Foal Care and Feeding

Foal Care and Feeding
Posted by Bill Vandergrift PhD on Mar 18th 2019
The objective of managing and caring for a newborn foal is to allow them to grow and develop into the best athlete they can be. It doesnt matter if youre hoping to have an international level competitor a weekend hack horse or just a pasture ornament we all want our horses to be healthy and sound. So what are the key parameters in growing horses that determine long term soundness and health?
Prenatal care and nutrition of the broodmare
Acquisition of effective immunity
Appropriate support for significant conformational faults
Adequate intake of vitamins and amino acids
Plenty of free exercise
Learning proper social skills with other horses and people
Effective health care deworming vaccinations disease preventiontreatment

Pregnant BroodmareIf you hope to have a sound and healthy foal and weanling you have to start with proper feeding and management of the pregnant broodmare. The foal must be born with an adequate supply of certain
minerals such as copper because the mares milk is not going to supply enough to meet the rapidly growing foals requirement for this mineral and others. The normal process is for the foal to draw upon its own body stores of these nutrients the first few weeks of life before it begins to take an interest in consuming feed and forage that will then become the primary source for these critical nutrients. The only way the foal is going to be born with an adequate supply of these nutrients stored in its body is for the pregnant mare to be fed an adequate supply of these nutrients which she will then deliver to the developing foal in utero which will be used to build up adequate nutrient stores in the foals body. Additionally ensuring the mares immune system is working adequately will help to improve the quality of her colostrum which will in turn determine the level and quality of immunity acquired by the foal after birth. Work with your veterinarian while the broodmare is pregnant in regard to timing vaccinations and deworming to optimize colostrum quality. Including certain
such as those found in yeast cell wall isolates in the pregnant mares diet may also help to optimize the quality of colostrum by 
ImmunityAs stated above proper management and feeding of the broodmare should be the primary focus for providing effective immunity in the young foal especially during the first few months of the foals life