Broodmare Supplement

[Charlie Horse Acres]

OK, I tried doing a search as I am sure this has been discussed but I could not find it right away and my low tech abilities hinder me greatly!!

I have a mare that we have bred to an older stallion that we are all holding our breath hoping that she can get through this pregnancy as we know this is probably our last shot to get a foal from him. (national champion...yada.yada...)

Anyways, the vet is trying to dot all the I's and cross all the T's to give her the best shot. He wants me to start her on a supplement next month. He said either Natures Essentials or Mare and Foal.....Has anyone else used these or have ideas on which would be best? Also, any thoughts on what else we should be watching for? She already had her Rhino. (prodigy? sp) I know we have a live fetus as I saw the tail wag.....yes darn it...it wagged!! LOL Now you can laugh at me. But it was pretty exciting as we were totally giving up on this stallion this year, took the mare in to find out why she did not go back in heat when the vet already said she was not pregnant and low and behold.....he missed it the first time and she was pregnant. So we were all like cheering in the vets office as we watched the tail wag!!

So any I's or T's that we have forgotten, I would be happy to throw them at my vet.

Thanks in advance!

Di

 

[Matt73]

I would just go with your vet's suggestions. It really does depend on your area. Where we are (southwestern Ontario), there are few special things we need to do. My mare has had two big healthy foals on, simply, grass hay and a 32% ration balancer. She was dewormed regularly throughout her pregnancies and given a simple 4-way a month before each foaling (tetanus, flu, EEE, WEE). Mind you, my guys don't leave the property, no new horses come here...so I never bothered with the pneumabort injections.

 

[Charlie Horse Acres]

My property line is the back property line for a rodeo ground so I have horses from all over the place right next to us. Plus there are other horses pastured all around us. So I am always on guard for whatever is going around. Rabies is even a requirement for the area we are in. I LOVE KS BUT .........

 

[disneyhorse]

I'd go with what your vet says. That said, I generally believe if a pregnant female (human, horse, whatever) is getting a good diet, they generally don't need much supplementation.

I was pregnant with twins and just took a simple prenatal multivitamin and my kids are just fine

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I can understand your worries and I would not tell you to go against your Vet, but he is pretty much telling you to do that to cover himself. My mares get no commercial supplements at all and they do fine on grass and feed.

JFYI- I am not sure what you saw, and I really do hope you have a foal in there BUT if you did not see a heart beat, which is unmissable, you do not have a foal.

 

[Jill]

You know, I don't actually think that vets are as up to speep when it comes to dietary things and many owners are.

What I'd recommend, really, is just a good quality (non-fescue!) hay and regular horse feed. then about 3mos pre-foaling, eihter a senior feed or a junior feed plus good hay. Free acess to fresh water and a mineral block.

 

[HGFarm]

I agree.... supplements are expensive and in my opinion, only needed if you live in an area that is greatly lacking in something. If your vitamins and minerals are already in balance and you are healthy, why would you go take a bunch more? Then it would be throwing your balance out of whack.

I have never fed my mares supplements- just a good worming schedule, etc.. and good quality feed- good quality alfalfa hay and in the last trimester, grain. I have good healthy foals that were strong and frisky at birth.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I suppose it depends what you call "supplements"- I feed no made up brands but I do add Flax/ various oils/ mineral salts/ etc to their feed (when they actually get feed that is, I have not started yet!) but I agree on the Vets not being the best people to ask- you would not get a Vet to do teeth or feet (unless they were also Farriers and Dentists) why ask them for nutrition advise? There are good nutritionists attached to every on-line feed merchant, I think I would go to one of them....

 

[Charlie Horse Acres]

Thanks for your reply's. I contacted purina and they were very helpful.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Well done!

 

[HGFarm]

Awesome! And some really good points Jane!

 

[mydaddysjag]

Natures essentials is purinas ration balancer, its not a supplement, but a good product

 

[Charlie Horse Acres]

When I called purina they still termed it as a supplement but said that they saw no reason for it since I feed strategy. Besides, it does not have trace minerals which is the main thing my vet is looking for. And I like the idea of adding a probiotic which is why I am looking at mare and foal from med-vet and vita-key now. Which is on my other post.

 

[Charlie Horse Acres]

I can understand your worries and I would not tell you to go against your Vet, but he is pretty much telling you to do that to cover himself. My mares get no commercial supplements at all and they do fine on grass and feed.

JFYI- I am not sure what you saw, and I really do hope you have a foal in there BUT if you did not see a heart beat, which is unmissable, you do not have a foal.

Yes, we saw the heartbeat also....just was not as exciting as watching the little tail swish back and forth.

 

[Sandee]

Nature's Essential 12 (I was told) is what used to be Mare and Foal. Both made by Purina and I have used them. The minis get very little of it so it's not very expensive. For a (6-12 mo ago) $12 bag that weights 25 lb or so I fed 1/3 cup twice daily. Believe it or not that weighs just less than a pound total. The Purina rep. convinced me to switch to the Mini feed and now mine get a cup of that twice a day. The directions say nearly 2 cups but my guys were gaining weight on it.

As long as she is getting a good healthy balanced diet, she should be fine. Trainer says he prefers a bit of weight on his broodmares because the foals take so much from them.

Just make sure your hay nor your pasture has any fescue that could affect the delivery. They suspect something like that caused Mandy to carry too long and then have a stillborn --but she was a maiden.

Happy for you.

 

[Charlie Horse Acres]

The entire pasture is fescue. So is mom's. And I can't afford to check it for the microbes or whatever the fescue can have to cause aborts. That is why I dry lot all my mini's. Besides....Zoe doesn't want to share anyways...LOL. Feeding everyone Brome and Strategy. I know...you are not a fan. BUT that is what my vet likes and even the nutitionist I just talked to at purina said it was a fine feed for the mini's. I sent you a copy of the feeding recommendations she emailed me. It is an AWESOME chart. The same kind I made for Charlie and Bar when I was doing my Ag classes in college. But the ones for them did not go small enough for the mini's so I was REALLY excited to get this chart from the purina lady. Have been looking for one for a while now. I am going to email you also.

Thanks Aunt Sandee!!!