# Ovarian Cyst - What are the Symptoms?



## MrsMozart (9 January 2011)

As title.

Interested in what symptoms a horse would show if it had an ovarian cyst.


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## shadowboy (9 January 2011)

I loaned a mare with one- I didnt know she had one when I started the trial. She had been classed as unrideable on the Project horses website - I took her on under the basis that it was for a 6 month trial. She arrived late september and the first time I tried to ride she threw me off (no suprise) so I left her for a month just for bonding etc and started worth mid to late November- she was fine! Hacked her out alone or in company, schooled her etc- the one thing I did notice is she hated to be 'kicked' to be asked to move on- she liked to be 'clucked' - we competed and she did really well- then come end Feb she started bucking and spooking a lot, and being generally unco-operative when ridden. She bucked me off and I shattered my foot- while in hospital mum had some tests done and they found that her hormone levels were 'unusual' and the sysmptoms of periodic bucking etc were pointing to an ovarian cyst. Her tack was checked and back as well as teeth (way back in Sept when I first got her) I sent her back to her owner as at that point they couldnt guarantee i'd even be able to walk again - she then threw her old owner off a few weeks later and broke her elbow.....I never did see what happened to her. But her symptoms were periodic bucking, and spooking for a week at a time but only during the warmer seasons (she was fine Nov -Mid Feb) but throughout the year she hated being 'kicked-on' round the girth - and would only respond vocally to moving on. I cant remember the specific hormonal results- but they did point to a ovarian cyst. The were no other mares on the yard- only 5 oter gelding so I cannot comment on weather she was marish to other mares.


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## MrsMozart (9 January 2011)

Thank you SB. Sorry to hear you and the owner were hurt.

I'm assuming it's cyclical in keeping with the mare's seasons.


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## neddynesbitt (10 January 2011)

Sorry didn't have time to type whole story again so have copied & pasted my reply to another thread  This mare was highly unpredictable & would be fine one minute & flip the next (although I didn't know this until AFTER I had been hurt). I should have smelled a rat when the owner wouldn't ride her but stupidly I didn't until it was too late!!

Severed Ear & perforated ear drum & badly fractured skull which all required surgery!! Happened whilst mounting a mare (with an undiagnosed ovarian cyst). She went ballistic just as I had put my leg over her to sit down, she bolted resulting in me being thrown onto her rump.

She bucked & bucked until I fell off, she then turned & literally with teeth bared & ears back attacked me whilst I lay on the ground!!

My hat eventually shattered after repeatedly being kicked in the head. Part of the hat sliced my ear clean off.

At first I couldn't remember what happened & the hospital got social services involved as they were convinced that someone, possibly my Dad had cut it off with a knife as it was such a clean cut.

Luckily my Dad got the all clear when they shaved my head in preparation for surgery & there for everyone to see was a perfect hoof shape in my skull!!


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## JanetGeorge (10 January 2011)

MrsMozart said:



			As title.

Interested in what symptoms a horse would show if it had an ovarian cyst.
		
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Anyone's guess - as mares don't get ovarian cysts!  They DO get uterine cysts which are normally just a nuisance at pregnancy scanning time, although a lot of big ones can make a mare difficult to get in foal.

Where there is an enlarged ovary, there are several possible causes.  One is a haemorrhagic follicle - it doesn't ovulate - it just sits there and gets bigger!  They can be painful - and some mares will get them on almost every cycle (due to a hormonal deficit.)  Most likely to cause reluctance to go forward under saddle, and possibly buckiung or rearing on mounting dependingf on how big/painful it is.

The other possibility is an ovarian tumour - in particular a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour.  This sort of tumour is the most common of the ovarian tumours - and is benign - BUT it does produce testosterone so can lead to some VERY undesirable behaviours including mounting mares, attacking geldings (and people) etc. etc.


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## MrsMozart (11 January 2011)

Thank you JG   And thank you for the correction . I've done some reading and am pleased to report that GM isn't showing any of the signs of a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour 

We have narrowed her whappiness down to the sugarbeet! So that's on its way out. *now researching sugarbeet and all its variants!*


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## martlin (11 January 2011)

MrsMozart said:



			Thank you JG   And thank you for the correction . I've done some reading and am pleased to report that GM isn't showing any of the signs of a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour 

We have narrowed her whappiness down to the sugarbeet! So that's on its way out. *now researching sugarbeet and all its variants!*
		
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 Gracie had the granulosa tumor and she hasn't been aggressive or stallionish to other mares, she has, however, become reluctant to jump and generally moody, inconsistent in her work and a tiny bit wappy.
The basic scan can be used to diagnose and a blood test to confirm, it's a simple procedure and worth doing to rule the tumour out.
Gracie had the ovary removed in a fairly straightforward procedure and is back to her old self.


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## Smile_and_Wave (11 January 2011)

I had a mare with polycystic ovaries, her cycles didnt work quite right so where as a normal cycle would involve one folicle becoming dominant and ovulating she didnt instead they would all more or less develop at the same kind of time but never get to the size where she would ovulate, she became massively uncomfortable and quite aggressive and stallion like at times, she also started growing a massive crest and some unusual muslcing over her ovary area 

she at first was treated with regumate which helped for a little while but in the end she was spayed afterwards she was much much sweeter to deal with but still quirky


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## MrsMozart (11 January 2011)

GM has been totally whappy under saddle, though fine and loving everywhere else. It has been getting worse. Owner (who is our instructor) came yesterday and had D1 ride through it, which was interesting. GM isn't being nasty per se, just ridiculously full of it. We've cut the sugarbeet down/out and will see how she goes over the coming week or two. She's a horse that likes to work and gets quite into it, so we'll now be working her six out of seven days (weather permitting!!).


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## DiIlsley (12 October 2014)

JanetGeorge said:



			Anyone's guess - as mares don't get ovarian cysts!  They DO get uterine cysts which are normally just a nuisance at pregnancy scanning time, although a lot of big ones can make a mare difficult to get in foal.

Where there is an enlarged ovary, there are several possible causes.  One is a haemorrhagic follicle - it doesn't ovulate - it just sits there and gets bigger!  They can be painful - and some mares will get them on almost every cycle (due to a hormonal deficit.)  Most likely to cause reluctance to go forward under saddle, and possibly buckiung or rearing on mounting dependingf on how big/painful it is.

The other possibility is an ovarian tumour - in particular a Granulosa Theca Cell tumour.  This sort of tumour is the most common of the ovarian tumours - and is benign - BUT it does produce testosterone so can lead to some VERY undesirable behaviours including mounting mares, attacking geldings (and people) etc. etc.
		
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I am currently doing some research in this area (I am not a vet, I am an owner of a mare who has an undiagnosed problem) and I happened upon this thread.

Considering some of the statements you have made, I thought you might be interested in reading a paper in the Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the AAEP from 1998 Vol. 44, titled "Review of Ovarian Abnormalities in the Mare"  particularly where it talks about polycystic ovaries and "persistent corpus luteum" where the paper talks about "luteolysis, or destruction of the corpus luteum, occurs as a result of prostaglandin release from the endometrium...."

As this thread is a few years old now, it might not be of interest to anyone but I felt that the discussion was quite robust and that the people posting would be interested in this paper.


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## MrsMozart (12 October 2014)

Thank know you for the update info 

With our mare we found it was sugar related. A change in diet meant things were much improved.  Although had she not been retired due to lameness we would have investigated further as, whilst things were much better, she could still sometimes be an interesting ride.


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## Lolo (12 October 2014)

Our mare started showing very aggressive and concerning behaviour. She put her head through a window to try and attack her reflection, she was exceptionally nappy and her behaviour became very unpredictable in the stable too, to the point that you had to have her tied up and the door open for an easy escape. You could ride her through her tantrums and episodes but it took a lot of serious effort and she put Al on the floor so many times. 

We spoke to the vet and essentially were told she was just being a badly brought up baby mare, and we needed to discipline her better. We ignored this and kept with the same approach, because we felt something was wrong. She then went lame behind, and then suddenly tied up very badly (absolutely couldn't move). We called a different practice, they came out and ran a series of blood tests and also gave us painkillers and sedatives for her to try and keep her calm and comfortable and she was a lot happier, which clarified there was something seriously wrong with her- bute wasn't touching it clearly (we'd bute trialled). 

Tests came back and she had higher testosterone levels than you'd expect a stallion to have. She had enormous tumours on her ovaries and they required operations to remove asap. The operations would have been fairly major due to the size of the tumours, and the vet felt she wouldn't be suitable for more than happy hacking at best afterwards. We had her PTS the next day- she'd suffered so much in her life (broken leg, serious ulceration following poor practice from a vet dealing with a cut knee, colic) and she was losing her trust in people completely.


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## DiIlsley (12 October 2014)

Lolo said:



			Our mare started showing very aggressive and concerning behaviour. She put her head through a window to try and attack her reflection, she was exceptionally nappy and her behaviour became very unpredictable in the stable too, to the point that you had to have her tied up and the door open for an easy escape. You could ride her through her tantrums and episodes but it took a lot of serious effort and she put Al on the floor so many times. 

We spoke to the vet and essentially were told she was just being a badly brought up baby mare, and we needed to discipline her better. We ignored this and kept with the same approach, because we felt something was wrong. She then went lame behind, and then suddenly tied up very badly (absolutely couldn't move). We called a different practice, they came out and ran a series of blood tests and also gave us painkillers and sedatives for her to try and keep her calm and comfortable and she was a lot happier, which clarified there was something seriously wrong with her- bute wasn't touching it clearly (we'd bute trialled). 

Tests came back and she had higher testosterone levels than you'd expect a stallion to have. She had enormous tumours on her ovaries and they required operations to remove asap. The operations would have been fairly major due to the size of the tumours, and the vet felt she wouldn't be suitable for more than happy hacking at best afterwards. We had her PTS the next day- she'd suffered so much in her life (broken leg, serious ulceration following poor practice from a vet dealing with a cut knee, colic) and she was losing her trust in people completely.
		
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You're welcome MrsMozart.  I am glad you figured out what was wrong with your horse!

I am sorry you lost your mare Lolo and that the vet was so dismissive.  We know our own animals and know when their behaviour is not normal.

My mare has been behaving peculiarly since late April.  I have had a vet (twice), a body worker, a chiro (who is also a vet), MFR/Bodyworker and finally one of the best vets in our region out to her and still no change.  She looks the picture of health and her attitude has not changed, in that she has not become aggressive. If you touch her, even lightly across the loin and down in front of the flank she will pin her ears back, swish her tail, cow kick and move away from the touch.  Sometimes she is sensitive on both sides but mostly it is the near side. 

I also noticed she was dragging her o/s hind causing the toe to square off.  She seems to have stopped that recently (after steroid injection)

She has been treated with biopuncture (diagnosis 'bad back'), 28 treatment of omeprazole (diagnosis ulcers), with the KER product for hind gut acidosis (the name of which escapes me right now), she's been checked for neuro problems and mechanical problems (flexion tests etc.) and most recently been given corticosteroid injections between T15 & T16 for suspected bursa problem.  None of which has changed her.  Next step is ultrasound.

I wanted to know what symptoms of cysts on ovaries would look like.  I know not all horses present the same way but she certainly isn't displaying 'stallion-like' behaviour. 

She is not in any pain and gallops around and rolls happily in the sun and is positively glowing with health.  Her diet is just pasture at the moment as it is spring here in Australia and our grass is just out of control and my mare is a tad fat for not being ridden since April.  Before that she was mostly on hay and the supplement ration was designed for an insulin resistant horse (EMS, PSSM etc) which I feel is a good diet for her - low sugar and low starch.

So that is us and that is why I stumbled into this thread.


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## hobo (30 January 2015)

Sorry to bring up this old thread but it is something going through my mind with my 4 year old filly. She has always required careful handling but mainly ok and we were doing well. This Christmas she started getting a bit  more nappy and spooky she also bucks a fair bit.  She will go to a pile of poo and dig it over and either poo or pee on it which seems odd.  She is another one that you can not kick on you have to discuss it rather than tell her. Was thinking about having a chat with vet but thought I would have a google first. Any tests i should ask the vet to do?


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## conniegirl (31 January 2015)

I've known 2 mares with ovarian cysts/rumours
The first had a tumour, she was a lovely kids pony untill she came in season, then she was a dangerous whirling dervish who tried to kill anyone who went near her!
The second was a mare with a cyst, she was a total angel but just didn't seem to cycle properly the she went lame in a hind leg, hoping lame. Full work ups and every diagnostic test later the only thing found was a cyst on her ovary. Ovary promptly removed by keyhole surgery and mare back to normal!


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