calcium needs in broodmares

Question
we hava a TB mare who was starved while pregnant and is now nursing an 8 wk old foal.

she was on unlimited alfalfa and grass hay, with flax seed.

we have wormed her and checked her teeth, she is missin a few.
we were also supplimenting with alfalfa meal until there was an incident...

we had her feet trimmed and she went lame on all four,,,one would think the farier quicked her...her feet were overgrown however that doesn't mean her soles weren't thin...anyway the strang thing was the swelling in all four legs but with no heat.

it was decided that until we knew wether she was foundering or was the trim job, we would back off everything except the alfalfa hay.

my concern was that the incident was more arthritis...in people, calcium deficency manifests as joint pain and swelling in the limbs....i have a daughter with downs syndrome and she suffers from arthritis and calcium absorption issues so i have done some reading on people and arthritis...

i am asking you...could it be calcium deficency...could it be arthritis?...my sister reported to me this morning that the mare was down...though she got up and ate and pooped, she laid back down right away...we are concerned about colic...however if the mare is experiencing anything like what my daughter does on a moist cool morning....then the mare was laying down from pain.

again, the mare has been in our care for less than a month...it has been warm because it is summer.

we are feeding the dickens out of her and are creeping the foal...the foal is cleaning up all her creep...

the mare stands 16.3 to 17 hands, she is at least 200 lbs under weight, her foal is already standing 11 hands...approx.  i am 5'5" tall and the foal is chest high to me.

i am concerned that this foal is not recieving proper nuturition through the mares milk.  fat and calicium.

i need your advice as my mother is hard to convince that the mare did not teeter on the edge of founder but the it could be calcium deficency and arthritis, by the way, calcium deficency causes muscle spasms and cramping in people more that potasium deficency.

i look forward to your response about wether to suppliment, and how much and how soon.

i may be way out in left field...but my gut tells me to be way, way concerned about the foal and what the mare is able to provide through her milk.

mares name is wish
the foal is cayanne born june 22nd

Answer
Dear Crystal

Many of the starving concentration camp survivors of WWII died AFTER their rescue as a result of the generosity of their rescuers.  Malnutrition makes an organism not only more sensitive to various toxins and infectious agents, it cannot be reversed overnight.  Critters who have been starved may have problems suddenly being provided full feed whether they are horse or human. Your mare COULD have been bordering on founder; it also COULD be a vitamin or mineral issue.

If this were my mare I would check with local feed suppliers and see if there is an animal nutritionist around.  I would immediately take samples of your hay and grain to the nutritionist and explain the condition of your mare.  Animals that have been starved need the absolutely correct balance in their feed.  You cannot guess that.  A nutritionist who can test the feed she is given can either compound or recommend a supplement to balance what is missing from the particular feed you have available.  Just saying what kind of hay you feed is not exact enough as the mineral balance in hay is dependent on the soil where it was grown.

I would also urge you to be a bit cautious about your creep.  The Horse.com has a good article on creep feeding at http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14266   An important point is that you do NOT want to give your foal all the creep she can eat.  1% of body weight per day is the recommended amount.  For a 200 pound foal, that is no more than 2 pounds per day. Exceeding this amount has a multitude of consequences including the danger of Epiphysitis. In trying to be kind and furnish enough nutrition, you can exceed optimum levels and cause problems.

A nutritionist will be your best bet for taking the guess workout of EXACTLY what this particular mare and foal need.

Good luck.


Lynne Curtis Gudes
"Common sense isn't."