Question

Holly is my 12-hand (122-cm) pony, due to foal in a few months. Right now, she’s fed 4 lb (1.8 kg) of sweet feed and late-season hay, about four flakes a day. She is in moderate weight, though I think she might benefit from a little more condition as gestation progresses and lactation looms. How can I improve her diet?

Answer

The current feed might be shortchanging Holly in several key nutrients. My first recommendation is to switch from the sweet feed to a ration balancer, which will provide Holly with the high-quality protein and all of the essential vitamins and minerals she needs to support a developing fetus. Though each ration balancer is slightly different, depending on the manufacturer, your mare would have to consume about 1-1.5 lb (0.5-075 kg) to provide complete nutrition during pregnancy, if she will maintain her weight on primarily hay. An increase in hay or hay quality may be needed to prevent weight loss on this diet, but it will ensure all of Holly’s individual nutrient needs are satisfied.

Alternatively, you could choose a concentrated feed formulated for breeding horses that have higher energy needs. Because Holly was consuming about 4 lb (1.8 kg) of feed previously, switching to one of these feeds will provide a similar amount of calories but from different energy sources, including fat and fermentable fiber. These feeds have reduced nonstructural carbohydrate levels (starch and sugar) compared to traditional sweet feeds. If you choose to go this route, be sure to transition to the new feed slowly, over a 7- to 10-day period.

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