday. lol I am testing him to make sure he is cremello and check his agouti status as well as LWO. More for my curiosity. With the number of his foals on the ground and the fact his breeding will be limited from now on it isn't that big a deal but I want to know so...I make hubby grumble. LOL

Everyone is doing great today. It is a hot one again so I will be keeping an eye on them. I will probably set a sprinkler up later to give them some relief. Stay cool everyone, have a great weekend!!

Well, you'd have to check Extension and Agouti to know cremello or other; cremellos can carry agouti, it just doesn't show on red based horses (and even less on double creams).   I'm surprised he wasn't previously tested for LWO, but it is better to be safe than sorry with that one.    [What color are his parents?  That can sometimes give you a clue as to which double cream is most likely.   although, registries pretty much just use cremello to indicate any double cream.   I'm pretty sure my "cremello" mare is smokey cream.]

[HarmonyMeadows]

I am testing Extension, Agouti and LWO. I figured why not. It isn't that bad and then I have a better idea of what to expect. He is registered AMHA and AMHR so I don't really trust the colors on his or his parent's papers. His sire is listed palomino, which I have seen pics and he is but I have no pics of his dam and she is registered as black. So likely smoky black as he is definitely double dilute. His dam is by a bay pinto sire I believe so never hurts to be sure. But at 19 years old with a laundry list of foals and not one pinto marked from a solid mare, I am pretty comfortable that he isn't. And that is exactly when he will test positive. 

[dcwolcott]

Yes, sometimes you really have to go back generations to see where they made the mistake.  It can be quite easy to figure out, but people register babies by "looking at them" which isn't always the best way to do it, especially I they haven't blown their foal coats yet.  Many a horse is registered with the wrong color -- which always amazed me that the registries would accept a color that is an impossibility from the parents.  Makes me crazy, since I do so much pedigree work, and I try to correct it on my prepared pedigrees for people if I see something that is really impossible!

Good choice in testing, by the way!  He may have many foals on the ground that you know about, but unscrupulous breeders don't always let you know if they had a maximum white that died.  They may have just not bred him to mares they thought might be positive.  I think it's great you're finding out.