Nutritionist Highlights Strategies for Bringing Broodmares Back to Work

Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist at Kentucky Equine Research, gave a presentation at the Thoroughbred Broodmare Transition Symposium on July 10, 2024, at Spy Coast Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Her presentation, “Nutrition for Transitioning Broodmares,” provided important insights into the feeding management of broodmares as they segue from motherhood to a performance career.

“So often I am asked for nutritional recommendations as mares leave the racetrack or performance arena and head to the broodmare band,” explained Whitehouse. “This time I was asked to do the exact opposite: provide strategies for bringing broodmares back into ridden service, an important aspect of nutrition that I had not given much thought to beforehand.”

Several of the Kentucky Equine Research summer and yearlong interns attended Whitehouse’s presentation. “Catherine gave excellent examples and definitions of nutritional tools such as body condition scoring, body weight measurement, and how to feed according to weight,” said Tory Erwin, a summer intern who graduated from North Carolina State University this spring.

“Catherine also underscored the importance of forages, including different types and uses, and described the grazing habits of horses in relation to gastric ulcers and other digestive issues,” Erwin continued. “She also provided some example diets based on the level of exercise expected from the mares, and she listed ingredients best suited for them.”

The symposium was cohosted by Mareworthy Charities and the Retired Racehorse Project.