Reprinted with permission from the author January 9, 1999
This article is intended for educational purposes and not as professional advice for specific cases. Neither the author nor Equi-Sense is herein engaged in rendering professional veterinary advice. For specific cases, a veterinarian with first hand knowledge of the problem should be consulted.
Breeding horses is a very sizable undertaking, no matter if you have one mare or one hundred. Our goal in feeding broodmares is to insure that nutrition does not jeopardize your investments in time, money, genetics and dreams. In order to properly feed broodmares, you must think about the vastly different things that are happening in the mare's body at the different stages of breeding and pregnancy. For convenience, we can divide the mare's needs into four periods: 1) before breeding, 2) the first 2/3 of the pregnancy, 3) the last 1/3 of the pregnancy, and 4) after foaling.
Before breeding, the mare should be placed on a gradually increasing nutritional plane. Increase her grain ration by just a small amount daily. In nature, horses are grazing animals and the increasing quality and quantity of available plants is on of several ways that her body knows it is time to reproduce. The following year, grazing will be at its best when the mare's requirements are highest. If we can't use this natural phenomenon in breeding our mares, we can at least mimic it by providing an increasing level of nutrition going into our man-made breeding season.
Once the mare has conceived she should be fed like an inactive or moderately active pleasure horse for the first 2/3 of her pregnancy. During this time her body is making little or no nutritional demands above her normal maintenance unless she is doing hard work. This is known as the "period of differentiation. The fetus is developing all of its systems and parts, and although it gets more complex every day, it is really not growing much. For most mares during this time, free choice mineral, free choice water, and free choice good quality hay is sufficient. She should also receive enough exercise to maintain her muscle tone and heart and lung capacity. I have seen many more problems at foaling from mares that are too fat and soft than from mares that have been under-fed. Most young women know that their pregnancy and birth is easier for both mother and child if they stay trim and fit, and the same is true for your mare.
By the beginning of the eighth month, differentiation is nearing completion and the fetus starts to grow as if making up for lost time. Now the nutritional requirements of your mare escalate because she must maintain her body, allow for rapid fetal growth, and get ready to feed her youngster. In order to deal with all of the above, she needs a little help at the dinner table. She should gradually work up to about 1 pound of grain per day per 100 pounds of her body weight. If you don't have a scale, find an old baby or produce scale, or take a sample of feed to the market to find out what your measuring can will hold in pounds. The mare's total ration, hay and grain, should be about 2.5 pounds per day per 100 pounds of her body weight, which is just about all she can consume. During this time, her protein requirement also goes up, and since she can't meet the higher requirements by eating more pounds, it becomes very important the quality of the feed that she does eat is as high as possible. Calcium and phosphorous needs are increased to about 1.5 times normal requirements so they must be supplemented. Although these changes are important, it is also important to make them very gradually so that the mare has time for her tract to adjust and compensate. Mares in late pregnancy are especially susceptible to colic because the abdomen is already crowded with the pregnancy.
Once your blessed even has occurred and that cute little guy is nursing, your mare needs your help more than ever. She should now be receiving about 1.5 pounds of grain per 100 pounds of body weight per day. Calcium and phosphorous needs stay about the same as late pregnancy. The forage portion of the ration should be of the best quality possible and fed free choice, which will likely result in a total daily consumption of 2.5 to 3.5 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight. This seems like a lot of feed, but a good mare can produce up to 30 pounds of milk per day and nutrients are required for the manufacturing process as well as those actually secreted. If adequate levels are not consumed, the nutrients must be drawn from your mare's body, and she can experience major weight loss very quickly. When you think about adding nutrient requirements for growth of the mare on top of these requirements, you will see why it is not good to breed fillies before they are mature. They simply can not eat enough to meet all the requirements for both growth and reproduction. After about 3 months of lactation, the requirements start to diminish until the foal is weaned. During late lactation you can gradually back the mare down to where we started.
The one thing all top horsemen do is to observe and think about their horses. This is never more important than with broodmares. Remember that all horses, like all people are individuals. By the time you see drastic changes in your mare's condition you are badly behind, but by planning ahead and fine tuning the ration as needed, your mare should raise the foals you dream of.
Dave Sparks, D.V.M. Reprinted with permission from the author January 9, 1999
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