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  Discussion on Underweight Pregnant Mare
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Posted on Monday, Jan 7, 2002 - 3:52 am:

A friend purchased an approximately 12 yr old foxtrotter mare who's probably about a 2-3 on the Henneke scale. The weight/height tape says she's approximately 850 lbs and 14.3 hands. She's also very pregnant. She's bagged up pretty good but not waxing yet.

The gentleman who she was purchased from, and who actually rescued her, did all the work gradually increasing her feed. She's currently getting 8-9 lbs of Purina Horseman's Edge 12% sweet feed broken into 2 feedings per day. Her hay is good free choice timothy. She was rescued about 2-3 weeks ago.

We were told to add more corn to her diet in the form of cracked corn to help put weight on her by some people at the friend's barn. What I was wondering, would corn oil be better than solid corn. Or would neither in this case be a good idea? Someone else said to try beet pulp.

I read through most of the articles, but I don't recall anything regarding corn oil vs solid corn. Point me in the right direction if I missed something!

Any advice, tips or personal rescue stories would be great!!
~Sharon

Posted on Monday, Jan 7, 2002 - 7:04 am:

Hello Sharon,
I am trying to get away from discussions that are done second hand. The problem is getting a accurate description and history second hand. More than once I have spent a great deal of time only to find that there was some miscommunication or important detail left out. Perhaps just as important is the time it takes away from answering member's questions. Some direct questions involving "friends" horses with straight forward answers I am glad to deal with:

The biggest problem is your current diet is quite deficient in protein considering her condition and pregnancy. Timothy is one of the low protein grasses. I would begin adding alfalfa to her diet slowly until I got her up to 10 to 15 lbs alfalfa a day.

Reasons and conditions for using and not using fat and oil as part of the diet are presented in Care for Horses: Nutrition: Fats and Oils in the Diet of Horses.
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 7, 2002 - 3:48 pm:

Dr. O,

Thanks for the reply. This story isn't totally second hand, as I'm as involved with the horse as its owner...and probably see her more. She'll be moved out to my place after she foals.

I'll see what I can do to get her some alfalfa. But are there any other ways of getting her more protein other than alfalfa? We can increase the protein in her concentrate still I know. Right now she's pasture boarded and it would be hard to make sure she gets the alfalfa. It'd be the same way at my place since I have a few acres fenced in with a large loafing shed and I feed the same timothy round bales. She hates to be cooped up in a stall...though if neccessary, I can section off some of my shed to make a sort of stall with a run.


~Sharon

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 8, 2002 - 4:11 am:

Considering that the problem is with the forage part of your diet (the biggest part of the diet), it might be difficult to make up the difference with a high protein supplement, particularly as she puts weight on and the amount of concentrate can be lessened. Certainly you can start by buying a 16% feed. At 9 lbs daily this will certainly help.

Making some rough assumptions (quality of the Timothy good and 20 lbs consumed daily) and doing the math roughly in my head you will still be short about 1 lb protein daily. That is a lot of protein to try and make up with a supplement. You will find suggestions at Equine Reproduction: Breeding and Foaling: Pregnant Mare Care and Nutrition.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 8, 2002 - 3:27 pm:

Dr. O,

I went out today and bought a pelleted supplement made by Ragland called Headstart, A Supplement for All Animals. The recommendations for feeding a brood mare is 1 1/2 lb per day starting at day 90 - 120 and going until the foal is weaned. The contents of this supplement are:

Protein 25%
Lysine 1.25%
Methionine .30%
Fat 3%
Fiber 6%
Acid Detergent Fiber 9%
Ash 5%
Ca 1%
P 1%
NaCl .15%
K 1%
Cu 17ppm
Se .4ppm
Zn 57ppm
Vit A 25,000 Units per LB
Vit D 5,000 Units per LB
Vit E 10 Units per LB
Vit B12 20 Mcg Per LB
Riboflavin 5 mg per LB
Pantothenic Acid 12 mg per LB
Biotin 15 Mg per LB
Choline 850 Mg per LB

I've started her at 1/4 lb twice daily and will work up to the full dose in a week or so.

I've also got some 17% dehydrated and pelleted alfalfa to add to her concentrate. She's brought in to get her grain, so this would be an easier way to get her used to alfalfa and make sure she gets it. How many pounds do you think we should give her of the pellets in addition to her free choice timothy? I was thinking gradually increase to about 5 lbs a day for now.

My hay guy delivered two more timothy round bales today and informed me that they were the last he had but he had nice alfalfa for the same price...so looks like in a month or so I'll be feeding alfalfa free choice after all.

~Sharon

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 9, 2002 - 6:20 am:

Well this all looks like the right direction. Once you get the alfalfa, the supplementation and high protein concentrate will no longer be neccesary.
DrO
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