Sudden behavioural change & frequent urination! HELP!

[Bubblepony]

I am very concerned about my 2 year old filly and would really appreciate any advice. After nearly a year of owning her she has gone from being very jolly and interested in her people to moody, uninterested and even somewhat aggressive in the stable almost overnight. When I mucked her out she previously always came over for a wiffle and cuddle and now she stands at the back of the stable and looks at you. She'd ALWAYS come up to you at the door and say a very delighted hello, now she just stands around and no amount of prompting or clucking will see her move from her spot. This is so odd for her. She has pulled terrible faces and swung her arse at me a couple of times when I rug her and go to straighten her rug so now she is always handled in a headcollar. This is a dramatic change in temperament for her and has come on in the last week so I'm deeply concerned and desperate for advice seeing as the vet wasn't very helpful.

Its all come on seemingly far too suddenly to purely be a product of the 'terrible twos' and I'm starting to get really concerned. :( The vet didn't find anything obviously wrong with her but only checked her limbs/back for soreness and soundness.

I wondered if she could be coming into season, could this cause such a DRAMATIC change in temperament? Could she have a hormonal imbalance? The other worry I am having is her frequent urination. Sometimes I catch her wee'ing 3 or 4 times in an hour and over the past few days I have kept a very close eye on her and have noticed her squat to wee a couple of times and either nothing comes out or just a few dribbles. She has always drunk alot of water and I'm wondering if she could have always had weird issues. We did every blood test under the sun to see if there were issues due to the excessive drinking and everything came up clear, fine and dandy. Could her coming into season cause the fruitless attempts to wee and frequent urination? HELP!!!! :confused: :(

[NoviceNic]

Is she kept on a yard where others could maybe of taunted her in her stable??

[Bubblepony]

Its extremely unlikely, I'd say no, not at all.

[india]

The link below lists a few of the things mentioned in your post.....it may be your filly's coming into season.....

http://www.drvet.com.au/health.asp?HealthIssueID=1

Hope this helps. :)

[thoroughlybred1]

While it might be unusual for coming into season to illicit such a difference in nature, it can happen. I have only one experience of it, and it was with a rising 4 year old, that had been bred from at 2yrs (before i had her and far too young IMO). She continued to change drastically each time she came into season for a couple of years, then became more "even" in her temperament. TBH, she was a right pain in the ass to start with - Regumate and all other such supplements didnt help much, and i was at the point where i was going to get a marble inserted to help - fortunately she got better before i had to resort to this, tho she still shows far more when she is in season than all my others, but is at least more manageable now!

[Bubblepony]

Thank you, its one thing I do suspect and will keep in mind.

How about bladder infections or problems, with my filly drinking so much water having been an issue since I've had her I wonder if something is up. How common are these sorts of infections in mares?

Also, I read that frequent urination is a possible sign of a mare coming into season. What IS frequent urination? Regular normal wees or does it also count when a mare is frequently straining to wee and doing very small drizzles?

[india]

How does she behave when she appears to be straining to wee? Does she look to be in any pain or discomfort? If she does, take her temperature and if it's above normal the chances are she's got either a urinary or bladder infection. If that's the case it would be best to get the vet out again to check her over.

My gut feeling is her behaviour is more likely to be associated with coming into season - but as I've only ever owned geldings, I may well be wrong. :o

[Iron Maiden]

Horses can get cystitis as far as I know - that's enough to put anyone in a foul mood!

[Mehitabel]

she is in season, almost definitely, it wil be her first time - remember he first time you got pmt? it's a big shock, she doesn'r know what is happening or why she is feeling different, and the first season of the year is often a monster, regardless of age. the squatting and tiny wees or appearing to strain is what she does when a stallion approaches - she is signalling that she is ready to mate, by 'winking'. winking is the name for what she does 'opening' her bits and exposing the clitoris, and its what we look for when teasing a mare to see if she is in season, it's actually not weeing at all. they also do it a couple of times after a normal wee.

honestly, it is entirely normal. it wll last about a week, and then in three weeks from when it started it'll happen again - probably not nearly so dramatically.

[Showjumper]

Sounds like first season of the year to me. My mare was absolutely vile 2 weeks ago but is back to normal now :)

[Jessey]

I would have to agree, sounds like her first proper season :p
I went through it year before last with my lass, I brought her at 18 months old and she was a sweety, the spring she turned 2 she turned into this vile, agressive animal who I didn't know - I didn't take much notice and got kicked badly twice for it :eek: my mare can still be a cow when she comes in season, so I give her a herbal hormonal supplement, NAF Oestress, it helps her alot to remain the friendly horse she really is :D I only had Jess on it for the last couple of months that summer, last year she went on it in spring and finished in autum, this year I brought a pot and hope that once she is over the first couple of seasons (always the worst) that I can take her off of it completely, now she is older she should cope with her seasons much better :D well I hope so anyway ;)
Squirting (the little dribbles) and winking are most definatly normal things for a season, if you are not sure get someone experianced to take a look at her and they should be able to confirm if it is her season :p