Trade Zone: Feeding the Pregnant Mare - Click Here to Download PDF
By Heather Smith Thomas
Traditional wisdom for feeding mares is that nutritional requirements in
early pregnancy are not much different than requirements for body maintenance,
and that the greatest need for additional nutrients is during the last trimester
(final 110 days), when the fetus is growing fastest. This is generally true, in
terms of the pregnant mare's energy requirements, but recent research has shown
that it's very important to make sure she has optimal nutrition, especially in
terms of vitamins and minerals, throughout the entire pregnancy to ensure proper
health and growth of the conceptus from the beginning.
During the past two decades, we've learned more about fine-tuning our feeding
of pregnant mares, and research is still ongoing. Dr. Stephen Duren, an equine
nutritionist for Performance Horse Nutrition in Weiser, Idaho, said
conscientious horse breeders have always tried to optimize health and
development of the unborn foal, but the Thoroughbred industry has been under
more pressure recently, in light of breakdowns at the track, to determine if we
can do more nutritionally to prepare young horses for the racetrack. Download PDF
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