Hello, I would like your input on feeding a pregnant mare during her last few months. I ask my vet about cutting back on the feed only, so the foal would not be to big for the mare to have. My friend lost a foal, because it was to big for the mare. I have one mare who is a big horse,she has had three foals fine. The big mare is due April 2006.I also have a mini mare , who has have three foals. The mini mare is due May, she looks bigger then the big mare.The mini foaled two foals by herself, but the last one was to big for her to have without help. We didn't have the mini mare during the foaling. This is our first mini foal, we have had only big horse foal. Thank you for your input on this matter. MELISSA
Most of the time a mare will not produce a foal that is too big for her to cope with, It is the mare that regulates the size, but it is not Wise to breed an 11hh pony to a shire, if you see what I mean. You must make sure that the right minerals and vitamins are given to avoid anything like dejenerative joint disorder, for instance, in the foal. I had trouble, because my mare was well rounded but I needed to get the vitimins etc into her without the high calorie intake - I found, personally, that Top-spec feed balancer was the best option for me as it has everything in it that my mare needs but is highly concentrated (so careful not to over-do it) This way I could still feed a small feed but she got all the nutrients. All the other feeds I looked at needed far too many kg's a day and I couldnt afford to get her that fat!
I hope this is of some benifit to you melissa. All the best!!
Melissa, I have to agree with Kim W. as the mare is the one that regulates the size and normally the mare will be able to handle the baby. I don't know the given circumstances of the lose of your friends foal so its hard to say. For many years we had a few large paint pony mares that we were breeding to a tb and large boned qh and never did we have any problems. The babys always grew to a size larger than mom -thats what we were aiming for, with nice spots too !
You truely don't want to cut back the feed as it will only jepordize the mare. The foal takes what it needs first and then then mare gets the left overs so to speek. Its just natures way of protecting the unborn. So if you cut back on feed you mare may not be in the best shape after delivery.
good luck
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