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1.    What should I feed my mare prior to covering?

The mare should be in good condition – not too fat or too thin – prior to covering and on a fully balanced diet providing all the nutrients to support good health and fertility. 
 
Further information can be found in the Stud Area

Find out more in these articles:

 
2.    Can feed influence fertility?

Certain nutrients have been identified as important for fertility in both mare and stallion, most of which are provided by the recommended amount of an appropriate stud feed alongside forage. Occasionally horses may benefit from the targeted nutritional support which can be provided by a specially formulated supplement, like Fertility Plus
 
Feeding the stallion is covered in the Stud Area 

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Find out more in these articles:

Stud Nutrition – Feeding for Breeding and Fertility

Products you may be interested in include:

Fertility Plus


 
3.    What should I feed an in-foal mare?

Since the foetus is developing from conception onwards, we recommend that you provide correct nutrition from this date onwards rather than waiting until the last trimester of pregnancy. For good-doers you can achieve this with low calorie, high nutrient Stud Balancer or, for those who need more calories, Stud Mix or Cubes are ideal. 
 
Recommended amounts can be found on our product pages, whilst further information on feeding the pregnant mare can be found in the Stud Area of this web site.

Find out more in these articles:

Feeding the Mare and Foal

Products you may be interested in include:

Stud Balancer

4.    When should a foal start eating hard feed?

Foals will start nibbling at grass and forage from 10 days old but the digestive tract is not able to digest fibre and cereal until it reaches 3 or 4 months of age.
 
More information:
Visit the Stud Area section on The Suckling Foal for more information

Products you may be interested in include:

Foal Creep Pellets

 
5.    What should I feed my orphaned foal?

It’s important that a foal receives colostrum during its first hours of life. Thereafter, Baileys Mare’s Milk Replacer can be fed from a bucket from day one and contains all the nutrients a foal needs for correct growth.
 
Our Article Library has a detailed article on:

Feeding the Orphan or Rejected Foal

Products you may be interested in include:

Mare’s Milk Replacer
Foal Creep Pellets.

 
6.    What should I do if my mare is not producing enough milk?

If your mare is in good condition and receiving the recommended amount of a stud feed, it may simply be that your mare does not naturally produce a lot of milk. Should your suckling foal starts to lose weight, it could be a sign that the dam is not producing enough milk or that her milk is of poor quality and not providing enough calories. This is likely to interrupt the foal’s growth rate, which should ideally be nice and even in order to avoid any growth-related problems. Ideally the foal should be supplemented with milk-based Foal Creep Pellets although, in extreme cases, early weaning may be advocated by your vet.
 
There’s lots of advice on feeding foals and weanlings in our article but, if you are still unsure, please do contact our Nutrition team via our Ask the experts form.
 
Articles you may be interested in include:

Feeding Foals and Youngsters.

 
7.    How do I avoid growth related problems?
 
Ideally a foal should grow at a steady rate as it is rapid increases or decreases in the growth rate which may cause problems. Weightaping the foal regularly and plotting the bodyweight on a chart will help identify any changes to a foal’s rate of growth so that the diet can be altered accordingly.
 
It is now widely accepted that protein is not a cause of growth problems – indeed it is an essential component of the diet to enable the youngster to build health bone and body tissue. Growth spurts, caused by high calorie intake from either pasture, forage, mother’s milk or hard feed, are more likely to lead to problems when, at the same time, the diet does not supply sufficient vitamins and minerals to support the youngster’s growth.

Read more about Growth Problems, including a chart to help identify what you can do, by visiting the Stud Area of the site .
 
Products you may want to consider include:

Foal Assist
Stud Balancer
 
There are several articles in the Article Library, including:

 
8.    How should I help prepare my foal for weaning?
 
The aim should be to establish the foal on its weanling diet before separation from the dam occurs. This will help avoid weight loss or disruption to growth which can arise from the inevitable stresses of the weaning process.
 
More information can be found in the Stud Area and in the following article:

Stud Nutrition – Weaning Time.

9.    What can I feed to promote or maintain condition in youngsters being prepared for the sales without causing excitability?
 
Whether preparing youngsters for the sales or show ring, the aim should be to produce them in good condition without compromising their growth rates. 
 
Several feeds have been formulated to help producers achieve this, including Prep Mix, Yearling Cubes, Stud Balancer and Outshine, and you can read about how to feed youngsters in the Stud Area.
 
Articles on the subject, include:

Stud Nutrition – Prepping Thoroughbred Yearlings for the Sales
Stud Nutrition – Feeding Youngsters for Future Success


Products you may be interested in include:

Prep Mix
No.5 Yearling Cubes
Stud Balancer
Outshine