As we discussed last month, staying alert to the orthopedic development of our foals is essential to successfully raising sound athletes. In most cases, planning ahead and applying conservative strategies along the way to moderate growth is part of the game too. We recognize that "nature" takes care of a great deal for us as the lactating mare adjusts her milk supply to the intake of her growing foal. However, understanding the physiological factors at play in the mare's milk and in the mare and foal's overall diet and metabolism is key to our strategy for successfully managing growth. The scope of this article can only highlight but a few of these factors and encourage reflection on some management tools available to us. Let's take a look at the lactating mare's contribution to her foal's diet, the foal's natural growth rate, and how we can best assist to safely guide the foal toward weaning and on into healthy years of development.

The mare normally produces a generous milk supply that quickly becomes regulated by her foal and her dietary intake. However, the quality or nutrient content of the mare's milk peaks at 3-5 weeks of lactation and then begins a constant decline. Technically, provided prenatal nutrition was adequate, the foal can be without a concentrate source of its own until 5-7 weeks of age when the mare's milk quality has declined and the foal's nutrient requirements continue to climb. Although the foal by now has begun to "graze" along side its mother, its intake is not likely to be sufficient to meet micro-nutrient requirements with the declining quality of its mother's milk. Good arguments exist for establishing the foal on a "creep feed" as early as 2 or 3 weeks of age to offset the discrepancy of nutrient requirements and nutrient availability. Many commercial products exist specifically for the foal at this age: most are milk-based feeds balanced in protein and energy and highly fortified in calcium, phosphorus, copper, zinc, manganese and other micro-nutrients essential for healthy bone and soft tissue development. Oral vitamin/mineral drenches or pastes are also available to assist the young foal through growth spurts when its overall dietary intake is insufficient in micro-nutrients to keep up with the growth (evidenced by even slight acquired contracture of tendons and/or the incidence of physitis during growth spurts).

Successfully managing growth from birth through weaning and beyond requires a clear focus on the individuals we are managing. Part of the mare and foal's overall nutritional requirement remains based in their individual metabolism. It is possible to err in feeding according to expert recommendations (from texts and lectures on the subject, etc.) when these amounts are not suitable for our specific individuals. A majority of the literature on nutritional studies in this country has been performed on light breeds, such as the Thoroughbred or even ponies. The warmblood, in general, is far more efficient in its metabolism than a Thoroughbred and consequently may require less in its overall diet.

An important aspect of assessing a mare and foal's diet is to scrutinize their body condition. While spring grass and access to good fields later in the season remain excellent carbohydrate and protein sources for the lactating mare, too much of a good thing can be harmful. If the mare is easily holding her weight through lactation and is producing ample amounts of milk, she could be consuming too much. If the foal is very "round" in condition, growing robustly, and chancing some risky side effects of this rapid growth, then we need to re-evaluate the overall diet for its excesses. (Hint: The easiest time to reduce the weight of a chronically overweight broodmare is during lactation, even if in early pregnancy, provided the reduction is gradual.) The foal's body condition must be evaluated in connection to the current status of its joints and tendons. The safest approach with all youngsters in order to minimize developmental orthopedic stress is to maintain a moderately thin body condition (a little ribshowing) and to make all dietary and exercise changes slowly over a period of time. Our goal is to keep the growing animal's development on a steady and gentle curve.

The weanling is more easily moderated in its diet than the suckling. Most foals are ready to be weaned between 4-6 months of age, dependent upon the youngster's overall development and current intake of creep feed. When growth rate is perpetuating developmental difficulties, dietary restriction and early weaning might be indicated. Early weaning (at 2.5 or 3 months of age) is most successful when the foal is readily consuming creep feed, further reason to begin creep feeding early in order for this management approach to be an option. A babysitter definitely makes the transition easier for the little one and might be of great benefit in a moderated weaning approach. A foal may be separated from its dam for several hours a day to successfully curb growth rate in some cases.

In summary, simple diet and management adjustments for the mare and foal can help avoid developmental pitfalls. Be aware and remain open to make gradual changes, with veterinary guidance.