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A healthy foal will usually stand and begin nursing within an hour of birth, gulping what will eventually amount to be gallons of colostrum and milk over the course of the next few weeks. What is the best way to ensure your foal obtains the necessary nutrients for slow, steady growth? Guarantee the foal’s dam is properly nourished!

  • Pregnant mares in late gestation have higher energy needs than many other horses. At the time of parturition, mares should be in moderate to fleshy body condition, equating to a condition score of 5 or 6. “This is particularly important if you plan on breeding back on the foal heat. If you didn’t hit this goal, speak with a nutritionist to help tweak your mare’s diet and improve her overall health for the next go-round,” recommended Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research.
  • As with all other healthy horses, forage should be the first dietary consideration when concocting a diet for a gestating or lactating mare. “High-quality forage is paramount, whether it’s pasture, hay, or an alternative forage. Be aware that depending on the time of year and quality of forage, supplemental vitamin E will likely be beneficial for mares,” advised Crandell. “Once forage is mowed, harvested, and preserved as hay or some other forage product, vitamin E levels decrease. As such, any horse on a hay-based diet will profit from supplemental vitamin E.”  To address this concern, offer lactating mares Nano-E, a nanodispersed, natural-source vitamin E that is a palatable and highly bioavailable form of vitamin E.
  • Mares in early lactation also have high energy demands. The caloric requirements of many lactating mares rival that of the most intensely worked equine athletes. If forage alone is not keeping the mare in appropriate body condition, concentrates and oil can be added. Ideally, a concentrate specifically formulated for the broodmare will supply all the nutrients needed to support the heightened demands of lactation when fed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. For hard keepers, the addition of oil will further satisfy a mare’s caloric needs. Canola and soybean oil are preferred to corn oil, as they have a more desirable fatty acid profile, being richer in omega-3s.
  • Multiple studies show the benefits of feeding animals DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) during late gestation and lactation. “It’s never too late to start supplementing mares with EO-3, an omega-3 supplement rich in DHA, to support foal behavior, memory, and overall cognition,” noted Crandell.
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