November 15th, 2008: Feeding the Pregnant Mare

cdawahare — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:01:05 GMT

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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Trade Zone : Equine Nutrition

November 15th, 2008: Feeding the Pregnant Mare